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New system....need advice

3K views 30 replies 12 participants last post by  Mykolisgone 
#1 ·
Hey guys, need a lil advice...Im thinking about replacing my subs and amp, but jus need another opinion b4 I actually go thru with it.

I originally had a kenwood 4 chnl amp running my Infinity comps and a kenwood 2 chnl running my 2 kenwood 12" subs.

I want a lil more base and crisper sound, and am thinking about grabbing a rockford fosgate 400.4 for the comps, 2 10" rockford fosgate P3 subs and 2 rockford fosgate 400.2 amps to run the subs (1 amp per sub - 3 amps in total). My brother works at Best Buy so I get this stuff at a reasonable price.

The subs are dual voice coil and at 2 ohms, if i run 1 chnl per voice coil from the 400.2 i'll he hitting 200 watts rms per voice coil (400 rms per sub).

I have a amp rack built so all 3 amps, cap and distribution block will fit. The subs i am thinking about building a fiberglass enclosure (one on each side of trunk to optimize space) per sub. Trunk has already been dynomated for rattle.

My question is will this be drawing to much power and draining my bat?? I am also thinking about grabbing an Optima but not sure if red top or yellow top. Also I have a monster cap that will be wired in for when I hit hard base
 
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#3 ·
Seems like it would be easier to run a more powerful, better, single sub than two. My single, 12" Type-R does just fine getting more than its 500W RMS rated spec.
 
#5 ·
Well, to answer your question instead of trying to flame you...that should be fine. Upgrade wiring, make sure the grounds are on bare metal and getting a good voltage. Get volt meters at the cap or battery to check them constantly to see the drainage.

And, yes, you should get a redtop. (Reversed polarity please)

Later on, you can upgrade your alternator, also may want to upgrade grounds for battery and run a parallel wire to battery from alternator (see...big 3 upgrade).
 
#6 ·
Mykol said:
stay away from r/f they look cheap and sound cheaper...go with kicker. or pioneer premier or alpine. my 2 cents tho.
x2

I'm a big fan of kicker amps because they ACTUALLY put out the power they are advertised at. I also like Pioneer headunits. I have a 12" Kicker Solobaric with a ZX550.2 bridged 2channel amplifier and its more than enough sound for my spec.
 
#7 ·
mirrortints said:
Well, to answer your question instead of trying to flame you...that should be fine. Upgrade wiring, make sure the grounds are on bare metal and getting a good voltage. Get volt meters at the cap or battery to check them constantly to see the drainage.

And, yes, you should get a redtop. (Reversed polarity please)

Later on, you can upgrade your alternator, also may want to upgrade grounds for battery and run a parallel wire to battery from alternator (see...big 3 upgrade).

Thanks for the info....i currently have 4 guage wiring in the car. I thinking about the big 3 aswell, probably do that b4 i do the install with some 4 or 0 guage (i belive its bat to chasis, alt to bat and chasis to block).

The reason I am going with the fosgate setup is because I am getting it at a decnt price as I mentioned b4, my brother works at best buy, so it helps. the grounds that I have been using in the past are the bolts for the seats in the back, i just unbolted them and placed a ring connector and bolted it back in.
 
#8 ·
Listen to Y2K SE and Mirriortints, they know and have been around for a while ;)

When I had my Sentra, I ran a soundstream 600.4 and 500.2 w/ the big three and I was fine.

To the others..... there are actually some good RF product out there, you just have to weed through it.

***PROUDLY rocking 2 RF made amps.......
 
#9 ·
RF use to be good but once they became a completely retail store oriented product their quality was definitly dropped...but when i worked at best buy..the discounts were amazing so....lol....go for it cause i know your getting your stuff for dirt cheap....i now work at circuit city and i got my 2 kicker cvx subs for 100 bucks a piece...mmm accomodations....stuff for dirt dirt dirty muddy cheap lol :D
 
#10 ·
Nexeo said:
x2

I'm a big fan of kicker amps because they ACTUALLY put out the power they are advertised at. I also like Pioneer headunits. I have a 12" Kicker Solobaric with a ZX550.2 bridged 2channel amplifier and its more than enough sound for my spec.
actually if u buy a new R/F amp, it has a certificate inside showing the actual power rating tested prior to shipping, and the numbers putout more than wat the box says, each box is different, but its higher than wat the box and tags say...trust me, i sell this crap lol

best, hands down, i think, is insignia....
NOT lol

seriously, high quality subs to get r , jl`s
 
#11 ·
SpecBee said:
actually if u buy a new R/F amp, it has a certificate inside showing the actual power rating tested prior to shipping, and the numbers putout more than wat the box says, each box is different, but its higher than wat the box and tags say...trust me, i sell this crap lol

best, hands down, i think, is insignia....
NOT lol

seriously, high quality subs to get r , jl`s

i love JL ...sooo smooth and great response....insignia haha i remember selling that crap...sell it on a monday expect it back on tuesday haha
 
#12 ·
MACTAR said:
Thanks for the info....i currently have 4 guage wiring in the car. I thinking about the big 3 aswell, probably do that b4 i do the install with some 4 or 0 guage (i belive its bat to chasis, alt to bat and chasis to block).

The reason I am going with the fosgate setup is because I am getting it at a decnt price as I mentioned b4, my brother works at best buy, so it helps. the grounds that I have been using in the past are the bolts for the seats in the back, i just unbolted them and placed a ring connector and bolted it back in.
Just a quick note. To save on money, for the big 3, you can just add a 4 or even 8 ga wire to the existing wire. Don't just replace the wires, and yes, batt to chassis, alt to batt (fused 100amp), chassis to block. Remember that the block to chassis has MULTIPLE grounding points. The one I upgraded was the one that was grounded at the same spot as the battery ground. It's very easy to spot once you take the battery out. You could also add another ground to the alt as well, but that's up to you. Again, check the voltage to your amp, the seat MAY be just fine. I used to use that for my amps, but got better voltage when I drilled a hole and grounded it straight to the trunk floor (~.3-4V increase). Nothing amazing, but every little helps. You could also use those points where a RSTB would be mounted.

And, I personally use Audiobahn amps (which a TON of people say not to), but I've had 4 in the past 9 years and 2 got water spilled on them. 1 just died, but replaced under warranty, and 1 that I'm currently using for a set of comps and a sub (bridged).
 
#13 ·
mirrortints said:
Just a quick note. To save on money, for the big 3, you can just add a 4 or even 8 ga wire to the existing wire. Don't just replace the wires, and yes, batt to chassis, alt to batt (fused 100amp), chassis to block. Remember that the block to chassis has MULTIPLE grounding points. The one I upgraded was the one that was grounded at the same spot as the battery ground. It's very easy to spot once you take the battery out. You could also add another ground to the alt as well, but that's up to you. Again, check the voltage to your amp, the seat MAY be just fine. I used to use that for my amps, but got better voltage when I drilled a hole and grounded it straight to the trunk floor (~.3-4V increase). Nothing amazing, but every little helps. You could also use those points where a RSTB would be mounted.
Thats exactly what I was planning on doing, add extra not replace. I was thinking about running the wires parallel to where the existing is, but with a thicker guage of wire, probably run 4 guage, seeing as i have some extra.

I found this link on here about how to do it, so should def help.

http://www.b15sentra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=144187&highlight=magic
 
#14 ·
Mykol said:
i love JL ...sooo smooth and great response....insignia haha i remember selling that crap...sell it on a monday expect it back on tuesday haha
ahahaha yea,those ****s suck, u see the fubars now are insignias...lol

thats y i like circuit citys stuff, they got diff stuff, more for like younger crowd, bestbuy has for the older crowd like alpine and rockford..

lets not forget "sony"..."how much this with tax?" ahahah some of u know wat im talkn about hahah
 
#15 ·
SpecBee said:
actually if u buy a new R/F amp, it has a certificate inside showing the actual power rating tested prior to shipping, and the numbers putout more than wat the box says, each box is different, but its higher than wat the box and tags say...trust me, i sell this crap lol

best, hands down, i think, is insignia....
NOT lol

seriously, high quality subs to get r , jl`s

Ya, Kicker amps come with a 'birth certificate' too, labeled with their serial number and actual power output which is almost always 100w more than advertised. My 550w was measured at 677w.
 
#16 ·
SpecBee said:
ahahaha yea,those ****s suck, u see the fubars now are insignias...lol

thats y i like circuit citys stuff, they got diff stuff, more for like younger crowd, bestbuy has for the older crowd like alpine and rockford..

lets not forget "sony"..."how much this with tax?" ahahah some of u know wat im talkn about hahah

okay who doesnt love the customers that ask what is it with tax...those are the same customers that put a DUAL cd deck in their astrovan and wire it somehow to their brake pads hahaha...CUSTOM.
 
#17 ·
Since everyone has an opinion - I run the 400.4 in stereo bridged mode to the front channel (245 watts per channel) and a single 2000.1 to 2 Kicker subs wired in series. The amp sees a one ohm load. Currently measured in this car at 153.8 db. It does suck power (over 200 amps under load measured) but unless you are crazy you won't pull more than you generate when driving and listening at realistic levels. I use the yellow top optima for power. FWIW I competed for team Loud and Clear out of KC and got RF amps very cheap as part of the team. I have yet to have one fail. But there are lots of good amps out there.
Post pics when you get done.
 
#18 ·
Ok guys, finally picked up all of the components. This is what I have:

Deck: Panasonic C7113U
Mids/Highs: Infinity Components (Reference Series)
Subs: Rockford Fosgate P3 10" 2 ohm (DVC) x 2
(200 watts rms/v-coil = 400 watts rms per sub)
Amps: Rockford Fosgate 400.4 (for the comps)
Rockford Fosgate 400.2 x2 (1 amp per sub)
Capacitor: Monster Cable 1 Farad

The3 car is already wired with a 4 guage power cable from my old system. I just picked up about 10" of 0 guage power cable to do the Big 3 with a 100 amp anl fuse for the alt.

I have dynamt from before, and will be matting the whole trunk and rear deck before anything is installed.

The only thing that I need to get still is the Optima battery but not sure of the part number (im sure with a lil searching i'll find it).

The only thing im not sure about is the actual main fuse. Now the amps do not have their own fuse, which mean I will have to install an inline fuse after the distribution block. Each amp is rated for an 80 amp fuse, no worries their, I can grab 3 seperate inline fuses or try and look for a multiple fused distrobution block.

My question for all of you audio gurus out there is what size should my main fuse be? If im not mistaken, the rule of thumb states that you need to add up all of your fuses from ur compnents and you have ur main fuse number. In my case i have 80 amps times 3 = 240 amp. Would a 250 amp suffice or should I get something smaller? I can only find 200, 250 and 300....300 too big, its between 200 and 250....

Also for the capacitor, should I wire only the subwoofer amps to it or all three (both sub amps and the 4 chnl component amp)?
 
#19 ·
MACTAR said:
My question for all of you audio gurus out there is what size should my main fuse be? If im not mistaken, the rule of thumb states that you need to add up all of your fuses from ur compnents and you have ur main fuse number. In my case i have 80 amps times 3 = 240 amp. Would a 250 amp suffice or should I get something smaller? I can only find 200, 250 and 300....300 too big, its between 200 and 250....

Also for the capacitor, should I wire only the subwoofer amps to it or all three (both sub amps and the 4 chnl component amp)?
Main fuse should always match or be slightly higher than total amps recommended. So, I would go 250amp fuse.

For the capacitor, I've only had 1 and didn't notice much difference, BUT, I would wire all 3 amps to it.

You want the Yellow top with reversed polarity (if they sell it? I know the red tops have the reversed polarity). Not sure of the part number, but just look at the pics before ordering. If you're looking at the battery with the terminals closer to you, you want the positive on the right and negative on the left.
 
#20 ·
MACTAR said:
My question for all of you audio gurus out there is what size should my main fuse be? If im not mistaken, the rule of thumb states that you need to add up all of your fuses from ur compnents and you have ur main fuse number. In my case i have 80 amps times 3 = 240 amp. Would a 250 amp suffice or should I get something smaller? I can only find 200, 250 and 300....300 too big, its between 200 and 250....

Also for the capacitor, should I wire only the subwoofer amps to it or all three (both sub amps and the 4 chnl component amp)?
NO
You do NOT pick your fuse based on the sum of the amps' fuses (say it with me, NO, BAD). The main fuse is not there to protect the amps, as you said yourself, each of the amps has its own fuse for that. The main fuse is there to protect the CAR in case the main power wire shorts out, to keep the wire from melting down and lighting the car on fire. Therefore, the fuse size should be selected based on the size of the power wire you use, and has nothing to do with the amps running off of said power wire. 4 awg is limited to around 120 amps and should be fused as such, IF your amps require more current than this then you should NOT be using 4 awg wire, you need to increase the size of the main power wire, and again, fuse to the wire size you choose.

As for the cap, usually they're a waste of money and you'd be better off just selling it. If you really want to keep it you can pretty much wire it anywhere...by simply placing it in the power circuit it will be feeding all of the amps.
 
#23 ·
MACTAR said:
So if I am running these 3 amps, would you reccomend that I upgrade my power cable to a 0 guage, or do you think the 4 guage will suffice?

I am able to get my hands on a 0 guage amp power wire kit, and it comes with a 250 amp anl fuse.
Depends on your goals
If you listen at a reasonable level then 4 awg would be fine, if you like to crank it or might compete then you should go bigger. There's nothing wrong with getting larger-than-necessary wire, other than the price and difficulty in running it inconspicuously.
 
#24 ·
aight , thanks man...think i'll jus stick to the 4 guage and throw a 120 amp fuse in there...we'll see what happens. Im not in to competetion or anything at all, i just want a solid sytem and want to get full capabilities from the compnents i have.

I originally wanted to grab a p1000.1 amp but would not have been able to pump both subs at potential, but by grabbing the 2 400.2 amps, i can run the subs at 400 watts rms each....its because of the extra amp i been stresin about the fuse/wire size.

Thanks for your help though, much appreciated
 
#25 ·
Since you already have the 4 awg run I think that's a decent plan. If when you turn it up the amps cut out from low voltage or the fuse blows, then it's time to increase to dual 4s or a single run of 0 or 2 awg.
 
#26 ·
What I might do is use the 0 guage I got for the big 3 and use that for power, and pull out the 4 guage i have and use that fir the big 3. Better to do it now then afterwards....In which case would the 250 amp fuse be good for the 0 guage?
 
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