installing 2 amps

[GHOST 2.2]

well ive done an install of one amp, but now im going to do 2.

is this by anyway correct? i did this mapping myself of my pre-plan wiring of my audio system before it comes in the mail.

[accordztech]

so your only going to use the cap for the subwoofer amp? some caps you can just run power inline and then hook up both power wires to the output of the cap

instead of a fuse after the cap just get a distribution block with intergrated fuses after the cap.

a relay for the remote amp turn on wire isnt necessary

and the speaker lines going to the radio arent supposed to go to the radio but to the speaker wires in the speaker harness that go towards the car.

[GHOST 2.2]

yea i ment to put that the speaker wires from the amp go to the speakers, but i just put it towards the radio because im going to wire it to the harness that goes to the speakers.

yea i was reading that its better off to use a relay to send signal to the amp to turn on. i was planing to just have another wire tapped into the remote wire instead until i read about the relay.

so what if i already bought the distribution block with out the fuses in them? because my rockford amp kit comes with fuses on its power wire. i was just going to use the cap for my sub since its the one that drains the most power. would it be better to run the cap between the distribution block and the battery?

[GHOST 2.2]

so how about this?

[jcoleman_11]

your install is generally good, but you should have a fuse in your engine bay, in the trunk is too far from the battery to avoid the hazard that your fuses would be preventing.

and definetly cap before distribution block

and like accordz said, the relay for the remote is not needed. just feed one line directly to an amp, and then back out of the amp and into the other.

[plee3]

Good illustration. The relay is needed when you are running more than 1 piece of equipment (2 amps, crossover, epicenter, Monitors ETC...) The remote wire from the radio is only like 700 milli amps(I think. Please someone correct me if I’m wrong). When you are running multiple amps and crossovers, 700 milli amps isn’t really enough current to run everything. Especially if you have some mean bass in your trunk. Since you only have 2 amps the relay would help but not really needed. The capacitor can be used in both of your applications that you have illustrated. IMO, I would use the cap like it is in illustration #2.

[Sarthos]

The only thing I would do is I would run the speaker wires directly to the two rear speakers, rather than to the harness behind the stereo. There's not much room behind there so it's nice to keep some free. When you run 3 sets of RCAs, it'll be a squeeze to stuff 4 pairs of speaker wire in there too. Then again, I've wired up a stereo and a flip out DVD player to fit in that space so it's doable.

I would do the cap after the distribution block like you have it, because I'm assuming that your sub amp is significantly more powerful than your speaker amp so that will need it more. Fuse near the battery. I'd also wire the amps remote to a switch so it can be run anytime. Same for the stereo.

[GHOST 2.2]

thanks for the input everyone! okay how about this guys?

i guess it isnt necessary to have a relay, but since i already bought one im going to use it.

also, do i still have to run the negative speaker wire off the amp, or i can just use the existing negative already supplied through the harness?

[accordztech]

u run positive and negitive.

what sucks by running lines to the speakers is that you have to tap into the line that goes into the door. thats why i like running it behind the deck, plus if you have to take out the 4channel its easier to bypass the wiring instead of going to each speaker and reconnecting the oem wiring.

[jdm_inspired]

Looks good Jed. I didn't know you had to run a relay for the remote wires? I just ghetto booty-tapped it. Works fine for me every time but I guess I could be restricting performance.

As for the capacitor, I read on a crutchfield diagram that the cap should go to the sub amp. It can get confusing I know. But using it for both amps COULD be fine, depending on how many farads it has.
I dunno, I used to be a audio-nerd. I'm just way outdated now.

[GHOST 2.2]

u run positive and negitive.

what sucks by running lines to the speakers is that you have to tap into the line that goes into the door. thats why i like running it behind the deck, plus if you have to take out the 4channel its easier to bypass the wiring instead of going to each speaker and reconnecting the oem wiring.

alright. so im better off running 8 wires to my wiring harness. if so im just going to buy another radio adapter like this

and modify that so the wires can run into my amp. plug and play baby

Looks good Jed. I didn't know you had to run a relay for the remote wires? I just ghetto booty-tapped it. Works fine for me every time but I guess I could be restricting performance.

As for the capacitor, I read on a crutchfield diagram that the cap should go to the sub amp. It can get confusing I know. But using it for both amps COULD be fine, depending on how many farads it has.
I dunno, I used to be a audio-nerd. I'm just way outdated now.

yea ive been plagued with electrical gremlins on my car. relay isnt necessary, but its to be safe. I choose to be safe lol. i wanna get it right the first time around.

ive just been confused on where to put the capacitor. originally i plan on just using it for the sub amp since it draws the most power. its one farad per 1000w.

[Sarthos]

No, 4 wires to your harness! Actually 5, because of the remote wire. The 4 channel amp should hook up directly to the 2 rear speakers, otherwise it could cause a problem. Running speaker wire directly to those to speakers probably requires 2-4 feet of wire each. Running wire to the harness probably requires 15 feet of wire, then another 15 feet from the harness to the speaker, meaning that it takes 30 feet to get to the rear speaker if you wire to the harness. You're much better off with the shorter length because it saves you wire, and it will be louder and clearer with the lower resistance of the wire. Plus the rear speakers only take like 10 seconds to plug the OEM harness back in anyway.

[GunRunner]

Patch Cables = RCA Wires

[2.2litrebeater]

Ground your amps to the same location to reduce the chance of noise. You have the right idea running wires from the amp up to the radio harness, clean and simple. A relay isn't needed for just 2 amps but it never hurts, also it doesn't matter much where inline you connect the cap.

[Sarthos]

Add a 0 gauge ground wire from the spot on the chassis you grounded to to your battery negative to remove any and all engine noise. a 14 gauge stereo ground to the battery would also be good.