I think you will be fine if you just do the big 3 upgrade which would cost you maybe 30 bucks. Doing that ensures that you get the most out of your stock electrical system. With casual listening on that system I think you will be ok. Just don't sit at idle and turn it full tilt for an hour and you'll be good. That is dependent of course on what kind of car you have and how much the stock alt puts out, but generally with the load that your system will pull you will be fine. You can buy a DMM for 10-15 bucks and set the output of your amp also to a level that can easily be supported by your stock system.
Kind of forgot to ask this but what voice coil config are your subs? That will determine your wiring options for your amp and how much power it pulls
Whats the big 3 upgrade that only costs $30? I have a 1998 Nissan 200sx (essentially a 2 door Sentra). The battery is one I got last summer from Triple A when I had one (that was in there for awhile) die on me. This new one has like a 5 year warranty so I figured if it dies on me before 5 yrs is up, I can just get a new one free, but i never looked into the Red Top/Yellow..etc batteries that you see most people using with systems. I'm not sure what the output of the alternator, but I replaced it years ago (at least 5) with one of those standard refurbs from Advanced Auto Parts. I may actually have a Digital Multimeter in my garage somewhere, but where should I look to find the information on regulating and figuring out what the output should be for me?
Currently i'm running (the original red pentagon 1200w) Sony Xplods (SVC, 350w RMS i believe) in sealed box with a Alpine MRD-M301 amp (it was running 4 Ohm at 175w, but I recently changed the subs to run in parallel to get 2 ohms @ 350w RMS from the amp). Then in between the amp and battery I have a Tsunami 1 Farad cap (i got it before I learned they don't really do anything, however it did actually help from keeping my headlights from slightly dimming when the bass hit hard).
Right now (cause I might sell the Xplods to a friend) the plan was to run these Rockford HX2's (DVC, 500w RMS) in sealed box, with the Kenwood KAC 9105D in 4 ohm at first then maybe run them @2 ohm for 900w RMS which I think will be decent enough for those HX2's. But I definietely would like to get rid of that Hifonics, I haven't really done anything with it, but I just don't like it....i'm totally judging the book by its cover on this one tho, i just liked how it had a remote gain switch to put up by the drivers seat. I may try to find a nicer amp that runs at least 1000w RMS in 2ohm with one of those remotes (maybe like that JL Audio i mentioned in the original post) but first I have to sell the Hifonics to get some funds back.....seems like a relatively decent plan or does anyone know something I don't that I may benefit from knowing and change my mind lol....(and yes those Daytons are still in the back of my mind cause I was thinking about maybe switching to some nice 10s to get a little trunk space back, i've always just rocked 12s) Oh and I was going to add a Pioneer GM-3400T amp i have for my door speakers, but once I do that, im going to be in the market for a nice pair of door speakers cause i'm just running these stock 50w Cerwin Vegas that came with the car, i never changed them.
Deff see about a better made amp,look into a mono block for sure..SStream amps the newer one have great power/Okur(disturbed can quote you on the performance of his)Even some old school powerhouses,at a decent budget
Yeah for my subs i'm definitely going mono block, as all these amps I have are, but I heard good things about that Kenwood so i was just gonna use that until I find a nice new one that fits my budget and has the specs I mentioned above in what i'd be looking for.