5 Subs, 2 Amps, 2nd Battery? Set-Up Question

[chetomatic]

I have no idea how to set up what I want to do with my car. My set up is:

1 Standard Battery running:
1 Kenwood Stereo (50wx4)
2 Sony Xplod 6x9's (40w each)
1 Pioneer Amplifer (600wx1 at 2 ohms)
2 12" JL Subwoofers (600w total, 2 ohm total)
...and two 12" LED strips on the sub box. All of that runs fine on that battery.

What I also have is:
3 10" JL Subwoofers(1000w total, 12 ohms each sub, so i believe its 4 ohm total)
1 Alpine Amplifier (1000wx1 at 2 ohms) which I am planning on buying.
...and four 3" LED strips on the doors.

What I'm asking is:
1. Is the Alpine Amplifier the correct amp I should buy for these subs? I struggle with understanding the ohms thing but I feel like it's not gonna work.
2. Can I purchase just any battery to use as a secondary, and how do I go about setting up a second battery?
3. Once I figure out the second battery, how to I get the two amps/five subs to all play together?

Thank you in advance for the help!!


EDIT: I've also been told I may just need a stronger alternator rather than a second battery, or both. Not sure though...

[mast240]

ok... well first... we need a lil more info... what model subs and amp u have/are buying.

the 3 10's... did u mean 2ohm each? never heard of a 12 ohm sub...

when looking at the electrical load on your car, first you need to know what size alternator is stock on your car (most are 70-80 amps, but some are smaller) ... if your thinking of running a second battery, you might also consider upgrading your alternator. also, doing the big 3 upgrade is essential.

when looking for a second battery, you def want to stay away from lead-acid batt's... look for a deep cycle, preferably an agm battery.

for the ohm load, and proper set up... this will help you understand your options:

Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams

you need to know the specs of your subs you'll be running (single or dual voice coil, and what ohm they are)

also, sometimes, when running 12" and 10" subs together, you can end up running into cancellation problems, unless the box is designed right.

like i said tho... give some more info, and i'm sure we can point you in the right direction

[chetomatic]

1. The model subs and amps are:
2 JL 12W0v2-4 Subwoofers = 300 Watts Each, 4 Ohms Each, 600 Watts Total, 2 Ohms Final
3 JL 10W0-12 (discontinued) Subwoofers = 125 Watts Each, 12 Ohms Each, 1000 Watts Total, (not sure the final ohms)
1 Pioneer GM-D8500M 600w x 1 at 2 Ohms Mono Amplifier
1 (No idea what other amplifier I would need to handle the 3 JLs)

2. I meant 12 ohms each, they are discontinued by JL but are 12 ohms according to the model numbering and the owners manual.

3. Standard in my '00 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a 136-amp alternator. I'm looking into the Big 3 as well as a new alternator, I suppose I can find out how to do that with a little research on my own.

4. All Subs are single voice coil, and the ohms I provided in #1.

5. What I mean by running 12" and 10"s together is have them all play the same source of music, but the 3 10s in one box, the 2 12s in another.

Hope that answers all the questions you would need to point me in the right direction!

And thanks!

[Phoenix Risen]

just pick either the 10s or the 12s. dont run both

[09civic]

Do not run different size subs togther. And try to keep it to one sub amp unless strapping amps.

I would sell everything and start from scratch

[chetomatic]

****...so is this more or less impossible to do? I got these subs on craigslist for incredible prices and they all work great too...so I really want to make it work. Could I possibly just change the above information to "I'm using one massive amp for all of them"? And in that case what amp would that have to be....my bad for sounding so new to this, I've just never tried this particular set up before.

[Phoenix Risen]

like i said before, pick either the 10s or the 12s and get an amp that will do the rated power for which ever you decide.

it will sound like crap if you run them together.

[chetomatic]

Alright thanks for the input. That's really disappointing! Just outta curiosity, what exactly would make them sound like crap? Or is it more of a "that's just how it is" kinda thing.

[Phoenix Risen]

your trying to power 2 different sets of subs with a single amp. you cant tune it right when running them that way,

when running 2 different amps getting them to blend properly and sound decent will be a nightmare.

not to mention all of the extra crap you have to go through to only make things worse.

[mast240]

1. The model subs and amps are:
2 JL 12W0v2-4 Subwoofers = 300 Watts Each, 4 Ohms Each, 600 Watts Total, 2 Ohms Final
3 JL 10W0-12 (discontinued) Subwoofers = 125 Watts Each, 12 Ohms Each, 1000 Watts Total, (not sure the final ohms)
1 Pioneer GM-D8500M 600w x 1 at 2 Ohms Mono Amplifier
1 (No idea what other amplifier I would need to handle the 3 JLs)

2. I meant 12 ohms each, they are discontinued by JL but are 12 ohms according to the model numbering and the owners manual.

3. Standard in my '00 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a 136-amp alternator. I'm looking into the Big 3 as well as a new alternator, I suppose I can find out how to do that with a little research on my own.

4. All Subs are single voice coil, and the ohms I provided in #1.

5. What I mean by running 12" and 10"s together is have them all play the same source of music, but the 3 10s in one box, the 2 12s in another.

Hope that answers all the questions you would need to point me in the right direction!

And thanks!

ok, well first off... i would personally sell the 3 10's and use that money to pick up another pair of 12's... same model as you already have. running different sized subs leads to some cancellation problems, and in the end will end up sounding bad.

if you do that, you could just pick up a second amp, same model as u described, and strap them together... or just sell the amp you have, and buy a 1 ohm stable mono amp (running 4 of those twelves in parralel would give you a 1 ohm load) ... running at 1 ohm gives you certain advantages... you can get more wattage out of a smaller amp, so it might save you some money. you can pick up an amp that runs 1200 rms @ 1 ohm pretty cheap.

that being said, with you only running 1200 watts of power, your stock alternator should be good, as long as you do a big 3 upgrade (which i will explain in a sec), and upgrade your battery... you will def want to pick up a deepcycle battery. you could also buy a smaller battery to run as a secondary, just help ease the strain on your electrical.... kinetic hc800 would fit well.

now... the big 3... it's been written up many times, but i'll explain it, just to help you out

i would run at a minimum 2 gauge... but 1/0 gauge will ensure everything runs smoothly.

what your going to do is run one from your alt charge to your battery positive(make sure to run an inline fuse close to the battery, to protect against spikes), one from your battery ground to a GOOD chassis ground, and one from engine ground to chassis... these are your primary load carrying wired in your truck, so upgrading them will ease the strain that occurs on your electrical system when you start pulling higher amperage for your system.

like i said before... with your stock alt putting out 130+ amps, it should be ok, as long as you upgrade the rest of your electrical... but if you decide to go above 2000-2500 watts... then you will want to look into upgrading.

biggest thing is just to simplify your set up. i WOULD NOT run those 10's with anything else if they really are 12ohms... take a multimeter to them, and find out for sure tho, cuz it just sounds odd.

its your ride bro, so its up to you how you want to do it, but thats just my 2 cents on the easiest way to get it to sound good..

hope it helps

[09civic]

I would suggest either running the 3 10s on one amp OR the 2 12s on one amp

[chetomatic]

Looks like I'm gonna be selling those 10"s then and grabbing 2 more 12s, replacing with a stronger amp, and doing the big 3. Thanks everyone for helping me on this, greatly appreciated, much less effort and frustration I'll have to go through now

[mast240]

just make sure that when looking for a stronger amp... that it is 1 ohm stable... alot of the cheaper ones arent, and you could burn it up pretty easily running the wrong impendance... also... just as a thought... if your going to be running 4 12's... you might want to look into adding some more components as well... nothing worse, to me atleast, than hearing a car with ALL bass, and no highs

[chetomatic]

I'm upgrading my tweeters soon, I have Sony Xplod 6x9s in the front doors, and I gotta get some for the rear doors too. The reason I was so determined to have the 10s work was cuz the 12s were in my trunk and I was gonna put the 10s under my rear seats. Idk if 12s will fit there...oh well!

[chetomatic]

One last thing...Suppose I do go with 2 more 12's instead. That's 4 subs with 4 ohms each. The two boxed ones in the back have a final ohm load of 2, and the two others would be seperated to go under my seats...so if I got a new amp, I would want around 1200 watts (300 per sub) at how many ohms? And would I need two channels?