Stock electrical handle it?

[Cannonshane]

Need some advice, I have a digital design dm1500a and a dm1000a. Will be running 2 Infinity kappa 12" subs. I have both a knu konceptz 0G ofc wiring kit and a stinger 6000 series 4G ofc kit. I don't want to go crazy and start upgrading alternators etc etc, it's my daily vehicle and I just want some more bass (not trying to break records or anything). Would my stock set up be able to handle the 1500a or should I just use the 1000a and the 4G stinger kit?
Car is a 2020 Kia Cerato(forte) GT.

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[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Either amp will be happier with 1/0. I can't think of a reason to run your smaller amp unless your 1500 won't physically fit where you want to mount it.

 

[deez283 10+ year member]

I'd ask @marc2112

He is a expert when it comes to wiring.

 

[mastershake575]

Would my stock set up be able to handle the 1500a or should I just use the 1000a and the 4G stinger kit?
Car is a 2020 Kia Cerato(forte) GT.

Stock battery and alternator on a 1.6L engine won't even come close to fully powering either of those 2 amps so i'd do the DD 1000a and if you haven't already bought the subs then buy them to where you can wire it to 2ohms for better efficency.

Stick with the 4 gauge wiring kit as well, you won't be sending more than 40 or 50 amps of true power to your monoblock anyways on stock electrical

 

[CrownVic07]

You don't need to upgrade your alternator for 1500 watts. I would do 0 gauge but 4 gauge is probably good enough. I wouldn't put in 1000 over a 1500 because I'm worried about the electrical. Of course, the only way to know for sure is to try it. Your headlights may dim under heavy bass if your car has weak alternator and a wet cell battery but that's about it. I don't forsee any problems with 1500 is what I'm saying. An AGM battery would help though, forget about an alternator at 1500 watts tho.
Edit: My car is a V8 and came with a 200 amp alternator so I'm not an expert on 1.6L engines but I'm sure if you got a nice AGM you'd be good. That could run you $300-400 tho.

 

[mastershake575]

You don't need to upgrade your alternator for 1500 watts

In his case yes you would, to say otherwise would be defying physics. The DD1500a would greatly exceed his maxium power draw of his stock alt even with 100% efficiency and even with his car requiring zero amps to run (neither of those scenarios are even close to true and it would still greatly exceed it).

I've tested a 750watt korean board (Q1-750) on 5 different 4 cyclinder cars (ranging from 80a all the way to 130A) and every single one of them was handicapped signficantly (the 2 cars that did eventually get an aftermarket alternator saw dramatically increased output running same amp same sub combo).

Electrical isn't something you can fake, there's a difference between "oh yeah I think it's running good" and "oh wow this is what the amp is suppose to sound like".

In his case it actually be better to wire down for better efficiency and less heat

 

[CrownVic07]

I've tested a 750watt korean board on 5 different 4 cyclinder cars (ranging from 80a all the way to 130A) and every single one of them was handicapped signficantly (the 2 cars that did eventually get an aftermarket alternator saw dramatically increased output running same amp same sub combo).

Interesting...that makes sense. I over do it personally, HO alt, 2 AGM, 4 or 5 runs of 0 gauge and working on a dual alt bracket currently and I only run 3700 watts, sometimes 5100 watts. Although of course with impedance rise I'm sure I never get close to those numbers which was part of my thinking for this guy but I guess even if he got half his power it could be too much. The most I've run on a 1.4L engine was like 550 watts. Although back then I didn't know what clipping and my class AB handled it fine so maybe it was really 650 watts

 

[mastershake575]

Interesting...that makes sense. I over do it personally, HO alt, 2 AGM, 4 or 5 runs of 0 gauge and working on a dual alt bracket currently and I only run 3700 watts, sometimes 5100 watts.

Damn nice setup. Most people either under-do it or over-do. A good balance for most people who just want good daily power but don't want to drop tons of money is do the entry level $400 alt from singer or mechman (200/220a while driving, 150-160a at idle) and then skip the battery. You''ll see high daily output in the popular 1000-1800 watt range but won't be killing your bank account

 

[Cannonshane]

You don't need to upgrade your alternator for 1500 watts. I would do 0 gauge but 4 gauge is probably good enough. I wouldn't put in 1000 over a 1500 because I'm worried about the electrical. Of course, the only way to know for sure is to try it. Your headlights may dim under heavy bass if your car has weak alternator and a wet cell battery but that's about it. I don't forsee any problems with 1500 is what I'm saying. An AGM battery would help though, forget about an alternator at 1500 watts tho.
Edit: My car is a V8 and came with a 200 amp alternator so I'm not an expert on 1.6L engines but I'm sure if you got a nice AGM you'd be good. That could run you $300-400 tho.

These kia come stock with AGM batteries.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

(the 2 cars that did eventually get an aftermarket alternator saw dramatically increased output running same amp same sub combo).

Electrical isn't something you can fake, there's a difference between "oh yeah I think it's running good" and "oh wow this is what the amp is suppose to sound like".

Nicely put.

 

[Cannonshane]

1

 

[Cannonshane]

In his case yes you would, to say otherwise would be defying physics. The DD1500a would greatly exceed his maxium power draw of his stock alt even with 100% efficiency and even with his car requiring zero amps to run (neither of those scenarios are even close to true and it would still greatly exceed it).

I've tested a 750watt korean board (Q1-750) on 5 different 4 cyclinder cars (ranging from 80a all the way to 130A) and every single one of them was handicapped signficantly (the 2 cars that did eventually get an aftermarket alternator saw dramatically increased output running same amp same sub combo).

Electrical isn't something you can fake, there's a difference between "oh yeah I think it's running good" and "oh wow this is what the amp is suppose to sound like".

In his case it actually be better to wire down for better efficiency and less heat

The DM1000A at 1ohm, Puts out the same power as the DM1500A at 2ohm. Would i be better to run the 1500A and wire it down to 2ohm for efficiency sake ?

 

[Cannonshane]

I just thought I would update this Incase anyone was wondering the outcome, I ended up installing the dm1000a using the 0G amp kit. So far no real voltage drop even when leaning on it a fair bit. Car seems to be handling it perfectly fine. The amp is mounted under the passenger seat so the power run isn't anymore than about 4-5ft.

 

[Ridinhi 5,000+ posts]

I just thought I would update this Incase anyone was wondering the outcome, I ended up installing the dm1000a using the 0G amp kit. So far no real voltage drop even when leaning on it a fair bit. Car seems to be handling it perfectly fine. The amp is mounted under the passenger seat so the power run isn't anymore than about 4-5ft.

You still got your stock sub hooked up?, if not , I would remove it to allow more sound into the cabin.

 

[Cannonshane]

You still got your stock sub hooked up?, if not , I would remove it to allow more sound into the cabin.

It doesn't need anymore noise in the cabin lol, it's plenty loud for my needs. I barely have the bass knob above the minimum for regular listening. That's why I reckon even with the larger amp I would have been fine on stock electrical because It would have been lucky to be ever use 50% of its power at most.