bugflipper
10+ year member
Senior VIP Member
The first place to start with dimming lights is: http://www.caraudio.com/forum/wiring-electrical-installation-help/152355-official-caraudio-com-big-3-thread.html Your car has a 110 amp alternator. That should be plenty to run the car and and your stereo at night without dimming with the big 3. Most likely you have a 12 gauge wire charging your battery. Let's just say for example it is putting out 80 amps to the battery. To run the headlights, computer and all it may take 40 amps. Now your sub hits and it draws 50 amps. So the draw of the max rms your amp is putting out is momentarily more than the alt can handle. If the 1/0 wire can deliver 110 amps to the battery, problem solved with a small amp. If you go to a large amp, you will need a larger alt to keep up.
On the subs there is only 3 db difference in output between 300 and 600 watts. Although power doubles, sound output doesn't. So the more you throw to one the less length of time before the spider burns out. They rate them on a thermal scale instead of just an rms rating like most do.
Bass boost increases output at a certain frequency. Let's say it is 45 hz, since I have no idea about your amp. Gain is set properly and amp is putting out what it was designed to at every frequency from audible to 80, accept for when it hits at 45. That signal is being boosted 6 db over every other frequency. First of all it throws your sub bass out of balance. It will reproduce 45 hz louder than any other hz. The main problem is clipping though. The 6db burst is asking the amp to send more power than it is capable of delivering. When an amplifier is pushed to create a signal with more power than its power supply can produce, it will amplify the signal only up to its maximum capacity, at which point the signal can be amplified no further. As the signal simply "cuts" or "clips" at the maximum capacity of the amplifier, the signal is said to be "clipping". The extra signal which is beyond the capability of the amplifier is simply cut off, resulting in a sine wave becoming a distorted square-wave-type waveform. The easy way to say it is it will burn your shit up. The sub is the most likely to get damaged from being clipped all the time. The amp most likely will burn up as well. If your amp overheats and goes into protection mode, then turns back on after a cool down period that is usually from clipping. Eventually it will burn up inside if taken to that point enough.
On the subs there is only 3 db difference in output between 300 and 600 watts. Although power doubles, sound output doesn't. So the more you throw to one the less length of time before the spider burns out. They rate them on a thermal scale instead of just an rms rating like most do.
Bass boost increases output at a certain frequency. Let's say it is 45 hz, since I have no idea about your amp. Gain is set properly and amp is putting out what it was designed to at every frequency from audible to 80, accept for when it hits at 45. That signal is being boosted 6 db over every other frequency. First of all it throws your sub bass out of balance. It will reproduce 45 hz louder than any other hz. The main problem is clipping though. The 6db burst is asking the amp to send more power than it is capable of delivering. When an amplifier is pushed to create a signal with more power than its power supply can produce, it will amplify the signal only up to its maximum capacity, at which point the signal can be amplified no further. As the signal simply "cuts" or "clips" at the maximum capacity of the amplifier, the signal is said to be "clipping". The extra signal which is beyond the capability of the amplifier is simply cut off, resulting in a sine wave becoming a distorted square-wave-type waveform. The easy way to say it is it will burn your shit up. The sub is the most likely to get damaged from being clipped all the time. The amp most likely will burn up as well. If your amp overheats and goes into protection mode, then turns back on after a cool down period that is usually from clipping. Eventually it will burn up inside if taken to that point enough.
