electrical upgrade needed?

[phemps 10+ year member]

if i go with an amp thats 1500 watts rms will i need to make any major electrical system upgrades to my car? will i need an HO altenator? also has anyone tried the hifonics titan series amps? are they decent?

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[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

Most companies will recommend upgrading your alt, but you should be able to get away without one if the rest of your electrical system is in good shape. I'd definitely recommend doing the Big 3 upgrade, and a decent battery would help too.

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

a nice up front battery and the big 2 or big 3 will do ya good.. you don't NEED to do the alt since you aren't upgrading it.. it will help some though.. your grounds will do you the most good

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

the titan series of amps are good for the money. Definitely not the best out there, but definitely not garbage either, i've used many of them for budget installs.

As for needing to upgrade electrical, you wont need a HO alternator assuming you dont have a tiny stock one. However, if you dont get a larger alty, i highly reccomend at least doing the big 3 mod and getting a decent battery.

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

can you inform me on the big three? i know its extra wire runs but im not sure where ive never done it

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

the ground on your battery to chassis.. engine block to chassis and alt + to batt +

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

Any idea what your stock alt is rated at?

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

no i dont.. i asume its low though its in a saturn ion. i would probably say low 100's? maybe 130.. the amp i have now is about 900 rms and i wasnt sure if i had to upgrade the alt since its a decent wattage jump

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

Low would be around 60, like you find in most jap cars. Your probably looking at 80-100, but thats just a guess. Do the big 3, and get a better battery, like an Optima, Stinger/Odyssey or Kinetik and if you have dimming issues then you might have to upgrade your alt.

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

yea i actually have some dimming as it is.. does the big three help that at all without moving to a bigger alt?

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

it helped me when I did the upgrade, I did the wires and battery at the same time. I also run 1500 watts daily, but I also had a 105 amp stock alt.

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

yea so i guess ill find out.... i should check my amps output but i dont have an ammeter. do you have a better battery? how are the optima redtops? i was thinking of going with one of those