How do I hook up 2 amps?

[Mugen 10+ year member]

I'm going to need to use 2 amps, but I don't know exactly what to do. My friend said something about a distribution block, but I'm not really sure how it works. I found one at crutchfield, but it says I need inline fuses, which I don't know how that works? I already have a pretty big fuse from my battery to single amp, is that enough? Or do I need to go ahead and buy some in-line fuse, I'd rather not spend the money though >_>

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[frenzy07 10+ year member]

stinger makes a product where the power cable breaks into 2 or 4 power cables check that out might b wut ur lookin for

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISTEE4

That's what I need, right?

EDIT:

I will need two right, on for power and one for ground? What about the "remote" thing on my amp, isn't that what turns the amp off when you turn your car off? How will I connect that to both amps? Get three of these?

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

Anyone know about the remote thing, as in what I would need?

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

bump

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

1) What guage wire are you running from the battery to the trunk?

2) What guage wire do you plan on running into the amplifiers?

Without knowing those two answers, there's really no way to tell you what product will or won't be most appropriate for your application. Your friend is correct, you need a distribution block. But you may need a fused distribution block if you are going to be using smaller guage wire to one of the amplifiers.

Also, if the remote wire is only connected to the two amplifiers, you would be fine to splice into the REM wire or daisy chain it from one amplifier to the other. If you are connecting it to anything more than those two amplifiers, you will want to upgrade to using a relay.

 

[johnson 10+ year member]

http://www.bcae1.com/fuses.htm

http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

1) What guage wire are you running from the battery to the trunk?
2) What guage wire do you plan on running into the amplifiers?

Without knowing those two answers, there's really no way to tell you what product will or won't be most appropriate for your application. Your friend is correct, you need a distribution block. But you may need a fused distribution block if you are going to be using smaller guage wire to one of the amplifiers.

Also, if the remote wire is only connected to the two amplifiers, you would be fine to splice into the REM wire or daisy chain it from one amplifier to the other. If you are connecting it to anything more than those two amplifiers, you will want to upgrade to using a relay.

1) 8 guage

2) Whatever you think I need, I'm going to have to buy more anyway.

And how much can 8 guage wire handle, becase if I'm running 2 12"s at 350w each, that's 700w, plus the other 60 or so for mids, and I may even push a little more through the subs if possible.

EDIT:

And thanks for those links, I actually learned something. If I understand it correctly, if I continue using 8 guage wire from my distribution block, I won't need any fuses other than the one I already have from my battery. But if I was to change to, say, 4 guage wire, I'd need to use a different fuse.

 

[johnnyfive 10+ year member]

if you were to run 4 guage to the distrobution block, and then 8 guage to the amps, you woul dneed to fuse the 4 guage at the battery, and the 8 guage at the distro box.

running 8 guage to the distro box, and then 4 guage from that is not advised, and you will gain nothing from doing so, as you will only get the current that can fitthrough the 8 guage anyways.

what amps are you using?

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

SL2-2000 and some cheap amp off ebay that does like 60w

http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Power_Acoustik_Power_Acoustik_SL2_2000_Silver_Edition_2_Channel_2000_Watt_Amplifier

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=009&item=190019458094&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

And I guess I'll just do 8 guage throughout (I've decided to go with one 12" instead of 2 due to space reasons) to avoid any extra fuses.

EDIT:

I just got off the phone with my dad and he has a 2guage kit coming (the guy at Power Acoustik told him to get it), so regardless of needing it or not, I'm gonna be completely wired with 2guage throughout. Will that cheap 60w amp from ebay be able to take 2guage?

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

you need that kit. The big amp is too powerful for 8 ga.

The PA kit isn't truly 2 ga, it's more like 4, but that should work well.

Here's a cheap D-block that will work for you.

http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/1547132/vpcsid/0/SFV/30046/order/asc/order_by/sell_price

You can use your old 8 ga from the block to each amp, but you'll need to pick up some fuses somewhere. I'd put the 60A in the d-block for the big amp, get something around 20A for the small amp and an 80 for the fuse at the battery.

You don't need a ground d-block, you can just ground each amp individually to the chassis.

For the remote just run the remote lead from the HU to either amp, and a short wire from there to the other amp. You don't need to mess with a relay just to turn on 2 amps.