How to wire multiple amps?

[Foote 10+ year member]

Alright, Ill try to be as specific as possible. Im installing in a 1990 Blazer, S10. Here are the 3 amps and what they will be powering:

2 amps that are built in to a "powered enclosure" (they are built that way). Well, its two seperate amps. 1 amp and 1 sub per encloser. They are cheap, visionix by the way.

and 1 amp that is sepereate from another enclosure (will probably be 2 kicker L7's.

Anyway, I wanna know how to go about wiring all these seperate amps...I have a battery-terminal-modification thingy "For gm vehicles" that has multiple holes to stick some amp wiring. But I dont see how to do the RCA cables especially as far as to my headunit goes (there are only enough outputs for one amp) And that goes the same for the blue turn on wire.

Also...grounding. Im not sure, will it be ok to have 3 seperate grounds bolted down on the same bolt?

Thanks for your help. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Click to read more...

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

Well, are you saying are putting some L7's along with some Visonik's? Not recommended to mix different subs/power, for sq anyway. But to answer your questions, you need some distribution blocks to split power/ground cables to multiple amps. For the RCA's, you are likely going to need some y-splitter cables, unless your amps have preamp outputs, in which case you can 'daisy chain' them. In all honesty, your proposed systems looks a bit of a mess, with different subs, different amps and multiple y-cables. I would suggest you look into designing a different system, instead of the 'cram as much equipment as possible into my car' approach. Stick with the visoniks for now, or if you don't like them, get rid of them and go with another set of matching subs.

 

[SlamSession 10+ year member]

Foote, your head unit has Left and Right RCA outputs. If you have multiple RCA outputs, the one that reads "sub" is the one you want to connect to your first sub amp. If you have a crossover, you will need to connect the RCA's to the crossover's Left and Right input. Make sure you can tell which cable is Left and which one Right so that way you won't get them mixed up. The crossover has an output(s) specifically for the sub amp(low pass) and should have outputs for the mids and highs(high pass). You will need to run RCA wires from the crossover's sub or lowpass output into the first subwoofer amp's Left and Right input. That first subwoofer amp should have a Left and Right output, just like the crossover. You now need anothers pair of RCA wires and connect them from the 1st amp's L and R output to the second amp's L and R input and so on. It's one signal all the way. Left and Right. The thin blue wire is called the remote wire. It's okay(from my experience) to "jump" the wire. In other words, the remote wire runs from the head unit to your first amp's remote(REM) connection. From that same connection, you take another blue remote wire and connect it to your other amp, and then do the same to your third amp. Anytime you start connecting or adjusting the + and - terminals on your amplifiers, make sure you disconnect the battery because you can fry your amps' circuitry. It sounds like you will need a fused distribution block to connect the car's positive battery terminal to all of your amps. You're also going to need a grounding terminal to properly ground your amplifiers . You can get both of those items and many more car audio electrical items from Streetwires.com Good Luck, let me know if you have more questions, don't hesitate.

 

[Foote 10+ year member]

The visionix I like because they are boxes, with amps, and only one sub. They dont take up much space. I cant show you how ima do my setup, but ill tell you so u can imagine.

In my hatchback...the two visionix will be on the sides, facing inside. And the 2- 12"kicker l7's will be in between these two long ways.

 

[marffeus 10+ year member]

I plan on adding a sub/amp to my current setup, and will be wiring a second amplifier. Right now I have a Kicker powering my 2 - 6.5s and my 2 - 6X9s. I was planning on using an MTX Thunder 3001 amp with a set of 2 - 10" Subs (I Have a small car). Are you saying that this will degrade my SQ? I don't feel like using a different brand amp for my subs will degrade any SQ seeing as the only common linkage between the two amps are the ground and power. As far as power goes, the kicker is a 400.4 (400 watts, 4 channels) and the MTX I am looking at is 300.1 (300 watts, mono), so theyre relatively the same amperage draw.

Is this a bad idea? Should I stick with Kicker? I have nothing against Kicker (in fact, it's an awesome amp), but Kicker is pricey and I'm not looking to shatter my windows, just wanted some added punch to my music.

As far as the OP goes, you will want a distribution block for the power. Whatever AWG power wire you use from the battery terminal should be adequate to provide enough power to all three of your amps.

For grounding, its not recommended to use the same grounding point (and for 3 amps sitting on top of each other, that would almost surely induce some noise into the system). You can either use a distribution block (non-fused) or use three separate grounding points, about 1/2" apart.

For the remote turn on wire, you'll want to use a relay since the current pull from three amps trying to turn on will be above 500 mA.

As far as RCAs go, you'll have a ton of Y-splitters which probably won't be too good for sound SQ.

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

Well, are you saying are putting some L7's along with some Visonik's? Not recommended to mix different subs/power, for sq anyway. But to answer your questions, you need some distribution blocks to split power/ground cables to multiple amps. For the RCA's, you are likely going to need some y-splitter cables, unless your amps have preamp outputs, in which case you can 'daisy chain' them. In all honesty, your proposed systems looks a bit of a mess, with different subs, different amps and multiple y-cables. I would suggest you look into designing a different system, instead of the 'cram as much equipment as possible into my car' approach. Stick with the visoniks for now, or if you don't like them, get rid of them and go with another set of matching subs.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH

so your saying to get SQ you need to use the same brand equipment?

i really hope this is some kind of a joke...

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

please go back and re-read. he wants to put 2 visonik subs and 2 l7 subs, each at different power levels...

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

please go back and re-read. he wants to put 2 visonik subs and 2 l7 subs, each at different power levels...

i reread it and it still doesnt say anythign about power.

he said he has 3 visionik amps but doesnt specify if they are different. he said 2 of them are amps on an enclosure, and one is an amp without an enclosure. thats all he said. so both your guess and mine are assumptions.

reason i made my last post was because of this

"Well, are you saying are putting some L7's along with some Visonik's? Not recommended to mix different subs/power, for sq anyway."

you mention the l7's going with the visioniks like its a bad thing...but then you say its not good to mix different subs and power. so what exactly are you getting at?

the brand issue, or the power issue (which we still havnt established)

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

dont forget to use relays, but i dont recommend them.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

i reread it and it still doesnt say anythign about power.
he said he has 3 visionik amps but doesnt specify if they are different. he said 2 of them are amps on an enclosure, and one is an amp without an enclosure. thats all he said. so both your guess and mine are assumptions.

reason i made my last post was because of this

"Well, are you saying are putting some L7's along with some Visonik's? Not recommended to mix different subs/power, for sq anyway."

you mention the l7's going with the visioniks like its a bad thing...but then you say its not good to mix different subs and power. so what exactly are you getting at?

the brand issue, or the power issue (which we still havnt established)

not sure why i'm even bothering to reply to this, but...2 visoniks subs, each in its own box, powered by its own amp (assuming equal power), a third amp (unknown power, but moot point) powering 2 L7's in their own box. So...sound like a good sq setup to you?

 

[jfsh90 10+ year member]

So...sound like a good sq setup to you?

No, not at all.

 

[Foote 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/*******.gif.a649d21efc0d1fd4890a6428166586c1.gif so...is there like a guide I can look at?

 

[Qbenjamin 10+ year member]

You have been registered for over two years, and you still haven't learned anything? Good grief, learn to use the search feature.

On a side note, the proposed setup I can only imagine will be a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. You are mixing powered subs with non-powered subs and blah blah blah. The more I read this, the more I can't believe what you are trying to do. Stick with the 2 L7's in a box and the one undetermined amp for those subs. Sell the Visonik powered subs to some noob. /story

 

[HellsRise 10+ year member]

Are you saying that this will degrade my SQ? I don't feel like using a different brand amp for my subs will degrade any SQ seeing as the only common linkage between the two amps are the ground and power. As far as power goes, the kicker is a 400.4 (400 watts, 4 channels) and the MTX I am looking at is 300.1 (300 watts, mono), so theyre relatively the same amperage draw. f

LOL, please don't act like you know what you're talking about...

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

not sure why i'm even bothering to reply to this, but...2 visoniks subs, each in its own box, powered by its own amp (assuming equal power), a third amp (unknown power, but moot point) powering 2 L7's in their own box. So...sound like a good sq setup to you?

IF thats what hes trying to accompish then no. however like i said im still having a hard time understanding what hes putting together.

i misinterpreted your post //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif

edit: ahhhhhh. my fault. i thought he was saying he was running 3 visionik amps and 2 l7's and thats it. i assumed he was using the enclosure with the amp on it, but with an l7 in the box. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif :blackeye: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif :blackeye: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif :blackeye:

my apologies. i hate when people give bad advice which i thought you were doing...until just now when i realized what was being discussed. im a cunt