How to wire two amps?

[middlemaniac 10+ year member]

I need help on wiring two amps... Is it correct to have a 4gauge wire going from the battery to a fuse...then another 4gauge wire coming out of the other side...then this wire connects to a distribution block... Then the distribution block splits into one 4gauge wire,and one 8gauge wire....then these wires connect to the amps...is that right???

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[dafobbishon3 10+ year member]

yes

 

[kfx450r 10+ year member]

What do you do about RCAs running 2 amps?

 

[Stalin-ohaulic]

I need help on wiring two amps... Is it correct to have a 4gauge wire going from the battery to a fuse...then another 4gauge wire coming out of the other side...then this wire connects to a distribution block... Then the distribution block splits into one 4gauge wire,and one 8gauge wire....then these wires connect to the amps...is that right???

the way you have it wired is correct. I think most people will tell you to be careful running two amps on only 4 awg wiring.

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

It depends on the amp. What amps are you running? 2 ch, 4 ch, 400Watts? 4,000watts? Are they both the same, Are you running two mono blocks?

I would go with 2gauge to the fuse and split them to four gauge per amp.

Remember the ground wire needs to be short to the ground location. and I heard that a litle bigger is better for the amp.

RCA? Well, are you running a 4 ch set up? How many RCA outputs are on the deck? Are they for front, rear, sub. If it is only a front channel output, then you would want to either get a RCA slipiter or maybe you can daisy chain them with a second RCA cord.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

what about when running two sub amps....do you just have one rca coming off the sub outputs on the headunit than use an rca splitter

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

what about when running two sub amps....do you just have one rca coming off the sub outputs on the headunit than use an rca splitter

yes and also might want to pick up extra RCA so you can move the amps to a decent mounting point.

so you are running two sub amps? are they the same? Are the subs the same? If this, then you might want to get a voltmeter and set them to be the same.

 

[smullen 10+ year member]

On the power question, I would run one run of 2 ga or 0/1 from front to rear to dist block (don't forget to fuse up front close by the battery) then from dist block to fuses or amps if they are fused themselves...

You many think 0/1 is too much, but do it once and be done.... You know you'll have If you ever decide to add on later your most likely already set... Unless you add several more amps or something huge...

On the RCAs...

What kind of amps or these???

I mean 1 Sub Amp and 1 Front Stage amp or 2 Sub amps???

Typically, a Head Unit has a pair a Pre-outs for (each) Front, Rear and Sub,

if you want two on the front outputs, you could use a 1M-2F Y adapter on each Pre out

same with the Subs etc.. etc,,,

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

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[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

yes and also might want to pick up extra RCA so you can move the amps to a decent mounting point.
so you are running two sub amps? are they the same? Are the subs the same? If this, then you might want to get a voltmeter and set them to be the same.

No i'm only running one right now but I was asking incase I got a second amp and yes, same subs, amps

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

No i'm only running one right now but I was asking incase I got a second amp and yes, same subs, amps

you should be able to bridge those amps when you do get the other one. makes it easier to set.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

If you're drawing alot of power for a single 4ga run, make sure your fuses are the right size.

 

[middlemaniac 10+ year member]

I have a 400w max 4ch amp, and a 1200w max (600rms) mono amp.... So is it ok if the power wire which attaches to the battery is 4gauge?

 

[middlemaniac 10+ year member]

I have a 400w max 4ch amp, and a 1200w max (600rms) mono amp.... So is it ok if the power wire which attaches to the battery is 4gauge?

So is 4 gauge enough?????????/

 

[Chris Z 10+ year member]

I think you'd be fine running 4 gauge for a 1000w max system.