I gotta couple of Noob questions...

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

#1 . I have a 0 gauge wire from battery to trunk in my Intrepid. I have a 2400RMS Brutus and a 100x4 Sony Amp. Can I run the 0 gauge to a distro block and then 0 gauge out to the Brutus and @ 4 gauge to the Sony? If So, where can I find a distro block that has 0 gauge in and out? All of the ones I've found so far are 0 in and 4 out

#2 . Is 1 fuze for both amps (about 1 foot from the battery) ok? Or should I put a fuze between the distro block and the Sony amp? I have 2 separate grounds, 0 gauge for the Brutus and 4 gauge for the Sony

#3 . Remote wire...I can just piggy back one to the other correct?

#4 . I have a digital volt meter that I got off of ebay a while ago. should I wire that directly to the Brutus amp so that I can make sure it's getting enough power?

I know I have a few more questions but this is all I can think of right now. I would rather ask than regret it later.

Thanks everyone!

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[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

Would this be what I need for the Distro Block aka T Block

 

---------- Post added at 07:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 PM ----------

 

I could run 1/0 gauge straight through to the Brutus and just tap in a 4 gauge into the side for the Sony?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

You need to fuse the 4 channel with a smaller fuse. The blocks i sell are 0 in x 3. And 4 g out x2. Fused they are about $35 plus the fuse and shipping and yes piggy back the remote or use a relay

 

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

Awesome, thanks again! What about my volt meter?

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

I'd just run power from the batt to each amp since its in the trunk. Not that far to go. The extra few feet of 4 ga that would be needed to make the run would cost less that a d block.

 

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

Battery is under the hood in the front of the car. I wish it were in the trunk, if that were the case I would have run 2 separate power wires.

 

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

I forgot to ask about the best place to mount the amp? I've never built an amp rack before but from what I've seen, an amp rack is just a board with an amp screwed to it, lol. I was going to lay it on the floor behind the box between the box and my back seat? Is that sufficient enough? My 3' ground wire won't let it go much further than that, I thought about screwing into the back of the backseat, which is an option. Where do you guys mount yours?

 

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

This is what I've got so far...

 

[CSCStang]

I've always piggybacked on the back of the box. Just make sure your amps have some breathing room to keep cool.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

thought about adding a small battery to the rear ? that amp is going to want some power. and a little battery back there would probably help especialy if your on stock alternator still. also whats your front battery ?

 

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

What would be a good spare battery to get? I'm not sure what my current battery is but I got it from Oreiley Auto Parts 2 months ago and it was their higher end battery. I know my car starts quicker now since I installed the new battery, this one has more cranking amps than the other one I had in there.

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

for a battery in the trunk - you would want an absorbed glass matt ( agm ) style battery. stay away from optima

agm batterys vent 99% less toxic fumes when they are being charged / car running so they are much safer to have in the same area as people.

also

most agm batterys that are "car audio" intended have a ultra low esr rate - meaning they can give off a large quantity of power in a short amount of time.

imagine you are your amp - and your being fed signal from playing say.... double kick drums from some hard rock metal band.

each kick drum hit is going to want to be powered by ( made up number here 1000watts ) and its only for that tiny split second the kick drum hits at.

if the amp is hooked up to a normal wet cell car battery it can not properly feed the amp as much power as it wants in that ultra short amount of time the amp is asking for that much power - vs if it was hooked to a car audio battery it would be allowed more current flow in that same short amount of time.

most guys on here do have their favorite batterys - or battery build houses ( i think 3 main ones ) and most batterys are re labeled for this brand or that brand from one of the 3 big build houses. ive had kenetik and i liked it enough to buy a second. then the first one died and became junk - the second one stayed good tho.

now im using no name brand batterys in the rear of my suburban - and they do what they are suposed to. nothing fancy or overly expensive.

 

[FadedSpy 10+ year member]

So, Any Group 31 Deep Cycle Battery will do the trick? I found an Intimidator Group 34 Battery for $170 but I'm not sure if Group 34 is ok or if it has to be a group 31? It just has to be able to handle 2500 watts per battery? or could I get 2 batteries that handle 1200 watts each?

http://www.autobarn.net/sophioitem.html?mode=PA&catid=3%40%40Electrical&subcatid=46%40%40Batteries&mode=PG&sup=WHD&make=dodge&year=2001&model=intrepid&engine=V6-3497cc+3.5L+F%2FI+Vin+V%40%4023%40%40B%40%4012493%40%4036319

 

[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

that deka 9a34 seems pretty legit. states 120 amp hours of reserve. by rule of my thumb i choose amp hours as basic x10 = watts theory.

that single battery with 120 amp hours of reserve = 1200 watts of stereo power

two of them = 2400 watts of stereo power

also dont forget your front under hood battery also has amp hours of reserve altho i doubt its more than 50 or 60

and thats just my general rule of thumb to be on the safe side. i was talking with jim / mylows10 about how alternator power and battery power come together in our car audio needs as most guys will say get a high out put alternator and then you wont need a bunch of extra batterys exetra bla bla...

but im realizing that you do infact still need battery reserve power - even with high out put alternator because thats just how it works the best. when charging batterys the alt is at 14.4 volts - the batterys are all on what i believe is called "float charge" and will hold 13.75 ish volts... so when you play your stereo and the amps start bringing voltage down - the batterys actually start infuzing the electrical circut at 13.75 volts - even tho battery resting voltage is generaly 12.9 ish with the car engine off for an extended amount of time.

bottom line is it takes it to make it. to make full power at your amps you need battery reserve capable of withstanding your draw - and you need to have an alternator capable of keeping up with the demand of charging your batterys and feeding the amp.

 

[cincykemo]

mounting your amp there is fine but I usually mount mine to the back of the seat for functionality and looks. Mount the mdf to the back of the seat and then mount the amps to the mdf. I dnt recomend mounting them to the box like said earlier. Your box vibrates alot and electronic stuff like your amps will not hold up as long taking a beating from your subs.