Never done audio install, please help

[NeroInferno 10+ year member]

So i'm taking out my 10's that i have right now and putting in some 12's that im buying today. I need a lot of help because i've never done an install before and dont wanna go to a place and get charged out the *** for something i know i should be able to do myself. First off, im keepin the amp i have now and im gonna use it to power my front door speakers so if im gonna be running an MTX Thunder 3401 to just the door speakers what power levels should i adjust everything to? And the next thing is that i'm going to be having two amps now instead of one, how do i get power to the second amp? am i going to need a new fuse and wiring to get this new amp up and runnin? And then just a question on the side, the MTX amp came with a remote bass gain knob that i installed in the dash, can i just unplug it and hook it up to the kenwood amp or is it not gonna fit right? Well again any help much appreciated because i have NEVER installed audio equipment before. Thanks in advance guys...

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[60ndown 10+ year member]

its complicated and you can ruin your equpiment, find someone who knows a lil and get some help, its gonna take about 4-8 hours and cost $200 in parts etc to do it right.

 

[OneKrazyKeebler 10+ year member]

Yeah, I was that guy once too.

After all, its cool to ask before you go ahead and messed it all up.

You should really let everyone know what kind of speakers you got/getting. That is how you will be able to tell how much power to give them. Also let us know what kind of amp you gonna run your subs off of. It is just as bad to underpower as to overpower.

You should use a distribution block to split your power wire.

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

im in cali too, if you wanna come over ill help you, but you gotta buy pizza and bring me some burned cds.im about 30 mins from san jose where the f is bakersfield?

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2160293#post2160293

this is 1 thing that could happen if you try it yourself oh and then theres fire!

 

[johnson 10+ year member]

cutting a correct size subwoofer != installing

1. You wont be able to use the MTX Thunder 3401 for the front speakers because it is a mono amp (1 channel). It puts out 100w @ 4 ohms or 200w @ 2 ohms. With this much power I would do a single woofer setup or get a higher power amp.

2. How big is your power wire right now? Click the link in my sig to see the stuff you "might" need. You can either make two runs of smaller gauge wire or use a large one and split it with a distrobution block.

3. That bass gain knob probably wont fit on the new amp. But then again, you dont need it anyway.

4. Get someone to help you.

 

[NeroInferno 10+ year member]

alright after readin this stuff i may just try to fork over the extra $$$ now to get it done right before i fork it over later for new stuff and to have it done right...the power wire is pretty fat, im not sure how big but its **** good size, whoever did my audio install the first time must have not known what the f they were doin cuz they have two 10's and the front speakers goin off the amp so i dunno, will the front speakers work fine if i have an amp to only power the subs? the amp is a kenwood 2channel, im not sure what model cuz i haven't picked it up yet but i believe its rated at 1400w (not per channel) and the subs are two 12" kicker comp vr's so yeah, i may just use the power for that amp, drop the old amp and sell it, and then let the speakers just chill...

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

My first install I had a decent shop do it, I just watch them every step of the way to see what they are doing, how the wiring goes and asked a lotta questions. I know for a fact after they were done they wanted to just get me outta there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif. But I learned how to do alot of stuff just by watching and asking questions.

Find ur amp model, and see if u can get someone to identify the power guage size, cuse what u think is big we might think is small //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[NeroInferno 10+ year member]

okay the amp model is a Kenwood KAC-9152D Monoblock amp

as for the power gauge size i have no clue still but i'll find out...

 

[Savstyle 10+ year member]

i could drive to fresno and i could do it for you

Or jus take it to a shop, and watch every little thing they do that way you can do it yourself next time.