pissed at my junk system

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

I have a 1999 Chevy Blazer 4 Dr. I have a Memphis PR-300.2 for my subs(memphis PR 15-104D) Which i assume is 300 watts peak power in to a 2 ohm stereo load, maybe 75w RMS/channel?.I also have a Memphis PR-150.2 running my front speakers at a 2 ohm load,maybe 40-45w RMS/channel (i assume that is peak power as above). I am getting real bad headlight dimming even after doing The Big Three with the same 4 gauge wire that i have running to my amps. I am wondering why i would have headlamp dimming at all with such a low power system?

I have been told that Memphis Power Reference is the bottom of the barrel in car audio and i would be better off with entry level Kicker.

So i guess my real questions are why am i getting head light dimming with this stuff?

And did i just buy the worst stuff there is to offer on a limited budget? ($1000)

I also have Memphis power reference 6.5 coaxials in the front doors and power referemnce 4x6's in my dash.

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[wilzyx 5,000+ posts]

doesnt seem so bad, memphis is pretty good stuff even at their lower lines. and with only running about 300 watts if you are correct there should be no headlight dimming at all. im running about 900w through 4 guage and have no dimming without any electrical upgrades.

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

i for got to say that i have a CS-144 alternator rated at 140 amps instead of the CS-130 that is rated at 100 amps. I was told that i should be ok as far as power goes on my CS- 130 but it was on its way out so i switched to the 144 it was the same price and fit my stock brackets. I only had to change the plug for the voltage regulator. I am really a newb when it comes to car audio.I am here to learn, any help is appreciated

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

GM alts have a really high cut in and the engines idle very low

Thats why you have dimming, the alternators are pieces of garbage.

I can get my suburban with the 140A to drop to 9V by just pushing all the window buttons up.

Whoever told you that memphis PR series are bottom of the barrel must not know about pyle, lanzar,legacy

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

GM alts have a really high cut in and the engines idle very lowThats why you have dimming, the alternators are pieces of garbage.

I can get my suburban with the 140A to drop to 9V by just pushing all the window buttons up.

Whoever told you that memphis PR series are bottom of the barrel must not know about pyle, lanzar,legacy

but should i get it at 70 mph on the interstate?i see that there is maybe worse than i have but dimming at 300 watts?

 

[LoudCrownVic 5,000+ posts]

Shouldn't be that bad! Power Reference is good stuff too the same ore better than Kicker entry level stuff... how is your battery?

Maybe it's time fer a new one.

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Check the grounds on your amplifiers and make sure they are solid. I had dimming off of 250w when the amp ground wasn't clean and had good contact. Fixed the ground and fixed the dimming //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Tiger Bass 5,000+ posts]

You can also take you alternator and battery into Autozone and they'll check them for free. I had this problem on my 500w set up and one day my alternator and battery finally died. Got new ones, no more dimming. And checking your grounds wouldnt hurt either.

 

[AllStar1500bd 5,000+ posts]

You can also take you alternator and battery into Autozone and they'll check them for free. I had this problem on my 500w set up and one day my alternator and battery finally died. Got new ones, no more dimming. And checking your grounds wouldnt hurt either.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif
Maybe think of getting an Optima Yellow Top or someting similar.

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

have optima red top and new cs 144 alternator, grounds are good but still got these issues

 

[BIGsherm7272]

memphis PR series is much btetter than kicker comps imo....my Friend has two 12" pr's off 300 wrms and ot sounds good.

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

thanks for the reassurance(sp?) that i do not have the worst of the worst equipment. Now i wont be so self consious about telling people what i have.

But i am still at a loss as to why such a low power system seems to be really taxing my electrical system, I pulled the alt today and took it to the local alternator shop that i deal with for my repair shop and had it tested it was actually putting out more than 140 amps (151 amps). So i put it back on and reattached my grounds to bare metal on the frame rail of the truck on the same side of truck as my ground strap from engine to frame but still got some pretty bad dimming,with help from all of the intelligent people here i hope to resolve this problem

 

[Tiger Bass 5,000+ posts]

But yeah, no doubt Memphis is good stuff no matter what line of it you have.

You may want to go ahead and do the Big 3. As long as you are even remotely serious about car audio, its a good idea to do. This should also help it but it seems as if there is another problem else where. Hopefully someone for skilled than I can help.

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

big three was already done with 4 gauge wire i used Rockford Fosgate wire i had some left over from installing the amps

 

[Tiger Bass 5,000+ posts]

Sorry, didnt notice that. You may have a short else where in your car's electrical system. Just how bad is the dimming anyways?