Planning an upgrade, need some help...

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Most of this system was in my last car. Here is a quick run through of what I have now:

2006 Hyundai Sonata GLS V6 (no factory sub)

Factory battery

Factory alternator (110A I think, though I'm not 100% sure)

Stock speakers (2 6.5" with tweeters in the front doors, 2 6.5" without tweeters in the back doors)

Kenwood Excellon KDC-X491 head unit

Infinity Reference 311a mono amp (running 312W RMS @ 2 ohm)

Infinity Reference 1252W 12" dual voice coil 4 ohm, rated at 300W RMS

Q-Logic sealed enclosure, 1.25 sq feet

Pyle 4 AWG power and grounds (from a kit)

I just ordered a Kicker ZX 200.2 amp (70x2 RMS) to power a pair of PG RSD 65cs for the front doors, and to save money and time I plan on just pushing the fader all the way to the front rather than mess with the rear speakers (people rarely ride in the back).

My first question is about using a distribution block to power the two amps. I just grabbed a Scosche PDM482 distribution block with 2 30A fuses from Wal-Mart. It will take a 4 AWG input and has 2 8 AWG outputs. I know my Infinity amp will run on 8 because that's what I used to use, but I just want to make sure before I do anything stupid... if I put the main 4 gauge in, run 8 gauge to the Infinity and Kicker amps, and use 8 gauge grounds (to the same point on the body), am I likely to run into any problems?

As for my upgrade, I'm looking at a Fi Q 12" and either a Hifonics BXi 1206D or Hifonics TXi 1008D since the prices are good and people around here seem to have such good results with Hifonics.

I'm not sure what to do about power that amp though. Caps are obviously out of the question and better alts are impossible to find for my car. I'd rather not blow $150-$200 on an Optima yellow top or red top if I don't need it. Do you think it would be good enough to just get a "plain" battery (decent brand of course) and hook it up in the trunk for the system? How about a deep cycle or heavy duty battery that's under $100?

Also, is it likely that 4 AWG amp wire will handle this system or will I have to buy and run new wire?

Thanks for any tips you can offer.

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[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Wow, Hifisoundconnection is fast as hell. I ordered my Kicker amp from them on Tuesday night, the delivery was scheduled for Monday and the package was sitting on my doorstep this morning. Looks to be in perfect shape (factory refurb). I can't wait to try it out. I'm going to hook up my old Infinity Reference 6x9s to test it out while I wait for my PG RSDs.

 

[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

if you plan on running a 800w or more amp for that fi q in the future... i would run 4ga or even 1/o gauge back to the disto. 4 ga to the sub amp, and 8 ga to the mid's/ highs amp..... no cap.. do the big three in whatever size wire you ran back to the amps.. so if you run 4ga, do big 3 in 4ga, 1/0 back. 1/0 big three..

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

if you plan on running a 800w or more amp for that fi q in the future... i would run 4ga or even 1/o gauge back to the disto. 4 ga to the sub amp, and 8 ga to the mid's/ highs amp..... no cap.. do the big three in whatever size wire you ran back to the amps.. so if you run 4ga, do big 3 in 4ga, 1/0 back. 1/0 big three..

Thanks for the tips. I forgot about the big 3. I am planning to do that before I upgrade my sub. I was confused about what gauge of wire to use for it though, thanks for clarifying that.

Do you think if I do the big 3 I won't need a second battery with my 110 amp alt?

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Anyone have any opinions on these Kinetik HC800 batteries? They're a lot cheaper than an optima yellowtop.

http://www.techronics.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=3955

If I do the Big3 and it still looks like a need more juice (for a Fi Q 12 and a Hifonics BXi 1206D) would something like that most likely take care of the problem? If so, would it be a replacement for my main battery or is it only meant to run a sound system?

Another question... would a sub like a Fi Q 12" work fine with 12 gauge monster speaker wire or should I go bigger? I have a ton of that and the bigger stuff (from any brand) seems to be pretty expensive.