Rainbow Install on paper... Looking for a second opinion

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Hey Guys/Girls,

I have been putting this project together for a while (First install for me)

I have the following:

1x Rainbow IPaul 4.300 Amp Tech Data

1x Rainbow CMX 265 Kicks with Cal 25 Tweeters Tech Page

I am getting ready to wire everything up and give it a shot and was hoping someone could look over my diagram and agree or disagree that I have this planned out correctly.

The speakers are 4 Ohm speakers and I am hoping (under the impression of my diagram) that I will have 270 Watts Available to each side (side meaning each x-over).

My understanding is (which I could use clarification on) is that a speaker requiring a maximum of 150 watts can be given as many watts from the amp, but the speaker will only use what is needed. In this case (if my diagram is correct). I am hoping to be making available 270 watts to a 150 watt speaker.

Any opinions are greatly appreciated ^_^

Thanks a lot!

--Incudie

Click to read more...

 

[mavster 10+ year member]

Your only giving the comps 90w?

Oh no, they need more.... Bridge the amp...

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You are a bit confused on how amp power is distributed. By simply not using a pair of the channels, you don't get more power on the other pair. You need to use the terminals labeled "bridged" on your diagram to get the power you're expecting. That said, 90ish watts should be more than enough and you have the second set of channels available for a small sub.

The second point of your confusion is on what the speakers do with the power. The amp doesn't make it's rated power constantly rather the power that it produces is related to the volume setting and the gain setting. The speakers don't just "use what they need." They take what they're given. If it's too much power then they blow. Too little power and they aren't loud enough. That said, "loud enough" really doesn't take much power on the mids and highs.

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Great thank you for the clarification,

That being said, if I wire the speakers in parallel on the amp on the bridged contacts, would that be be enough to meet the maximum power requirements of the speakers?

Thanks!

--Incudie

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Heres the revised version:

If I do this... would it be safe to split the input into both the front and rear channels?

Thanks!

--Incudie

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

^ thats right.

Also if the tweeters are going on the top of the doors or in the a pillars try reversing phase on them to increase depth.

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Awesome thanks for the reply, I'll give that a try, maybe later today.

Thanks,

Incudie

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

If you haven purchased your amp yet try the iPaul 2.400 it will so 2X130@4ohms which will move your comps nicely and the amp will run daily cranked all day with a smaller load on your electrical system

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Bah... I almost bought that model too...

I was told that with the higher end model (which wasn't too much more). I would have less overhead doing this configuration.

Too late now though... =(

 

[Audiomagnum300 10+ year member]

Where are you buying the amp from, I am not too far from you and I am interested in this model also.....

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

I purchased my Rainbow stuff from 6spdcoupe. Shipped from NJ though. If you look around there maybe some closer distributors. Although 6spdcoupe was a great help during purchasing though.

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Ok so I have everything layed out on a table plugged into the computer and car... about to wire the speakers and looking on configurations.

These are the Kick versions of the CMX 265s. I am reading the manual and it looks like I need to set the Front and Rear to Highpass.

So based on the above diagram, could someone agree that I should have both the rear and front bridged channels set in high pass mode?

Or should I leave them in "Broadband Mode" since I am using the X-overs that are wired inline between the mids and tweeters?

Since bridged, it would be 2x270... Thats fine right? I just need to set my gain very low and calibrate it with an oscilloscope?

Thanks!

--Incudie

 

[ebrunn 10+ year member]

should run them active if you have a decent deck

 

[redcalimp5 10+ year member]

should run them active if you have a decent deck

X2 for active with this set.

I'm giving my CMX Kicks about 120w rms to each mid and tweet(tweet gain turned about half way down to 1/4 of the dial setting), and they sound killer.

The mids have just recently broken in, too, so now they sound even more prominent. CMX Kicks ROCK. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fro.gif.c695f1f814b01c4ad99fe7f8cccadd29.gif

 

[Incudie 10+ year member]

Thanks the reply Ebrunn and Redcalimp5,

When you say "run active" what do you mean exactly?

Are you referring to the xover? (These are just the ones that came with the CMXs and they are wired as shown in their documentation...)