Should I put a second battery to my system

[mikeysheff12]

I want more power out of my system but I’m not sure which way to go with that. Right now I have a skar rp2k amp paired to a skar zvx12, 1500 rms, 3k max. The skar rp2k does a little over 2600 watts under 1 ohm but it has low efficiency. So I’m not sure if I should replace the amp with a better one, put a second battery to my current amp (which idk how to wire up) if so, what kind of battery, the only one I have is a regular car battery which I haven’t upgraded, or should I upgrade that current battery, or just get a high output alternator

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[Dafaseles]

What are your goals with the system?

 

[mikeysheff12]

What are your goals with the system?

Just mainly to get it louder, push more air, I’m gonna get a bigger custom box made sometime in the next few months. I want to be able to turn my gain up more without it clipping or having voltage drop. I can’t turn it up anymore without it clipping or my headlights dimming

 

[Dafaseles]

Just mainly to get it louder, push more air, I’m gonna get a bigger custom box made sometime in the next few months. I want to be able to turn my gain up more without it clipping or having voltage drop. I can’t turn it up anymore without it clipping or my headlights dimming

How do you know you're clipping? I can't remember if that amp has a clip light on the knob.
And how low is your voltage getting? How and where are you measuring it?

 

[mikeysheff12]

How do you know you're clipping? I can't remember if that amp has a clip light on the knob.
And how low is your voltage getting? How and where are you measuring it?

You can audibly hear the clipping, I don’t have a voltage reader so I’m not sure how much it’s dropping but it’s enough to dim my headlights and my gauge cluster lights. I’ve had it turned down ever since

 

[Dafaseles]

So, I can only tell you what I would do. There are, of course, varying opinions, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Do your big 3 upgrade.
Slap a high amp hour (ah) AGM under your hood. The biggest you can afford/ fit.
But an oscilloscope to set your gains properly. It doesn't have to be a $400 beast. A decent $40-$100 one will do just fine for what you need it to do. Or, at the very least, watch some YouTube videos on how to set your gain with a digital multimeter.
Buy an in dash volt meter you can connect to your amplifier and read as you drive. You can get them fairly inexpensive. Stinger makes a decent one.
Watch your voltage as you normally drive and slap. If it keeps dropping into the dangerous range, you need a second battery. With a only a 2000 watt amp, you may be able to get away with not having to upgrade the alternator. At least not right of the bat.
I think once you solidify all that, your biggest gains in the volume part will be the enclosure. The right enclosure makes all the difference

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

I want more power out of my system but I’m not sure which way to go with that. Right now I have a skar rp2k amp paired to a skar zvx12, 1500 rms, 3k max. The skar rp2k does a little over 2600 watts under 1 ohm but it has low efficiency. So I’m not sure if I should replace the amp with a better one, put a second battery to my current amp (which idk how to wire up) if so, what kind of battery, the only one I have is a regular car battery which I haven’t upgraded, or should I upgrade that current battery, or just get a high output alternator

Get a Sundown SIA2500 or SIA3500 and you will be happy. Those Skar rp amps are questionable IMHO.

 

[mikeysheff12]

So, I can only tell you what I would do. There are, of course, varying opinions, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Do your big 3 upgrade.
Slap a high amp hour (ah) AGM under your hood. The biggest you can afford/ fit.
But an oscilloscope to set your gains properly. It doesn't have to be a $400 beast. A decent $40-$100 one will do just fine for what you need it to do. Or, at the very least, watch some YouTube videos on how to set your gain with a digital multimeter.
Buy an in dash volt meter you can connect to your amplifier and read as you drive. You can get them fairly inexpensive. Stinger makes a decent one.
Watch your voltage as you normally drive and slap. If it keeps dropping into the dangerous range, you need a second battery. With a only a 2000 watt amp, you may be able to get away with not having to upgrade the alternator. At least not right of the bat.
I think once you solidify all that, your biggest gains in the volume part will be the enclosure. The right enclosure makes all the difference

Alright, thank you. Are there any good battery brands I should look for most ones that I see that will match my 2000w are upwards of 3-400. I plan on getting a better bass knob for my amp, an inline rca one with a voltage meter on it. Or should I got separate with the knob and voltmeter. I’ll get an oscilloscope within the next month or so. I’ve been trying to set it with a multimeter but it’s been kicking my ass trying to figure out lpf and subsonic so I took it to a shop to get it tuned but they just did it by ear. If I knew they were gonna tune it by ear, I would’ve done it myself. I’m hoping on getting a custom enclosure, a bigger one within the next few months or so. Still trying to find someone near me that builds them.

 

[mikeysheff12]

Get a Sundown SIA2500 or SIA3500 and you will be happy. Those Skar rp amps are questionable IMHO.

Yea I regret getting a skar amp. It seemed like a good idea in the beginning but I want to try to get the most out of this one before I absolutely have to switch over

 

[Dafaseles]

Alright, thank you. Are there any good battery brands I should look for most ones that I see that will match my 2000w are upwards of 3-400. I plan on getting a better bass knob for my amp, an inline rca one with a voltage meter on it. Or should I got separate with the knob and voltmeter. I’ll get an oscilloscope within the next month or so. I’ve been trying to set it with a multimeter but it’s been kicking my *** trying to figure out lpf and subsonic so I took it to a shop to get it tuned but they just did it by ear. If I knew they were gonna tune it by ear, I would’ve done it myself. I’m hoping on getting a custom enclosure, a bigger one within the next few months or so. Still trying to find someone near me that builds them.

Look around at different brands. You could go with an expensive XS battery or something, they are proven, but really the most important things to look at are your amp hours and that is an AGM. Maybe duralast is cheaper with the same AH. Maybe look into Kenetic... there's guys on here that know a lot more about specific battery brands than I do. Hopefully they can chime in.
As far as setting your LPF and subsonic, you can do it by ear, but it's a process. It's not exact, but it will get you in the ballpark.
First you have to find the tuning of your port. To do that, play different test tones until you find one that the subwoofer moves the least. That will be an approximation of your tuning frequency. Then you generally want your subsonic a couple hz lower than that. I'll link a good video from Sundown Unofficial that they do a good job explaining how to use a multimeter to help with the tuning process. On top of that, usually the LPF is set around 80 hz.

 

[mikeysheff12]

Look around at different brands. You could go with an expensive XS battery or something, they are proven, but really the most important things to look at are your amp hours and that is an AGM. Maybe duralast is cheaper with the same AH. Maybe look into Kenetic... there's guys on here that know a lot more about specific battery brands than I do. Hopefully they can chime in.
As far as setting your LPF and subsonic, you can do it by ear, but it's a process. It's not exact, but it will get you in the ballpark.
First you have to find the tuning of your port. To do that, play different test tones until you find one that the subwoofer moves the least. That will be an approximation of your tuning frequency. Then you generally want your subsonic a couple hz lower than that. I'll link a good video from Sundown Unofficial that they do a good job explaining how to use a multimeter to help with the tuning process. On top of that, usually the LPF is set around 80 hz.

The shop I had my amp tuned by just turned the subsonic and lpf all the way down and turned my gain up. I wasn’t too comfortable with that but there was nothing I could do it about it at the time. My port is tuned to 32.91hz. It’s a box I ordered online that’s supposedly made specifically for my sub. I’ll link it below. I’ve seen a few videos that give a calculation to figure out the subsonic and I calculated mine to 24.75. I’ve seen a lot of people say to set the lpf to 80hz but the shop set mine all the way down to 50hz.

https://sonix-enclosures.myshopify.com/products/copy-of-stage-2-ported-for-skar-audio-evl-12-custom

 

[Dafaseles]

So yeah, setting your LPF that low isn't going to hurt anything, but depending on where your HPF is set in your 4 channel amp (of you have one), you might have a gap in tuning frequencies.... that's a lot to get into though.
Generally, normal music doesn't get into the really low notes (depending on what you listen to). So, in normal music, you wouldn't even have to set the subsonic that low. Playing too low below your tuning frequency can cause the subwoofer to basically lose control and reach its mechanical limits faster, causing heat the coil can't overcome with cooling, causing its to fail. But I'll leave that decision to you.
First and foremost is making sure your electrical can handle it though. All the tuning in the world can't overcome low voltage, unless you turn your gain way down, then what was the point of buying a 2000 watt amp? Right? So, in my opinion, that's step number 1

 

[mikeysheff12]

So yeah, setting your LPF that low isn't going to hurt anything, but depending on where your HPF is set in your 4 channel amp (of you have one), you might have a gap in tuning frequencies.... that's a lot to get into though.
Generally, normal music doesn't get into the really low notes (depending on what you listen to). So, in normal music, you wouldn't even have to set the subsonic that low. Playing too low below your tuning frequency can cause the subwoofer to basically lose control and reach its mechanical limits faster, causing heat the coil can't overcome with cooling, causing its to fail. But I'll leave that decision to you.
First and foremost is making sure your electrical can handle it though. All the tuning in the world can't overcome low voltage, unless you turn your gain way down, then what was the point of buying a 2000 watt amp? Right? So, in my opinion, that's step number 1

I don’t have a hpf on my amp. I pretty much religiously play dj Russticals and the songs I download and play don’t ever go below 30hz. I don’t play regular Spotify songs that much. Should I set the subsonic higher or only play songs 33hz and above (what my box is tuned to)

 

[Dafaseles]

Do you have a 4 channel amp for your mids and highs? That's the HPF I was referring to.
Setting your LPF on your subwoofer amp just protects the subs. If your box is tuned to 32 hz, I would set it to 30 hz and play wished you want. . That's just what I would do. Opinions vary.

 

[mikeysheff12]

Do you have a 4 channel amp for your mids and highs? That's the HPF I was referring to.
Setting your LPF on your subwoofer amp just protects the subs. If your box is tuned to 32 hz, I would set it to 30 hz and play wished you want. . That's just what I would do. Opinions vary.

Oh no I don’t, not at all. My lpf only goes as low as 50hz and goes up to 220hz. My subsonic goes from off - 50hz