Upgrading my 09 chevy silverado system. could use a little help.

[Dylan West]

i'm pretty new to this but i currently have two 10" kickers, want more. i've started by getting a quad 8" box. four 8" SDR-8's(4 ohm) from skar. 350rms/700peak each. replacing my OEM speakers with some skar speakers(probably the 200w 6.5",havent bought yet) as well but i was wondering with this setup if it will be nessecary to get a high output alt or replace/add aftermarket batteries to the equation. if i do need to add anything to the electrical side, inputs and recommendations would also be appreciated.

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[huberoy123 10+ year member]

You didn't mention whether you were using your head unit or a separate amplifier to drive the speakers? If using your head-unit, what is the RMS power rating for each channel? If using an amplifier, what is the RMS power rating for each channel?

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

What amp on the skarbage? I mean subwoofers? 1500rms is about it on stock electrical.

 

[Dylan West]

You didn't mention whether you were using your head unit or a separate amplifier to drive the speakers? If using your head-unit, what is the RMS power rating for each channel? If using an amplifier, what is the RMS power rating for each channel?

i havent bought the amp yet either but i was looking at the RP-150.4AB for the speakers. 250W RMS at 2ohm/channel x4 or 150W RMS at 4ohm/per channel x4.

 

[Dylan West]

What amp on the skarbage? I mean subwoofers? 1500rms is about it on stock electrical.

i havent bought the amp for the subs yet but was looking at the RP-2000.1D which is 1400w RMS at 2 ohm x1 channel or 800w RMS x1 channel at 4ohm. again not sure if im going with it, just looks like a good fit. out of curiousity, is skar a bad brand or do they have unreliable equipment? open to opinions on better equipment if that's the case. only used kicker so far and i've blown multiple 12s and 10s out of kicker on seperate occasions.

 

[Seth F.]

i havent bought the amp for the subs yet but was looking at the RP-2000.1D which is 1400w RMS at 2 ohm x1 channel or 800w RMS x1 channel at 4ohm. again not sure if im going with it, just looks like a good fit. out of curiousity, is skar a bad brand or do they have unreliable equipment? open to opinions on better equipment if that's the case. only used kicker so far and i've blown multiple 12s and 10s out of kicker on seperate occasions.

Skar is not a bad brand. Just everyone hates them on here for whatever reason. I am running two Skar amps in my truck right now and they are just fine. For the money they are worth it.

You can do some math to figure out your amperage requirement as well. Its basically I = P/V where P = total wattage and V = voltage of your vehicle. Typically V is 14.4 so in your case you might have I = 2400/14.4 = 166.6 AMP @ 2 ohm or I = 1400/14.4 = 97 AMPs at 4 Ohm. The last part is the efficiency. If you average an 85% efficiency into that equation for both amps youre looking at 166.6/.80 = 195A at 2Ohm or 114A at 4Ohm. But that is at MAX volume when you are running a Sine wave through the system (i.e. a 40Hz signal). So those are worst case burst scenarios but that gives you an idea of what to expect in terms of current draw.

So you may want to at minimum invest in a Group 31 or 34 battery to help out.

 

[Seth F.]

i havent bought the amp for the subs yet but was looking at the RP-2000.1D which is 1400w RMS at 2 ohm x1 channel or 800w RMS x1 channel at 4ohm. again not sure if im going with it, just looks like a good fit. out of curiousity, is skar a bad brand or do they have unreliable equipment? open to opinions on better equipment if that's the case. only used kicker so far and i've blown multiple 12s and 10s out of kicker on seperate occasions.

Do you have experience setting gains on your amps? Usually blowing subs means they are constantly clipping (distorting) and you have the gain knob set beyond the clipping point. If the gains are set properly you can play your tunes at a volume that you couldnt stand for more than a few minutes and never blow your speakers.

This is a BIG reason most people have systems that sound like S hit and are constantly replacing gear. You can even run a 5k amp on a sub that only wants 1k RMS if you have the gains set right.

 

[BCotrell]

Md3000 2 ohm would be a good amp factoring box rise. Md1800 2 If you want to shave $20. Full bridge is your friend.

did you say what headunit you have? Depending on what you got 4 channel amp on active in your front stage would be solid. Alternative would be a Comp set on a bridged 4 channel. Do you have empty door pillar to put a tweeter, you could put it in the door panel too. 1”hole

 

[Dylan West]

Skar is not a bad brand. Just everyone hates them on here for whatever reason. I am running two Skar amps in my truck right now and they are just fine. For the money they are worth it.

You can do some math to figure out your amperage requirement as well. Its basically I = P/V where P = total wattage and V = voltage of your vehicle. Typically V is 14.4 so in your case you might have I = 2400/14.4 = 166.6 AMP @ 2 ohm or I = 1400/14.4 = 97 AMPs at 4 Ohm. The last part is the efficiency. If you average an 85% efficiency into that equation for both amps youre looking at 166.6/.80 = 195A at 2Ohm or 114A at 4Ohm. But that is at MAX volume when you are running a Sine wave through the system (i.e. a 40Hz signal). So those are worst case burst scenarios but that gives you an idea of what to expect in terms of current draw.

So you may want to at minimum invest in a Group 31 or 34 battery to help out.

damn man i really appreciate you dumbing that down for me! so as far as im aware my stock alt put outs ~100-120amps. could be wrong. so you recommend replacing my stock battery or adding the better battery to the loop?

 

[Dylan West]

Do you have experience setting gains on your amps? Usually blowing subs means they are constantly clipping (distorting) and you have the gain knob set beyond the clipping point. If the gains are set properly you can play your tunes at a volume that you couldnt stand for more than a few minutes and never blow your speakers.

This is a BIG reason most people have systems that sound like S hit and are constantly replacing gear. You can even run a 5k amp on a sub that only wants 1k RMS if you have the gains set right.

appreciate the info! sounds like im a dummy cause i would set my gain on my amp to max with a remote knob hooked up and just turn the bass up until i thought it was right.

 

[Seth F.]

damn man i really appreciate you dumbing that down for me! so as far as im aware my stock alt put outs ~100-120amps. could be wrong. so you recommend replacing my stock battery or adding the better battery to the loop?

I would definitely start with replacing your stock battery with a group 31 or 34. They are expensive AF but if you are really planning on running that much power then you will at least need to start there. High Power alternators typically start at $450 for a good one, plus you will need to replace the cables for them as well. You could also use two batteries, replace the stock and hook the other up where your amps are. That would at least compensate for additional burst current draw.

 

[Dylan West]

Md3000 2 ohm would be a good amp factoring box rise. Md1800 2 If you want to shave $20. Full bridge is your friend.

did you say what headunit you have? Depending on what you got 4 channel amp on active in your front stage would be solid. Alternative would be a Comp set on a bridged 4 channel. Do you have empty door pillar to put a tweeter, you could put it in the door panel too. 1”hole

damn i wish i could give you the info, im currently overseas and pieces together parts from thousands of miles away and having them shipped home. i dont know the exact headunit since my truck has been home with my seeing it for the past 9-10 months. all i can remember was it was a touch screen kenwood.. i know.. so much info.

 

[Seth F.]

appreciate the info! sounds like im a dummy cause i would set my gain on my amp to max with a remote knob hooked up and just turn the bass up until i thought it was right.

LOL yeah no bro. Go look up on YouTube how to set your gains man. You'll need a multimeter for the cheap way or check out Steve Meade's DD-1. It will save your equipment and your ears in the long run.

 

[Dylan West]

I would definitely start with replacing your stock battery with a group 31 or 34. They are expensive AF but if you are really planning on running that much power then you will at least need to start there. High Power alternators typically start at $450 for a good one, plus you will need to replace the cables for them as well. You could also use two batteries, replace the stock and hook the other up where your amps are. That would at least compensate for additional burst current draw.

alright ill have to link into that, only issue is my truck is a crew cab so i dont have alot of extra space in back especially with the box i purchased taking the entirety of the underside of my backseats. which means if i need to have an extra battery im gonna have to route it to the front of my truckbed and build some type of housing for it to weatherproof it.

 

[Dylan West]

LOL yeah no bro. Go look up on YouTube how to set your gains man. You'll need a multimeter for the cheap way or check out Steve Meade's DD-1. It will save your equipment and your ears in the long run.

hell yeah thanks man!