How to link two amps togather??/

[pintorulz]

I just purchased another amp for my car stereo. Currently i am running a 4 ch to power my front splits and rear subs but it seems to be underpowered as the songs fade in and out alll the time so i went out and bought another 2 ch amp to run either my subs or the front slits but i dont know how to hook this extra amp up with the power. I have already ran the rca cables.
i have a 8 gauge power cable coming from the battary to the amp that i currently havve!!!

wat else do i need to get??

[TEG61E]

2 ways u can do this - dodgy or properly.

Proper way - get an 8gauge distribution block. Feed the power cable into that and then connect a cable from the block to each amp. Do the same thing with the remote cable, but u dont need a distribution block for that. Just splice it and crimp it up properly.

Cheap way - feed power cable into the first amp, then have it come out again and into the second amp (like piggybacking). Do the same for the remote.

Both work fine, and unless ur drawing some serious power, u wont notice a difference in the two. The proper way is a lil more secure, clean and professional..

Ground both amps at the same point.

[wynode]

Cheap way - feed power cable into the first amp, then have it come out again and into the second amp (like piggybacking). Do the same for the remote.


The major problem being with this is that you can't isolate each amp by giving each one its own fuse.

Be VERY VERY careful!

[J-MuN]

What 4 Channel amp are you running? It is best to run 4 guage wiring for your amps, if it is a 4 Channel amp.

But as TEG61E said, best bet is to use a distribution block to split the power to two different amps. Best not to use the piggy back system as Wynode has said.

[Z]

A second run of RCA's from headunit to 2nd amp too :thumbsup:

Dont forget your grounds :D

[mugeneration]

Here's a pic that may help. I say if you are going to all the trouble of buying a new amp to fix your sound dont go cheap ass, just shell out a lil extra for the distribution block. Its safer and easier. Besides, if the cheap and dodgy way stuffs up you'll have NO sound til you fix it. Trust me, I learnt this the hard way. Do things right and do them ONCE. Heres a lil diagram to help you see how to wire everything, but as mentioned above, u dont need the dist. block for grounding. Also forget the capacitor.

[pintorulz]

thanks guys... this helps me a lot
i went out and bought a cheap ass 2 ch amp tp last me two months as i am getting either a alpine or a pioneer amp from the states.. I hooked up the sub to the 2 ch amp and it worked fine.. i tested the amp witht he front slipts and the protection came on.... I dont know what the problem is??? I have a 4 ch vnet amp series 450 and the front slits works fine with those but when i hooked it up wo the audiobank avantgrade 23dxi the protection came on??? any ideas what could be wrong with it???

[pintorulz]

the speackers are rated at 70 watts rms and the amp is 100 watts rms and the gain was turned up half way!!!!

[TEG61E]

Try the cheap amp with another pair of speakers. THe protection light might not b coming on for the sub because its in a different wiring configuration(ie bridged).
Return the amp if u can and get a branded one...no point connecting a cheap amp to good splits...

[pintorulz]

i tired the cheap up with another pair of rear speackers and it workedjust fine no protection or anyting came on and the sound was crisp clear... i remember when i was hooking up the front splits we ran short of the speacker wire so i got this plastic thing where u can screw in wires and extend it i was just wondering if that could be the problem??? or something else?? so far the cheap audiobank avantgrade amp has worked fine with the rear speackers and the sub woofer!!

[mugeneration]

Talking to a guy from a car audio place, he said that cheamp amplifiers RARELY ever put out as much wattage as they claim as their max. Tho he may have just been tryin to sell me sum expensive gear (can anyone confirm this?). My guess is this may be your problem. I have a cheap amp as well, BOSS 1000W amp, and i cant wait til i replace it with a pioneer mono block 1000W mmmmmm goodness..

[pintorulz]

i think u gota look at the RMS watts as the wats eg.. 1000watts basically means that that is the highest wattage the amp hits.... i think i could be wrong...

[2DR33M]

the protection lights come on when your source (speakers, subs, etc...) require alot more power than what your amps can provide, thus when they suck out as much power as they need the amp decides to cut out because it cant handle the work load required. i.e. im waiting for a monoblock to be delievered so for temporary bass :p i have my subs running of my front stage amp, cause i had the subs running on the rear channel i turned the gain up and i got a power cut.

LOL the moral to the story is you have to look at the power required for what your doing and match that with an amp to power the job, if you buy a cheap ass amp you wont get much power at all, they are rated about 3times below what they say on the box... its actually more fun to watch them blow up :p

good luck with it dude, hope the new amp (when you get it) makes you enjoy spending hte money in the right places.

tim...

[TEG61E]

Boss 1000w BA1000 = 4 x 75WRMS (from memory)
Pioneer 1000w GMD510 = 1 X 500WRMS @ 2 ohm, 1 x 300WRMS @ 4 ohm

But cheaper brands also sometimes overrate their RMS wattage as well...
You also need to consider the class of the amp (eg. a class D monoblock is much more efficient and will produce better sound for subs than an equivalent 2ch)

[2DR33M]

thats the amp i'll be running as soon as it gets delivered ;) plus ive got a pair of MTX comp subs in an insane boot install... hehehehe

should be fun :)

[pintorulz]

hey guys....

just a update on my audio install
first of all thanks for all ur help on here... i sucessfully installed the two amps togather hooked it up with a power distributor block and its pumping hard. i think i hooked up the wires wrong to start off with when i was testing the amp for it to go into protection otherwise today when i hooked everything up it was perfect....

Thanks again Guys