For all you car stereo gurus, I need some advice on installing 2 amps......(go easy on me if this is too easy.)

I was planning on letting a local shop do the stereo installation in my Evo, but I wimped out at the last minute. I'm so paranoid about my Evo, I don't really want anyone messing with it. So, I've decided to do it myself.

I'm not a genius with car stereos, but I probably do know a little more than the average person. I've installed stereo systems in about 8 cars, but they were all simple 1 amp setups. I just need to know what I need to get to wire 2 amps. What kind of "splitter" will I need in the trunk, because I'm assuming you don't run 2 4-gauge power wires through the firewall.....If you must know, they're both Rockford 4 channel amps, 1 for the mids/highs, and one is bridged for the subs. The head unit is a Sony MDX8800, I'm pretty sure it has multi-RCAs.

Thanks for any help.....

(please, no lectures about added weight to the Evo. i'm addressing the power needs of the car also..... )

 

I don't think you are looking for a splitter. See how they can be run in parrallel or sequence. If you send/post exactly the model #s for all of your stuff I will send/post to you exactly how do do the set up from head unit to the sub and all of the wiring.

-J

 

you need a power distributor....go to circuit or best and but one ~20 dollars....if you wanted to run a 4gauge to both amps the you would need to run a 2gauge to the distributor...or if you wanted to run an8 gauge to the amps then you need to run a 4gauge from the bat......

though i am still not sure why you are running a 4ch for your mids and another for your highs?...i have never heard of that before...at least not in a daily driven car

as far as the RCa's go ...you should be able to bridge the amps ie: run one pair rca to the first amp into the input then run rca's from the otput the the other amps input...soe amps will recognize that it is bridged and wiht some you will have to flip a little switch

 

Thanks for the heads up. I will be getting a distribution block and some more power cable before I install everything.

About the amps situation, to make it more clear, I'll be running 1 4channel amp to the front door speakers and rear deck speakers. the other 4 channel amp will be bridged to 2 subs. I won't be running a separate amp for the mids and a separate amp for the highs......Sorry if I worded it weird in my previous post.

 

actually you do want to run the 2-4 gage wire through the firewall put a fuse right off the battery then run the cable back through the firewall and under the carpet all the way to the trunk. Get a distribution block at any car audio shop for $20 an run it from there to your amps make sure your ground wire is as big as the wire you have going to the amps and make sure the ground wire is actually bolted to the chassis. RCA wires can come right along the same path as the power cable (starting from the back of the deck) straight into your amps. Just make sure you use good quality wires and connectors and you shouldn't have any probs if you are running over 800 RMS watts I would go with a minimum of 2 gage. Monster or JL makes really good cable. As far as sub wire configuration Use whatever will give you what works best for your amp whether its 2ohm or 4 ohm set up your subs to match your amp. If you need help for configuration to make them match let me know. (I'm assuming you have 3 preouts on the deck that makes it easiest and best for sound quality)

 

Thanks for the help guys. Things are pretty clear now. I'll let you know how it turns out....

 

I'll one up David's post by adding that you should run your RCAs on the opposite side of the power wire. It will help eliminate whatever noise you might encounter from the power wire.

 

i have to bring this thread back only because starting a new one would be stupid.

im doing the same thing that the thread starter is. my problem is i have a kicker 4 channel amp and it is labeled amp 1 and amp 2. what gives? i thought i was only gonna need one rca strand for the signal, not two. so when i hook up two channels, it works, then i hook up the other two and no dice. i dont wanna run a bunch of rca cables from the front to back. and besides i only have one rca pre out and another one that says front load ( or something like that). cant i use rca splitters? the thing that makes one rca side turn into 2? i need help. i dont wanna let anyone touch my car nether.

 

bump

 

i would ask the regular lancer guys

not as many evo guys have systems

 

This kind of stuff is confusing to me. I would PM Sentinal. He seems to be pretty informative in the stereo area. He helped me out. I'm pretty sure that you're gonna have to use RCA splitters somewhere along the line if you're using 2 amps, and you only have 1 pre-out connection......I'm no expert by any means though.