Ok quick question, how in the hell do you run two amps off of only one power cable, or is there a way to do two power cables. Here's what I want to do, since gas prices are going through the roof putting performance on hold, and since paint jobs cost way too much, putting the body on hold, I want to fully upgrade the stereo system.

UPDATE!!!! See my new post

 

A few secondary questions, what is the best frequency range for speakers and subs? Found my answers for all but this:

What does dual voice coil mean exactly in a sub?

 

1. Don't buy anything Diamond Audio online, they don't allow it and won't warranty
2. Diamond amps suck, period. (their speakers are friggin awesome though, I love mine)
3. Never heard of DLS, but see how much airspace they need for what you wanna do.
4. Volfenhag is crap, stay away. Buy an Optima yellow top and you won't need the cap.
5. Any of the door speakers you picked are good for the money, but I'd get the Boston's or JL's over the Focals. Focals are awesome, but not their lower level, the $1800 3-way component set is UNREAL. Also, get 6 1/2's not 5x7's, and make adapters from 1/4 mdf. The 6 1/2's have better sound.
6. Don't buy a diamond amp! lol
7. If you're running 2 subs, buy dual voice coil 4 ohm speakers. That way you can run them at 4, 2, or 1 ohm. Makes amp selection much more flexible.

I'd recommend Some 10" JLW3's in a ported box, with a JL/Alpine 500w 2-channel d-class amp. A mono is a 1-channel sub amp. (2 channel can be bridged and will be more flexible.
JL/Boston/Alpine 6 1/2" door speakers on either an Alpine or JL 250w 4-channel will be plenty for good quality sound.

Don't try to figure out sensitivity, it's not worth it lol.

 

Opinions on Hifonics? What about these?

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_I D=6738

 

I purchased my diamond amps over JL audio amps at the time. I got more power, equal reliability and better looks. I'd love to see some birthsheets or amp tests you've done to prove diamond amps suck.

You have never heard of DLS. I bet you think that JL makes the best speakers, amps and subs on the planet.

No one needs a cap regardless of battery. They cause more drain on the alt and are nothing more then a huge marketing scam.

Please explain how to make two DVC 4 ohm woofers wire down to 2 ohms.

Sensitivity is very important. Every 3 DB of efficiency increase saves you double the amp power to get the same amount of sound.




I need to get to helping the OP now, I'm tired and he wants good information.

 

Dont buy a dimond amp, look for profiles, there cheap and reliable plus put out posted power
http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/car/amps/profile.htm
a CAP is completely useless

you can get a distribustion block for like $10 to distribue the power between mulitpule amps

 

jthorn,

I have a couple questions you need to answer before any of us can give you good information.


How much total do you want to spend?

What type of music do you listen to?

Will you be installing yourself?




FYI, depending on the equipment you choose, you might need to upgrade that power cable. Also, if you want quality audio ditch the full range rears and coax's in the front. You canget speakers that will blow a set of coax's out of the water for a very reasonable price.

 

Budget = damn near unlimited (you know what I mean) I'm not looking to spend more than $1500 "TOPS" to redo everything, but with that being said, I'm trying to take the most economical route.

Right now I've made up my mind that I want to get the weakest links out first, the subs and amp, end of story, so here's my question.

What's the best amp out of the three, dollar to quality wise?
Diamond
Hifonics ZIx series
DLS RA20

I'm not looking to do the speakers right away, but any advice you all can offer on how to wire the speakers up to a 4 way would be greatly appreciated.

Also, any advice on good speakers (links would help) would be highly appreciated.

I listen to......well...........everything, rock, rap, hip hop, trance, country, I'm pretty well rounded. I probably listen to rock the most.

Also, side note, I'm not looking to change the wire, I'm running a 4 gauge power cable which should be more than sufficient. I also redid all the wiring in the car with 14 (maybe 16, can't remember) gauge monster cable when I installed the Eclipse speakers two years ago.

On another note, I'm not changing the box either, it's kind of stuck in the trunk, so I want to stay with 10" dual subs. I kind of have my mind made up on the DLS subs, I have yet to, and I've been looking all day, to find a sub that's more effecient for the wattage output than the DLS. I've found many that hit much harder, but much less efficient as well. Also, the JLs I have now hit hard enough to rattle the hell out the trunk and back windows, so I know the DLSs will be more than enough.

My main concern is making sure I understand everything, and that I'm getting a balaced setup that's going to last for years.

 

Also, how in the hell do I fix the voltage problem exactly. I have a high end battery, no it's not an Optima, but when my battery died last week I had no choice but to get another one, and I bought a high quality duralast (if memory serves me right). I also installed my 200 Amp alternator, it's helped a lot, but the lights still dim, and I do have charging issues when at a stop light, the voltage gauge will drop, not as bad as with the stock alternator, but it still falls. What do I need to fix this problem?

Another note, my current amp is a 2 channel 1200W sony amp, so will removing that 1200W useless amp fix mos of the problems?

 

Actaully your weakest link is by far the full range speakers.

They play 95% of what you hear and they will make the largest impact on overall SQ.

Before you spend that much on new subs what are you looking for SPL or SQ. (Do you want loudness or sound quality, maybe a mixture of both)

If I had $1500 total I would spend around $350-400 on front 6.5 inch components. About $600-700 on amps and $300-400 on subs.
I would also cut the wires going to the tweeter on one set of your coax's and use them as rear fill if you really think you need rear speakers. (I do not use rear speakers)

With that type of budget this would be a real nice setup...

http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_...roducts_id=680$750 for very nice front comps and an amp to power them.

http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_...products_id=44(Sub amp)

Two of your DLS subs if you really want them, but I would look for something with a little more power handling or those subs in a DVC 2 ohm configuration so you can get a final load of 2 ohms.