Hey,
im a noobie to this site, seems very promising. my question is this.
i have installed..
kenwood deck
alpine mrp-f240 amp
diamond audio 5 inch in front
diamond audio 6 1/4 in rear
this system was installed by a very reputable installer in my area...according to my amplifier im getting 50 watts by 4 into my speakers and i was told by my installer that if i wanted to add a subwoofer at a later time that he could get another 160 watts out of my amp and push a 10" or 12" sub with the same amp.....well i just happend to come across a nice sub in a box that id like to use but dont want the custom box install right now....would like to do this without having to take it back to the install shop,wondering how i have to do things to get a 5th speaker off of the amp....he also told me that the only drawback to this install procedure would be that i would loose my front to back fader control.
Replies (11)
uochronos on 08/28/2004 16:37:11
i belive he is talking abotu running all 4 speakers off the front channel of the amp then running the sub off the rear channel bridged,,,, you well ned a 2+2 dual voice coil sub or a single voice coil 4 ohm sub to work here.
mimind on 08/28/2004 18:39:46
the amp has a low or high pass switch for all channels, i think thatll take care of the sub problem wont it? and if not what happens if i run the wrong kind of sub? and if he is suggesting running all four off of the front channels then do i just double up the speaker cable on the terminals or is there some kind of adapter i can buy?
and thank you for checkin out my post.
swez on 08/28/2004 19:06:16
If you run all four speakers off the front channels, you'll have a net 2 ohm load to each front amp channel. Set your HPF's to ~80 Hz. for the full range speakers. Yes, you will lose fade control and a few dB of SPL to all 4 speakers.
To add a sub, all you need do is bridge the rear channels of this amp to MONO. (TRI-MODE OPERATION) Set the LPF to ~80 Hz., as well. This will give you about 160 watts RMS to the sub.
IT MUST BE A 4 OHM SUB WHEN USING TRI-MODE CONFIGURATION. Lots of good subs out there that will take this modest power. A single 10 or 12 is plenty.
Diamond makes some great subs too. A bit pricey, but other makers can do a good job at low power too. Alpine SWS series, Infinity Reference, low end Rockfords, Audiobahn, Kicker Comps etc.
Swez
mimind on 08/28/2004 23:33:25
ive got a kicker comp 12 and i just hooked it up...all four speakers hooked up to the front two channels.(every speaker wire simply connected to the top terminals, and ran the sub wire off of the two back channels, left positive and right negative i believe. do i need to change any of the input rca config.? its cutting out on me right when it starts to sound really good.
Wealot53 on 08/29/2004 00:39:23
It sounds tome that your putting the amp into protection(overheating)
I'm not positive on this but most diamond audio mids and highs are 4 ohms each like swez said when tied together drops down to 2 ohms stereo in your case I don't beilieve that particular amp is going to pull a 2 ohm stereo on 2 channels and a 4 ohm mono on the other for any period of time.So what I suggest is take your front right positive connect it to your rear right negative and cap it off / Now connect your R F - And the R R + to the right front channel of your amp.Do the same for the left (wired in series)so instead of 2 ohm stereo it will be 8 ohm stereo but it should free up what the woofer is going to take anyway.Car Stereo is like everything else The big pieces are going to take what it needs and leave the other to fend for them selves.If this doesn't stop the clipping then you have one more option b-4 upgrade and I will tell you if you need it but this should get you going .
mimind on 08/29/2004 02:38:14
ok...that gave me some more. i got about 3 clicks more on the volume so it did help....but when the bass is really hittin its still cutting out. id like to hear your other suggestion...only reason i push it so far is the reputation of the guy who put this system together, saying what he said.
Wealot53 on 08/29/2004 03:01:27
ok you have to trust me on this one The old saying That Less is more will prove true in your situation The reason being right now your amp is giving you all it has and like I said the sub is going to take the power it needs to run so I'm assuming the gains are all the way up the front is on highpass and the r on lowpass if it has a bass boost switch it off ,back the gain for your sub down to about half way back the mids to about 3/4 turn your deck on normal volume and play it at that volume if everything works good bumb your gains up a little at the time untill you find the sweet spot use the adjustments on the deck more or maybe turn your mids down a little lower so you hear the bass more Because it's there after you mess with it for a little while you'll start hearing what I mean and try to geet some air over the amp it needs to breath
Wealot53 on 08/29/2004 03:03:05
adjust your amp to your deck it helps fool the ear
mimind on 08/29/2004 03:10:34
thats what i figured it would come down to...unfortunately its installed under by back seat so the air current is a problem. if i turn the bass eq level to a lower db number will i get a lower range of sound with equal power?
swez on 08/29/2004 07:42:33
If you did back off on the gains as mentioned, that should help control the heat generated in the amp. However, since you have the amp mounted in a location where air flow is minimal, either move the amp or add air flow to keep this pup cool.
Also, backing off on the bass boost will help too. Just a few clicks may be enough to keep the amp from overheating. The more boost we use, the more power the amp will require. This causes more heat generation as well.
Oh... some full range Comps use 2 ohm MB drivers and 4 ohm tweeters. Am wondering if your Diamond system has that style MB?
Swez
PS Welcome to CK there Wealot53. We can always use a few more experienced hands in the install bay side of the board. How do we pronounce your screen name?
mimind on 08/29/2004 16:53:06
ive messed with the gains all day now and i think ive got a pretty good balance going on now...sounds very nice...ill have to work on the air problem...not cutting out anymore....but i can make it happen with the deck controls.....i really appreciate everyones help here...i never thought id find a place with so many knowledgable people involved. ive got one other issue i just want to ask about thats not related to the amp....
the kenwood deck i have all of the sudden wont eject my cd anymore...luckily i like the on thats stuck in there but....is this something that is common with kenwood....not the most expensive deck only about 160 dollars about 2 years ago
im a noobie to this site, seems very promising. my question is this.
i have installed..
kenwood deck
alpine mrp-f240 amp
diamond audio 5 inch in front
diamond audio 6 1/4 in rear
this system was installed by a very reputable installer in my area...according to my amplifier im getting 50 watts by 4 into my speakers and i was told by my installer that if i wanted to add a subwoofer at a later time that he could get another 160 watts out of my amp and push a 10" or 12" sub with the same amp.....well i just happend to come across a nice sub in a box that id like to use but dont want the custom box install right now....would like to do this without having to take it back to the install shop,wondering how i have to do things to get a 5th speaker off of the amp....he also told me that the only drawback to this install procedure would be that i would loose my front to back fader control.
Replies (11)
uochronos on 08/28/2004 16:37:11
i belive he is talking abotu running all 4 speakers off the front channel of the amp then running the sub off the rear channel bridged,,,, you well ned a 2+2 dual voice coil sub or a single voice coil 4 ohm sub to work here.
mimind on 08/28/2004 18:39:46
the amp has a low or high pass switch for all channels, i think thatll take care of the sub problem wont it? and if not what happens if i run the wrong kind of sub? and if he is suggesting running all four off of the front channels then do i just double up the speaker cable on the terminals or is there some kind of adapter i can buy?
and thank you for checkin out my post.
swez on 08/28/2004 19:06:16
If you run all four speakers off the front channels, you'll have a net 2 ohm load to each front amp channel. Set your HPF's to ~80 Hz. for the full range speakers. Yes, you will lose fade control and a few dB of SPL to all 4 speakers.
To add a sub, all you need do is bridge the rear channels of this amp to MONO. (TRI-MODE OPERATION) Set the LPF to ~80 Hz., as well. This will give you about 160 watts RMS to the sub.
IT MUST BE A 4 OHM SUB WHEN USING TRI-MODE CONFIGURATION. Lots of good subs out there that will take this modest power. A single 10 or 12 is plenty.
Diamond makes some great subs too. A bit pricey, but other makers can do a good job at low power too. Alpine SWS series, Infinity Reference, low end Rockfords, Audiobahn, Kicker Comps etc.
Swez
mimind on 08/28/2004 23:33:25
ive got a kicker comp 12 and i just hooked it up...all four speakers hooked up to the front two channels.(every speaker wire simply connected to the top terminals, and ran the sub wire off of the two back channels, left positive and right negative i believe. do i need to change any of the input rca config.? its cutting out on me right when it starts to sound really good.
Wealot53 on 08/29/2004 00:39:23
It sounds tome that your putting the amp into protection(overheating)
I'm not positive on this but most diamond audio mids and highs are 4 ohms each like swez said when tied together drops down to 2 ohms stereo in your case I don't beilieve that particular amp is going to pull a 2 ohm stereo on 2 channels and a 4 ohm mono on the other for any period of time.So what I suggest is take your front right positive connect it to your rear right negative and cap it off / Now connect your R F - And the R R + to the right front channel of your amp.Do the same for the left (wired in series)so instead of 2 ohm stereo it will be 8 ohm stereo but it should free up what the woofer is going to take anyway.Car Stereo is like everything else The big pieces are going to take what it needs and leave the other to fend for them selves.If this doesn't stop the clipping then you have one more option b-4 upgrade and I will tell you if you need it but this should get you going .
mimind on 08/29/2004 02:38:14
ok...that gave me some more. i got about 3 clicks more on the volume so it did help....but when the bass is really hittin its still cutting out. id like to hear your other suggestion...only reason i push it so far is the reputation of the guy who put this system together, saying what he said.
Wealot53 on 08/29/2004 03:01:27
ok you have to trust me on this one The old saying That Less is more will prove true in your situation The reason being right now your amp is giving you all it has and like I said the sub is going to take the power it needs to run so I'm assuming the gains are all the way up the front is on highpass and the r on lowpass if it has a bass boost switch it off ,back the gain for your sub down to about half way back the mids to about 3/4 turn your deck on normal volume and play it at that volume if everything works good bumb your gains up a little at the time untill you find the sweet spot use the adjustments on the deck more or maybe turn your mids down a little lower so you hear the bass more Because it's there after you mess with it for a little while you'll start hearing what I mean and try to geet some air over the amp it needs to breath
Wealot53 on 08/29/2004 03:03:05
adjust your amp to your deck it helps fool the ear
mimind on 08/29/2004 03:10:34
thats what i figured it would come down to...unfortunately its installed under by back seat so the air current is a problem. if i turn the bass eq level to a lower db number will i get a lower range of sound with equal power?
swez on 08/29/2004 07:42:33
If you did back off on the gains as mentioned, that should help control the heat generated in the amp. However, since you have the amp mounted in a location where air flow is minimal, either move the amp or add air flow to keep this pup cool.
Also, backing off on the bass boost will help too. Just a few clicks may be enough to keep the amp from overheating. The more boost we use, the more power the amp will require. This causes more heat generation as well.
Oh... some full range Comps use 2 ohm MB drivers and 4 ohm tweeters. Am wondering if your Diamond system has that style MB?
Swez
PS Welcome to CK there Wealot53. We can always use a few more experienced hands in the install bay side of the board. How do we pronounce your screen name?
mimind on 08/29/2004 16:53:06
ive messed with the gains all day now and i think ive got a pretty good balance going on now...sounds very nice...ill have to work on the air problem...not cutting out anymore....but i can make it happen with the deck controls.....i really appreciate everyones help here...i never thought id find a place with so many knowledgable people involved. ive got one other issue i just want to ask about thats not related to the amp....
the kenwood deck i have all of the sudden wont eject my cd anymore...luckily i like the on thats stuck in there but....is this something that is common with kenwood....not the most expensive deck only about 160 dollars about 2 years ago
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