ok, so im in the process of purchasing my stereo system. i have the head unit, the front and rear speakers and two amps. havent purchased the sub yet.

now ive never installed a two amp setup. my stereo has three outputs: front, rear and sub.

how do i go about wiring it--do i use one of the radio outputs to the input of the sub amp and then the sub amp output to the input of the mid/high amp?

or do i route one of the front/rear outputs to the mid/high amp input and the sub output to the sub amp input?

tia.

-mikey

 

What amp? If it is a 4 channel amp, it should have 2 sets of inputs. Run to front to one set, and the rear to the other. If its a 2 channel amp, simply run front out into the amp....you wont be able to use your fader if you do this.....

Then, depending on what amp you have, if it has an output, you can send that to the sub amp, otherwise, send it directly from the headunit. Hope that helps.

 

What do you mean? the RCA ports?


Assuming you have a 4 channel amplifier and a mono amplifier, the best way to do it would be to run the 4 RCA's to the 4 channel amplifer, and 2 RCA's to the Mono Amplifier.


But, if the 4 channel has an auxillary set of RCA outputs, you CAN run a short RCA terminal to the mono amplifer. Doing it this way does limit your adjustments to your subwoofer though. Most head units will allow you to control the subwoofer level separately (you'll have Treble, Bass, and Subwoofer adjustments, typically), and not using the RCA outputs on the head unit leaves the Subwoofer setting useless. Also, the subwoofer will be using the front channel frequency, so, as you adjust fade, its output will vary.

I say just use the outputs on the head unit. It gives you the most adjustments and flexibility.


As for the auxilary outputs on the mono amp, Usually those are just for wiring up more mono amps, and not multi channel amps. So you'd have to use the 4 channel as the Master, and the mono as the slave.


I hope this helps... Any more questions, I'll try and help!

 

Eh, i got beat again...

 

jl 500/1 and jl 300/4.

i was doing some googling and found a setup from jl showing pretty much the same setup i plan on running, just with a different sub. they had this illustration:



..and thats kinda how i thought to set it up. but i didnt think about what would happen when fading. also, could the illustration be for use with a headunit that didnt have a sub output, hence why they had to wire it that way?

thanks for the help.

 

Nice amps....I had the same pair once but never did install them.....anyway, yes you can hook it up that way, but you lose fader control. ANd since the 300/4 doesnt have an output, you are best off doing all 3 outputs from the headunit to the amps. The sub level can be controlled from your headunit, or you can get the bass knob for the 500/1. Get some pics of the system when its ready.

 

Ok.

Sub outputs go to 500.1 inputs.

Front HU outputs go to 300.4FRONT inputs.
Rear HU outputs to go 300.4 REAR inputs (the one that says "not used in this application.)

This picture is not an accurate illustration of your application.

My question is where are you mounting these amps? It's my next project, except I'm going to forego a sub in the jeep. I've had enough bass bangin... I would like to run about 250 watts/channel RMS - I just haven't found the right speaker/amp combination....

Good luck and take pictures.

 

this is uncertain most likely under the rear seat or i may build a false floor/wall and hide them somewhere in the back.

ive searched to forum, but havent seen any pictures of setups... which would make this a little easier.

another question is where would one route the power wires and rcas? under the carpet or through the rollbar padding?

 

As far as routing goes, you need to have power wires running down one side of the jeep, and RCA's down the other.

The RCA's can pick up interferrence from the power wires resulting in poor performance and lots of distortion. Also, keep the RCA's away from things like the computer, and other major power lines, since those too have effects sometimes.

That being said, I just ran power to the rear of my jeep. I took off the plastic molding at the door entry (be carefull, those plastic trip clips break easy... the heads are thin) and ran it to the rear. At the roll bar, I ran them up, and into the cargo area, underneath the carpet, tying off to the factory wiring harness. It's a very clean look.


PS: when runniing wires behind the dash, watch out for the heater core piping. It's VERY hot when running!

 

i knew about keeping the rcas and power separate... just wondering if the rollbars were an option for routing.