I have came back to these amps about three times now, and they look really appealing.

Rockford Fosgate Punch P500-2 for the subs (250w RMSx2 @ 2 ohm)
Rockford Fosgate Punch P400-4 for the speakers (100w RMSx4 @2 ohm)

Price looks pretty reasonable, plus they match each other. My only hesitation is that they are both "supposed" to get 4ga power and ground leads. Will i be fine if i use a 4 ga wire and then split it at a block and run 8 ga to each of these? (fuse them low i guess). I don't really see myself listening to the system anywhere near full power for more than a few seconds, and im thinking i will be fine with 8 gauge. Plus, ive bought all my wires i think i'll need.

 

Make sure you wire your subs for 2 ohm. If you are going to run them each of a different channel they need to be 2 ohm speakers, if you are going to bridge the amp, get 4 ohm speakers and run them in parallel. Match the ohms of the amp to the speakers or you will either cut power or you will cut amp life due to heat (depending on if you go over or under). Personally, I would look for a mono amp to run your subs. Mono amps are designed with subwoofers in mind.

I would run the recommended power gauge wires. You don't have to overkill it, but don't skimp either. There is a reason they are recommending a certain size. Unless you have a battery extremely close to your amps, run a 2 to your block and then split off with 4s. You've invested in amps, keep them humming along happily with sufficient power.

Each RCA cable is two plugs, a red and a white, each carries a seperate channel so 3 RCAs gives you 6 channels, although you actually only use 5. Your H/U has a total of 6 channels with each RCA cable carrying two. Four of them are for your regular speakers and will be left/front, left/rear, right/front, right/rear. Your four channel amp should accept all four of these via two RCA cables.

The other two are for your subwoofer and the dedicated RCAs on your H/U should be labeled as such. Your third RCA cable will connect to your amp for the sub(s). These channels don't recognize left/right and will play both equally (essentially this channel is mono, not stereo, and plays left and right sounds equally regardless) and should have a selectable crossover so that only bass goes to your subs. You don't want frequencies the speaker can't play sent to it, as this will increase distortion.

 

Quick question: I have an amp thats rated at 200W RMS x 2-channel @ 4ohms and I'm going to wire 2 JL 10w0-8ohms, which would bring me to 4 ohms when wired in parallel... but I was wondering if I could run a single 10 while I build the second box for the other sub, which would mean theres a 8-ohms on the amp... each sub is rated at 125W RMS, btw but...

Joey

 

You will be fine running an 8 ohm sub by itself. You just never want to get the impedance lower than the amp is rated for. For example don't put a 2 ohm sub on an amp that is only rated down to 4 ohms.

 

When I installed my system 12 years ago in a car it was recommended that I use a relay for the remote-on line from the headunit to the 2 amps and cd-changer so I wouldn't blow the fuse in the headunit. I did as suggested and never had a problem, may not be an issue with only 2 amps or it may just be overkill.

 

You'll be fine, but you'll only be getting half the power your amp is rated for while its hooked to the 8 ohm load.

I've never used a relay and I've never had a problem in 15 years of different cars with aftermarket sound systems.

 

Just wanted to throw this out there for Strokin_It7.3, your cd player, being a pioneer, should have a feature called "no fad", this determines how much of the low end frequencies go to the door speakers, and how much go to the amp-subs. You should try to find this setting in your audio menu on the cd player, and tool around with it. Trust me, you don't need much low end going to those door speakers. They are not designed for it, and you will get a lot better volume- before- distortion if you don't give them too much.

 

it's worth the wait for JL AUDIO. You should save for a few weeks more and spring for it. The JL 500/1 is the perfect amp for what you are planning on running. Since you'll probably have this system for at least 5 years....you might as well be happy! MTX makes great products, but JL is definitely a step above! Think of it in "Ford terms" place a F250 XL next to a F350 King Ranch.....both are great trucks, but one is obviously better! There's my .02 cents worth.......

 

Here Here on the JL, the 1000/1 is an amazing sub amp. Lots of legs and well built, although not cheap, I will get lots of listening from it. They are like the Krell's or Classe's of home stereo applications. If you know anything about home stereo's, they are reguarded as some of the finest. You will be very pleased if you save for JL products.......just my opinion..dg

 

I forgot to look at JL Audio Amps. The 500/1 does look like a nice match for the subs/box he is getting.

The 300/4 also looks like a decent amp for door speakers if he wants to get a matching amp.

I believe I saw in another thread that he has bought the Fosgate amps already though.

If not here's a couple links for decent prices on the JL Ausio amps. I have used this retailer before and had good luck.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...dio+500-1.html
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...dio+300-4.html

 

That JL 300/4 looks like a decent amp. They call it a class A/B design, not the typical mosfet current pump crap. That is great, but the power spec doesn't change from 3-8 ohms which indicates what? It’s not a true class A/B? Either the output stage is still mosfet or they're fudging the spec. The THD at .03% is ok and not bad compared to most today. The S/N is an nice 108.5 db which means you'll hear less noise in the quiet spots. In all a good amp, but I'll still keep my old Nakamicki PA 300 II. It's still my gold standard for clean sound with 75w x 2 @ 4ohms, .003% THD, dampening factor >1000 and 115 db S/N. here is some info on this oldie but goodie:

http://www.geocities.com/p9019/nakamichi/Brochures/PA-350_Pg01.html

It's a true class A/B design that generates it's own internal rail voltages. When you push voltage instead of current there are less losses and it sounds cleaner. I have run this for 20+ years and it still sounds great. I use the smaller PA-200 with 35w x 2 for the rears and an Alpine 3545 for the twin 15" subs, which fit great in the back of the Bronco, but I'm still trying to figure how to squeeze it all into the SD. Shoe horn please!