Help installing amp
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
Help installing amp
I bought an amp, a 12" sub, and some speakers off my fiance's co-worker. I already have a nice head unit installed. I've installed all the speakers in my '90 Bronco, and now I'm trying to figure out how to install the amp. I'll probably tackle the sub after the amp is in. I am new to installing car stereo equipment, but I've done a lot of wiring for other projects.
The amp is a Pyramid Crystal PB781x. I found the manual here: http://www.pyramidcaraudio.com/manuals/PB81Xcrystal.pdf
Looking through it, there is no diagram that shows how to hook up four speakers with this specific amp. The speakers are all 4-ohm, and the manual says that 4 ohms is the minimum impedance, so I don't know how or if I should wire the speakers. I know that running them in series or in parallel doubles or halves the impedance, but I can't remember which way it works. Circuit theory 101 was a long time ago in college.
So my biggest question is how do I wire this thing in?
I also don't know whether I should use high level inputs or low level inputs. Honestly, I don't even know what that means, so a quick primer on that would be appreciated as well.
The amp is a Pyramid Crystal PB781x. I found the manual here: http://www.pyramidcaraudio.com/manuals/PB81Xcrystal.pdf
Looking through it, there is no diagram that shows how to hook up four speakers with this specific amp. The speakers are all 4-ohm, and the manual says that 4 ohms is the minimum impedance, so I don't know how or if I should wire the speakers. I know that running them in series or in parallel doubles or halves the impedance, but I can't remember which way it works. Circuit theory 101 was a long time ago in college.
So my biggest question is how do I wire this thing in?
I also don't know whether I should use high level inputs or low level inputs. Honestly, I don't even know what that means, so a quick primer on that would be appreciated as well.
Street Queen to the extr3m3
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,554
Likes: 3
From: Lubbock, Texas
So your wanting to hook up 4 speakers and a subwoofer or the 4 speaker to the headunit and one subwoofer to the amplifier?
Im not understanding how your wanting to hook it up. But if you hook up the 4 speakers to the amp then you cant run the sub and vise versa. I suggest hooking the speakers up to the headunit and then powering the subwoofer with the amp.
What sub are you working with?
Im not understanding how your wanting to hook it up. But if you hook up the 4 speakers to the amp then you cant run the sub and vise versa. I suggest hooking the speakers up to the headunit and then powering the subwoofer with the amp.
What sub are you working with?
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida
Serial killers add up the body count, serial add the resistance. I am having trouble getting the manual, but it appears to be a two channel amp. Do not connect the door speakers and subs to this one amp. It's possible to get close playing with series parallel, but you would need a nice crossover network to filter down the signals. It's a lot of math to do this right. For now, run the door speakers off the headunit and the subs off the amp.
The spec's I've found show it's 2ohm capable, but only 4ohm bridged which is going to be your problem. two 4ohm speakers will either be 2 or 8 ohms. To maintain some sense of stereo you would want to use channel 1 for left and channel 2 for right side speakers. Staying stereo mode will allow you to use 2ohms, so you will tie the speakers together positive to positive and negative to negative.
Low level inputs are the preferred method, basically they are the RCA cables. RCA's carry usually less than 10vac max and most of the time it's under 2vac. The high level inputs are the speaker wires from the radio which can carry any thing from 10-35vac.
The spec's I've found show it's 2ohm capable, but only 4ohm bridged which is going to be your problem. two 4ohm speakers will either be 2 or 8 ohms. To maintain some sense of stereo you would want to use channel 1 for left and channel 2 for right side speakers. Staying stereo mode will allow you to use 2ohms, so you will tie the speakers together positive to positive and negative to negative.
Low level inputs are the preferred method, basically they are the RCA cables. RCA's carry usually less than 10vac max and most of the time it's under 2vac. The high level inputs are the speaker wires from the radio which can carry any thing from 10-35vac.
Thread Starter
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
Thanks for the replies.
I assumed that the amp was for all four speakers plus the sub. I didn't realize that it was an either-or thing.
The sub is an Infinity 12" in what looks like a homemade enclosure.
So I will leave the door speakers wired right to the head then. I'll get an RCA cable to run to the back where I'll mount the amp and the sub. I should use the single speaker, bridged mode diagram in the manual, right?
Next question: power. Can I piggy-back the amp power off the head? If the amp is powered whenever the radio is on, do I still need to run a wire to the REM connector? The manual says to connect it to the remote power on wire from the head.
Would it be worth it to get a different amp for all five speakers? Or is that overkill? I'm not trying to rattle windows with this, just have it sound really good.
I assumed that the amp was for all four speakers plus the sub. I didn't realize that it was an either-or thing.
The sub is an Infinity 12" in what looks like a homemade enclosure.
So I will leave the door speakers wired right to the head then. I'll get an RCA cable to run to the back where I'll mount the amp and the sub. I should use the single speaker, bridged mode diagram in the manual, right?
Next question: power. Can I piggy-back the amp power off the head? If the amp is powered whenever the radio is on, do I still need to run a wire to the REM connector? The manual says to connect it to the remote power on wire from the head.
Would it be worth it to get a different amp for all five speakers? Or is that overkill? I'm not trying to rattle windows with this, just have it sound really good.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida
I don't think your going to be all that happy with your amp pushing that sub. Bridged might put out 150watts, which would be nice for a single, but not so good for duals.
No, run a new power wire for the amp and then use either the REM or Ant (both should be blue) from the radio harness for the remote. The amp should pull about 14 amps, 8ga would be a nice choice for the power wire, then you will also want a matched sized ground wire to the body.
You can get 5 and 6 channel amps, but. Subs commonly use a class D amplifier because they are power hungry and Class D runs a little cooler. The mids and highs can be run off a class a/b and that class is slightly cheaper. I like 100 watts per channel, that would be a 4ch 4x100 class a/b and then a 2x100 or 1x200 class D amp.
This all depends on your speakers, it's easy to over power them. If you can get the specs it would nice to match up all of the components.
No, run a new power wire for the amp and then use either the REM or Ant (both should be blue) from the radio harness for the remote. The amp should pull about 14 amps, 8ga would be a nice choice for the power wire, then you will also want a matched sized ground wire to the body.
You can get 5 and 6 channel amps, but. Subs commonly use a class D amplifier because they are power hungry and Class D runs a little cooler. The mids and highs can be run off a class a/b and that class is slightly cheaper. I like 100 watts per channel, that would be a 4ch 4x100 class a/b and then a 2x100 or 1x200 class D amp.
This all depends on your speakers, it's easy to over power them. If you can get the specs it would nice to match up all of the components.
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