Want to ditch the 8" Alpine enclosure and upgrade......

[noupf]

I have a sealed single 12" fox box in my truck. I upgraded from the Alpine sub.

where did you get that enclosure? I see nothing like that out in the market? Did that require you to raise the rear seats as some of these enclosures require us to do?

 

[Graygoose]

Old skool woofer

 

[adrianp89]

now i'm confused....... since the "bare wire to rca" now gives me rca's to plug into the amps rca imputs, cant both amps take the rca's that are now coming off the speaker wires.....or am i missing something here?

Yes, you need the option to change the type of signal going in. RCA pre-outs are typically low-level voltage. A speaker receives high-level voltage. When you splice in RCAs to a speaker line, it does not automatically convert it to a low-signal, so you are still sending a high level signal to the amplifier.

 

[LB3711]

where did you get that enclosure? I see nothing like that out in the market? Did that require you to raise the rear seats as some of these enclosures require us to do?

Here you go >>> DODGE QUAD & CREW CAB 1-12" SEALED DRIVER SIDE

Old skool woofer

Yup that one was about 12 yrs old in that pic. It lasted another 3 before I had to replace it.

 

[audio1der]

I am in for the reasoning as well. I typically won't use the hi-lo converter on an internal amp from a subwoofer, and my concern is how much power can they actually handle? Can a high level input on your amp handle 150w? I know your cheap LOCs can't.

I would have to see the amplifier in question, but typically the "bare wire to RCA" does work for the smaller systems and you just to change the setting to Hi-Level.

they make LOC's specifically for use as subwoofer inputs, designed to handle it. That said, if you can find an amp with speaker level inputs it just amkes everything easier and neater.
Whatever you buy, make sure the amp puts put 10-25% more power than the sub can handle (RMS). Even newer digital a.k.a. "Class D" amps aren't 100% efficient and you'll never get all the power they make, to the sub. I run 1200W to an 800W sub, and they compliment each other nicely. If you buy a 300W sub and power it with a 300W amp, the amp will run out of breath before the sub breaks a sweat.

 

[adrianp89]

they make LOC's specifically for use as subwoofer inputs, designed to handle it. That said, if you can find an amp with speaker level inputs it just amkes everything easier and neater.
Whatever you buy, make sure the amp puts put 10-25% more power than the sub can handle (RMS). Even newer digital a.k.a. "Class D" amps aren't 100% efficient and you'll never get all the power they make, to the sub. I run 1200W to an 800W sub, and they compliment each other nicely. If you buy a 300W sub and power it with a 300W amp, the amp will run out of breath before the sub breaks a sweat.

While this is a bit off topic... Amp efficiency has nothing to do with the power it actually puts out vs. its rated output. If an amp is rated/certified for 1000 watts rms... it is going to push a 1000 watts rms (take or give a little). Efficiency of the amplifier is how much power it takes in compared to what it outputs.

So this 1000 watts amplifier at 100% efficiency would draw ~69.5 amps. (1000w/14.4v). Now let's say the amplifier is 80% efficient (ball park for a class D), this amplifier would still output 1000watts but have a current draw of ~86.7 amps. (69.5amps/80%). You can do the math backwards to figure this out as well. While I agree overhead is a nice thing to have, perfectly matching your subwoofer to your amplifier will almost always have no ill effects.

 

[Graygoose]

Takes power to make power, even wire plays a large role in the current your amp is REALLY getting. Use cheap wire, get less power.

 

[noupf]

Yes, you need the option to change the type of signal going in. RCA pre-outs are typically low-level voltage. A speaker receives high-level voltage. When you splice in RCAs to a speaker line, it does not automatically convert it to a low-signal, so you are still sending a high level signal to the amplifier.

ahhhhhhh, I did not know there was a hi and low. I see on the amp, there is a setting to choose based on how I connect. Thanks.


So another question, why are there ( found this in pictures of multiple mono amps ) two left +'s and two right -'s. Back in the day I powered two kicker comps with two 2 channel kenwood amps that I had, but bridge each one to mono. so one amp had 1 positive and 1 negative running to the sub and so did the other.

When I started looking at mono amps, I assumed there would only be 1 pos and 1 neg terminal to hook the sub up too..... Unlike what I am seeing on the amp below and on others......... Am I ******** and missing something here?

 

[Graygoose]

Nope, helps in aiding various wiring configurations. Its still a mono amp.

 

[adrianp89]

No difference. They are bridged internally, as GreyGoose said its just to make life a little easier.

 

[noupf]

Nope, helps in aiding various wiring configurations. Its still a mono amp.

so it doesn't matter, as long as the positive wire goes from the sub goes to one of the positives on the amp and the negative wire from the sub goes to either of the negatives on the amp?

just want to be clear, sorry for the dumb questions.

I appreciate everybody's help

 

[Graygoose]

so it doesn't matter, as long as the positive wire goes from the sub goes to one of the positives on the amp and the negative wire from the sub goes to either of the negatives on the amp?

just want to be clear, sorry for the dumb questions.

I appreciate everybody's help

yup, it should have a wiring diagram to show you on the amp, if not, Car Audio , Home & Personal Audio | KICKER® and go to Support, then Wiring Diagrams

 

[noupf]

ok so now I need to pic your brains on how to wire the amp.....

I will probably go with the kicker Kicker 12CX300.1 300 watt rms @ 2 ohm amp for either the fox box with kicker sub or a jl audio stealth box.....

1) Where is the best place to tap for the high level speaker inputs for the amp? I assume I will just use a simple speaker wire to RCA lines as referenced above ( . Do i need to tap the door speakers for there full range frequencies or can I tap the 4 speaker wires that the oem sub uses?

2) Remote turn on. Back in the day I always had an aftermarket head unit, so the remote turn on came from there. This kicker amp say it can turn on when it receives a signal from the rca's / speaker wire ( dc off set ), but the oem 8" ucconcet is always on.....right? So does that cause a problem?

Or should I just tap the cigarette light that is in the back of my center console? I assume that cig lighter only gives power when i go to accessory / run or have the vehicle running.

3) I never had this in any of my set ups when i was younger, but I have heard of it happening. Will there be any sort of "pop" noise when the amp turns on? I guess this may be a concern / happens when folks add amps to oem systems, again which i never had in the past as my HU's were all aftermarket.

 

[Riccochet]

The amp will turn on when it starts receiving any type of signal over the RCA connection. That connection will essentially be dead when the truck/radio are off. Do not tap the rear 12v power plug as it may cycle slightly when the engine cranks, not good for an amp.

Personally, if all you are going to do is amp the sub, I'd get an Audio Control LC2i. Wire both channels from the factor sub to it, it'll do channel summing so you output to a mono block amp for your sub. Also will provide the remote turn on lead. It's $63 on Amazon for something that will give you a lot more control with a cleaner sound.

 

[adrianp89]

ok so now I need to pic your brains on how to wire the amp.....

I will probably go with the kicker Kicker 12CX300.1 300 watt rms @ 2 ohm amp for either the fox box with kicker sub or a jl audio stealth box.....

1) Where is the best place to tap for the high level speaker inputs for the amp? I assume I will just use a simple speaker wire to RCA lines as referenced above ( . Do i need to tap the door speakers for there full range frequencies or can I tap the 4 speaker wires that the oem sub uses?

I would go with the subwoofer lines. Others have reported this yields the best results.

2) Remote turn on. Back in the day I always had an aftermarket head unit, so the remote turn on came from there. This kicker amp say it can turn on when it receives a signal from the rca's / speaker wire ( dc off set ), but the oem 8" ucconcet is always on.....right? So does that cause a problem?

Or should I just tap the cigarette light that is in the back of my center console? I assume that cig lighter only gives power when i go to accessory / run or have the vehicle running.

I hate these auto turn-on features and don't trust them. In the past I had no luck with them (they may be better now) but I always run my own line. You can tag the cig plug in the console.

3) I never had this in any of my set ups when i was younger, but I have heard of it happening. Will there be any sort of "pop" noise when the amp turns on? I guess this may be a concern / happens when folks add amps to oem systems, again which i never had in the past as my HU's were all aftermarket.

You should not have any turn-on pop. Make sure you have a solid ground and you should have no issues.

 

[noupf]

Curious why I keep reading that it's ok or not ok to tap the 12v on the cig lighter. I mean if I can confirm that the circuit is only active when the truck is on accessory or run, wouldn't that be enough?