Car Audio Questions please help?

Question

hey I'm looking to put 2 amps in my car and I have two questions:
so for running two amps (1 for door speakers and 1 for sub)
1.do I NEED to use power distribution blocks for the power wire or can I just run two separate cords to the battery with two separate fuses?

also, my sub amp is a 1000 watt mono sub amp and my speaker amp is a 2 channel 400 watt amp, my sub amp has an input and output for the rca cables.
2.would it work to run the rcas from the back of my headunit to the input of the sub amp, and then another pair of rcas to the sub's rca output to my speaker amp input?
I cant go from my speaker amp to sub amp because my speaker amp only has 1 set of rca input.

Answer 1

While a distribution block isn't strictly necessary, it makes for a neater and more professional installation.



The problem with "daisy chaining" the same preamp outputs to two different types of amps is that you may lose control of some head unit functions and/or the sound will be less than desirable.



If your head unit has separate subwoofer preamp outputs, you DO NOT want to chain them to a full-range amp. The head unit crossover likely limits the frequencies sent to dedicated subwoofer preamp outputs. Also whenever you adjusted the head unit subwoofer volume it would also affect your door speakers, not good.



If your head unit has ONLY a single set of preamp outputs, then yes, you can use the wiring scheme you describe. With just a single set of preamp outputs, there's no separate bass control anyway and no way to limit the audio frequencies (crossover). The full range left/right signals would be input to both amps and you will need to use the amps crossovers to sent the appropriate frequencies the sub and speakers.

Answer 2

If you want to run 2 separate cables you can. make sure one is atleast 4 gauge and the other is atleast 8 gauge. a distribution block just makes the setup look clean. as for your second question it will work if 1 of the amps has an output for the rca cables

Answer 3

1.) No , you do not. power distribution blocks are simply used to save wire.



2.) honestly ive never tried that. what you SHOULD do is buy a new headunit or a y splitter for the headunit and run a set of rca's to each amp.

Answer 4

Well for one you wil need a distrubition block for each compenent. Get you a heave gauge wire from yout battery to your block. Then take the same gauge wire prob 5 or less to each component ground it close to the amp. Otherwise it will cut off and on.