I just ordered my system and I'm hoping it will hit nicely.. I don't need some of the hightech competition systems you guys buy, but I want the bass to hit hard enuff to give the passenger a headache and possibly that "My Ears Are Going To Bleed Effect"

Etronics.com
Alpine MRD-M500 V12 AccuClass-D Mono Amplifier- $289.99
(2)Alpine SWR-1041D 10" Type-R Series Subwoofer (4ohm + 4ohm)-$199.98

CMT Trading
KICKER COMP-VR DUAL 10 SEALED SUBWOOFER BOX- $54.00

Crutchfield
Lightning Audio 4 Gauge Wire- $69.99

sounds like a great setup! now make sure you do the install correctly. if you have any questions, you know where to ask.:thumbsup

I was thinking about wiring the system in a parallel circuit.. Is this good or should I wire series with the ohm rating on these subs.

wire each subs coils in series, then wire the subs in parallel. this will produce a total resistance of 4ohms. this will be safe for the amp.


*disclamer* dont trust me on the following info, use you head.


on a side note, the alpine amps are built pretty well, so if you want, try hooking everything up in parallel, so you have a total resitance of 1ohm. make sure you back off on the gain control, and if the amp starts going into thermal failure PLEASE switch it over to the recomended wiring. i have a funny feeling that the amp will be able to handle such a load though.

i thought alpines were only 2ohm stable...
thats what the specs say anyways

I am looking at the diagrams from this site since I am not experienced with car audio a whole lot.. Which diagram do I want to go by

Reff-http://www.carstereo.com/help/sp_wiring.cfm

Yeah Alpines are built pretty well, but don't trust them for 1ohm stability.

^^really? i know a couple people that are running them at 1ohm, but perhaps its just a fluke. i guess if it were me, i would at least try it, LOL.

^^^ Yeah, it can be done, I'm just saying I wouldn't do it. Not on an MRDM-500. They aren't built like a Soundstream or Pheonix Gold amp that's for damn sure.

When you get the amp and/or subs there will be a diagram showing you how to hook them up. If possible, follow the one from the amp. Good luck.

Thanks.. Yea I got the subs today and I saw how it said to hook them up. I will probably follow that. It was very specific on the install too like if it were 2 ohm or 4 ohm 1 or 2 subs how many amps. So hopefully saturday I will have this bumping. I'm having trouble with the power wire tho.

^^^run the power wire from the battery along the firewall to the passengers side. upon pulling down the passengers side carpet (remove the kick panel and door sill) you will see a large grommet. tear out a hole and run the power wire into the cabin. run the wire on the passengers side along where the door sill goes and under the backseat to the trunk. shouldnt take more than 20 minutes, but youll need at least 15 feet of wire to get to behind the backseat.

Thanks SPL.. I should have been a little more specific but my main problem was getting the 4 gauge power wire into the fuse. I got it now it was quite a bitch to get it in on the first end.

I hate our engine bays because shit is so cramped. Is there any other gromments on the drivers side? I layed my signal wire from the headunit to the trunk on the passengers side. I want to run them on opposite sides because I have heard about electrical interference when the power cable is close to it. Also can someone tell me the coorect order in which I want to plug everything in. Power to battery .. Power to amp.. ground.. etc..

ive heard of people running wires through the steering boot, but that always scares me, lol. if you do a search here, im sure youll find some more info. congrats on not wanting to run the power and signal lines together though!:thumbsup

the order should go like this (make sure the amps body isnt grounded):

1) connect the positive power wire to the amp
2) connect the positive wire to the battery
3) connect the remote turn on lead to the amp
4) connect the ground wire to the amp (make sure the other end isnt grounded while doing this)
5) connect the amp ground to the ground point on the vehical (you might notice a spark or two)

now stop, and turn on your headunit. check to see if the amp turns on. if it does, you know your power connections are ok. of not, check the grounding point, and use a multimeter to make sure the power wire is supplying current from the battery.

6) connect all the signal wires (the RCAs from the headunit and the speakr wires). no real order here.

Thanks Much Guys especially SPL_Eclipse.. The Forums would be lost without you guy with your expertise in car audio. I will be sure to let you guys know how it works out on Saturday when I should hopefully have all of it hooked up.

P.S- The wiring kit I have it a Lightning Audio 4 gauge kit. It has some wire that they call Speaker Wire, which is obviously used to hook up the subs. My question is, can I use this wire to run from my headunit to the amp as a remote turn on lead?

^^yes, you can, and i do it all the time, lol. it would be a good idea to put a small piece of tape or somthing around each end though, so you can identify that it IS the remote wire and not a speaker wire. also, if you cut a small slit where the two wires are connected at one end, you can them pull them apart, effectivly makeing two seperate wires.

Got another question. When I plug everything in most importantly the subs into the amp. How does the amp now to put out the same amount of wattage thru each sub since its a mono amp. Does it put 900 watts thru each sub or is it gonna be 450 thru each sub? I'm confused on how this is gonna add up. Please dont dont act harsh and call me a noob or shit because I know I am and I'm a little lost as far as tweakin the shit when its ready and hooked up.

assuming the subs have an equil impedance (eg., they are both 4ohms, or whatever), the amp will deliver half its wattage to each sub. if it delivers 900 watts total, its going to "give" each sub 450 watts. sorry if im confusing, im totally drunk right now, lol.

Nah man.. For being drunk you put the point across very well. Lol Whats up with the sig? Drinking a hobby? My sister aint home now so I suppose she getting drunk too. lol

How exactly would I run the subs at 2ohm? This is safe rite? Thanks

hahaha, yes, i have a drinking "hobby", lol. i just thought the sig pic captured my persona perfectly, it was taken by a friend of mine a while back. i consider myself a beer expert, and i dodnt typically get drunk...but some nights thats a different story.:beer

anyway, there isnt a way to run both subs as a single 2ohm resistance to the amp. heres what you have to do:

1) for both subs, wire the voice coils in series (+ to -/+ to -). youve now "made" each sub 8ohms.

2) using one of the voice coils from each sub, wire the two in parallel (+ to +/- to -). it doesnt matter which voice coil you use on either sub, just pick one. this now presents a 4ohm total load from both subs, and all 4 voice coils.

3) from the last sub in the "chain", connect your + and - wires to the amp.


the only other way to wire everything is to run everything (all the voice coils) in parallel, but this will give you a total of 1ohm of resistance, which might not be safe for the amp. now if you want to only run ONE sub, you can just wire each of the two coils in parallel and hook that up to the amp. it will yield the maximum power from the amp, as the total resistance will be 2ohms. on the other hand, you are loosing a sub. theoretically, the output will be the same either way, but that depends on the box design, etc. if you really wanted the extra power, i would recommend returning the alpine and getting an amp that can handle a 1ohm mono load, that way you could use the subs to thier full potential.

I really dont want to return the amp. But from your experience and expertise do you think this will bump really hard. And make your head shake.

^^^^that depends on the box!!! make sure its well constructed and apropraite for the subs, and it will sound great! also, ive found the maximum output comes from a rear-firing system, so face those subs toward the back and as close to the back of the car as you can. you dont have a lot of wattage coming from that amp, but it should be enough to rattle the rear-view mirror and possible shake your eyeballs around a bit, lol.

Hey man, I have the whoel Alpine type R setup, 6x9's and 6+1/2, with tweater....Its a really nice system.....Comes with everything for the install too....The subs are also sick, try not to cover em all up!

I had the exact setup as far as your subs are concered. It hit plenty hard for a while then I started losing my hearing...Now I have 2 M500's each pushing a type-R 12. Its not installed yet but I hope it does the trick.

Chad

MY OLD SETUP

I like that setup man.. And I dyed the trunk black so that would look really nice.. How exactly did you set that all up.. Is that a custom box or a prefab that you sorta built in a lil more into the trunk.

The bottom of the box was fiberglassed in to fit the contours. Here are some more pics of the box.

Thats awesome.. Doubt I could do that kind of work tho..

I had never done it before....It took some time but wasn't really that hard. The only trick was to get the mix right on the fiberglass of resin and hardener.

Chad

Question about wiring the subs again. The installation is further delayed because the place that I ordered my sub box from sent me the wrong size box. Anyway the box has the ports in the back for each side like.. Ports for the sub on the right and then one for the subs on the left. You were saying how I need to run positive to positive and negative to negative. Since the 2 voicecoils on one side of the subs are wired to each other (+ to -) As far as the other 2 voicecoils could I just run the (+ and -)from both subs to each of their ports on the box then just run the wires together strait to the amp... I don't know if I'm making it clear but I hope you get what I mean.

Originally posted by OZ_GS
The bottom of the box was fiberglassed in to fit the contours. Here are some more pics of the box.

OMG! That is what I'm Gonna tryto do!!! Did you build the bottom part(contours) out of a frame or what? I'm gonna build the subbox inside and do smooth fibreglass on top. The bottom part looks like the hardest part! HELP!