capt2130

Looks like you could run for days with that setup. How many speakers do you plan to run with 4 amps?

Griff

I run 8 DC Gold speakers running at 2 ohms off the PDX 4.150

srl520

I am running:
2 JL 12 w7s

20 JL 770s

I have 14 currently installed and just trying to get time to install the other 6.

The JL 770s are awesome.

Here is a pic of speakers located behind the bolster. I am currently working to get the other side done this next week.

Unfortunately this has become a sick addition.

capt2130

I bet they can hear you coming form miles away. I dont think I could sit in the back seat with the volume up. lol

A.O. Razor

Do you plan to install any capacitors? If not, you should. ANY good system need it. A good rule of thumb is, to have 1 farad for each 1000w. Install 1 1 farad cap for the sub amp, and a 0.5 farad cap for each mid/high amp. These are crucial for best performance. It does make a big difference.

Another thing is power cable thickness. You should run atleast 2 gauge for the plus and the split it up in 4 gauge at the amps, before and after the caps. If you can get 1 gauge in there, do it. Run 4 gauge for ground cable, 2 if you can.

Don't forget fuses. A big fuse right after the battery 200 Ah in this case and 3 small fuses,a 60 Ah for each 4 ch amp and a 80 Ah for the mono amp, right before the caps.

I know this is the boring part of this, but it's important, and it is with boats as it is with cars. Do it right the first time. If you don't, it WILL ba a pain at some point!

Good luck and happy boating

capt2130

I planned on putting inline fuses right after the battery. I will be honest most of the stuff you mentioned went way over my head. But thats why I am asking the questions now. The wire will be oversize for sure. I planned on using 0 gauge. I always build heavy so I dont have problems down the line. Glad you told me what else to add and look for.

Griff

The PDX amps will only take a 4 guage power and ground wire input into the amps. The power wire guage needed will depend on how far away the amps are mounted from the batteries.

If you put them under the back bench, then you can just run 4 guage to each of them with no problem(that is how mine are). If you go to the mid cabin, then probably 0 guage to dist block and split to 4 guage. Run the same for the ground wires. Run the fuses as close to the battery as you can.

As for cutting holes as you asked about in another post. I use a Dremel with rotozip blades and a circle cutter. I have used a sabre saw in the past and the dremel works better. Expect to use lots of bits/blades. I use about 1 bit for 2 6" holes in fiberglass. I have read that the rotozip tile bits work really well, but have not tried them.

capt2130

Thanks Griff, you are right. For some reason I thought it was 0 ga. But I just looked at some picture I took of a buddies boat with the same setup and he used 4 ga.

I never even thought about a roto tool. I just figure on using my blue point air recip saw. If always fun to put more tools in the box.

A.O. Razor

A short explanation of capacitors. They are "power banks". They store large amounts of power, so when the amp's need power for a big dynamic increase, they will get the power for it. They can deliver the power very fast, and then recharge just as fast. The reason why you need them, is simply, that in your home stereo, you have space. In a car/marine amp you don't. That means, usually in good home stereo, the amp's have the needed size capacitors. In the car amp, the capacitors are small, so therefore you need to install capacitors that are powerfull enough Do a search og google for car stereo capacitors, there should be some good explanations. They are a must for a tight sounding system with headroom and capability to play loud AND clean. In worst case senario, if you don't use capacitors, you will get lots of distortion, and damage something.

I will try and explain the setup I suggested.

From battery - 1 or 0 gauge cable (as short as possible) - inline 200 Ah fuse (I nomally use an automatic fuse for this part) - 1 or 0 gauge cable to distribution block - from distribution block 3 x 4 gauge cahles (as short as possible) - an inline fuse for each amp (as described earlier) - from each fuse, a 4 gauge cable to each of the capacitors (as short as possible) - capacitors (size as described earlier) - from each of the capacitors a 4 gauge cable to each amp (as short as possible). Feel free to ask again.

A good choise of capacitors would be the Rockford Fosgate CPC05-03 ½ farad caps and the Rockford Fosgate RFC1 1farad caps. The ½ farads can be found on the web for 30 bucks a piece and the 1 farad cap for about 65 bucks. I found these links.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-Digital-.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...gate+RFC1.html

stopdropanroll

A capacitor is a waste of time in a boat, even in cars, most people that are building big systems are playing heavy bass i.e. rock, rap, pop, etc. The cap never gets a chance to build up enough power to be helpful. Caps may help light dimming issues and other CAR related power issues but in a boat most playing gets done with the engines off and tied up or on the sand. And not having a cap is not going to destroy any equipment. Stick to making the fundamentals rock solid, same size ground as power, upgraded charging wire, good batteries, and not playing after a battery cuts out the system. I find that grouping batteries together lessens the play time and drops the summed voltage. I use 200amp or bigger relays instead of "switchers" to isolate each battery. When one goes low, I flip a switch on the dash and turn to a fresh battery then turn off the low battery. I have been doing car/marine audio for 12+ years and have always had the longest playing boats around. I do not sell caps to people, I sell better wire/altenators/and factory wire upgrades and that makes a HUGE difference. If people want to throw money at a cap thats fine but I feel they are old technology and are not effective enough for the money they cost.