I decided to run 4ga through the max when I did my install two weeks ago, just to be sure to get some meaty wire there in case of upgrades in the future, etc...

At first it seemed cutting down the wires to fit the 8ga terminals on my amp would be fine. The system sounded great for almost a week, then I blew a fuse. I redid the connections real tight (cut down the power/ground a bit more), and now, when my car is on and my sub isn't hooked up to the amp, both normal running leds turn on (power & bridging). When I connect my sub, the power led stays off and the bridging light turns dim. Fuse is fine.

I have two alternatives here. Let me ask...does running a fused distro block from 4ga->8ga work well with no impediments on quality? If only one 8ga wire is hooked up to the d-block, it will run the full current, right? Any negative consequences to going this way?

My other choice is to buy a new amp with 4ga terminals. This wouldn't be so bad because I've been thinking about going class D for a while. Does anyone have any recommendations of good bang-for-your-buck class D amps that put out right around 500-525W rms x 1 @ 4 ohms?
Seems like a hard range to meet - everything I see is around 400W rms x 1 @ 4ohms. If you can tell by the eq I do use, I'm not real big on popular "decent" consumer brands like JBL, RF, etc. I took a look at what ampman had to offer (Kirk's a good guy, he gets my first look usually) and didn't really find anything that fits. I'm looking to spend about $350 or so.

Thanks for reading the long post, and for any ideas.

 

Did you ever try splitting and twisting? I am not a big fan of chopping of wires. The cutting more than likely effected your setup

 

Yea, I tried splitting and twisting, but the wire was so thick that even when split, the strands didn't twist very much at all, and I couldn't get them into the terminals that way either
Thanks for the reply


By the way, what do you audiophiles think of the JL 500/1 amp? JL's always seemed like an in-between brand to me in general...better than your normal consumer-level names, but not quite upper-consumer level. The 500/1 seems to be fairly well loaded, though a bit over my $350 price. Anyone sell JL not-so marked up? www.mmxpress.com was asking $449 or so...

 

Thats what I was trying to get you to do from the begining, it's the proper way to do it. Call me nike cuz you need to just do it.

 

I am almost 100% certain split and twist will work. Let me explain. You take the end of the wire part it down the middle. THen you take each end and twist them. Still seperated you place the bolt in between the two twist a tah dah.

 

whoa.....your going to fry your ride.......lol...for 20$ get a fuse block that you can run 4ga. into and 8ga. out......that way you fuse each amp..you also should get a "inline" fuse an put it at the battery too.Incase you short out your wire or ever need to work on it.you can just take the inline out and your system is dead..well..in a sense..I personally like circuit breakers do to simplicity but breakers are usually pretty high amperage at an inline so may not work for you needs dunno..would definatly get the Dist. block at the amps though quit trying to split that wire man...lol..laughing with you not at you..did this when I first started stereo about 15 years ago till I caught a trunk on fire..lol

 

well after reading your WHOLE thread.....got to rephrase here.
I didn't read to where you were thinking of the d block.
you will lose nothing at all.definately the way to go.get a 2 way or even 3 way for future upgrades.you can use just 1 input won't affect it at all.
as for a class d for your uses, don't know..most class d's give optimal output at 1 or 2 ohm. since your wanting lower power, I would just get a regular a/b amp. since you know kirk, talk to him about monitor1's 2.120...will fit your bill perfectly.it is under rated and actually puts out just a tad over 500w and a killer price for that amp..I have 2 of the 2.120's and 2 of the 4.70's for my setup.only downside is that crossover's need to be done outside of the amp.. no internal crossovers......
If you absolutely don't want the block, get about a 2 ft. piece of 8 ga. and solder it to the 4ga and wrap the joint up with heat shrink..
your fuse is probably popping from it grounding out to the - side.....touching the - side of the amp from the leftover wire where you tried to downsize it.or, possibly, it is providing too much current for your amp..more than likely not, most amps only draw what they need..I would still fuse at the battery and before the amps..keep all fuses at same size of the amps...example, have 1 amp with a 30a fuse, need 1 30a at the battery and 1 30a at the block.If you have 2 amps that have 30a in each amp, you need a 60a at the battery and 2 30a in the d block.It is not good practice to blow the fuse on amps...I know that's what they are there for, but if you keep blowing them..eventually it won't just be the fuse...for a 30a fuse to blow it takes somewhere from 40 to 60a to actually blow it..that can be hell on the input stage of an amp if it is done repeatedly.....
just trying to help out...don't know all the mod sides to this forum and why I am here but have been in car audio for 15yrs now and iasca some of that time...quit due to political issues and the fact that it just isn't popular here anymore..but once you have that ear for car audio it never goes away...tends to be a damn expensive habit too......lol

 

Yea, I looked at the monitors...they seem like new versions of the ESX Q's. I'm running a Quantam right now...you wouldn't believe how many people haven't heard of those amps. The only problems I've had with it are, it seems to be a component amp at heart (Q1752, 175x2 rms)...with three different single subs over time, I've had to turn the bass boost almost to full blast to get it bumping. The first two were on a shop install, and verified by the shop that I bought my Treo (current sub) from. Also, the amp overheats more than some.

max'n out - yea, for some reason when I was setting my amp up, I didn't even think of that. Then I read your post on someone elses thread and realized what I coulda done. I'll try hooking it up that way and see if everything turns out OK. I think my amp is probably alright, but if it's still messed up, I might be looking more into those JL 500/1s, unless kirk @ ampman can convince me otherwise.

Thanks for the replies, guys

 

the JL is a very good amp...was thinking on a financal aspect..that is a d class and is a 4 ohm rating as well..
monitor's are totally different mfgr's than the esx amps though..

 

It sounds like you only have one amp so no distrbution block should be needed. What type of terminal do you have on the amp? Is it a normal screw down terminal? If so there are several $1 to $2 choices that will work easily. They are 4 gauge crimp / barrier strip connectors. I know that MTX and Stinger make versions that will accept 4 gauge or larger wire and the spade will still fit in small terminals, like the old MTX amps.

 

Oops, I misread on the site, thought it said Zed audio. Heh...wow, something affiliated with Zapco at those prices...

Yea, it's a normal allen screw terminal. I'll have to take a look at the shop and see what's available. Thanks for the advice as always, jmax.


That JL 500/1 is tempting with the modest list of features, but the lowest I could find it for new was $390 + $30 shipping. The ESX has been with me for a while so maybe it's time to go with something new. We'll see what happens.

 

keep it for your high's still an awesome amp...