General stereo question.

[joboy77]

Hey Guys,

I know we have some car stereo gurus here and I have a question. My head unit has front and rear rca outputs with the rear switchable to a sub woofer out. The amps I'm using also have rca outputs so I can daisy chain from one to the other. My question is: Is it better to run two long sets of rca wires from the head unit and hook one to each amp or just one long rca to one amp and a very short one to the other amp? The amps have built in 24db variable high pass/ low pass crossovers so I know it will work either way I hook them up. Just wondering what way is better or if it even matters. Thanks.

 

[jwmelvin]

I think it depends whether your deck does time alignment, in which case you would want to run the separate interconnects. That would also let you balance between the two amps and adjust the crossover from the head unit, which could come in handy. But if you are going to use the amp controls for crossover anyway then probably no significant difference.

 

[chrisbailey13]

If you want to be able to control the second amp via the head unit you will need run two sets of RCA cables. otherwise you will have no fader level controls to the second amp via the headunit.

 

[Hapa88]

What does each amp do?
In my setup, I have one 4-channel amp (wired in 2 channel + 1 bridged channel). The bridged channel powers my subwoofer.

I ran two sets of RCAs from the headunit which allows me to adjust the subwoofer volume from the headunit. I find that way easier to do fine adjustments for each song rather than trying to adjust the levels on the amps themselves. If you can set it and forget it, then do the 1 long RCA then daisy chain. If you want easy adjustability, run two RCAs.

 

[joboy77]

Thanks for the replies. One amp will power the front and rear speakers and one will power the sub only. I'm gonna go with both amps rca'd to the deck. Although I'm not sure how much I'll be adjusting the subwoofer from the head unit I'd like to be able to if I want. Thanks again.

 

[Hapa88]

Thanks for the replies. One amp will power the front and rear speakers and one will power the sub only. I'm gonna go with both amps rca'd to the deck. Although I'm not sure how much I'll be adjusting the subwoofer from the head unit I'd like to be able to if I want. Thanks again.

There's only 1 "rear" speaker in the NSX (it's between the seats) and it sucks. You're probably better off just running one 4 channel amp in 3 channel mode.

 

[joboy77]

Oops, I guess I should have said this is not going in my nsx. It will be in a 1999 Accord.

 

[Hugh]

Since you're taking stuff apart to run the cables, run 2 sets. In fact I ran 3 sets with the 3rd as a backup in case of cable failure so everything wouldn't have to be taken apart and put back together again. Running dedicated RCAs to each amp is the proper way to go anyway. Is it a 2 door or 4 door Accord using rear channel speakers in the rear doors? IN that case run 5 sets of RCAs. Front Pair, Rear Pair, Sub and spare. More is better.

 

[syndicate]

Just run the front, rear and sub rcas. No need for spares as cables should never go bad. Plus running wires in an accord is a snap.

 

[Hugh]

No need for spares as cables should never go bad.

Trust me, they do. Plus an extra set of RCAs allows for future expansion.

 

[joboy77]

It's a four door. I did end up running the two rca's. The wires were a snap except the 1 gauge power wire. That one was a bi**h getting through the firewall. I'm running all four doors off just the front rca output. I don't care if I lose being able to fade front to back. I was gonna finish up everything today, but the mounts for my amps didn't arrive like they were supposed to. Thanks UPS. I'll have to wait until next week.