Colbyjack

If you have have 2 DVC 2ohm you can wire them at .5 (not recommended), or 4ohm, or 8ohm. http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp?Q=2&I=22#results If you have 2 DVC 4ohm you can run at 1ohm, or 4ohm. http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp?Q=2&I=42#results So if a 1ohm load is your goal you would want to go with 2 D4's. They have pics of the different setups in those links.

Yep, that's exactly what it says! It even says that some XS power chargers may go above 15v but for no more than 5min max. It also can't be installed with less than 12.6 resting. Got mine in today. Showing 13 resting. Looks like it's getting installed tonight!

Ok heres what you do, sell the saz3500 add that cash to the 900 allotted for the sub and get 12 8" bass bazooka's! Dude at 50w each, you'll be crankin a hard 600w's! Hope you got the electrical for that! Multiple runs of 12ga everywhere! Panel flex here you come! No really though, w/ shipping i'm sure it'll put you over the 900 but you could get 2 fi btl n2 12's. But that's also without any of the $ upgrades. With all the extras and shipping you'll be over 1000. Well I guess since that'll put you over budget, BASS BAZOOKAS IT IS!!! Cant wait for that build log!!

Well I've had it for about a year and a half now, and I got it from a friend who had it for about eight months before all his gear was stolen. I charged it once about two months ago, more or less as a refresher, but I've had nothing but good things to say about it. I am not trying to pursuade your opinion one way or another, but you can now say you have heard some bad stories about optimas, and one good one!

This comes from optimas website: Alternator: 13.65 to 15.0 volts, no amperage limit. D34/78 These batteries are dual-purpose. They are designed for engine start and cyclic applications and for use in vehicles with large accessory loads. Looks like I'll be fine with the optima up front. I wanted to get a power cell for the back because when I turn it up beyond normal listening levels, to say demo its higher end capabilities, that's when I'll have a voltage drop. Day to day listening on it, even with the usually once a day demo level volumes, isn't an issue. I'm just trying to add all the pieces one at a time to a much more comp style setup. Gotta see what I can put together, and possibly try to join some comps in the near future. Taking it one step at a time. Family budget comes before system budget nowadays.

I actually got the JL for really cheap too. Bought it off CL and the guy I got it from thought it was the 12. He was selling it cheap for a 12w7 too, so I made out like I stole it. Thing is I didn't even realise it was the 13 either until I was cutting out the box on a cnc router, and thought to myself, that opening for the sub looks really small. So I call my wife and had her read off what it said on the side of the sub to me. Ummm, 13w7 D1.5. I wa pretty stoked to say the least thinking I got a good deal on a 12. That did explain however, why it dwarfed my RF HX2 12" sitting right next to it! I do like the sub, but I just want to change it up a bit. It sounds great, but it's not as tight sounding as I would like. Which I know I can fix by changing the box, but I would rather get a couple of SA-12's. I just really want to give them a shot and see what I can do with them. Thanks for the input. I didn't think I was crazy thinking an XS would be fine in the back with an optima up front. The only reason I was thinking about keeping the cap is one, I already have it, and two I Iike having the digi display to read my voltage. What does one of the dash mount voltage displays run? Haven't looked into those yet.

Anybody else got any feedback?

I know how to wire the two batts together(+ to + fused about 12" from batts on both ends, - to chassis) but where would the cap go, assuming I'm not going to get rid of the cap all together? Would it be between the front and rear batt, or between the rear batt and the amp? If it's between the two batts do you need to put a fuse between the cap and rear batt?

Didn't really clear anything up for me, but alright Thank you for your advice.

I guess what im trying to say is I see competitor setups all the time where they'll have say an hc1400 up front and two xs d3100's in the back. Or some other variation of one version of an AGM up front while having a different AGM brand in the back, that are rated at different capacities. I'm just curious as to why the optima wouldnt be a good choice to run up front with an XS in the back, I mean optima has a pretty good rep I thought. I may be way off base with that assumption though. And I'm not trying to be difficult, I would just like a better understanding of it.

The optima is a 12v AGM. I understand the concept of not mixing the brands due too performance variations, but isn't that true of the same brands and same models as well? Just like two amps will always bench test a little different in output capacity even when they are the same models, but when strapped they are ok. I just hadn't heard to not use an XS, Kinetik, etc.. near my amp while using an optima in the front.

That's why I was wondering if the cap in between the two would act as an isolator of sorts between the optima and xs. But I kinda figured I would be getting mostly responses of "get rid of the cap". Mixing a Kinetik and XS is ok? Just not an XS or Kinetik with an optima?

Hey guys, first post, but a long time follower of the forum. So here's my questions. I've got a 98 explorer with a 130amp alternator, yellow top optima 55AH, upgraded big 3 (i think, got a question about that too in this post) with all 4 gauge, 1.5 farad Rockford cap w/ digi display, one Saz 1500d, and one jl 13w7 in a ported box built to the jl specs, wired in parallel so it's at 0.75ohm load. Looking at the owners manual for the 1500d it says 1500@1ohm, 800@2ohm, etc., so what would it be pushing at 0.75ohms? I have a 100amp ANL fuse between the battery and the cap. The owner of a local car audio shop told me that my amp wasn't pushing more than 1000 watts if i wasn't blowing my 100 amp fuse, is that true? If so, why is that, since my sub is wired at 0.75ohms? Also, I'm still getting some headlight dimming, and can see my voltmeter drop on hard notes, especially on low notes. I'm looking at getting a Kinetik power cell, but not sure which one I should get. Maybe the HC1800? I have upgraded the big 3 (at least i did what i was told), but the same shop owner told me when doing the upgrade of the engine block to chassis that I should use a mounting bolt on the alternator since it is bolted directly to the block, then run it to the chassis, which I did. He said not to do the engine ground strap because it's unnecessary, but from what I've been reading online recently, some people say that is the most important one to upgrade. So know I'm kind of confused as to which info is correct, and if I have actually done what is necessary to see the results of upgrading the big 3. I know its a lot of questions at once, but any info you all can give me would be great. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply RlottStar. Ive got my alt+ to my bat+, my bat- to the chassis, and I've got one from the block to the chassis via a mounting bolt on the alt casing since it is bolted directly to the block. Do I need to run another from the bat- to the block? Side note, I also added a run of 4awg to a ground strap from the chassis to the body (which had a terrible connection due to road grime) and it gave me a .2 idling voltage boost.

Nice! Pretty sweet for two 12's one amp and nothing crazy done to the car. What size ports are those?

28 pages, two hours, and 40% of the battery on my phone to read this beginning to end! And it was worth every second! What a great build! Your attention to detail, craftsmanship, and creativity are second to none! You've inspired me, and I'm sure most of the others that have followed this build, to take my install to the next level and think outside of the box! Thanks for posting so many pics and giving such detailed explanations of everything! Job well done!

That's awesome beandip, thanks for the detailed reply! It's nice when somebody gives that indepth of a reply with pics and all, instead of just a, "yes".

You got four votes from my house. My nephew is special needs and I know how much this would mean to him!

Cool, thanks. I've heard about using welding wire instead, but never really looked into it. Is it really just as good as audio wire?

Got my 150amp fuse today so we'll see what happens. I am still looking for a second battery in the back by my amp. I've seen a lot of good things about kinetik and xs power. Any recommendations between the two? And I will be upgrading all of my wires to 0 awg hyperflex soon, local shop has it for $4.50/ft with Ring terminals included for every 10ft purchased.

I know the 13w7 can handle a maximum of 1500rms, but I'm trying to get my electrical setup for when I get rid of the w7 and move to a different sub setup. The only reason I even got it was a guy was selling it thinking it was the 12, and was asking $250 for it. So I grabbed it, used it for a little while, and am going to sell it soon. Looking to go with three SA-12's. I know I've got some electrical upgrading still to do, just tryin to take things one step at a time.

Well I blew my 100 amp fuse today ha! It's been a while since I've been able to play my stereo for longer than a couple of minutes at a time. Took about ten minutes today on some good ol bass mekaniks. So I guess I am pullin some where over 100amps, at least a little bit over. Anyways, my other questions still stand is someone can help me out a bit. Thanks.