Amp for polk/momo 12"

MTXMAN

Installation Instructions part 2

Next you need to find a spot for your ground, typically a decent sized factory bolt or screw near the amp. you want your ground wire to be no more than 3ft long (the shorter the better) make sure that there is no paint on the surfaces that the ground wire attaches to (btw you'll want to use the other ring terminal in the kit to attach the ground wire to the ground surface)after you have the ground wire hooked both to the chasis of the car and your amp you need to hook your speakers up to the amp with the 12ga speaker wire they gave you (you'll have plenty left over and i'd reccomend hanging on to it, i keep all my extra wire cause you never know when it'll come in handy) once you have all this hooked up you'll want to go back to the engine compartment and put the fuse in the fuseholder completing the circuit and giving you power
Yet another Sidenote: make sure that everything is connected before you hook up the power, this will prevent an accident. Also DO NOT put the car back together untill you have verified that everything is in working order. putting it back together before you've tested the amp can lead to much more work if something is wrong.
now you should have power to the amp when you turn the car on and turn the HU on. (btw make sure that the gain is set pretty low before you turn it on, if it's maxed and the volume is high it could hurt your sub and that'd be bad...) if you don't have power (the amp should have a green light that comes on when there is power, and a red light that comes on when there is power but something is wrong) the first place to check is the ground wire. make sure that the area around the ground wire is scraped clean of paint and that it's metal ;D. if it looks good try it somewhere else anywhere just to be sure. also you could have a bad fuse, check the fuse and make sure that it looks good, if you have a multimeter check it with that just to be sure(i'm asuming you don't have a multimeter though) if it's neither of those and the red light is on, showing that there is power but a problem it's possible that you have a bad pre-out on your HU, switch the RCA's to the other set of preouts and see if it works with them. if none of the above work tell us what's happening and well try to help ya .
once you've verified that the connections are good and that you have power you're ready to set the gain level, filter etc. get the music to about where you normally listen to it volume wise and set the filter on the amp to LP, if it has an adjustable filter i'd set it about 80. then fiddle with the gain till you like how it sounds. aviod distortion, distortion is bad ;D.

Finally(bet you thought this post would never end;D ) after you have everything in good working order you get to put your car back together YAY(please note sarcasm) i know that i'd be nice if once you got to hear the music you were done but unfortunately life don't work that way ;D so put everything back the way it was and don't worry if you have extra screws, that just means you did it right ;D (jk but it's a common saying where i'm from that if you don't have screws left over you did something wrong) ideally you'll get all the screws back where they belong but odds are good you'll forget one or two, i just put em in a little baggy incase i ever figgure out where they came from.

Officially the last step:
once you have everything back together you now have to turn your car on, get behind the wheel, and pimp around town ;D no install is complete without drivin around showing it off for a while. pick your favorite cd and just cruise. oh yeah and keep a good note of where your pause button is incase you see a cop, noise ordinances suck

That's all i can think of, if i left anything out guys feel free to chime in, oh yeah and you might want to print this out before you start the install and keep it with you for referance

Good luck and if you need any other advice don't hesitate to ask us
Enjoy the system :D


MTXMAN
p.s. if you don't install it yourself after i took all this time to write this message i'm going to track you down and beat you senseless with that rockfordfosgate amp of yours ;D Just kiddin ;D

MTXMAN

P.S. I hope you like novels ;D

Systems

I found a good deal at CC they will do it for free!!!

Just kidding MTX, YOU DA MAN!!!!
I'll try to do it by myself, with the help of a friend, probably sometime next weekend if my new toys come in the mail on time.

Again, thanks BUNCHES for that clear explanation, even I could follow the instructions... hope I can put them in practice ;-)

You'll hear from me again, no doubt about it!

THANKS!

Systems

the only thing i saw wrong with mtx's post is the green/red light thing
unless rf did this when i wasnt looking...theres only one red light that will light up behind the logo in the middle of the amp
so if you have the red light come up dont worry...lol
when i put my wiring through the fire wall...i put it in the same hole as the steering column
it can be tight, one time i couldnt get the wire through...so i cut a slit at the very end of the wire.....tied a piece of string in the slit VERY tight and pulled the string through....but i cut a slit about half way through the wire about a half an inch from the end....so just cut the rest off when u get it pulled through
when your installing...for safety keep the car turned off....and after you run it through the fire wall you might even want to take it off the battery
i heard of a story where the fuse holder came off the wire and the wire touched and shocked the crap out of the guy doing the install...VERY rare....and it could happen while youre driving...so remember to tighten down your fuse holder
if your seats are easily removed...taking out ALL the seats is best
that way you can rewire everything and make sure no wiring isnt close to any other wiring
you might even be lucky enough to have your battery under your back seat like some cars...
if no sound comes from your speakers
check in order
gain at zero?
loose connection on the amp?
forgot to put a wire in?
ground
rca on the head unit problem
those are the most common mistakes
and as far as position of your sub....that differs from vehicle to vehicle
to find out what sounds best is a trial and error thing
youll have to turn your car on...close the trunk...and hop in the drivers seat
firing back as mtx is the most popular way for cars....but ive heard some that sound awful....they turned it facing the drivers side of the car and it sounded better...and turned it facing the passenger side and it sounded great
-Cody

MTXMAN

like Cody said, just fiddle with it till it sounds like you want it to, that's half the fun of car audio

I'm not familiar with RF gear cody so thanks for the heads up on the LED :D

PoweredByDodge

i used a jackhammer to put a hole in the firewall, and then used 14 gauge power wire with a stinky gym sock my dog dug up in the back yard as insulation -- grommets are for women.

sntnsupermen131

one day someone is going to take you seriously...and im going to laugh
-Cody

Systems

was he not serious?
I was going to the local kennel this afternoon to get me a dog...

MTXMAN

RAOTFLMAO:p

sntnsupermen131

Originally posted by malvarez
was he not serious?
I was going to the local kennel this afternoon to get me a dog...

after my almost 900 posts and seeing pbd's almost 1800 posts...i still have a hard time telling when hes serious...lol...
and concerning the dog...pbd most likely found his on the side of the road or bought it off ebay...he wouldnt pay for one from a kennel...lol
-Cody

Systems

Cody writes...
and concerning the dog...pbd most likely found his on the side of the road or bought it off ebay...he wouldnt pay for one from a kennel...


actually, my mom got what we now call "the sausage with feet" for about 150 bucks pure bred from a breeder in the local hick-ville. normally i'd never pay such an atrocious price for anything, but at the time, it was about 1/3 or 1/4 of "retail" for a papered puppy and they had promised me i could name it "Ozzy" or "Ozz-ette" (circa 1996).

**** withdrew said naming promise and left me to shovel dog poo.

what is amusing is my old dog from like way back in the day (died about 2 yrs before we got this one) had a habit of taking my laundry out of the basket and walking outside, diggin a hole, and burying it.

the new dog used to have a habit of going outside, finding said old holes, and digging up my laundry -- she doesn't do it anymore -- i think she's out of Hanes.

1800 posts? --- i need a life... or a job... or both.

just picked up a part time job (like 15 hrs / wk)... hopefully that and this friggin course load from hell will tide me over.

and FYI -- other than the polk EXIII 6x9's for the caddy which i only bought retail becuase i was having a holy fit and wanted speakers right hten and there.... the last thing i paid retail for was .... hell i can't remember... i dont think i own anything i paid retail for anymore... even the panasonic deck was 30 or 40 bucks off on sale. i suppose some of the wire in the caddy, but other than that... if the price aint slashed, i cant afford it.

i gotta go now though -- gonna find me a dog on the street, sell it on ebay, and make enough money to buy a grommet for my girlfriend for christmas.

Systems

Originally posted by PoweredBySleep
i gotta go now though -- gonna find me a dog on the street, sell it on ebay[/B]

thats not a half bad idea...
-Cody

Systems

... so velcro is the best way to go to mount the amp? I guess they have that kind of stuff at walmart
for the sub i'll have to drill holes i'm afraid

PoweredByDodge

whoa hold up -- i didn't read this post thoroughly - but what are u talking abotu velcro-ing the amp down??

no.

if its in the trunk, ok fine...

but if its in the passenger compartment with you, you'd better damn well screw it down.

if you get into an accident or stop quickly or god forbid the car flips over, the last thing you need is a 30 pound mass of cast iron steel flying full force at your skull.

... i've been hit in the shoulder with a little amp... i'd hate to be thwacked in the back or head by a big one.

same goes for a sub box -- unless its in the trunk.. bolt or otherwise secure it in some manner.

my two boxes are bolted to the former rear seat brackets in back of my truck and the front seats lean back onto them providing more support.

MTXMAN

PBD with it being a four door grand am it should be standard trunk( not a hatchback) so i figgured on a classic install with both in the trunk. also it's not a must to screw the sub to the car unless you drive like me. 2 ways you can screw it down are.
1- put holes in the bottom of the box that way people have to remove the sub from the box to get at it ;D
2- the much easier way is to get some brackets and screw one side to the trunk and the other to the side of the box.(put enough brackets and you wouldn't have to screw into the box, the brackets would hold it in w/o screws)

PoweredByDodge

ah ok -- i'm just sittin here thinkin "if this dude has a hatch or a truck, he's gonna be dead if its not bolted down"...

ya if its trunk and he doesn't drive like an arse, dont even have to bolt it down -- just botl the amp to the box and make sure the box is carpeted and it should be enough friction to keep it relatively still.

i didnt' bolt my gf's **** down -- two subs on either side with an integrated amp rack between the sub boxes... its all one big piece that you have to assemble in the car.. just put a back strap of 12 gauge wire on it so that when she hammers on the brakes the box doesn't tip over.

Systems

Well, I just bought the same polk/momo 12 and ordering the RF 501s as suggested, but now I need a DYI for the Amp and Sub for 95' Legend coupe. I have stock Bose headunit.

Also, I am not illiterate in Car installation/Repairs so, I guess MTXMAN novel will come in handy.

PoweredByDodge

have fun with bose, you're gonna need a step down for it to put out suitable line signal to the amp.

to make it worse, if you said "oh fk it, i'll just make it easy and buy a new headunit" -- that wont work either --- to get rid of bose you have to buy a new head, new speakers (bose speakers wil not work with a standard head) and all new speaker wires for those speakers.

if u are pleased with the speakers then your best bet is to find a bose step down line out for your bose head -- the one or two people i've spoken to that've gotten one paid between 30 and 50 bucks for the part.