help with speakers and wiring!

ciborgj1m

question 1: so i recently just put in pair of Polks mmc6500's in the front and a pair of polk mmc650 in the rear in my accord. once i was done putting them in I turn up the volume and noticed that there was next to no bass... I then tried to mess with the setting on my h/u. it only made a marginal difference. I intend to push 50w rms to each once i get my amp installed. Will the bass improve once they are amped or have i installed them improperly or are these speakers lacking in the bass department?

question 2: so im installing a mtx mono amp running 500w rms x1 at 2 ohms, (3x25 amps) and a mtx 4 channel amp running 50x4 (2x25 amps) both of them say that it needs a 4 gauge wire. i was wondering is it safe to run a 4 gauge wire from the battery to a 't' style distribution block with one 4 gauge input and two 4 gauge outputs? or should i be running a larger wire from the battery to the block? also is it safe to have a none fused distribution block?

any insight on these questions would be awesome!

Bill Ayotte

Welcome to the forum, and let me start by saying that I am far from an automotive electrical genius.....Are you running a beefed up alternator and a optima (or similar type) battery? If not, you may want to consider that. If you need a 4GA to each amp, I would think that you need a main wire that is larger than that, seeing that you need to split it in half at some point. A capacitor or two would be something I would consider as well....Like I said, I am far from a genius.....

Greg Peters

ciborgj1m wrote: »

question 1: so i recently just put in pair of Polks mmc6500's in the front and a pair of polk mmc650 in the rear in my accord. once i was done putting them in I turn up the volume and noticed that there was next to no bass... I then tried to mess with the setting on my h/u. it only made a marginal difference. I intend to push 50w rms to each once i get my amp installed. Will the bass improve once they are amped or have i installed them improperly or are these speakers lacking in the bass department?

Yes. Those Momos won't do too much for you powered by a head unit alone. 50 watts to each would be an improvement, but 100 watts RMS would power them to their potential. Midbass will improve when properly powered, but for the lower frequencies a sub will be the answer.

ciborgj1m wrote: »

question 2: so im installing a mtx mono amp running 500w rms x1 at 2 ohms, (3x25 amps) and a mtx 4 channel amp running 50x4 (2x25 amps) both of them say that it needs a 4 gauge wire. i was wondering is it safe to run a 4 gauge wire from the battery to a 't' style distribution block with one 4 gauge input and two 4 gauge outputs? or should i be running a larger wire from the battery to the block? also is it safe to have a none fused distribution block?

any insight on these questions would be awesome!

I'd run a larger gauge wire from battery to distribution block, for a couple of reasons.

First, it's pretty tough (but not impossible) finding hardware to split a 4 gauge run into two four gauge runs (KnuConceptz and Streetwires are the only readily found online manufacturers I've come across that offer bits to do the job).

Second, it's a pain to upgrade power wire should your needs change and you decide on using more powerful amplifiers in the future. It's better if you're starting from scratch to engineer a little redundancy into the system should you ever want to go bigger down the road, so using 4 gauge for your main run of power wire will give you limitations.

Installer4life

You should have had some bass when using the power from the head unit. My guess is you have the speakers wired out of phase. The positive and negative on one of the speakers in a pair (front and rear) is wired in reverse. Try this, fade your stereo all the way to the back and keep the balance in the middle. Listen carefully then slowly move the balance to the right and see if you bass increases. If it does then one of the rear speakers is wired backwards. Since you have the MMC650's in the rear my guess is it is at the input ot the crossover since the spades on the crossover outputs are designed to match the terminals on the speakers itself. Once done with the back speakers do the same thing with the front speakers. It is easy to get them wired out of phase. Do the pair's independently it will make it easier. once you have the fronts and the rears corrected then fade your radio to the middle and see how it sounds. Like I said you should have bass. As far as your amps go if you are primarily listening to music, which I assume you are, you will not reach the maximum current draw of your MTX amplifiers. With that being said one 4 guage wire would be plenty. The thing about MTX amplifier is they are under rated and will make more power than stated. Also they will make more power as the voltage increase up to 14.4 volts. I agree with Greg and would run a 2 guage wire from battery to distribution then to amps. Ground each amp with its own 4 guage wire. Tsunami and Jl Audio also make dual 4 guage amp kits if you want to go with 4 guage wiring. The fuse at the battery will protect the car if the power wire becomes shorted to ground. The amps come with their own fuses so just go with a non-fused distribution block. Enjoy your new toys.

ciborgj1m

SIck... ok so last night i was in my car and i noticed this wierd buzzing coming from one of the rear speakers. I tried switching the crossovers to see if that was the problem but i was the same speaker. Its not a buzzing like something is rattling loose, but the only way i can describe it is as a electrical buzz whenever a bass note is hit