The big thing you need to consider is you kind of have a power mismatch between your Kenwoods and soon to be Alpine SWR-T12 .

The Kenwoods are rated at 80RMS and would be fine with an amp that does around 100. The C8 puts out an honest 150. Now that isn't a bad thing because you can turn the gains down give those speakers a nice and clean 80 even at full volume.

The Alpine is a power hog. It has a single 4ohm voice coil. That means that with only one sub you are going to have a 4ohm load on the amp supplying it's power. While the ZRS-C8 is nice I am not sure if that 5th channel at 400RMS at 4ohm is going to be enough but then again it might be perfect.

There is always getting a 4 channel for the Kenwoods and then a seperate mono for the Alpines. Maybe the ZRS-C9 and ZRS-C65.

As to Refurbs they scare me. I see it as buying someone else's problem.

To get the good deal you almost have to go non authorized. Authorized guys usually have to go by MAF pricing.

Warranties are always something to think about.
The sites most often referenced Sonic and Woofersetc will usually self warranty for a set period of time. I have found that if something is going to blow up it will blow up quick. Plug it is and crank it up and see what happens. Ride hard and put away wet so they say.

I don't have any warranties because all of my amps where bought used. Again looking for the deal.

 

After taking the advice of some of the other experts on here, I went ahead and decided to get the Alpine SWR-T12 sub (not the 10) and will be pairing it with the Cadence ZRS-C65 amp. After reading more and more, and researching several other options, IMO the SWR-T12 and ZRS-C65 seemed to match up pretty well together (on paper) while extending only slightly outside of my original budget. May have to wait a few weeks before it is all said and done to really see if they match well in reality!?!?

I also bought the Metra BT-5520 harness, some terminal connectors for the box and some polyfill to go inside of the box.

I am wanting to build this system little by little and plan to add another amp and likely replace my doors (AGAIN) with better quality; but for now I want to just start with the sub.

I imagine that I will want to run 1/0 AWG power and ground or can I get by with the 4AWG(again, plan to add another amp in future)?

Can I get by with a "amp wiring kit" from ebay or is it better to piece a kit together with individual parts and pieces of wires/connectors etc?

What else am I missing from my parts list to get this sub working when it comes in later this week (if anything)?

 

As long as you plan to keep it under 1200rms total 4awg should be fine. I would run 1/0 if you can though, always leaves room to upgrade.

 

Kicker and Knukoncepts wiring kits aren't bad. Your choice on 4ga or 1/0. I started with 4ga and then ended up replacing with 1/0. Kicking myself for that. Cutting cable is like burning money.

Remind me again, what is your plan on getting an input signal to the sub amp?

 

I would just do 1/0 from the get go it'll fit just fine and you will feel better knowing if you ever wanna expand you can and not have to redo your power run. Thats just me though, i dont like to have to go back and do something i should have done right the first time

 

So I got a few more things from ebay yesterday to get me just that much closer to doing this add ….

-20’ of 18 gauge 9 conductor speed wire (Langlowe… maybe this answers your question???? I am still highly uneducated on this wiring stuff, so I am not sure how to exactly answer your question)
-50 sq. ft. of Fatmat Sound deadener (for the back wall)
-AudioControl LC6i Line out converter

I will likely get a 4 chanel amp in the next day or two for the door speakers (in which I will run with the three way speakers that I have for the time being or until I find that they are just not ‘cuttin the mustard’)

As for wiring, I still am unsure about so many things that I have been trying to wrap my head around that I will most certainly need some assistance on when the time comes. For starters, I think that the 1/0 guage wires sound like the way to go (for future adds when I get the craving for MORE!!!) but the amps look like they accepted 8 AWG wires. Is there reducers or anything like that I need to get or do you get a distribution block with a 1/0 in and an 8 out?!?!

Do I have to replace all the wiring to the doors (BTW … do not have molex connectors) or is that what my 9 conductor speed wire does… able to maintain the factory wiring (or am I way off base here?) by taking power from the amp back to the factory head unit?!?!

What would really be helpful is if someone had a detailed wiring diagram (or even just a sketch on a napkin) for similar installs like I see several of you have! I am definitely a visual learning kind of person!

Do the pre-packaged amp install wiring kits pretty much have everything that I will need? Minus the 4 chanel amp, is that all I am lacking to begin my install (and countless hours of frustration, a little blood, lots of sweat and I am guessing several tears)?

One last question (for now at least) … what are y’alls thoughts on an “up firing” box. This 12 is proving to be somewhat trickey to place in my box on CAD without sticking too far out from the seat. I have seen where someone has done one, but what does that do to the sound (and I realize that it is more unprotected) but does it affect the sound at all?

 

Well I went ahead and ordered my wiring kit and I went with the KnuKonceptz 1/0 awg Dual Amp wiring kit with a few extra feet of the 4awg power and ground wires. I also got 3 sets of the KnuKoncepts Krystal Kable RCA's. I also have 20 LF of the 18 gauge 9 Conductor Speed Wire.



I am still unclear on the wiring of the door speakers? If I understand this correctly (please help me here if I am wrong) but I am going to take the Metra harness from the back of the stock HU and splice in the 9 conductor speed wire to the 8 different door speakers wires from the factory harness. Then I run it to the back and hook them into the LC6i. From there I will run the RCA's to the amps. Then from the 4 channel amp, I have two options... 1.) Run all new wires from the amp to the door speakers or 2.) I can run another 9 conductor speed wire back to the Metra harness creating essentially a "loop" in the factory speaker wires runs? I am trying to avoid running new all new wires to each door and am a little unsure how to do this. Also what is the 9th wire do and where is this run?

 

Your dead on with the loop concept.

The 9th wire is a remote turn on.

Get an add-a-fuse from Autozone and plug into #41 in your passenger side fuse panel. Run the lead from you add-a-fuse to the 9th wire and run it back to your LC6i remote in. The LC6i remote out will be used for the amps remote turn on.

 

Langlowe,

I am back at it again this weekend and still have not completed my install and have yet another few questions regarding this wiring, specifically the remote wire ……

You are saying that the remote wire (9th wire in the 9 Conductor Speed wire) does not come off the back of the HU (or metra BT-5520 harness in my case) and go directly to the LC6i??? Rather it should be run from the “add-a-fuse” device as its origin, and then go from there to the LC6i remote in… am I understanding you correctly? And how about for two different amps? Do they daisy-chain together and does it matter which amp I hit first in the chain …. Or do your feed two separate wires from the same spot in the LC6i, one to each amp???

 

From my research I didn't even try a remote turn on from the Metra harness. I went just like you stated. An add-a-fuse in the passenger kick panel. The lead from that runs under the glovebox and behind the head unit. From there I connected it to the 9th wire.

The 9 conductor then runs to the LC6i with said 9th wire to the LC6i remote in. I then ran a single wire from the LC6i remote out and behind the amp rack it splits out for a single feed to each amp.

You can really do the remote turn on however you want. I have seen people daisy chain from amp to amp. You could just was easily home run each amp to the LC6i. I went with the one into three approach myself just to keep everything clean and behind the amp rack.


Can't wait to see your finished system

 

edit

 

Well I have not been back in a while to post progress pics or update anyone who might have been following this thread …. So I figured I would kill some time here today and post up a few pics and update the complete list of components I have installed to date!!!

List of components……
- Subwoofer
- Alpine SWR-T12 12" Shallow-Mount (1st one blown after 1st week, 2nd one should be here in about 10 days)

- Box
- Custom fabricated by yours truly

- Door speakers (for now)
- (2 pairs) Kenwood KFC-C6893PS 6”x8” 3-Way (Front and Rear)
- NEED/GOING TO get a pair of 6 ½ Component set for front stage …. Not sure which kind yet

- Amplifiers- CADENCE ZRS-C9 - 1000 W 4 CHANNEL (4 Ohm RMS Power: 4 x 100 Watts)
- CADENCE ZRS-C65 - 2400 W CLASS D AMPLIFIER w/ BASS CONTROL **** (4 Ohm RMS: 600 Watts @ 4 Ohm)

- Factory Stereo Integration (keeping stock HU)
- Metra BT-5520 Wiring Harness
- AudioControl LC6i Line Out Converter

- Wiring (mostly from KnuKonceptz….)
- Kolossus Fleks 1/0 Gauge Dual Amp Power Kit (200A,120A,60A fuses)
- Additional Kolossus Fleks Kable 4 Gauge Black Ground Wire (6 ft.)
- Additional Kolossus Fleks Kable 4 Gauge Blue Power Wire (6 ft.)
- (3 pairs) Krystal Kable Twisted Pair RCA Cable (2M)
- Set Screw Gauge Reducer 0 to 4 Gauge (not used)
- Set Screw Ring Terminals - 4 Gauge Pair (not used)
- Snap Bushing/ Grommets for 1/0 cable (not yet used… see pics)
- 18 GAUGE 9 CONDUCTOR SPEED WIRE 20 FT (x2)

- Sound Deadening
- Fatmat 50 Mil (50 SF)


























https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...e-mono-amp.jpg




I still need to complete my wire management and carpeting of the box and the rear wall. I am also going to upgrade the front stage as there is a serious gap in the mid-bass and I want to raise the tweeters up to get them from hitting at my shins/knees. Also to get the mids/highs, ear piercing HIGH!!! Well maybe not ear piercing, but at least better than that crap I have now!

 

Something to strongly consider since you want more mid bass from front doors... get more sound deadening mat and put it on the innner door. Place the sheets inside the door, on the back of the exterior sheet metal of door. I have 2 layers on the inside of my doors... makes a thud when you hit it with a knuckle vs stock "ting" sound. ALso add deadener to the inner frame of door, where the speakers mount. Try and seal as much of the door as you can to create a "box" Some gaps must be left for door locks, handles, wires, etc... but this will give you amazing results... not to mention making your ride much quieter!

 

Can you give me the demensions of the sub box you built? I have a shallow 12" that I would like to use in my truck and I might just have to build a box myself. I would appreciate it. Thanks