I am just curious as to when a distribution block is necessary/what purpose it serves in a stereo system. I had a complete system (Kenwood deck, front components, rear speakers, amp for front speakers, amp for subs, cap and 2 - 12" subs) installed by Tweeter in May '03 (way overpriced and big mistake, will do by myself in future). Anyway, I never had a distribution block w/ that system. Just curious as to what exactly they are needed for/what purpose they serve. I ask this because I will be adding 3 more subs and 2 more amps to the system when I reinstall it into my new car, and want to know if I will need a distribution block.
Thanks
Tim
PS - I may be looking for someone to help me out w/ a wiring diagram and how I might go about wiring the additional amps, etc. soon. Will pay some $, let me know if anyone is interested and what kind of experience you have w/ car audio.

 

If you want to do one large run to the rear then use a distribution block. For example you could run 0 gauge. And 4 gauge to a few amps from a distribution block. Besides that, it does not serve much of a purpose.

 

ok. currently i have 2 amps (one for front speaks and one for subs). it looked like the power just went from the battery to the cap then to from amp to the next, and the negs were just grounded to under a seat belt bolt on the chassis.

 

If you have a cap you can run two cables off the terminal so you won't need a distro block. You can wire them from the amp also but the majority of amps don't have big enough terminals to fit two cables.

 

you cant go one amp to the next with power wire. the terminals are to big. you can do it with the remote wire.

before you go out and buy all those subs and amps check here first. because you have to get the right impedence subs and from what it sounds like you wanna have 5 subs and either 3 or 4 sub amps which probablly i'snt going to work.

 

the current setup i have is 1 amp running to 2 12" subs, and another amp to my front components. again, i am not real familiar w/ the actual way everything was wired because Tweeter installed everything, but I labeled every wire end and took pictures when I uninstalled the stereo, it's sitting in boxes in my room right now. i am looking to add one more amp (same kind as i already have) to two more of the same 12" subs as I have, and yet another amp (same exact one as the other two) to a single 11" sub. i would like to hook up a switch somehow to this amp, so that i can only have it delivering power to the 11" sub when i want.

 

also, what many farads should the cap be that i am going to get? currently i have .5 farad, but i will be running roughly 2650 watts RMS if all amps are running, my alternator is already upped to 135 amps i believe and wondering if i should also get an optima yellow top too.
thanks again

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Xsi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you have a cap you can run two cables off the terminal so you won't need a distro block. You can wire them from the amp also but the majority of amps don't have big enough terminals to fit two cables.</TD></TR></TABLE>

that leads to sloppy wiring. a distro block is good for two things...
makes the wiring look hella neat
makes less space for error when properly fused.

when it comes to grounding...USE A DISTRIBUTION BLOCK!!! noise from bad grouding is one of the biggest annoyances in car audio systems. find ONE (1) really good ground on the car and run a 1/0 gauge ground from it to the distro block and then wire the amp grounds to the block. whenever grounding anything, use a ground wire the same size as or larger than the power wire for best quality.

another thing, it doesn't sound like you have enough experience with audio systems to be running 5 subs in your car. it'll probably sound like distorted ****. i'd just upgrade the 2 speakers and get 2 kick *** amps (one for each), eh, but whatever you want. if you're gonna run that many amps, get a 1 farad cap for each amp to be safe. HTH!

oh yeah, get a yellow top. they last long and look pretty cool!

 

Wiring from the amp is very sloppy but my setup has been wired from the cap for the last 4 years, it's nice and neat and never came loose.

 

ok. too late w/ the setup, the new amps and sub are being shipped to me as we speak. i've bought some books and am planning on doing lots of reading. i may do the project with my friend's uncle who has worked at like 4 audio shops and have one many bass competitions. the thing is, i'm trying to do all this before June 20th, when I'm having a meet in Massachusetts. well, thanks again for the help. also, is there enough room on the dist. block to ground four 0 gauge amp wires?
thanks again

 

you can probably find a block that'll power 10 amps if you want...

 

1 farad is good for 1000w rms so you will need 3 farads at 2650 rms. for that price you can just buy this http://www.rockfordfosgate.com...=1573
have fun.

 

umm, just curious. if that rockford cap is 25 farads then how can it only support 2000 watts max (or was it a typo and should've been 2.5 farad)?
thanks again

 

he meant 2.5