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Multiple amps

Old Feb 28, 2004 | 08:52 PM
  #1  
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Default Multiple amps

I am going to be running 4 amps in my car in a few days:
Alpine MRV-F300 > rears
Alpine MRV-F400 > fronts
2 Alpine MRD-M300 > Subs
Is there any better way of hooking up the remote wire (REM- blue wire)other than going from the headunit to one amp, from the 1st amp to the 2nd amp, from the 2nd to the 3rd, and from the 3rd to the 4th?
Its just seems kinda riggish
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Old Feb 29, 2004 | 07:04 AM
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You could take 4 remote wires and run them from the head unit, but that's just a waste of wire. You only have 1 power wire I'm guessing, that runs through a distro. block. The remote wire's the same way.
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Old Feb 29, 2004 | 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by KuttinEdge
I am going to be running 4 amps in my car in a few days:
Alpine MRV-F300 > rears
Alpine MRV-F400 > fronts
2 Alpine MRD-M300 > Subs
Is there any better way of hooking up the remote wire (REM- blue wire)other than going from the headunit to one amp, from the 1st amp to the 2nd amp, from the 2nd to the 3rd, and from the 3rd to the 4th?
Its just seems kinda riggish
Don't use the headunit amp remote to trigger all 4 amplifiers - there's a good chance you could kill the headunit by exceeding the amperage rating for that amp remote.

The best way to do it would be to use your amp remote to trigger a relay, then use the output of the relay to turn the amps on.

search on www.bcae1.com to see how they use a relay to control fans for amplifiers - essentially the same applicaiton - just make sure you fuse it all properly.
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Old Feb 29, 2004 | 10:52 AM
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That seems more logical, thanks.
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Old Mar 1, 2004 | 07:54 PM
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you can do it like this with a regular 5 pin relay. Connet it as follows.
85- Remote wire from head unit
86- Ground
87- 12v constant power
30- Out to your amplifiers
87a- Not used.

This is really easy to do and it works perfectly. If yu look at the relay it will have the pins labeled as above.
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Old Mar 7, 2004 | 05:56 AM
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Originally Posted by rcurley55
Don't use the headunit amp remote to trigger all 4 amplifiers - there's a good chance you could kill the headunit by exceeding the amperage rating for that amp remote.

The best way to do it would be to use your amp remote to trigger a relay, then use the output of the relay to turn the amps on.

search on www.bcae1.com to see how they use a relay to control fans for amplifiers - essentially the same applicaiton - just make sure you fuse it all properly.
I don't see how this could happen because the voltage is of such a low current when coming from the head unit, it's simply something to tell the amp to turn on. They way I do it is to have one wire come back from the HU and then have all the other remote wires from the amp to connect to this one wire from the HU.
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Old Mar 7, 2004 | 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by cooliojones
I don't see how this could happen because the voltage is of such a low current when coming from the head unit, it's simply something to tell the amp to turn on. They way I do it is to have one wire come back from the HU and then have all the other remote wires from the amp to connect to this one wire from the HU.
If you exceed the current rating of that line coming out of the headunit, you are going to have problems...I've heard of it happening before, and this is by far the safest way to do it. Just daisy chaining them could work, but is it worth it? I don't think so...

It all depends on the type of amps and the type of headunit. Some heads have a higher rated amp remote then others....I only feel comfortable triggering three devices maximum from one amp remote lead - this is why I suggested a relay.

Last edited by rcurley55; Mar 7, 2004 at 07:34 AM.
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Old Mar 7, 2004 | 07:45 AM
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Originally Posted by rcurley55
If you exceed the current rating of that line coming out of the headunit, you are going to have problems...I've heard of it happening before, and this is by far the safest way to do it. Just daisy chaining them could work, but is it worth it? I don't think so...

It all depends on the type of amps and the type of headunit. Some heads have a higher rated amp remote then others....I only feel comfortable triggering three devices maximum from one amp remote lead - this is why I suggested a relay.
Ok so let me ask this: are you exceeding the remote amp rating by doing that, or are you weakening/decreasing the total remote amp output that goes to the amps by dividing/splitting it up among multiple amps instead of just one?
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Old Mar 7, 2004 | 07:46 AM
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exceeding the rating of the amp remote...
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Old Mar 7, 2004 | 07:47 AM
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one other nice by product is that you can now power fans from that same output without adding additinoal switches, etc.

This method also delays the amplifier turn on, so you can eliminate any possible turn-on pops...
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