[keabrown79]

Ok i have a Mazda Miata 1990 1.6L the i believe the stock alt puts out 60amps i am wanting to install these

1x Arc Audio KS 125.2 for my front components
1x Arc Audio KS 500.1 for my 10 inch sub

I know they are both rated for their power at 12v but i have no idea if my electrical system can support this or not or do i need to upgrade to one of these 100amp alternators

Reliance Products 100-amp 12V One-wire Alternator with Plain Housing : JC Whitney: Auto Parts & Accessories

MCI New Alternator : JC Whitney: Auto Parts & Accessories

and if i do THAT do i need to upgrade the alt to battery wire?

Thanks for the info peeps

 

[sqshoestring]

Better alternator would be nice, you could try an extra battery too. I would be sure to run a class D amp that will help most, you could try that and see what it does first. They don't say how big that other alternator is.

 

[keabrown79]

Those arc's are what a G class whatever that means... from what i can tell from the alts they "should" be direct bolt in replacement... Also an extra battery? wouldn't that only help if i was running audio while the car was off?

 

[chad]

If you buy anything from J.C. Whitney other than a horn that plays Dixie, or a chain steering wheel, I will call you out

Try it as it is, if you don't it will be the same as going to the hospital right now and putting your arm in a cast...... in case you break it later....

If you are un-satisfied, upgrade the battery.

 

[chad]

auto dupe

 

[keabrown79]

ya they where the only place i found an upgraded alt... still havn't found any upgraded battery's though

 

[chad]

What are you searching? Find the stock size of the batt and go for it, or go out and measure. Odyssey, Diehard, Stinger, Hawker, kinetik, battcap..... <---- hnts

 

[chad]

and how do you plan to load the amps? That makes a BIG difference.

 

[keabrown79]

How hard do i plan on loading the amps? Sorry a tad bit new... Am i looking for a special type of battery over the stock one... i thought bout those special batteries from kenitic i guess they are for audio systems.. but once again i thought extra batteries only helped if playing audio while car is off...

 

[fredridge]

install it the way it is..... you shouldn't have any problems unless you battery is old and already going bad. If you do, then you can replace it with a better battery.

 

[sqshoestring]

If those are not class AB then they will take less power, a good thing for you.

When the amp consumes more power than your alternator makes, yup, power comes from the battery. The more up to snuff it is the less voltage drop you will get, though you will get some when you drop off the alternator.

I agree find a high quality battery the highest CCA you can find, and with those more efficient amplifiers try it and see it might work ok. If it dims a little a cap might help, if it dims a fair amount to a lot then you will have to look at alternators. You could add a second battery and it will help, but not get rid of the problem. Odds are you don't have room or want the weight of a second battery in that car anyway.

If the battery is new or near new it might work.

Load the amps, likely means will you be beating it hard all the time or do you rarely turn it up all the way? You will only use a lot of power at max volume, even half volume takes far less than half the power.

Sorry Chad, I said cap...I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I take it back, really, dang it....

 

[keabrown79]

na i prob will not max it out all that often, it's a little cabin after all ... i do need to find what size my current alt to battery's wire is and if i go from an 60amp to a 100amp if i need to upgrade that as well or can it carry the current.

 

[tspence73]

Just get a regulated amplifier and a really nice battery. The system will then take the amps it needs off the battery. Batteries have like 500+ amps on tap when your alternator is tapped out. High output alternators are virtually never needed.

 

[keabrown79]

Sorry for the noobisness but regulated alt? Are most new alts regulated? If so mind as well get the higher amp alt as well. From what I read of the miata forums just a single 1000watt amp can suck a battery dry in no time leaving headlights dimming and eventually getting to the point that the car wot run due to the draw of power the amp takes. Hence my concern 60amps is quite low over all

 

[tspence73]

Sorry for the noobisness but regulated alt? Are most new alts regulated?

No, I was saying that you should look into a car audio amplifier that has a regulated power supply. It should take the current it needs from the battery when the alternator is tapped out and hopefully still put out it's rated power.

 

[keabrown79]

Ahh ok, I think all the arc audio are regulated

 

[keabrown79]

Ok I need a little help here I am looking at size as a factor in my amp selection. My local dealer tells me that the arc audio mini's is prob my best option because of it's power draw requirements but I'm not sure I'd that's true or not the other choice I had was the alpine pdx. But he tells me those are power hogs and prob would suck my poor battery and apt dry.. Is he blowing smoke at me or is there any truth to this.

 

[tspence73]

PDX amps should be really efficient digital amps. It's unlikely you'll get better output for your rated wattage on that amp. If another amp draws less current from the car's electrical, it's probably a weaker amp.

 

[keabrown79]

All the ratings on ads audio stuff is the 12v rating which is nice so with the 125.2 I'll be getting 125 watts per channel at 12. I don't know much much I would loose with the pdx at 12v instead of 14.4

 

[chad]

stop obsessing over wattage numbers.