Rep Power: 277

i wanna run a small amont of watts in my civic (estimate 300-500rms) with OE battery, alternator, wirings, etc. should i expect my batterys life span to be shorter? will my alternator go nuts/damage? any other pieces i should be aware of?

im planning one 15" and amping my car speakers all around if it matters. any inputs, advice, suggestions? thanks!

 
Rep Power: 317

Obviously not going for SQ here, so.......the life span will probably be a little shorter, but not by a lot. 300-500w isn't enough enough to dim your headlights, I don't think.


As far as suggestions go...I've got a couple.....Optima yellow top, don't amp the rear speakers, and go with a 12" sub instead of a 15". But that's just personal choice.

 
Rep Power: 332

I'm running about 1100-1200w rms with OEM battery and OEM alternator. My headlights dim a little when I bump it, but it seems like its doing ok. I'm going to upgrade to a optima very soon though.

 
Rep Power: 0

All my lights dimmed like crazy and I blew up two stock alternators and the stock battery with my system and I'm only running 450 MEASURED watts rms. I upgraded to a Stinger Battery and an Ohio Generator alternator (200 amps) plus 0/1 wiring and now no more dimming.

 
Rep Power: 277

^damn, so little wattage and you get those problems. at least you got it fixed and got everything running well


evilone, if i only amp the front speakers (component set), wouldnt all the sound go thru the fronts only since its taking most of the juice of the system? or an i adjust it so 40% of the volume goes to the rear while the other 60% plays on the fronts?

 
Rep Power: 317

I'm not quite sure what you're asking?

The sound should still play normally through the rear speakers, and you'd just have the amplified sound from the front and the sub...so the back would still be noticeable, and it wouldn't SEEM as loud, but it'd be the same as it is now, just a bit overpowered by the front speakers.

 
Rep Power: 329

Evilone was suggesting you run the rears off the headunit, as opposed to amplifying them. This is a recommendation I'd also make, as rear fill, IMO is just for the luxury of the rear seat passengers. Switching them, and amping them will run the rear passengers out of there. It throws off the soundstage, IMO, as well. The imaging of the stock locations is horrible, and the rear fill already overpowers teh fronts. Amping them amplifies the problem.

As for the original question, your stock electrical should be fine, as long as you wire everything properly, especially the remote (so your amp cuts off not killing the battery when the car is off obviously. Like I said, it should be fine, there are people here that have used 1500 watts or more off of the stock electrical and it run just fine.