Expert: Cleggsan - 3/24/2010

Question
hey i have two amps: a kicker zx 350 and a Sony Xplod XM-ZR1852. the sony is powering a mtx thunder 5500 and kicker is powering 2 12" kicker cvr's. i only have a 8 gauge wire with a 80A fuse. i blew my fuse after about a week. do you think i should spend some money to get 6 or 4 gauge wire? also should i bridge my amps? or should i switch the xplod amp to the 2 12's and the kicker to the 1 12? or keep it the way it is.
         Thankyou very much.
                     ,Treble Toney

Answer
Well, you could use bigger gauge wire and that would help with voltage regulation during heavy audio signal peaks.  Of you cannot get 6 or 4 gauge, you could run another 8 gauge in parallel.

But, the reason the fuse went out is because it is too low.  Depending on how you have the impedance loads matched to the amps you could be drawing in excess of 80 amps easily during heavy bass passages.  

You can wire up the speakers the easiest way to make the connections.  Just watch the impedance so they don't overburden the amplifier causing it to go into over-current protection mode.

You can experiment with different speaker/amp loading, but there is no particular benefit in doing so; as long as it is working, leave well enough alone.

I suspect that if you went to a higher rated fuse you would be alright.  Maybe a 100 amp fuse would do the job.

Finally, you may need a high output battery and/or alternator in the car to keep the energy level up on the amplifiers.

Good Luck.