I know I've asked this before but I have a 95 SSE and put a 250 watt rms amp to a 200 watt sub and when I turn it up a bit or even at idle and sometimes while driving I get gauge sputter. Too much for my comfort IMO. It seems that the more I drive the lower voltage I read throughout the day. I was told by someone here I'd be fine but the results I'm noticing leave me uncomfortable.... Should I consider the big 3?


Also no one as of yet had answered my question about my power antenna not going up after my aftermarket HU install with the wire I was told was for the antenna but it still won't go up. I also still have the ability, without buying an adaptor, to dim my gauge lights, which I thought was interesting

I don't think changing the radio affects your dash lights, I believe what you are thinking of is the ability for the radio to dim with the dash lights. Usually the radio will have a dimmer wire that you can hook up so that it dims with the dash lights.

For the antenna, unless the radio has an output that only turns on when the source is set to radio, I would consider giving it constant signal and then putting it on a switch. That way your antenna isn't up whenever the radio is on, and you don't wear the motor out. Then you can also keep the radio on when your going through the car wash and just drop the antenna.

It really hard to guess/determine something like that, every unit is different. I would find a spec sheet, not go on what somebody told you. A 250 watt amp isn't capable of causing "gauge sputter" unless something such as bad main ground, stereo ground, or corroded battery terminals were present. It just doesn't pull the kind of current for that to happen. An amp that size pulls less than the A/C. I'd be looking for another cause for the interference.

im guessing its just slight voltage drop your talking about. hook up a DMM to your batt while its running and then check it with your sounds going and you will see the exact drop your getting. my stock gauge moves to the beat a lil bit but on my meter it drops just under 14, like 13.9 after full tilt for a bit(and that was mine at the fuse in the rear). im sure its fine but wont hurt to check it out

Not only does the voltage drop to almost red, since it'* runs just under 14 normally, but the fuel oil pressure and temp sputter as well.
It seems like a bad alternator, but it'* not whining. I was given a 10 guage harness for the amp I believe.

Either wire will work. Your amp doesn't "require" that much amperage to run at full power it'* just not meant to pull more than that much.

Cause not all wire is create equally. There are different strand counts, different materials used (copper clad aluminum vs. pure copper), etc.

My gf has that same amp in her 2001 Dodge Caravan, factory battery, no big 3, 8ga power/ground wire, no h/o alt and she can play it at full tilt with very minimal dimming. It'* not the most efficient amp out there but doesn't seem like a power hog either. Then again, she'* only running it at 2 ohms too. What are you running yours at?

I'm not too sure about extra batteries....I think they just help store power which would result in helping maintain a consistent voltage level for your audioz. But if the problem is that your audio is putting a strain on your charging system I don't see how adding another strain to it would help that.

It won't sound any better but i'm sure your cars charging/electrical system would love it!

LMAO! DC Power has some of the best CS? If by that you mean make lie to their customers by telling them their product either has shipped or will ship shortly (usually within a week) when in actuality it hasn't shipped and won't be shipping for at least a month, then yeah their CS is great! DC Power makes a good product from what i've heard, they lose me though by their consistent lying and pacifying......the shipping thing I mentioned above is not an isolated situation, aside from the 3 people I know personally who bought their product (all of whom were lied to repeatedly and ended up waiting a month and a half before getting their alt) there are numerous people on various car audio forums who have been given the same treatment. What DC does in alot of cases though, is attempt to pacify the customer by giving them a free alt for their troubles along with the one they paid for. 2 of the 3 people I know personally got a free alt out of it, the only reason the other guy didn't get a free one is cause he didn't press the issue.

I would have no problem with them if they were honest with their customers and told them up front "we're pretty backlogged right now and it could take up to 6 weeks to get your order out to you" but that'* not what they do. You'll call Rob to make sure he got your payment and get an eta and he'll tell you "we got your payment, alt should be shipping out on tuesday so you should see it by friday" and then when friday comes around and no alt shows up you're pissed. You call him on Monday to see what'* up and he'll say something like "I didn't ship it yet, I wanted to give you a free upgrade to it to make it a little better for you but it'll go out tomorrow." This kind of crap goes on for weeks before you ever see a tracking#.

In all fairness, this is not how things play out 100% of the time but just look around on various car audio boards and you'll see that it happens alot more than it should. Great customer service doesn't include lying to customers, that would be Great customer disservice!