securely running through the car and the earth wire is fastened securely it is time to lay on
some power. Connect the earth first. Then 12V power, then remote. Then connect in the
RCA cables and you can move onto setting up the gain and sound controls on the amplifier.
If you are not using RCA connections then connect in the high level inputs to the Molex plug
provided. Wiring colours are as follows: White = R+, White/Black = R-, Grey = L+,
Grey/Black = L-. Take care to make sure you get positive and negative the right way round.
If you get one side wrong then you’re not going to get much output at all from the unit. One
good tip here is to connect in one side, get the subwoofer working and then test connect
the other side. As you do that you will hear that when connected one way round you get
LESS output than you did with only one side connected. With it connected the correct way
round you will of course get slightly MORE output than with only one side connected.
If you are using auto turn on on the Power 8.2 unit make sure the “auto turn on” button is
set correctly (ie “off” if you are using a hardwired remote turn on cable or “on” if not.)
Where appropriate set the phase button to 0 degrees. You’ll leave the phase button at 0
degrees until everything else is done. At that point you might want to switch to 180
degrees just to try it. When listening from the drivers seat you may notice a difference in
output level with the 0/180 setting.
Setting the “Gain” or “level” on the amp is a crucial aspect and needs to be done with care,
otherwise you can easily damage your equipment. Before we move onto this we need to be
sure the crossover settings are right for the application. Make sure the bass boost control
knob is set to minimum (0). Next, set the crossover (low pass) knob to approximately
100Hz as a starting point. Set the subsonic filter if applicable to about 35Hz
The first step is to work out just how loud the rest of your system can go. It is likely that
previously you have had just your head unit (car radio) and standard speakers. In this
configuration the limiting factor has been the car radio amplifier, which has a restricted
amount of ability to produce bass notes cleanly. The first job, then, is to turn up the radio
with the subwoofer OFF (pop a fuse out) and have a listen. First set the bass and treble to 0
or flat – no adjustment, and ensure any loudness controls are off. You will notice that as the
level climbs up to around half way or just over (the more modern cars are better!) you