I just got my Tsunami DB4440 amp. Damn that thing is huge!

I want to install it under the front driver's seat. The amp is approximately 15" wide (does not include another inch for connectors on the sides), 9 3/4" long and 2 1/4" tall. The manual suggests 3" of clearance for under-seat installation.

I test-placed it under the seat today: it does fit with the wide side parallel to the front of the car, but only has 1-2 inches or so of space on each side. It's too tall to fit completely under the A/C vent, but I was able to move it back under the seat all the way and bend the vent up a little. It looks like the vent will be ok (it's pointing up by 5 degrees or so), and it will be blowing essentially over the amplifier.

So I'm planning on mounting it by velcroing a board to the car under the carpet, and then screwing in the amplifier thru the carpet into the board.

My questions are these:

1) How thick should the board be? 3/4", 1/2"? The screws supplied w/ the amp are 5/8" long (a little over half).

2) I read that someone velcroed the board to the bottom of the car. Someone else velcroed the board to the carpet. Which way is better? I'm thinking velcroing the boards to the bottom of the car.

3) I want to install the amp under the driver's seat. Are there any arguments for *not* installing it there? I am not going to drill any holes in the car to install the amp.

4) I want to run the power wires on the driver's side and the RCA's from the LOC/head unit on the center. Should I run the amplified speaker wires back thru the driver's side or thru the center side?

5a) What's a good place to get ground? Is the bolt to where the seat attaches good enough?

5b) I got the knukonceptz 4 gauge wiring kit. The kit has a 3' ground cable. I assume I'd want to cut that cable to be as short as I need it to be, instead of using all three feet?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

My questions are these:

1) How thick should the board be? 3/4", 1/2"? The screws supplied w/ the amp are 5/8" long (a little over half).

You might not need a board at all. Consider simply sticking the "hook" side of some velcro (the rough side, not the soft side) to the bottom of the amp, and placing the amp on the carpet. The hooks velcro should grab the carpet well enough to prevent any sliding around. Another suggestion is to use the velcro in combination with some cable ties - all it takes is a small hole in the carpet (that'll never be noticed) to zip-tie the amp to the floor. Both of these are fine suggestions for a non-permanent, easily removeable, yet satisfactorily secure installation. As long as the amp doesn't slide or jump around, you'll be fine.

2) I read that someone velcroed the board to the bottom of the car. Someone else velcroed the board to the carpet. Which way is better? I'm thinking velcroing the boards to the bottom of the car.

See above - board may be unnecessary.

3) I want to install the amp under the driver's seat. Are there any arguments for *not* installing it there? I am not going to drill any holes in the car to install the amp.

The only real argument is that it's not the easiest place to install the amp. If you have enough space for it to fit (including the wiring that'll attach to it), then unbolt the seat and go for it. There should be sufficient clearance for cooling under there. I know the manual wants 3" of clearnace, but you should be able to get away with less, especially if using the amp to power speakers, and not subs (typically, you will run higher impedance loads for regualr speakers, which means the amp will not run as hot).

Bottom line: You should be just fine under there as long as you can complete the install and have enough room for the amp itself.

4) I want to run the power wires on the driver's side and the RCA's from the LOC/head unit on the center. Should I run the amplified speaker wires back thru the driver's side or thru the center side?

Either one should be fine - there is no need to route speaker wires away from RCAs or power. However, it will probably be easier to run them with the RCAs - you can run them all at the same time, since they terminate in the same places.

5a) What's a good place to get ground? Is the bolt to where the seat attaches good enough?

Should be fine. Just make sure to scrape/sand away the paint under the bolt for good wire-to-metal contact. BTW - ring terminals are not really necessary. There is nothing wrong with simply clamping bare wire under the bolt or seat bracket, as long as it is done neatly.

5b) I got the knukonceptz 4 gauge wiring kit. The kit has a 3' ground cable. I assume I'd want to cut that cable to be as short as I need it to be, instead of using all three feet?

Absolutely. Shorter is better.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

You're welcome!

~HH

 

1) I'm not sure but I think I used 3/4", just make sure the thickness is enough to fit the screws without going through it and making a hole in the floor. You don't HAVE TO use the screws that came with the amp though.

2) I mounted mine by velcroing the board under the carpet to the floor and then screwing the amps over the carpet to the board, it worked pretty good although it does take a quite a bit of extra work to lift the carpet, clean the floor to attach the velcro, etc...
As for using a board or not, i was told that it's always better to do so because you could get noise otherwise.

3) My amps get plenty of air down there. the only problem you might have is that the amp could be too high to actually fit under the seat, but I doubt it.

4) What hiho said.

5) I used that spot to ground mine and I have 0 noise, the only problem was getting a ring terminal large enought to fit the bolt through it. Make sure to scrape the paint good first.

Here are a couple of pics of my install: pics

Hope that helps you out

 

The only thing I would do is possibly cut the vent and not lay it on top of the amp since the amp will heat up. I don't remember if the vent can be pushed back or not that easily off the top of my head, but with cool air blowing on it, your amp will be happy. I was going to do the same, but opted for an amp rack (feel free to check out my website on SoundDomain) instead. I do put the rear passenger side seat down if listening to the music loud because of the amps need adequate ventilation and plus Class A amps produce a lot of heat!! I am jealous, you have a Tsunami!! I want one too, but my system sounds great as is. I would like to get a mono class D amp for efficiency, but since I already have the amps that I have, I am going through the hassle of rewiring things (Groundkit, new battery, and soon rewiring power wire from battery to alternator). I really want to do this now. I am off this week and next, but I had surgery (right inguinal hernia) and can't lift or bend too much. I am getting better, but don't want to prolong the healing process. I am just anxious to get back in to working out and resuming normal activities again (running, working on my car, and lifting weights). So much time, but can't do any thing...must resist temptation!

HH has a lot of great suggestions and seeing pics of his car, his install is clean and looks professionally done. As does JAC.

 

I personally mounted my amp under my drivers seat...and did it with VELCRO!

as HIHO mentioned....I didn't use a board. for starters if you look closely under your carpet you will find that the floor of the car is anything but smoothe or even and will only cause you problems trying to put a board there with velcro......what I did was went to Wal-Mart and back to the craft section. they had adhesive backed velcro in a 5 foot long strip that was 2 1/2 inches wide. I stuck the LOOPY (rough) side to the bottom of the amp and stuck it to the carpet. works like a champ...that sucker is going NO WHERE!!!, I will caution you to NOT put the velcro on until you are ready to put the amp in place and NOT move it again......

another hint....REMOVE THE DRIVERS SEAT when you are doing the install...it makes it SOOOOOOOOOO much easier.

YES run the power lead down the drivers side and keep all the speaker input and outputs to the center...this will keep to an absolute minimum any chance of induced noise.

YES the seat anchor is a fine place for your ground...and as mentioned before sand off the paint so that you have really good contact. and yes...keep the ground as short as possible.

 

I did my amp actually attached to the driver's seat. I used some speed screw tabs that came with another set of speakers and put them on the amp to provide a secure hold for the screws (the amp I used has slots rather than holes for the screws so I needed something extra to keep the amp from falling off the screws) and bolted it to the bottom of my seat. Upside down just to freak out all the paranoid people. It's fine.

For ground, if you run the RCAs down the middle (good choice - you MAY be able get away with 6 foot RCA cables that way), you will already have teh console off. There are a few really good grounding points under the console - brass nuts and botls that don't even need sanding away. I personally don't like using the seat bolt as to get a good solid ground you need to put your ring terminal etween the seat frame and the floor, and I have found that this can be in some cases enough of a tilt in the one seat corner to make the seat adjustment forward and back not work as well (harder to engage both tracks).

Anyway, that's what I did. Your amp is probably too big to attach to the seat like I did, but the points for ground will probably be handy for you.

Good luck!

 

Thanks very much for all your replies! Your help is greatly appreciated.

Looks like I'm going to go w/ velcroing the amp directly to the carpet. Seems like a great idea: simpler to do and still works (for the lazy people, that is). Velcroing the amp will be the last thing I do then (after I hook everything up).

As far as mounting the amp to the driver's seat, yeah, it won't fit. The main reason for me, though, is that the manual says to never operate the amp upside down (due to poor heat dissipation).

In terms of heat, I'm not running a sub off it yet... So for starters, it will be just pushing 75W RMS to front left and right (I'm going to leave the rears powered by the stock deck for now). Later, I'm planning on adding a 325W RMS Elemental Designs 10K.1, and will drive it with 220W RMS off the 3rd and 4th channels on the Tsunami amp.

I have two 16' RCA cables, so that should be plenty of length. I hope it's not too long (wonder where to put the slack?). And I also have 20' of 12awg speaker wire, which should also be enough to run back to the deck.

Now I just have to find the darn reverse harnesses (Best Buy & Tweeter had none) and I'm set to do the install.

I'll take pictures as I do my install, and I'll post everything once I'm done w/ it.

 

Good deal!

As far as running amps upside down, I have run two different amps upside down for several years with no problems. If I am running a sub and have the amp in an enclosed space, I would tend not to, but for running full range speakers like in the doors, most amps won't generate a whole lot of heat. Plus, everyone always expresses concerns about heat when under the seat - the way I look at it is that in the winter, when it is frickin cold out, the heater output blows over your feet under the seat and goes on the amp -no problem. Most amps will probably run OK at 50 degrees F. In the summer, the spot is well shaded, and not subject to any direct or radiated heat. Plus you have your AC going when it is really wamr out which cools the amp, and not usually the heater.

Anyway, good luck! Hope it sounds awesome!

Dale.