Eek, dead amp - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Ruffrydasean · 04-30-2005, 01:51 AM

My amp seems to have died today, all the wires seem to be good to go, fuses are'nt blown on the amp. Would the fuse blow before the amp. It happened when it was somewhat darker outside. So I'll have to check in depth tomorow.

Maybe it coulda been the 600 Watt RMS Subs mated to the 460 Watt RMS Amp

Anshu · 04-30-2005, 01:56 AM

how high was the gain?

***cam2Xrunner*** · 04-30-2005, 01:56 AM

Did it make any noise or smoke? Or just not work? What kind of amp you got?

userlain · 04-30-2005, 03:04 AM

Do you have a fuse on the wire that runs from the battery? I have one near the battery. Also, are you sure your ground is good?

Ruffrydasean · 04-30-2005, 09:11 AM

O yea.. lemme go check the in line fuse

I have a Kenwood 7201 Amp Mated to some crappy Dual 12's right now

The Gains... I dunno.. I just fiddle around with the knobs and switches until I find what I like. It wasn't too high though, at least I don't think it was

DrtySthV6SE · 04-30-2005, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruffrydasean

I just fiddle around with the knobs and switches

thats usually not the best way to set gain on amps

Anshu · 05-01-2005, 12:09 AM

on the subject. Any one have a good link to a easy tutorial to tuning more then 1 amps?

lucanhookup · 05-01-2005, 12:14 AM

mabe ur ground wire isnt thick enough??? i had the same problem with mine. the wire was to thin and the amp gave out after like 1 week so i just used 4g and it was fine again

MrSo0h0o · 05-01-2005, 01:00 AM

the lower rated sub wouldnt hurt the higher rated amp, if vice versa, maybe.

gains might have been your downfall if they were up too high. check your inline fuse and the ground. what kind of wire are u running anyway?

DrtySthV6SE · 05-01-2005, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anshu

on the subject. Any one have a good link to a easy tutorial to tuning more then 1 amps?

the way i do is:
if you are setting gains on more than one amp, use a voltmeter to set the gains correctly on both amps seperately.
listen to some music and see how it sounds, if one amp seems to be over powering/getting louder than the other turn it down a smidgen and listen again. Dont turn the gains up on either amp, this could cause clipping. Usually after you set the gains seperately, i.e. with one amp powering comps and one powering subs, your music should sound very equal

Pb · 05-01-2005, 02:58 AM

To set gains this is what I do. If your radio uses a number to reference the volume; say 40 is the very highest it goes. I would set the radio to 38 or 39 (I never turn it all the way to 40), then turn the gain on the amp up until the speaker starts to bottom out or sound funky, then back it down just a little bit. That way you don't have to worry about turning the volume too loud on the radio. When I'm setting the gains on multiple amps I disconnect the mid/high amp, so I can clearly hear just the sub by itself, then I do the opposite when I'm setting the mid/high amp.

As for the amp dying, having too low of an ohm load can make the amp fizzle out from excessive heat. Don't go below the rated ohm rating of the amp. Some guys try to run too many speakers off of one amp. The lower the ohm load is, the lower the resistance, and the more current flows, but the increased current can make stuff overheat.

And I don't really worry about wattage numbers when it comes to amps matching speakers. The more wattage, the more control over the movement of the speaker. If the speaker sounds clean and doesn't bottom out, you're OK. I always go with as big of amplifier as I can afford. It's actually easier to blow a speaker by underpowering it than it is to overpower it. I worked at a custom audio shop, and I saw lots of subs get blown by running on too small of amps at high volume. The guys didn't know how to set their amps and how loud to turn the volume. When you underpower a speaker, the magnetic field is weaker in the magnet, which lets the suspension of the speaker loose linearity at high excursions. Basically the speaker is not moving perfectly straight up and down. It can move to the side slightly, which is bad if the voicecoil hits the magnet. The clearance is very tight between the voice coil and magnet. For example: 5 years ago I put 1800 watts of pure RMS power on a single JL Audio 18w6 sub that was rated for 700 watts. The sub is still running strong and clean today. Power keeps it clean; clean keeps 'em pumpin.

Ruffrydasean · 05-02-2005, 12:00 AM

Yea the subs were being underpowered. it was a bridged connection of sorts... I'll check to see the guage of wire because I dont remember at the moment. I'm just hopin the Amp is ok.. screw the Subs.. piece of shiz anyway... Amp is worth more