OK I followed the sticky in regards to tuning the amps....

My 4-channel amp gives out max RMS of 125W x 4 channels, and I tuned both rear and front speakers below the recommended maximum voltage, so it's not like I'm overpowering or using it to its MAXIMUM potential.

However even when I have done this, when playing the deck at 3/4 of the max volume, after a few minutes the amp go REALLY hot...so hot that I thought i smelt burning and pulled off the road and felt the amp....OUCH it was hot! I immediately turned the volume down on the head unit.

I went through the same steps with my mono-amp but have yet to come close to feeling the amp get hot at all.


Did i mess up tuning them? Maybe I made a calculation error? I had all the EQ's off I remember that, and then turned them back on afterwards, but even if I wasn't supposed to turn them back on, my voltage outputs were not the highest they could have been.

Are the amps supposed to become hot to the touch after a little while regardless, or did I just royally @!#& up? Thanks for your help guys!

if it is getting too hot your ohn load must be wrong. whats teh amp rated at an what are you subs?



My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again

What amp is it? if your amp is overrated or your setting for max power specs its probably clipping. we need amp specs first

» 4-channel car amplifier
» 90 watts RMS x 4 at 4 ohms (125 watts RMS x 4 at 2 ohms)
» 2-, 3-, or 4-channel output
» variable high-pass/low-pass filters (50-400 Hz, 12 dB/octave)
» tuned Bass EQ (12 dB bass boost at 50 Hz for channels 3 & 4)
» subsonic filter (15 Hz, 24 dB/octave for channels 3 & 4)
» MOSFET power supply

the front speakers have an impedance of 2 ohms and the rear speakers have an impedance of 4 Ohms

the amp is an Alpine MRP-F550 (it is the 4-channel)

this is the one that is overheating, my mono amp isn't giving me problems, but it is a MRP-M650...shoulda told you that in the above post ^^^

front speakers are infinity 6020CS components
rear speakers are sony xplod XSV6940H



thanks again!

Whats the brand and model number?

You should have 15.8V AC on either of the front channels and 19V AC on either of the rears. Make sure your setting your gains at 75% volume no loudness settings or SVC, EQ flat

No bass boost, play a 1khz tone might want to get some ear plugs

i'm pretty sure i WAS doing that lol...i remember using those numbers too! but I will try it again and see if anything changes! thanks for your help steven!

i was playing a 20hZ tone for the mono channel amp and then using a 250 hZ tone for the rears (that was my crossover frequency i believe) and a 100hZ for the front ones....was i doing that part right?

No you should play 50hz for your sub amp and 1000hz (1khz) for your settings on front and rear

how come those ones? it says 20hz in the sticky for the sub amp and i used that one it's cool. I'm not doubting you at all, I am just interested to find out why it wouldn't be the crossover frequencies.

I will use these and let you know how I do! Thanks again steve.

Try a 60 hertz tone for your subs, then try the sweep. See if it peaks past your set voltage. As for your highs/mids, try the sweep. You don't want a set tone since your speakers will be playing a wide range of stuff - that's why i put up a sweep from around 100-10000 so it'll hit all of them. Then try music. As far as your amp goes - try disconnecting just the front components, see if it gets hot. Then hook up the front ones and disconnect the back ones, see if it gets hot. If neither are getting hot separately, it might be because you have a 2 ohm load on the front channel and a 4 ohm on the back.

To answer your question in the sticky, yes, change your eq after you get the gains set.

ur mono amp wont get hot so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to use that as a comparison (mono amps run cool but 2 and 4 channels can and will get hot )

yes i noticed that....generally the 4-channel got somewhat hot anyways..but when i noticed the smell as i said above i knew something was wrong...i'm going to try what lanman suggested in the morning

just bridge the two channels and power the fronts, should correct any impedance issues and hopefully correct your heat problem

dirty elf wrote:just bridge the two channels and power the fronts, should correct any impedance issues and hopefully correct your heat problem

You'll lose your stereo sound though. It won't be the same as having a left and a right channel. If that doesn't bug you thought, go for it.

wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.

LOL

I don't think his amp will do 2 ohm bridged though. That would actually make things worse.

i have a similar alpine amp bridged for my 6.5 components up front...

its was so long ago i dont know the resistance of my fronts or anything, but im relatively sure its possible..


my amp is a mrp f240 or something and boston acc rc 620 comps i think.. if anyone cares to look it up

i dont, im lazy and have physics homework to do

Yea, these things do tend to get really flippin' hot, which is understandable since the efficiency rating on a a/b amp is MUCH lower than that of a mono-block (D) amp. Your best bet is to get the contact info for Alpine and ask their customer support about it or shoot them an email...or better yet...do both so you get a definate answer, about whether you're supposed to smell the amp when it gets hot. If you are in doubt and don't want to risk it, then drop the gains a little or drop the EQ a little on the HU. This way you're playing it more safe so you're not going to be in the market for replacement speakers or a replacement amp in the comming months. So yea, from MY experience, I've got a kicker 350.4zx and it's really putting out a LOT of heat. I've kind of got the same setup as you but in reversed order, I've got my 6.5 infinity kappa coaxials in the back (@2ohm each), and my sony xplod 4x6's in the front (@4 ohm each). And it does get REALLY hot to touch, so much so that I can't leave my finger on it for more than a second without taking it away instinctively. And I can smell it while driving if I have the HU turned all the way up to the 3/4 mark (tuned mine to that mark too), and I knew I was clipping because of the sheer physical pain that the music caused in my ears due to volume. So I didn't act on it and that's why I have better speakers in the rear than the front (cause the rears blew). So yea, my advice: Drop the gains or eq.