Need Amp Help - Audio & Electronics Forum

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Need Amp Help
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 7:16 AM
OK guys I have 2 12" Lanzar 1600W DVC subs in a ported enclosure, a Soundstorm 1000W 4 Channel Amp Bridge to 500X2 (box ratings) 4ga Power wire, 8ga Ground, 24ga remote wire, 16ga speaker wire from amp to subs, 12ga from voice coil to voice coil and to the out terminals on the box, and of coarse the RCA Jacks (These are walmart brand 18ft)

My Problem is this, about 2 weeks ago my subs started distorting really bad and not producing much sound, so I took everything out tested the subs and they are fine, so I put everything back in again, and system worked fine for about 3 days, then is started cutting in and out from system quality bass down to a distorted garble that sounds like its a busted sub, and then back to fine............any clues on to why I would be having this issue RCA jacks bad maybe? frequency issuess between amp and CD player, Amp and speakers, internally in the amp? I dont know but I'm hoping someone here has seen this issue before, I tried searching but my keywords wouldnt pull anything up.

Thanks in advance for the help.


I don't know j-body's yet........but I will!

Re: Need Amp Help
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 7:55 AM
Can your 4 channel amp run 500x2 @ 2 ohm? I'm guessing your subs are dual 4 ohm subs, and that would give you 2 or 8 ohms per sub. What's your gains set at? Are they set properly? You've also got mis-matched ground and power cables. How good is your ground?



Re: Need Amp Help
Thursday, April 23, 2009 8:14 AM
I used the premade kit for 1000watt plus Amps, and those are the gauge wire they gave me, its a solid ground to the rear driverside shock mount bolt.

Yes it is 2 ohm stable in Bridged mode pushing 500W to each sub which is 300 below RMS but sounds good when everything is working fine. Yes the subs are Daul 4 ohm subse i've got them wired down to 2 ohms and connected right side to Channels 1/2 and the Left 3/4 the left sub is the one that cuts out the most, but they both do it.


I don't know j-body's yet........but I will!
Re: Need Amp Help
Thursday, April 23, 2009 8:42 AM
You are over loading the amp. Your 4 channel amp most likely is not stable below 4ohms when bridged and you are presenting a 2 ohm load to each set of channels. I can guarantee that is contributing to any kind of problem you are having. You have a low end amp. Even in the higher end stuff, presenting too low of an ohms load is going to be hard on it. On a low end junker like Soundstorm, I am surprised the thing didn't blow up by now.


On the other hand....you have other fingers.

In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
Re: Need Amp Help
Sunday, April 26, 2009 9:45 AM
the amp is rated 2 ohm stable.......................thats why i have it that way, i wasn' t going for quality or top of the line stuff just something to make it sound better.................i unbridged them and set it up like channel 1 and channel 3 same problem
i re wired the subs to 4 ohm same problem
i had the amp tested its good, subs are good so its either in the power wire getting to much interference but that shouldnt be the case it is insulated. the RCA's are the only thing i can think of................any other suggestions?


I don't know j-body's yet........but I will!
Re: Need Amp Help
Sunday, April 26, 2009 10:49 AM
amp is very likely 2 ohm stable in STEREO only. bridging it at 2 ohms is like running 1 ohm stereo. like JL said, alot of high-end amps do not do well going below rated impedance for long.
how did you test the amp? did you take it to a shop for them to hook to their own power supply, deck, RCAs, speakers??

if something blew in that amp, you may not get any protection issues or anything that suggests that the amp itself is at fault. I've seen it happen.
power wire interference will only cause alternator whine. pretty easy to hear, and the whine doesn't cause distortion or lack of output.

I would swap out the RCAs to see if that's the issue. double check your wiring (including power and grounds to both the deck and amp), even change the placement of your ground in the back. if none of these fix the issue, it could be the output on your deck or (likely) that the amp has gone to heaven.


GAM (The Kilted One) wrote: if you think you're that much better than them because you're "correct" I hope your progeny don't turn out as screwed up as yourself.

Re: Need Amp Help
Sunday, April 26, 2009 1:12 PM
well heres the thing, i took the amp to a local shop tested ok across the board, but i decided to unbridge it again, and use 1 channel 1 sub method but i used chan 2/4 this time instead of their test of 1/3...............CH1 is shot in the amp 2/4 un bridge sounds good but i definitely want something more, ANY SUGGESTIONS for a new amp under 250 would be great!!!!


I don't know j-body's yet........but I will!
Re: Need Amp Help
Sunday, April 26, 2009 4:28 PM
aq1200 its 250$ shipped to your door.





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Re: Need Amp Help
Sunday, April 26, 2009 5:40 PM
also why are u using a smaller gauge for ground wire, dont do that



Re: Need Amp Help
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:52 AM
That ground wire is what came in the kit I bought from the local car stereo store here.............we only have one other then walmart specials............lol

the subs need 800 RMS so I'm looking for an amp to push them at least to that level.........so that I'm not underpowering them constantly.


I don't know j-body's yet........but I will!
Re: Need Amp Help
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 1:26 PM
CrAzY Z24 wrote:also why are u using a smaller gauge for ground wire, dont do that
There's nothing wrong with doing that as long as the run is short. Only if the ground is running back to the battery does it need to be the same size.







Re: Need Amp Help
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 1:45 PM
your always suppose to use same gauge for your ground as your power wire , dont give me that short crap



Re: Need Amp Help
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:24 PM
Or use larger



Re: Need Amp Help
Thursday, April 30, 2009 5:38 PM
changed the ground wire to 4ga 8inches long .............same problem, now even in series unbridged sometimes it sounds good sometimes it sounds garbled and almost muffled. like its loosing frequency. same problem on different head unit and everything.


I don't know j-body's yet........but I will!
Re: Need Amp Help
Friday, May 01, 2009 11:30 AM
CrAzY Z24 wrote:your always suppose to use same gauge for your ground as your power wire , dont give me that short crap




WWWWWRRRRRROOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

Do you know anything about amperage that a different length and gauge of wire can handle? The shorter the length, the higher of amperage any given wire gauge can handle. They don't technically NEED to match in size. If the smaller ground is short enough of a run, it isn't causing an issue. I don't get why you are so stubborn and set in your ways with something you are so wrong about dude...


On the other hand....you have other fingers.

In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
Re: Need Amp Help
Friday, May 01, 2009 4:50 PM
^^ya but why risk it with wire being cheap



Re: Need Amp Help
Friday, May 01, 2009 10:22 PM
risk what? If his amp is drawing less than 65 amps and the wire is less than 4ft long, he is perfectly within it's capabilities. I don't get what he is risking. Yeah wire is cheap, but if he is using what he has, why spend even a tiny bit of money?


On the other hand....you have other fingers.

In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
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