2 many X-overs on speakers????

[chris229 10+ year member]

what happened with that remote terminal volume up car off test?

 

[redciv 10+ year member]

Yes you are right about the ratings I got carried away with the power ratings, 4 ohms bridged power not 2 ohms stable. Ok Chris I have to asked this question. BTW I rechecked the remote wire and with the engine off and the radio as loud as possible the reading dropped to 11.22v. But back to the question. It may seem dumb but just to make sure I did the resistance test right, I was suppose to put the two test leads on the "+" & " -" terminal of the AMP instead of the Speaker Wire itself. I am new to the multimeter and just want to make sure I tested correctly. If I did the test correctly why would the amp read the way it did and if I didn't well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

no don't test the amp's terminals test the speaker wires

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

I got it--- mute all channel on the amp listen for noise at idle. If it's clean reconnect all rcas from the EQ. Now mute the EQ. Listen for noise. The EQ or the radio has either a bad power connection or is leaking noise. Mute the EQ and if the noise stays then it the EQ. If the noise is clean then it's the radio. We've been looking in the wrong place. The noise is coming from upstream. sorry

 

[redciv 10+ year member]

OK Chris I read your post on the other thread that I made before this thread. It seems that I am experiencing more than one problem. The noise is not present when the system is sounding good, only when the amp loses power is when the noise is present. Sorry if I did not explain that better. When the system is running good then no noise is present, but when the amps output is barely heard then the noise comes. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE POWER DROP ON THE AMP. If the voltage is all exceptable going into the amp then what is the problem. By the way I don't know if I said this earlier, however USAcoustics is one of the few companies that actually rate there RMS power at 12.9v instead of 14.4v. I don't know if that has anything to do with the lack of power however if the amp is rated at 410w in it's present configuration at 12.9v then it scares me to think of what the amp is putting out when the car is running, after all I only have 8ga wire running 17ft. By the way how do you mute the AMP, EQ AND H/U. Thanks.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

take some old RCA wires and hack off the ends. Connect the center prong wire to the outer ring on each jack. make enough to plug into all channels on the amp. It should go quiet. If it does go quiet then that maens the amp is fine. Next reconnect the RCA wires from the EQ. Now mute the EQ's inputs with the plugs. If it mutes then it's the radio if it doesn't mute then it's the EQ. What do you mean you don't hear the noise when it sounds GOOD. In what way does the amp loose power? You mean you turn up the volume and it doesn't respond OR when when the volume is down you hear the noise the most. We know the AMP power is fine. If you mute the AMP and it stays quiet then we know it not the AMP It's upstream. I think what is happening is some upstream signal [HU,EQ] is making the noise then the amp is just outputing that sound. Mute all channels on the amp so we can exclued it from the list of sources of noise.

 

[redciv 10+ year member]

Ok Chris here is what I have done. I almost forgot that I had another amp that I could test out the H/U, EQ, and RCA's to see if they were the problem. So on the 4th I pulled the USAcoustics amp out and put in my Kenwood KAC-606 amp. I have it bridged for 150W to the MTX subs. Since the amp is only a two channel amp I needed something for the highs and mids, so regretfully I reconnected the factory speakers in the doors to the H/U and although the imaging and sound is nothing like the Blaupunkt's in the kick panels this is just an experiment to test the different signal processors and wiring. So it's been almost 48 hours and here's the results. EVERYTHING IS FINE. No noise no fading power amp light, no change in volume with speed, no accessory switching to get volume back up to power, NO ANYTHING. Just BASS, BASS, BASS. And I have to say that the Kenwood 150W amp is pushing the subs more harder than the USAcoustics 240w at 12.9v ever did. BTW, if the power is rated at 12.9 volts, doesn't that mean that the amp is putting out close to 300w when the alternator is running. And I have tried many variables, air conditioning on/off, headlights on/off, headlights and A/C on and off at the same time. NO PROBLEM. So I think that maybe the power supply in the USAcoustics amp is bad and maybe I still need to change the wiring to 4ga, although the test did show the amp was getting proper voltage. WHATCHA THINK?//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

I'm glad you go it fixed. It's always great to have a back up amp

 

[redciv 10+ year member]

It is definitely great. BTW should I switch to 4ga wire, I mean the readings on the multimeter were fine and also since USAcoustics rated all power ratings at 12.9v, my amp is probally putting out more power than the 410w I am assuming. Reason for question is because I have some older, believe it or not 6year old MTX subs, which were only rated at 125w each. The amp is supposed to put out 240w I guess I would do better to just cut the gain on those two channels once I get the amp up and running again. BTW I have to say that you have truly been a SAVIOR to me. I found out alot about troubleshooting a problem so BIG UPS TO CHRIS229. YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

what is the TOTAL fusing for the amp.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

good job chris and redciv good job on following along ..most newbie do different stuff that ruins amps lol

 

[redciv 10+ year member]

Chris there is only one fuse and it is a 35 amp fuse. Under the hood I have a 60amp fuse. I think I will change back to 40amp. I don't know why I figured 60 would be better. Better way to kill something is what it is.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[redciv 10+ year member]

Well Audiolife I'm not really a newbie. This is my first install however I have been an audiophile since 1990 and had my first piece of a system installed professionally. But I had been saving up my money and wanted the satisfaction of installing everything myself. So I am very proud of myself and have learned alot. Thanks