2x Sundown Sa8V2 in ported box - barely any output...

[Tengis]

Im not exactly a car audio god or anything of the sort... that being said I cant figure it out with my limited car audio experience. Im about to just throw my head unit away in hopes that it is the problem. I read an older help topic on this forum where someone had a similar issue and Im going to be doing some of those troubleshooting steps tomorrow. Im going to hook an MP3 player up directly to the sub and see what it does.

Head unit is an old Alpine CDA9811

The amp is an Arc Audio KS600.2.

My buddy built the box and wired up the subs inside - he does super high end car audio and interior work and even double checked his wiring for me after I installed it and had this issue. They are installed bridged and the resistance read in the high 3s I think last time I checked it with a multimeter (so they should be getting 1200w since they are installed at 4 ohms right?).

If I turn up the gain and bass boost on the amp then I can get them to hit but its not as hard as I would imagine it should be (Ive never heard these subs before mine) and the sound isnt very clean. Ive messed around with the crossover on the head unit (LPF, etc) as well as the one on the amp thinking that I may have had my crossovers doubled up like the thread I found on this forum.

Thoughts?

I need to check the RCA output going to the subs. Can I simply do that with a multimeter?

Click to read more...

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

sounds like one sub is out of phase and canceling the other out

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like a setting issue or as mention a wiring issue.

 

[Tengis]

Is the amp good enough to drive these subs?

What kind of wiring issue? Inside the sub box or in the car somewhere?

 

[Iosias 10+ year member]

It would be the wiring to the subs, and with that amp at 4 ohm only 400rms to each sub is what they would be getting.

 

[Tengis]

They are bridged at 4ohm so the amp should be outputting 1200w. There is only one set of wires coming out of my box.

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

You would need to pull the subs out and check the wiring.

 

[Iosias 10+ year member]

Missed the bridged part XD, check the wiring though lol

 

[blobb454 10+ year member]

Yeah Id double check wiring. I would suspect the way the wiring is between the two subs. Is that amp that powerful at 4 ohm? Id try to set them up at 2 ohm or if that amp is stable at 1. Try to run wiring from one sub directly to the amp and see if just the one is louder. I have a single sa-8 I just hooked up and the little bastard drills!

 

[Tengis]

I didnt even think about hooking up only one sub. I might do that tonight and see what happens.

 

[southernboom88 10+ year member]

sounds like classic case of "my friend hooked my system up" if your buddy does super high end audio, let him fix it before you fry a sub or the amp... overall wiring sounds like the issue. and dont forget, the gain and bass boost are NOT volume knobs. gain shold be set to match the output voltage of your headunit..

 

[Tengis]

I can't have him fix it... he is in Houston and I'm 300+ miles away on an air force base =p. You can look him up on Facebook under innovative rides, he does some sweet stuff.

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

You talking about Aaron?

Regardless even pro's make mistakes. The wiring on the enclosure is something easily looked over.

 

[blobb454 10+ year member]

Just take your time. Pull one sub out, disconnect the speaker wires from the sub terminals. Do not let the speaker wires touch each other. Then pull the other, same way, to make sure at least one is wired correctly. If it is, then, while paying attention, and stereo back off, reconnect the other sub. Again, take your time! Post up your results/findings.

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

Just take your time. Pull one sub out, disconnect the speaker wires from the sub terminals. Do not let the speaker wires touch each other. Then pull the other, same way, to make sure at least one is wired correctly. If it is, then, while paying attention, and stereo back off, reconnect the other sub. Again, take your time! Post up your results/findings.

A better option would be to just pull both subs and look at all the wiring. A DMM would help as well.