A few problems with my system

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

I just got this hooked up and it sounds nice... but not all what I expected. I am starting to question how well I did my install. Hopefully you guys can help me.

I ran 4 guage wire to a Orion 1200D. The orion is hooked up to a 12" type R in a sealed box. The fused I am running is 80a. And if it matters, my headunit has 2v preouts.

In order for me to get a nice thump out of my woofer I have to have the gain all the way cranked up. My friend said that was just because I only have 2v preouts. Also, on my deck there is a seperate control to adjust the volume of the woofer. When I turn it up and down however, the bass from the speakers will raise or lower with it. Also, is a 80a fuse big enough for my amp? Im running it at 2ohms and I believe the 1200D is rated at 725watts at 2 ohms... Also, does the wire from the amp to the sub matter? I don't know what guage it is... but it is very skinny.

Thanks for your help!

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[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

Hmmm your speakers get louder when you turn up the sub control? I dunno on that. My guess is that you have one really crappy box or are expecting way too much out of one type r sealed //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. Did you set the gain properly? What the amps output reading? Is it getting proper voltage? Do you have a dmm?

 

[SAG3 5,000+ posts]

the rest of the settings on your amp might be messed up so check those

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I just got this hooked up and it sounds nice... but not all what I expected. I am starting to question how well I did my install. Hopefully you guys can help me.
I ran 4 guage wire to a Orion 1200D. The orion is hooked up to a 12" type R in a sealed box. The fused I am running is 80a. And if it matters, my headunit has 2v preouts.

In order for me to get a nice thump out of my woofer I have to have the gain all the way cranked up. My friend said that was just because I only have 2v preouts. Also, on my deck there is a seperate control to adjust the volume of the woofer. When I turn it up and down however, the bass from the speakers will raise or lower with it. Also, is a 80a fuse big enough for my amp? Im running it at 2ohms and I believe the 1200D is rated at 725watts at 2 ohms... Also, does the wire from the amp to the sub matter? I don't know what guage it is... but it is very skinny.

Thanks for your help!

I would suggest you have the wrong set of preouts feeding your speaker amp and sub amp. Check that first. The volume control for the sub preouts shouldn't have any effect whatsoever on the rest of the system excepting being connected incorrectly.

Cranking the gains wide open is never a good idea. This leads to clipped amp output and eventually, driver failure. Remember: The gain is an input sensitivity adjustment - not an amplifier volume control.

Set the gains according to the method outlined here.

If the output isn't what you were expecting after that then I would suggest either you are expecting more from the sub than it is capable of or it is in an enclosure that isn't right for it.

 

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

I have no idea how to tune all the frequencies on the amp... I did try to do the "gain setting tutorial" but like i said I have to have the gain all the way up to get good volume. My speakers dont get louder when I turn up my sub control. The BASS in the speakers changes when I adjust the sub volume. I bought the box from "Al & Eds autosound" so I would hope it wasnt to crappy ^_^

Im confused on what you asked about the amps "output reading" and what a "dmm" is.

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

Digital multi meter=dmm...get one //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Prowler also brought up a good point, though I doubt your speakers are hooked up to an external amp...are they?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I have no idea how to tune all the frequencies on the amp... I did try to do the "gain setting tutorial" but like i said I have to have the gain all the way up to get good volume. My speakers dont get louder when I turn up my sub control. The BASS in the speakers changes when I adjust the sub volume. I bought the box from "Al & Eds autosound" so I would hope it wasnt to crappy ^_^
Im confused on what you asked about the amps "output reading" and what a "dmm" is.

I would suggest that if you're assking this question then you didn't set the gains on the amp according to the method outlined in the stickied tutorial at all.

a DMM is a digital multi-meter....the tool you'd want to use to follow the instructions outlined in the tutorial. The output reading another poster asked about would be the voltage the amp was reading at the output terminals (which is the number you'd need to set the gains properly in the first place)

If you don't have a DMM then borrow one or go buy one. They can be had at Wal-Mart for around $20 or so.

Set the gains properly then if the output to you is still lacking refer to my previous post:

If the output isn't what you were expecting after that then I would suggest either you are expecting more from the sub than it is capable of or it is in an enclosure that isn't right for it.

 

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

Ok, well maybe its a problem with the headunit itself because the way I look at it is that special supwoofer volume should only adjust the volume on the subwoofer preout. So if I had the sub plugged in on a preout designed for the speakers, adjusting that control should do nothing.

Where would I get one of these "digital multi meters" and what will it do for me?

 

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

Ok, so I guess I didn't tune my gains correctly. Ill go get a DMM and see what I cant come up with. Are there any tutorials on how to set the LP and HP frequencies? Also, is there anything I can do to make sure that everything is running correclty?

Also, no one has answered the question on the fuse... do I need to upgrade my 80a fuse to accomodate what calculations say the amp will draw which is 105a?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

If the amp will draw 105a at full power (and I will assume you are correct in this as I know next to nothing about Orion amps and their operation) then it simply isn't possible for it to do so through an 80a fuse. It will continually blow said fuse whenever it tries.

I reckon then, yes, a fuse capacity upgrade would be in order.

 

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

This is the kinda DMM I am looking for correct?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Multi-Meter-DT-830B-multimeter-VOLT-OHM_W0QQitemZ7579343719QQcategoryZ25412QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

LMK if that one will work, thanks.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

This is the kinda DMM I am looking for correct?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Multi-Meter-DT-830B-multimeter-VOLT-OHM_W0QQitemZ7579343719QQcategoryZ25412QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

LMK if that one will work, thanks.

Yes - something exactly like that. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

Ok, my friend had a DMM so I followed the JL tutorial and it doesnt seem to be running correclty. I did everything they said, and based on calculations I should be getting a reading of 38volts. ( sqrt(2*725)=38 ) To even get it that high I had to have the volume on my HU higher than it would be able to go without distoring my speakers... LMK what you think is wrong or what else I can test.. thanks

 

[pntballindude 10+ year member]

help!!

 

[HellyHans 10+ year member]

Ok,what are you speakers running on? the headunit amp or a seperate amp?

Are you sure you plugged the proper RCA behind the headunit

LP should be set on your amp running your sub of course.

And you can set you car speakers to HP or OFF. If you have tweeters without crossovers or filters, dont run the filter OFF as you will blow them.