alpine 5 channel going into protect(clipping) at high volume

[sdaman05 10+ year member]

Hey guys i got a issue with my setup... This is installed in my girlfriends car so this is a small fix as she doesn't really ever experience this issue( im the only person that plays it loud enough to clip)

here's my story:

2002 toyota echo, stock radio, stock speakers, 2 JL 10W3v2's sealed(600 RMS)

I have a high low converter behind the radio giving me 1 set of rca's that goes back to the amp alpine mrv-450(see link)

Alpine MRV-F450 5-channel car amplifier 50 watts RMS x 4 + 200 watts RMS x 1 at Crutchfield.com

i also have a ipod 1/8 to RCA cable behind the radio with a rca dimmer switch wired inline before the main RCA's... dimmer is to regulate ipod volume, BOTH the high low converter and the ipod rca's are connected via a 2 female to one male rca connector allowing me to have both the radio and the ipod running signal down ONE RCA back to the amp.

once at the amp i split the one channel to both the fronts and the back channels with another y splitter.... The amp has a auto signal pickup from channels3/4 for the sub out channel 5...

also my remote wire is directly off my cigarette lighter positive lead

so i have ONE RCA cable powering 5 channels of sound, when im playing the radio quite loud with a bass heavy song it clips and goes into protect mode(red led indicator on amp, Blue when its playing fine) and if i turn the volume down the music returns after about 4 seconds of silence. The same thing happens with the ipod connection but at a lower volume max.

my question is:

will i be able to reach a higher overall output volume with more RCA channels(more overall voltage) feeding the amp?? meaning if i get another 4 channel H/L converter will I be able to drive the amp louder with the same setup.???

Is it my ground that wont allow the higher voltage to be returned to complete the circuit?

also just thought that my subs are wired to a 2 ohm load and my amp is 4 ohm stable... would that drop its performance overall??

thanks

Chris

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[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

Hey guys i got a issue with my setup... This is installed in my girlfriends car so this is a small fix as she doesn't really ever experience this issue( im the only person that plays it loud enough to clip)here's my story:

2002 toyota echo, stock radio, stock speakers, 2 JL 10W3v2's sealed(600 RMS)

I have a high low converter behind the radio giving me 1 set of rca's that goes back to the amp alpine mrv-450(see link)

Alpine MRV-F450 5-channel car amplifier 50 watts RMS x 4 + 200 watts RMS x 1 at Crutchfield.com

i also have a ipod 1/8 to RCA cable behind the radio with a rca dimmer switch wired inline before the main RCA's... dimmer is to regulate ipod volume, BOTH the high low converter and the ipod rca's are connected via a 2 female to one male rca connector allowing me to have both the radio and the ipod running signal down ONE RCA back to the amp.

once at the amp i split the one channel to both the fronts and the back channels with another y splitter.... The amp has a auto signal pickup from channels3/4 for the sub out channel 5...

also my remote wire is directly off my cigarette lighter positive lead

so i have ONE RCA cable powering 5 channels of sound, when im playing the radio quite loud with a bass heavy song it clips and goes into protect mode(red led indicator on amp, Blue when its playing fine) and if i turn the volume down the music returns after about 4 seconds of silence. The same thing happens with the ipod connection but at a lower volume max.

my question is:

will i be able to reach a higher overall output volume with more RCA channels(more overall voltage) feeding the amp?? meaning if i get another 4 channel H/L converter will I be able to drive the amp louder with the same setup.???

Is it my ground that wont allow the higher voltage to be returned to complete the circuit?

also just thought that my subs are wired to a 2 ohm load and my amp is 4 ohm stable... would that drop its performance overall??

thanks

Chris

w.o.w.

Definitely get your wiring figured out and done correctly. Thats starting point number one, as your amplifier is probably seeing an interesting input voltage from all the nonsense you have wired together.

Secondly, set your gains with a DMM, if they havent been already.