Amp sounds very weak.

[Bassin Buick]

I don't really know what to blame here. First off the amp is powered with 6 GA. scoshe cables and 14 ga to the speakers , yes i know its cheap but the amp only carries 40 amps of fuse so this cable is plenty capable of delivering sufficient power.

Deck is a x494 , amp is a SS usa305 , speakers are 4 infinity kappa 5x7's and sub is TBD , as of right now its 1 10" MTX BT Legend.

The subwoofer section of the amp is very strong for only being rated at 100 watts , but the full range section is pretty disappointing. Its rated 50x4 i believe and it really sounds like shiz. I have never underpowered kappas before and i'm wondering if they just aren't very efficient or is this amp just a wimp? I know its correctly working and i bought it from somebody on here at a steal of a price so if the original owner sees this thread , understand i'm not complaining because we both know that if this amp was not working at all , i still got a good deal on it. I just wanna know if these kappas really need the rated 100 watts each to shine or are they just POS's? Or is the amp the weak link here?

BTW , this is all in my dads ride. I don't claim any of this BS equipment. LOL.

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[Slayerx 10+ year member]

Kappa's are pretty dang efficient I'm feeding mine about 120w rms, and can get ear shattering loud, not just the bright tweets either lol. They should still get pretty loud on 50, so idk //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[Bassin Buick]

the front pair got pretty loud when i bridged the 5 channel amp to 3 channels , but it ran too hot like that and went into thermal protect. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif i figured it would make a nice amp for my dad , but he still acts like he's 15 years old when it comes to his music and its just not loud enough. Right now hes running one of my 5540's which i've never managed to protect , but he has! LOL. Could it be that i tapped into factory speaker wires to avoid drilling into his doors?

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

not sure on the past few years, but kappa's don't seem to handle the rated power well, actually...... have you tried putting the amp in your own ride? turning the bass down and gains up? did you take readings at the amp itself? adn of course, is the amp set up and adjusted correctly? are you using all 6 channels?*on the rca's*

 

[Bassin Buick]

not sure on the past few years, but kappa's don't seem to handle the rated power well, actually...... have you tried putting the amp in your own ride? turning the bass down and gains up? did you take readings at the amp itself? adn of course, is the amp set up and adjusted correctly? are you using all 6 channels?

The amp was tested in my car upon recieving it from the seller. It works just fine. and yes all 5 channels were used. Gains are between 1/4th and 1/2 on all 5 channels. Distortion shows up around 2 notches before full on the deck. Its just not very loud.

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

I got a nice replacement amp for you, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif sapphire 1.5x

 

[Bassin Buick]

I got a nice replacement amp for you, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif sapphire 1.5x

Thats less power than the SS. I don't think thats for me. I'm almost sure i need more power for his speakers. I have never heard them on less than 150 watts each off of my HT reciever when i first bought them for dad off ebay. I never tried them on small power until now.

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

That PG will surprise you //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Its not always about the amount of power. I may just be some settings on the amp or a wiring issue.

 

[Bassin Buick]

i'm wondering........i tapped into the factory wires. would more resistance cause a amp to run hotter? i would think it wouldn't because more resistance would raise the ohm load higher than normal.

 

[xoutofmyheadx 10+ year member]

you are aware that kappa's are 2 ohm right? just sayin, if you bridged that amp can it do 2ohms?

 

[Bassin Buick]

you are aware that kappa's are 2 ohm right? just sayin, if you bridged that amp can it do 2ohms?

first off........no. and no. These are 4 ohm models from a few years back and the new ones are not 2 ohms either despite what infinity claims. My jbl components are rated at 2 ohms , yet when i hook up a ohmmeter to the terminals of the crossovers while the woofer and tweeter are properly connected i get a reading of 3.4 ohms which is typical of a standard 4 ohm speaker. Thats why on the front of all the infinty and jbl boxes it says "true 4 ohm". its just a marketing ploy , nothing more.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

that actually is a bad *** amp, i think the settings just need some tweaking. i wouldn't pay mind to the factory wiring unless it is something like nissan 22-24awg, then it could pose a problem 75w+ that ss should be able to do 100w, so the only problem i see is clipping. one thing about the gains- i like to believe i can audibly decern distortion just fine and set my gains accordingly to where everything can peak simultaneously. rarely, do i ever set one of mty own amp gains below 1/2, and usually between 2/3 and full, depending on the hu. make sure the bass is low on the hu, and all other settings are decent, and turn those components up.... provided you don't encounter distortion. i stand behind my previous tatement...... the average novice will smoke infinity's from about 5 years ago on rated power. they really don't like it, and have a poor efficiencyeak ratio....imho. i have to admit, i have a mild buzz goin, but if the bass is drowning the mids/highs, then try adjusting the hu and gains accordingly...

 

[Bassin Buick]

that actually is a bad *** amp, i think the settings just need some tweaking. i wouldn't pay mind to the factory wiring unless it is something like nissan 22-24awg, then it could pose a problem 75w+ that ss should be able to do 100w, so the only problem i see is clipping. one thing about the gains- i like to believe i can audibly decern distortion just fine and set my gains accordingly to where everything can peak simultaneously. rarely, do i ever set one of mty own amp gains below 1/2, and usually between 2/3 and full, depending on the hu. make sure the bass is low on the hu, and all other settings are decent, and turn those components up.... provided you don't encounter distortion. i stand behind my previous tatement...... the average novice will smoke infinity's from about 5 years ago on rated power. they really don't like it, and have a poor efficiencyeak ratio....imho. i have to admit, i have a mild buzz goin, but if the bass is drowning the mids/highs, then try adjusting the hu and gains accordingly...

well , i replaced the ss with one of my sony 5540's temporarily and he has managed to send it into protect too (something i have never done). i have the infinity's running 2 ohm stereo on the front channels and the sub 4 ohm bridged on the rear. And i just picked up the SS amp to check and i actually had the gains all the way down on the full range channels and 1/4 up on the sub section. So maybe i need to tweak the deck a little better??? IDK. All i know is my other sony 5540 is half assed repaired and running my doors daily and i keep it at 1/4th gain and it has never shut down on me. I'm really leaning toward the factory speaker wires being the weak link here because there is nothing wrong with either amp and i'm not getting retarded with the gains at all. BTW the SS and sony's sound amazing in my car , but crap in his truck. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

Wait, so the fronts are 2ohm?.... That alone could send the Sony into protect seeing low impedance/ voltage drop, I would imagine ...... I would start with turning bass down on the hi, Nd adjusting the amp gains ...... I would also venture to say 2ohm mids have low sensitivity...... It would help to take voltage readings off the 4 channels. If there is wiring problem, I would put money on it not being even through all channels, and definatly show by measuring the outputs

 

[Bassin Buick]

no. 4 ohm front doors and 4 ohm rear doors ran in parallel = 2 ohms per channel. 2 speakers on each channel. the remaining 2 channels are bridged running a single 10" 4 ohm sub.