Can a amp be partially the way bad?

[verg 10+ year member]

I have a question regarding if my amp is bad or not. I have a Orion 1200d that i just purchased from a member off this board,it is replacing a Xtant x1001. I have my SI Magnum subwoofer (Thanks Hoss!) wired the same as i did on my Xtant which is a 1 ohm load. Anyways i get power and i get a signal but i have to have my gain up all the way to get any kind of an output. I have minimal bass coming from this thing, it seems like it is maybe 100 watts or so. It is connected exactly the same way as My Xtant was and that thing pounded.

So i guess my question is can a amp be half bad?? I thought it either worked or it did not work. I messed with all my connections and nothing.

I have installed many amps in my days and this is the first time i have ran across something like this. Am i missing something or is thing fried??

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[Bake 10+ year member]

Usually solid state amps either work or don't. If you are bridging perhaps one channel is out and you don't realize it. Try running each channel individually and see what you get. If you have a meter you can check the output and find out what it is putting out.

 

[zachzchw 5,000+ posts]

Pics of how you have it set?

 

[verg 10+ year member]

There is two ouputs on it and i have tried both of them, i tried bridging them just to see... and it was the same. I will try to get pics tomorrow but i am pretty sure it is hooked up correctly.

I put a DMM on it and i am getting 14.4 to the amp and 1.03 Ohms on the output. Thanks for any help!

 

[noonej21 10+ year member]

In my experience yes they can be. I had(still do acutally) a PPI Art Series A600. The amp "worked", now by worked I mean it supplied my subs with power but I knew it was not puting out anywhere near the 600 watts it was rated at. I sent it out for repair(K&B Audio) and they found an optocoupler to be bad, this was preventing the amp from creating the proper internal voltage to supply the (+) rail. The amp was making about half the voltage it should have been. so in this case yes an amp can be partially bad.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

HPF set?

 

[verg 10+ year member]

I have seperate RCA coming from my deck so I have my mids going to another amp so i do not have a set coming in so the HPF is off and not in use.

 

[PatFitz9 10+ year member]

just curious, why did you get rid of the Xtant amp? they are pretty nice, and isn't it about the same power as the 1200d?

 

[Bake 10+ year member]

I was curious about why you were replacing the Xtant also. But like Noone said, it is Possible. Thats why I said to check it with a meter. You will not be able to tell if it is distorted but you should be able to tell how much power it is putting out.

 

[verg 10+ year member]

The xtant is a nice amp, a little geared towards more of show cars i think. Having everyting internal like the x-overs and gain just a bit of a pain. Plus i got the 1200d cheaper than the xtant and figured i did not need such a nice amp as the xtant.

Good thing i still have the xtant cause i need something to get me by until i get this thing fixed.

 

[verg 10+ year member]

Ok stupid question but can i check how many watts it is putting out with a DMM? If so what setting do i put it on?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

You can't check "wattage" per say, but if you set the DMM to AC Voltage and play a 0db sine wave (test tone) of say..50hz, then put the probes for the DMM on the outputs of the amplifier you will be able to check the voltage output. This, along with a little implementation of ohms law will tell you if the amplifier is outputting appropriate voltage.

That amplifier is supposed to be capable of 1200w RMS @ 1ohm, so it should have atleast 34.64V on the outputs [V = sqrt(power * impedance)]

 

[PatFitz9 10+ year member]

if you look at the sticky for gain setting, there is a formula you can use. if there is a problem though, you will most likely notice a big difference in the voltage you should be putting out.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

You can't check "wattage" per say, but if you set the DMM to AC Voltage and play a 0db sine wave (test tone) of say..50hz, then put the probes for the DMM on the outputs of the amplifier you will be able to check the voltage output. This, along with a little implementation of ohms law will tell you if the amplifier is outputting appropriate voltage.

That amplifier is supposed to be capable of 1200w RMS @ 1ohm, so it should have atleast 34.64V on the outputs [V = sqrt(power * impedance)]

Forgot to mention, this will be highly dependent upon the volume setting on the deck and the gain setting on the amp. Turn the deck up to ~3/4 of it's maximum volume, and play with the gain knob until you obtain 34.64V. If the voltage on the output never gets that high, and you have the gain set to maximum, then you know there is a problem.

 

[nVRuckus 5,000+ posts]

I know ghostface's amp only partially works now. it is pushing like half power. He opened it up and something is burnt on the inside.

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

I have an older Rockford punch 60 with one dead channel, and one channel that is fine- it can happen.

 

[verg 10+ year member]

Ok i did the 50Hz sine wave and i got 36.4 output no problem. It is really wierd i use an Ipod hooked up with a kenwood adaptor plugged into my deck so i can control the ipod through the deck and any song i play through that is the quiet sound i am talking about. The sine wave was pretty loud and the radio actually has some bass to it. So how is it playing MP3's through my Kenwood is making my bass sound like ass?

The Xtant had no problem pounding when i had it hooked up the same way... any ideas?

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

Ok i did the 50Hz sine wave and i got 36.4 output no problem. It is really wierd i use an Ipod hooked up with a kenwood adaptor plugged into my deck so i can control the ipod through the deck and any song i play through that is the quiet sound i am talking about. The sine wave was pretty loud and the radio actually has some bass to it. So how is it playing MP3's through my Kenwood is making my bass sound like ass?
The Xtant had no problem pounding when i had it hooked up the same way... any ideas?

where'd the tone come from??? put that on the Ipod if it wasn't. does the EQ and volume on the ipod remain active with the interface? I don't know how that works.

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

if the ipod is playing through it's headphone connection, turn up the volume on the ipod- for it to sound right it will need to be pretty much all the way up- this is why the dock connector ones are superior- I bet this is your problem.

 

[verg 10+ year member]

THis is the dock connected one