How to test if subwoofer and amp works

[royale 10+ year member]

Hi, I am going to pick up a sub and an amp next week. Is there anyway to test if they works. Both the seller and my car arn't wired up. Any help is greatly appreciated! thanks!

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[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

This might be kinds of a PITA, but it'll work. Get a DMM, a bunch of runs of speaker wire, and a cable that turns a headphone jack into RCA's.

Hook up the amplifier with some speaker wire near the battery in the engine bay. Use an ipod or a CD player as your source. Hook up the subs free air to the terminals. If the subs move, you're golden.

 

[MTX520 10+ year member]

This might be kinds of a PITA, but it'll work. Get a DMM, a bunch of runs of speaker wire, and a cable that turns a headphone jack into RCA's.
Hook up the amplifier with some speaker wire near the battery in the engine bay. Use an ipod or a CD player as your source. Hook up the subs free air to the terminals. If the subs move, you're golden.

X2!!!!!!!

 

[royale 10+ year member]

What is a DMM? speaker wire are jus wires that has positive and negative right? a cable that turns headphone jack into RCA? where can i get that? thanks for help man!

 

[royale 10+ year member]

This is that RCA/headphone cable right?

http://ask.creative.com/wwimages/audio_int/xfi/professionalaudio_rca.jpg

 

[Fusion_FREAK 10+ year member]

No no no.. You need to get an extension cord. Hook the wire up the speaker, and then plug it in. If the sub makes a loud buzz, that means it works.

Not for very long though.

 

[bball09124 10+ year member]

No no no.. You need to get an extension cord. Hook the wire up the speaker, and then plug it in. If the sub makes a loud buzz, that means it works.
Not for very long though.

x2

 

[royale 10+ year member]

Please teach me step by step as I'm very new in car audio. what kinda extension cord?

 

[Fusion_FREAK 10+ year member]

Read up noob.

There's a search function for a reason.

 

[royale 10+ year member]

Yes i did. all the test i found was using a 9V battery. But i kinda need to test if the amps work as well.

 

[nikhcePtcejorP 10+ year member]

Easiest way is just to not be lazy and run wires in your car.

If you're thinking about buying a system, having a wire run done would help.

Just an //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

No no no.. You need to get an extension cord. Hook the wire up the speaker, and then plug it in. If the sub makes a loud buzz, that means it works.
Not for very long though.

I suppose that would work, but that doesn't test his amplifier. With my suggestion, he could do both at the same time and he wouldn't need to subject the subwoofer to a wall socket.

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

What is a DMM? speaker wire are jus wires that has positive and negative right? a cable that turns headphone jack into RCA? where can i get that? thanks for help man!

A DMM is a digital multimeter. You can get one at a hardware store for $20, and it'll be a valuable tool for your install down the road. I actually had something else in mind when I wrote it down, so you won't need it if you do a quick hook up with speaker wire. But get one eventually.

Speaker wire is just... wire. It's just two wires attached to each other to make your install easier. But you can use any kind of wire that you have lying around. You're correct about the headphone hack/RCA adapter. It should run you a few bucks from target.

 

[royale 10+ year member]

ok... using the speaker wires to connect the sub and amp together. and the RCA cable that goes into my ipod. But where does the other end go? And how do i power up the amp?

 

[royale 10+ year member]

would just using a DMM test if the sub works? as long as the reading is 0-4ohms or something?