Installed new system and can't draw enough power from amp...or something. Help!

[birdman]

Although I've owned many vehicles, I've never had subs and an amp in any vehicle. I installed an Alpine CDE-122 w/ one set of RCA outputs, 2 pioneer dvc 4-ohm 10s, an old RF Punch 150HD, and a crossover in my '99 Accord. It seems that I ran everything correctly, however I'm not getting hardly any bass from my subs. My amp may be the problem. It was supposedly never installed, and the harness was never stripped for speaker installation. Anyway, I checked my RCAs, I checked my power wire and remote wire, and the GROUND WIRE seems to be the last thing I need to "check".

Would a bad ground allow amp to get power, but reduce the power output very badly? Would a bad ground cause the amp to not work correctly, even with power going to it? How would you suggest grounding the amp?

And finally, could a pinched wire be the cause of problems? Thanks for any help!!

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[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

Could be your speaker wire wiring...could also be ground wire or other issues.

Start with your speaker wiring though.

 

[RSDXzec 10+ year member]

make sure your subs aren't wired out of phase, this will cause one to push while the other pulls kind of effect and will significantly reduce your bass output. It has happened to me once... when i was upgrading speaker wiring every couple of days.

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

whats your sub level set at on the head unit?