is this possible

[cellis17]

is it possible for an amp to only put out partial power? I have an autotek sx4160 (300w x2 @ 4ohms) powering (2) JL Audio 10w3v2-D2 subs. when the system was first installed, the bass sounded extremely loud and good. i started messing with the settings for some dumb reason, and now i can't get the subs to play like they used to. i checked the polarity, crossovers, etc... and they are all correct. i took the cover off the amp and it didn't look like it was burnt or anything. i turned the gain and bass boost all the way up trying to get it to work and allthough it the volume from the subs increased doing this, it was not as loud as it use to be. it also didn't sound good when the gains and boost were increased. so my question is can an amp after time start putting out a fraction of its previous output, or is it something else. thanks for the help.

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[chinny 5,000+ posts]

check all the wiring, groung, batt post

 

[cellis17]

i'll re-check the ground and power wire again. i believe they are fine, although i just did notice on the way back from lunch that there was some static when i first turned on the head unit, but it went away. could this be related at all?

 

[myvanpounds 10+ year member]

did you ef with the crossover switch that says lpf thru hpf?

 

[cellis17]

they are on lpf. i changed them to hpf then back to lpf just to see if it made any difference. this problem is dumbfounding me. i do not know electrical very good. i wonder if it is some capacitor or resistor on the board that went bad and the amp now only puts out a fraction of the power it used to?

 

[myvanpounds 10+ year member]

what about the crosover knob did you fiddle with that?

 

[cellis17]

i basically adjusted every knob on the amp just messing around with it. i have the amp low passed at around 100 HZ right now. the bass boost is up a little bit, but it sounds really distorted when turned up alot, as does the gain settings.

 

[myvanpounds 10+ year member]

did you wire it up the same way? or rewire it?

 

[cellis17]

ya, the polarity is the same as it was. to my knowledge every setting or wiring is the same as it was prior to it sounding quieter. who knows...i just dont' want to buy another amp and then find out that the head unit is what was causing the problems, or that it is neither. i kinda wished the amp was burnt up when i opened the case. at least i would know for sure that was the problem.