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I have a pre-installed system – the details of the setup:
Pioneer Premier FH-P800BT Receiver
ZED Audio DEUCE
Rainbow Soundline SLC 265 speakers
Rainbow Dreamline KX 165 midbass (connected directly to the HU with no amp)
JL Audio 500.1 Monoblock Woofer Amp (Powers the sub only)
Dayton Audio RSS210H0-4 8” Sub (Sealed)
About a year ago one of the RCA jacks going into the amp broke and I had it rewired. That particular installer turned out to be terrible (another story) and few months after that installation, my system started having various problems, the climax of which was this unbearable high pitch noise from my tweeters even when the HU was off. I went to several "highly rated" installers and no one could tell me what's wrong. Most of these “experts” can only recommend to replace the whole system, because it’s “old.” Anyway finally someone told me that it might be my amp. My amp is of top quality and even though I had my doubts, I went in and Steve himself (the owner/engineer) tested everything and said it works perfectly. After all that hassle, I decided to troubleshoot it myself with some advice from Steve. I discovered that the plastic RCA jacks had fallen apart (plating came off) and that the trigger going into the Deuce was the source of the noise, it seemed. I went to a place and asked the guy to just rewire the new, high quality and full metal RCA plugs that I had bought myself and also asked him to redo my trigger. He said that will cost $65, but that he can’t guarantee that the noise will disappear. He too kept saying how it’s my amp that’s messed up. I said it’s ok, just do it. In the middle of the rewiring that I was watching over, he tells me that the wiring is really crappy and wrong and that for $120 he will rewire everything for me. Since he sounded knowledgeable, I gave him the ok. That’s when I saw some red flags – he couldn’t figure out the connections for a while, then I had to help him locate the audio settings in my HU to control the fader. As he was asking me questions, I told him that I have an additional amp that’s driving my sub only. I don’t know why he needed that info, but he went ahead and touched separate sub amp (JL Audio). Now I don’t think he could have changed any of the settings on the amp since it’s screwed in under my seat and he didn’t unscrew it, but he was touching something there. In the middle of this process, I started hearing this loud hissing noise and I thought he was just trying to get the midbass connected to a blank radio station. Then he asked me how do I turn on my sub and I told him it’s always on – there is no on/off button or setting.
So he finishes the wiring, connects everything, and he tells me one of my front speakers isn’t working (my tweeters are separate from the main speaker). The tweeter on the same side was working. On top of it, he’s telling me that my sub is fried. I told him that it was working when I got there. Then he proceeds to show me how the sub won’t move even when you try to press it down by hand. I was pretty pissed because while the noise was gone after I told him what needs to be done (there was no problem with the amp), he basically had fried my sub. He wouldn’t admit it and kept telling me how my amp is too powerful for my sub and other BS. I had replaced the sub just about 16 months ago myself and it was working flawlessly all that time. Dayton agreed to honor the expired warranty for the sub, but they said that if the voice coil is fried, they will not replace it. I took the sub apart, and sure enough not only the voice coil is black at some parts, but there is a burnt smell. On top of all this crap, the guy didn’t even rewire anything. He simply replaced my RCA plugs and redid some of the connections in the back. Didn’t run any new wires or even remove the old wires. Not even the trigger wire was replaced. I didn’t want to pay him anything, but went ahead and put the $120 charge on my credit card since I didn’t want to argue. Many places will rewire the entire system for like $150 around here, so that part alone was not ok.
So that’s where the expertise of this forum comes in. Can you guys tell me what do you think about this? I trust many of you DIY installers more than most of the “pros” out there because if you deal with as many shops as I did, you’d see that these guys only know how to run wires. That’s it, end of story.
What I don’t get is how the f could he fry the sub when he apparently didn’t touch the settings on the JL amp that powers it? Can this be done using only wrong connections at the HU? That noise that I was hearing, that loud hissing, was basically my sub frying! I have no **** idea why he continued the “testing” given what was happening. I am now also worried whether he also messed up my speaker or if the connection is wrong so that it doesn’t function, since I never had issue with this speaker either. Rainbow speakers cannot be replaced whatsoever - have to buy a whole new set. The funny thing is that I asked him to tell me exactly what is wrong with the speaker – all he had to do is to remove the door panel and check it out. Suddenly he told me that he had an appointment right away (looked at his watch after he told me so) and that he can’t look at it. “Maybe another time.” And I drove about 50 miles to see this guy to boot.
Based on the responses I get here, I am really considering calling the guy and asking him to reimburse me for my sub and properly redo the entire wiring. Seriously considering calling my credit card and reversing the charge at this point. I still have to pay over $100 to get another sub.
Pioneer Premier FH-P800BT Receiver
ZED Audio DEUCE
Rainbow Soundline SLC 265 speakers
Rainbow Dreamline KX 165 midbass (connected directly to the HU with no amp)
JL Audio 500.1 Monoblock Woofer Amp (Powers the sub only)
Dayton Audio RSS210H0-4 8” Sub (Sealed)
About a year ago one of the RCA jacks going into the amp broke and I had it rewired. That particular installer turned out to be terrible (another story) and few months after that installation, my system started having various problems, the climax of which was this unbearable high pitch noise from my tweeters even when the HU was off. I went to several "highly rated" installers and no one could tell me what's wrong. Most of these “experts” can only recommend to replace the whole system, because it’s “old.” Anyway finally someone told me that it might be my amp. My amp is of top quality and even though I had my doubts, I went in and Steve himself (the owner/engineer) tested everything and said it works perfectly. After all that hassle, I decided to troubleshoot it myself with some advice from Steve. I discovered that the plastic RCA jacks had fallen apart (plating came off) and that the trigger going into the Deuce was the source of the noise, it seemed. I went to a place and asked the guy to just rewire the new, high quality and full metal RCA plugs that I had bought myself and also asked him to redo my trigger. He said that will cost $65, but that he can’t guarantee that the noise will disappear. He too kept saying how it’s my amp that’s messed up. I said it’s ok, just do it. In the middle of the rewiring that I was watching over, he tells me that the wiring is really crappy and wrong and that for $120 he will rewire everything for me. Since he sounded knowledgeable, I gave him the ok. That’s when I saw some red flags – he couldn’t figure out the connections for a while, then I had to help him locate the audio settings in my HU to control the fader. As he was asking me questions, I told him that I have an additional amp that’s driving my sub only. I don’t know why he needed that info, but he went ahead and touched separate sub amp (JL Audio). Now I don’t think he could have changed any of the settings on the amp since it’s screwed in under my seat and he didn’t unscrew it, but he was touching something there. In the middle of this process, I started hearing this loud hissing noise and I thought he was just trying to get the midbass connected to a blank radio station. Then he asked me how do I turn on my sub and I told him it’s always on – there is no on/off button or setting.
So he finishes the wiring, connects everything, and he tells me one of my front speakers isn’t working (my tweeters are separate from the main speaker). The tweeter on the same side was working. On top of it, he’s telling me that my sub is fried. I told him that it was working when I got there. Then he proceeds to show me how the sub won’t move even when you try to press it down by hand. I was pretty pissed because while the noise was gone after I told him what needs to be done (there was no problem with the amp), he basically had fried my sub. He wouldn’t admit it and kept telling me how my amp is too powerful for my sub and other BS. I had replaced the sub just about 16 months ago myself and it was working flawlessly all that time. Dayton agreed to honor the expired warranty for the sub, but they said that if the voice coil is fried, they will not replace it. I took the sub apart, and sure enough not only the voice coil is black at some parts, but there is a burnt smell. On top of all this crap, the guy didn’t even rewire anything. He simply replaced my RCA plugs and redid some of the connections in the back. Didn’t run any new wires or even remove the old wires. Not even the trigger wire was replaced. I didn’t want to pay him anything, but went ahead and put the $120 charge on my credit card since I didn’t want to argue. Many places will rewire the entire system for like $150 around here, so that part alone was not ok.
So that’s where the expertise of this forum comes in. Can you guys tell me what do you think about this? I trust many of you DIY installers more than most of the “pros” out there because if you deal with as many shops as I did, you’d see that these guys only know how to run wires. That’s it, end of story.
What I don’t get is how the f could he fry the sub when he apparently didn’t touch the settings on the JL amp that powers it? Can this be done using only wrong connections at the HU? That noise that I was hearing, that loud hissing, was basically my sub frying! I have no **** idea why he continued the “testing” given what was happening. I am now also worried whether he also messed up my speaker or if the connection is wrong so that it doesn’t function, since I never had issue with this speaker either. Rainbow speakers cannot be replaced whatsoever - have to buy a whole new set. The funny thing is that I asked him to tell me exactly what is wrong with the speaker – all he had to do is to remove the door panel and check it out. Suddenly he told me that he had an appointment right away (looked at his watch after he told me so) and that he can’t look at it. “Maybe another time.” And I drove about 50 miles to see this guy to boot.
Based on the responses I get here, I am really considering calling the guy and asking him to reimburse me for my sub and properly redo the entire wiring. Seriously considering calling my credit card and reversing the charge at this point. I still have to pay over $100 to get another sub.
