Need help setting up Audio system for the 1st time

[Steak232 10+ year member]

Hello, I am setting up a system in my truck and ive run into a problem. I have a clarion XR2110 and it doesnt seem to be powering my 2 Hertz ES250 subs. I had the subs going for a little bit when i first started my truck and then the red light came on on my amp and the subs shut off. So i shut off my truck and fired it up again with the gain cranked all the way down. The light on the amp is now blue, but im not getting any music comming out of the subs. I checked the fuses in the amp and they seem to be fine. I have checked the ground, power, and remote connections and they seem to be fine too. Im completely baffled! Anyone have any suggestions?

PS: Im completely new to car audio so it might be something obvious... Dont hate too much haha

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[SmartAsss 10+ year member]

I had the subs going for a little bit when i first started my truck and then the red light came on on my amp and the subs shut off.

did you have the gain and bass knob cranked way up... if you did you probably clipped the amp and it went into protect mode.
With your bass knobs way down (off), try slowly turning your gain back up but not maxed (with headunit set to 3/4 vol)

describe as much as you can so we/I can help. are you running an aftermarket Headunit or a factory unit? are you just tapped into factory wires or using rca cables, what are your controls set at, how do you have the subs wired series or parallel, etc, etc,

 

[Steak232 10+ year member]

Ok so i just took it to the store and it turns out my amp is fried. My buddy that was helping me install the stuff accidently hooked the remote wire to the wrong wire on the back of the deck at one point. Could that be what fried my amp or was it just a factory defect?

 

[SmartAsss 10+ year member]

My buddy that was helping me install the stuff accidently hooked the remote wire to the wrong wire on the back of the deck at one point.

I highly doubt it. the amps remote turn on relay is separate from the actual output stages of the amp.
i hate to say it but if your amp is fried, most likely your fault.

read up on amplifier "clipping" so that you don't have this problem again.

 

[Steak232 10+ year member]

Hmmm yeah i suppose i probably messed it up somehow. Just doesnt make much sense cause i never cranked the volume high at all. And other then the rem wire, everything was hooked up right. We had a cold snap of -40 degree celcius weather. Maybe that did it?

Oh and the guy at the store never used the term "fried" he jut said broken. Not sure if that actually makes any difference

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

Hmmm yeah i suppose i probably messed it up somehow. Just doesnt make much sense cause i never cranked the volume high at all. And other then the rem wire, everything was hooked up right. We had a cold snap of -40 degree celcius weather. Maybe that did it?
Oh and the guy at the store never used the term "fried" he jut said broken. Not sure if that actually makes any difference

You can kill an amp at low volume if your gain is set incorrectly, bass boost is on, etc. As mentioned, read up so it doesn't happen again. And no, the cold did not kill your equipment.

 

[Steak232 10+ year member]

Alright thanks

 

[SmartAsss 10+ year member]

Just doesnt make much sense cause i never cranked the volume high at all.

that really doesn't matter. if your setting where wrong you can blow your amp.
Let me know when you get a new amp, ill walk you through the setup.

If your up to trying new things, take the cover off of the amplifier and take some good clear pics of the inside circuit board. post them here, I should be able to spot the failure and tell you if its repairable. I can tell you how to repair it if it is repairable. It should be just a output transistor since the protect light is on.

 

[Steak232 10+ year member]

Actually the protect light isnt on anymore. It just came on one time and then i restarted the truck with lowest gain possible and the lights been normal ever since. And thanks, i really appreciate all your help.

UPDATE: So ive noticed that when i turn the amp on, I get a short "pop" from the amp. Also when the guy at the store tested it on speakers, all we could here was static. Anyone know if this is a fixable problem?

 

[Steak232 10+ year member]

Ok so my buddy offered to give me his MTX 300XD amp for dirt cheap. Both subs are rated at 250 RMS and the amp only puts out 200 RMS. Will this provide enough power to my 2 ES250 10" subs? At least until i save some money and buy a bigger amp.

 

[skdooley 10+ year member]

What is the amp grounded to? If its just some random bolt in your trunk, that isn't going to do. You're going to need to make sure your amp is getting clean power and then to have it set correctly to send clean power out to your sub(s).

 

[xoutofmyheadx 10+ year member]

why did you start a new thread for this? just should've kept it in this one.

but yes that amp is fine for those subs. it's only 100rms difference which is only 50/sub difference. you can put a 500x1 amp on them and they'll be good. the bigger question is you fried an amp pretty quickly and you're just gonna throw in another amp without knowing why the 1st one fried? good luck with that.

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

from MTX...

Power Output 200 Watts RMS x 1 Channel at 4 Ohms

Signal-to-noise Ratio (1 Watt) >75 dB

Secondary Ratings

Power Output 300 Watts RMS x 1 Channel at 2 Ohms

thats a huge drop from rms.... that amp is barely enough for 1 sub...

and yeah GL with w/e ya do.... 1 amp cooked and you have not found out why?........I forsee another amp-fry post coming unless you do as suggested and read some info...

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

his subs:

•Max Power handling: 500W

•RMS Power handling: 250W

•Impedence: 4-ohm, single voice coil

•Frequency response: 28-300Hz

•Sensitivity: 89dB

 

[Steak232 10+ year member]

So i tryed out that amp and everthing works perfect. Believe it or not i could have just got a bad amp from the factory... Idunno. But ive played music outta this new amp for over an hour of continuous playing. Not a glitch so far. And again I really appreciate all of your guys help.