New amp, not that impressed!

[rjay 10+ year member]

So I just got in my Boston Acoustics GTA 400M mono amp and it is hooked to a Boston Acoustics G3 10" sub wired to a 2ohm load (sealed enclosure). So it is getting 400 watts to the sub, but you have to have the gain nearly all the way up otherwise there is hardly any output. Its set to a little above 3/4. I usually set the gain on most of my setups to a little over half way and that always works for me. Anything you guys can think of thats wrong with the amp? Bought it from Crutchfield since they had it at half price ($150) and it had really good reviews, but I sent the first one back, thinking I got a bad amp, now this replacement one arrives and its the same story! Maybe the amp is just not that good, I don't know. What I do know is that my Kicker ZX 300 mono amp, in my wifes car, blows this BA amp away! Maybe I should just switch hers out with mine! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif But seriously, what do you guys think?

Click to read more...

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Something isn't set right or wiring is bad/wrong.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

you sure the sub is wired correctly? (if it's dual 4ohm make sure its not wired to 8 ohms). check the coils on the sub with a dmm as well.

the reason you have to turn your gain way up is most likely because you have a low input/RCA preout voltage

 

[PhishHead 10+ year member]

Also make sure you hooked it up to the amp right. some amps have 2 sets of speaker inputs and you need to hook them up a certain way for it to do the power needed. I know I had this problem with a Profile california amp from back in the day.

 

[carlosg_313 10+ year member]

you sure the sub is wired correctly? (if it's dual 4ohm make sure its not wired to 8 ohms). check the coils on the sub with a dmm as well.
the reason you have to turn your gain way up is most likely because you have a low input/RCA preout voltage

x2 same story with mine with my hifonics brutus 2010, lhave my sub wired down to .5 ohm (its a dual 1 sub) and made sure i wired it parallel with a dmm, but had to have to turn the gain almost to the end with a tiny coil smell. but then again, i got a boss indash with no sub rca output. only rear and front //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Yeah the sub is wired correctly, so I'm not sure where the problem is. When I hook it up to the kicker amp it seems to work fine. I hooked the BA amp to my wifes sub and was the same story. Thats why I questioned the amp. Anybody have experience with BA amps or know if they are decent?

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Yeah the sub is wired correctly, so I'm not sure where the problem is. When I hook it up to the kicker amp it seems to work fine. I hooked the BA amp to my wifes sub and was the same story. Thats why I questioned the amp. Anybody have experience with BA amps or know if they are decent?

havent heard of a boston product that was poor quality, that amp should be putting out the power

 

[mclerico83 5,000+ posts]

return it get a better amp then

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

return it get a better amp then

Thats what I was thinking about doing. I just thought for the price, this would of been a great choice for some good, clean power. Prob just go with another Kicker amp, I've always had good luck with them.

 

[PhishHead 10+ year member]

Also just a heads up, I've never had good luck with Crutchfield. They also overcharge for their product.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Also just a heads up, I've never had good luck with Crutchfield. They also overcharge for their product.

i use vminnovations or sonicelectronix (vmi is nice cause they have coupon codes lol)

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Also just a heads up, I've never had good luck with Crutchfield. They also overcharge for their product.

I usually order off Ebay, but then seen the sale that they were having and also had the discount code for $20 off. Got the amp for the $129 shipped. Figured I couldn't beat that, ya know

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

do you have the remote gain hooked up if so unhook it or turn it to max. also check your high pass filter you want set it to like 25hz its actually your subsonic filter then check the lowpass set it around 120hz turn the q to the all the way to the right. also use a dmm and check voltage as you turn up the gain you should see 28-30v that is 390-450w. having the gain all the way is not a bad thing unless there is distortion

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

do you have the remote gain hooked up if so unhook it or turn it to max. also check your high pass filter you want set it to like 25hz its actually your subsonic filter then check the lowpass set it around 120hz turn the q to the all the way to the right. also use a dmm and check voltage as you turn up the gain you should see 28-30v that is 390-450w. having the gain all the way is not a bad thing unless there is distortion

I don't have the remote gain or anything. I will try those settings and see if I have any difference. There is no distortion with the gain set high, but I was under the impression that is was not good on the amp. Don't know how hot it will get (even though its class D) with the gain up, haven't had the chance to let it run for a length of time.

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

high gain is not bad unless it is causing clipping giving a distorted sound if you want to reduce gain get a line driver to increase rca voltage