What did I do wrong??

[wiegand]

Okay well I'm wiring a 10" sub and 4 speakers.

I had no problem with the set-up untill I ran the 4 speakers on an amp.

Now the speakers work and the sub doesnt.

This is what I did, not positive this is right but I just guessed.

Wired both amps, one for sub, one for the 4 speakers.

Ran the av cables from the sub amp to the S.W. spot on the head unit

Ran the av cables from the speaker amp to the Front Spot

Grounds and powers are ran separately and all work.

Now for the error... The remote wire on the harness/deck doesnt work for some reason. I bridged the power to the remote to test it.

Both amps turn on.

To get the remote to the speaker amp I just ran a remote cord from the other amp to the remote slot.

I can't figure out why the sub won't do anything...

Click to read more...

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

So the sub worked fine prior to hooking up the other amp/speakers? Check to make sure your HU doesn't have a subwoofer option turned of. Do you have a DMM? It'd be nice if you could check to see if your sub amp is outputting any voltage, as well as if your HU is outputting voltage at the sub preouts.

 

[wiegand]

So the sub worked fine prior to hooking up the other amp/speakers? Check to make sure your HU doesn't have a subwoofer option turned of. Do you have a DMM? It'd be nice if you could check to see if your sub amp is outputting any voltage, as well as if your HU is outputting voltage at the sub preouts.

I have no clue what any of that even means lol.

The Head unit doesn't have a sub option, It's a kenwood and seems to be nice but pretty basic at the same time. There is no bass, treble or fade options on the HU.

And yes the sub worked fine before I hooked the speakers up to the second amp, could this be because I bridged both remotes together with a wire? Or maybe the HU only accepts one VGA cord at a time? (Not sure if its a VGA, just the audio cords that can plug into a TV aswell). The head unit has 3 options for them type of plugs, S.W. (assuming Sub Woofer). Rear and Front (assuming rear speakers and front speakers).

Maybe the radio only allows one type at a time? This doesn't make sense though.

Also I'm running the 10" memphis on a 1000w kenwood, and the componet speakers on a 600w Audiobahn. Kenwood is brand new, and the audiobahn is a couple years old. But both work fine.

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

its very odd the hu has 3 rca outputs in the back and has not bass/treble or fade controls what model number is it? have you tried disconecting the 4ch amp to see if the sub amp works again. if the power light is on on both amps try switching the rca's if the subs work the rca cable may have come unpluged from the hu check it if it is still plugged in switch it to the rear output and see if both amps work.

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

its very odd the hu has 3 rca outputs in the back and has not bass/treble or fade controls what model number is it? have you tried disconecting the 4ch amp to see if the sub amp works again. if the power light is on on both amps try switching the rca's if the subs work the rca cable may have come unpluged from the hu check it if it is still plugged in switch it to the rear output and see if both amps work.

this, its hard to imagine any headunit without those controls

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

this, its hard to imagine any headunit without those controls

yes my kenwood has 3 sets and every control

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

yes my kenwood has 3 sets and every control

I've got a kenwood too. Its was 100 bucks 5 years ago and just an entry level one. I have no idea what the model number is though, wish I did. It's probably on it somewhere, I just dont want to pull it out. But I think mine just has one for the sub and theres one more, but I dont know what its for. But even its got bass/mids/treble and then a sub lvl and fade/balance.

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

I've got a kenwood too. Its was 100 bucks 5 years ago and just an entry level one. I have no idea what the model number is though, wish I did. It's probably on it somewhere, I just dont want to pull it out. But I think mine just has one for the sub and theres one more, but I dont know what its for. But even its got bass/mids/treble and then a sub lvl and fade/balance.

i have a x591. has everything i need. op what is the model number of your deck?

 

[xoutofmyheadx 10+ year member]

somebody needs to read what's called the MANUAL on their headunit. or even try pushing in the vol knob. guess it's no wonder why things aren't working right.

 

[wiegand]

somebody needs to read what's called the MANUAL on their headunit. or even try pushing in the vol knob. guess it's no wonder why things aren't working right.

Hmm, well regardless what does it matter if I had these controls... The sub worked fine and I never did anything to the HU besides turn volume up and down to adjust the sub.

And the sub amp is mono, and the speaker amp is mono aswell, but it has 4 slots, I'm guess mono for 3-way speakers means 1 on each side?

I just wired 2 wires on each of the 4 posts.

Maybe that isn't good? Idk... I unhooked the amp and still no sub...

I'll check the model number tomorrow, and not sure it's got a manual.

 

[grandam888 10+ year member]

well seeing as your radio has 3 sets of rca outputs one labeled s.w. i am assuming the radio is a nicer model kenwood(i have a base model pioneer, front outputs only).

usually in a radio coming with 3 sets of rca's(not vga, thats a video cable for computers), one including s.w., i would guess thats it has a selectable subwoofer pre output setting to turn sub off, on, and adjust level of subwoofer also.

check the manual, cause the only thing thats changed here is adding an amp, they both have power, and the sub worked before, so what your missing is an audio signal.

 

[grandam888 10+ year member]

yeah as said, it has not only adjustable subwoofer output -15 through +15, and it can be turned on and off.

heres a link to your manual. see if the selectable subwoofer adjustment help. read page 8 and 10.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/UserFiles/File/Global/Consumer/Manuals/KDC-MP535U.pdf

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

I was asking because assuming you disconnected the battery to hook up the other amp, your HU got reset and something may have reset to a default that won't let the sub play. Also, you're stupid. A mono amp is a mono amp. ONE CHANNEL!, doesn't matter how many "slots" it has. It is not suitable for 4 interior speakers. You very well may have screwed something up with that move.

 

[wiegand]

I was asking because assuming you disconnected the battery to hook up the other amp, your HU got reset and something may have reset to a default that won't let the sub play. Also, you're stupid. A mono amp is a mono amp. ONE CHANNEL!, doesn't matter how many "slots" it has. It is not suitable for 4 interior speakers. You very well may have screwed something up with that move.

Well I never un-hooked it, but the battery did die as when I was testing the amps I bridged the power-remote to test them and left them on, however I charged it back and it worked.

When I added the 2nd power cable all I did was unscrew the battery nut and pushed the new wire on, I guess there could have been a bad connection and shut it off. I'll look into the manual and such. Thanks for the input, i'll work on it today and let you guys know what happens.

Thanks again.

 

[wiegand]

yeah as said, it has not only adjustable subwoofer output -15 through +15, and it can be turned on and off.
heres a link to your manual. see if the selectable subwoofer adjustment help. read page 8 and 10.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/UserFiles/File/Global/Consumer/Manuals/KDC-MP535U.pdf

Also That isn't the HU I have. Mine is the one with a USB on the front right along with a Headphone jack. It has a sliding plastic that covers it aswell.

I know they have atleast one newer version of this radio, as my friend just got one and claimed it's newer and looks a little different.

I'll go get the model # aswell if it doesn't work.