Major Amp Problems

[Mkader17]

So yesterday I finally got to set my amp to the speakers. So I used the gain setting tutorial on my amp and ran into some major problems

On my amp there isn't a gain but actually is a "lvl" marked 6.0V on one side and .1V on the other. when I would turn it toward .1V thats when my speakers would get power. ???

Turning it all the way up I could only get 14ACV even though my speakers should accept 17.8 and the amp should make aroun 22-23. So I backed it down some and left because I had something to do.

So I was driving down my road when the speakers started making interference noises, and I was like GREAAAT. But I remembered i needed to tighten a ground. So I hopped out real quick and tightened it which fixed it. Then as soon as I took off it came back louder. So I was like w/e i gotta go so i turned my volume all the way down (which didn't top the static noise) and about a mile down the road some popped. ended up all the 20 amp fuses popped.

So when I got home later I pulled the amp out checked out allll the wiring ive done replaced the fuses and put it back in and viola! I had crisp sound again! BUT no matter how I set the lvl I am only getting 2 to 3 volts which I'm pretty sure mean my amp isn't amplifying =(

So I don't know what to do any help would be greatly greatly appreciated

[95stroked1500]

make sure your hp xover is set. turn the "lvl" to 6v. turn the HU up to 3/4 or so of full volume. then start turning the "lvl" towards .1 (it should be gettng louder) until the speakers start to become the slightest bit unclean. then back lvl a tad the other way until they become clean again.

make sure you have everything plugged into the right places and all the settings on the HU are correct (fader, etc).

can you do pics of the side of the amp with the rca's and adjustments?

[Mkader17]

make sure your hp xover is set. turn the "lvl" to 6v. turn the HU up to 3/4 or so of full volume. then start turning the "lvl" towards .1 (it should be gettng louder) until the speakers start to become the slightest bit unclean. then back lvl a tad the other way until they become clean again.

make sure you have everything plugged into the right places and all the settings on the HU are correct (fader, etc).

can you do pics of the side of the amp with the rca's and adjustments?


make sure your hp xover is set
I was playing with it and my hp was tourned all the way toward 1khz and not matter where I turned it made no difference. I do have the amp set on full though.


turn the "lvl" to 6v. turn the HU up to 3/4 or so of full volume. then start turning the "lvl" towards .1 (it should be gettng louder) until the speakers start to become the slightest bit unclean. then back lvl a tad the other way until they become clean again.

I did this but with it being the max power it doesn't seem that loud at all. my 4x6 6x9 combo would get louder without distortion.


make sure you have everything plugged into the right places and all the settings on the HU are correct (fader, etc).

When I installed the amp I disconnected the negative so my HU is completely set to nothing.

While I was out there though I did notice at "max" loudness the speakers were putting out about 6 ACV which according to my calculations is 9 watts (working V=sqrt(WattsxResistance) backwards. But according to the amp gain setting tutorial it should be putting out abot 17V or 80 Watts.

But THE MOST IMPORTANT thing. The top of the amp was pretty darn hot but on the back left side of the amp (nearest the speaker connections) was too hot to touch and keep your hand on.

I really hope my amp isn't messed up. I feel though if it is, it was before it got to me.

[95stroked1500]

sounds like it's your amp then.

as long as your rca's on the amp are in the input and not output rca jacks and there's no shorts going to the speakers.

[dubds10]

What kind of amp, subs, wiring?? You might have fried your amp, or it could be the subs are wired properly for the amp.

What are the specs on everything?

[Mkader17]

I checked everything last time and there was no exposed wire. I will check again. If my RCA's were on output i wouldn't get any sound right? either way the are definately plugged into the in channel

I'm running
DLS R6A Components (80RMS at 4 ohms)
US Amps Xterminator 1600.2 (rated 200RMSx4 at 4 ohms)
knukoncepts wiring

Am I right about the Volts I should be putting out?

[95stroked1500]

just use an ohm meter at the speaker wires there at the amp. no need to pull everything apart and inspect. it should read around 2ohm +/- on each channel. the amp see's 4 ohm with music because the passive xover is frequency dependent. when you do an ohm check, the meter see's the tweets and mids coil as being paralleled 4 ohm coils. but with music, they're seperated by the xover.

it could be that loose ground that caused the issues to the amp. but i wouldn't bring that up. just tell them it was like that right out of the box and get a warranty.

you should be getting a lot more volts on the output of that amp than you are.

[Mkader17]

The maximum signature image size is 500 pixels wide by 200 pixels tall :read:
-- FSC Staff

BUSTED!!! lol

you do have any explanation for the amp being so hot? Its about 50-60 degrees outside right now and the amp still got that hot. I really feel like I did absolutely nothing wrong as it wasn't putting out enough power since before the truck ever moved once. I'll go check them ohm is a bit

[95stroked1500]

internal short. same explanation for it blowing all the fuses.

[///M5]

Yep, otherwise that amp surely wouldn't get so hot.

[Mkader17]

So I should start looking to get it replaced under warranty by us amps?

[95stroked1500]

yep. you got it from flakko? i don't think there should be a problem.

the xterminators seem to be decent. i have one on the board i run @ 2 ohm mono (not supposed to be less than 4 ohm) and i rail the crap out of it with no problems. but nothing is 100% perfect all the time. that's where warranty comes in.

[Mkader17]

Yep got it from Flakko. Its such a gamble sometimes buying things online. I could have gotten it cheaper on ebay, but I had just come off a bad beat buying an Ipod online so I went ahead and bought it from someone more trusted, looks like that is going to be a blessing. Alright thanks for all of your help. There should be no problem running my speakers off the HU for the time being right?

[95stroked1500]

nope. except they just won't get as loud as you like.

i wouldn't let price always be the head of the choice. i think you made a good decision getting it legit from flakko. that warranty is worth the extra few bucks. and we all have seen where these egay'ers claim warranty and half the time people get screwed.

[Mkader17]

yeah I wired them up to the HU today and it just wasn't what I'm looking for lol. Its hard to keep the HU at 75% vol.

I'm still a little confused about my initial gain setting and the voltage. Beings I have 125 watts RMS at 4 ohms the amp should put out around 22-23 volts with a 1000Hz test tone. And I was only getting 14 should this had been an initial indicator that something was messed up?

[95stroked1500]

i don't use that sticky for gain setting or evaluating what the amp's output voltage should be. if i were to do a gain adjustment voltage check, i'd try and get closer to 60 hz. i'm just not sure which all voltmeters are set up and accurate to measure outside of the common 60hz range. 60 hz is what i use when i gain match multiple amps, just to be safe.

but if xover setting could throw you for using the meter to adjust gains if you try 60hz.



yeah I wired them up to the HU today and it just wasn't what I'm looking for lol. Its hard to keep the HU at 75% vol.

I'm still a little confused about my initial gain setting and the voltage. Beings I have 125 watts RMS at 4 ohms the amp should put out around 22-23 volts with a 1000Hz test tone. And I was only getting 14 should this had been an initial indicator that something was messed up?