Need some help please

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Reedtard

Member - Posts: 5

Joined: June 16, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: June 16, 2003 at 12:27 AM / IP Logged

My amplifier has been acting up lately. It is a Rockford Fosgate 160.2. It pushes 160x1 watts RMS. I just hooked it up to a new sub. The problem is....it keeps cutting out every once in awhile. It does it really bad in the winter, and the first 2 or 3 minutes when I'm in my truck. Its done it with my last 3 subs. The wierd thing is.....it doesn't cut out completely. It just gets softer and decides to turn into a pu$$y. I'm probably gonna get a new one down the road, but I just wanted to hear from some car audio people, just to hear what they thing the problem is? DO I have it wired right? The sub has dual 4 ohm voice coils, and I have the negative wire to the negative one, the positive to the positive. The other two terminals on the sub are a positive with a dot, and a negative with a dot. I wired those together too using a different wire, because that's what some wiring diagram said to do. IS THAT RIGHT? I appreciate ANY kind of feedback. THanks!

esmith69

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Joined: November 26, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: June 16, 2003 at 12:42 PM / IP Logged

Does it always take a certain amount of time before it cuts out and/or before it starts to decrease in volume?

You can either run this amp at a single 8 ohm bridged load (crap), or if you can get a mono signal to input to the amp, you can run each voice coil off a separate output channel, giving you a 4 ohm stereo load. You can't wire the two voice coils in parallel, and then run the single load to your bridged amp because that would be a 2-ohm mono load which your amp can not handle safely.

You will hook up the positive and negative wires of one of the voice coils to the positive and negative speaker outputs for the amp's left channel; and then the positive and negative of the other voice coil to the amp's right channel speaker output. As long as your amp only has a single gain control for both channels (most do), then you just need to make sure you're sending the amp a mono input signal. The reason you need to do this is because you need the sound to be the same for the left and right channel, because each voice coil will be on one channel. With DVC subs when you hook up the voice coils to separate channels you have to make sure the signal is the exact same (volume and content).

Ethan

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wvsquirrel

Gold - Posts: 1,237

Joined: July 27, 2002

Location: Florida, United States

Posted: June 16, 2003 at 2:14 PM / IP Logged

Yea, it sounds like you have the sub hooked up into an 8ohm mono load. Your amp is a 2001 (I believe) series Punch amp. It's rated at 40 x 2 @ 4ohms, 80 x 2 @ 2ohms, and 160 x 1 @ 4ohms bridged. You're probably only getting about 80 watts or so to it with an 8ohm bridge. What is the sub (make/model)? I only ask because like Ethan said, I don't know of any DVC that would sound good at an 8ohm load with only 80 watts!

What Ethan recommended is called Independant Wiring. That link will give you some more information on it. It is possible to do, and unfortunately it looks like your only option unless you want to buy some different equipment.

Wire like Ethan said (he knows what he is talking about) and see how the amp performs. You will only be getting 40 x 2 @ 4ohms, so you will still only have 80 watts total. Are you looking at upgrading any time soon?

BTY, to get the mono signal into the amp, use just the Left RCA cable and then use a Y-adapter to split it into 2 cables. Make sure the amp is still switched to Stereo (not mono) so both channels get a signal. Since you will have only the left signal going to the Left and Right amp inputs (thanks to the Y-adapter) both channels should see the same thing.

Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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Reedtard

Member - Posts: 5

Joined: June 16, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: June 16, 2003 at 5:16 PM / IP Logged

Thank you guys for your help. I do appreciate it. I didn't think that amp was so $hitty. I got it for $75 anyways. The sub is a Kicker CompVR 12. I will definately be getting a new one, but I was wondering if someone could give me an idea of what to get? Thanks again you guys. I appreciate any feedback once again!

wvsquirrel

Gold - Posts: 1,237

Joined: July 27, 2002

Location: Florida, United States

Posted: June 16, 2003 at 9:30 PM / IP Logged

Hopefully you're talking about replacing the amp and not the sub! The Kicker CVR12 is a good sub, and you would hear a considerable difference in it if you pushed more power to it. It's 400RMS 800Peak, and since you already said you only have one 4ohm model, you would want an amp rated around 400 x 1 @ 2ohms.

RF makes the Power 500bd which is 500 x 1 @ 2ohms. It's a great amp, I used one to run 2 RFP3412's for about a year. As with any amp rated over the RMS rating of the sub just be careful with the gains.

Some other good amp matches...

- Kicker makes the KX400.1 rated at 400 x 1 @ 2ohms, although I'm not familiar with that amp.

- The JBL BP300.1 rated at 300 x 1 @ 2ohms. The sub would be a little underpowered, but for the price I think you would still be happy.

- Those are just a few, there are still many more out there...

Don't just take my advice, ask around. Go into as many shops as you can and listen to the different setups before you buy, it's always best to listen first and ask questions then to go on blind faith or just take one person's word!

Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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Reedtard

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Joined: June 16, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: June 17, 2003 at 12:11 PM / IP Logged

Thanks alot Squirrel. You have been very helpful. I'm definately not replacing the sub. I'm gonna get a new amp as soon as I can squeeze up enough money. Next month's rent might end up being a lil' tricky though. THanks again

Reedtard

Member - Posts: 5

Joined: June 16, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: June 17, 2003 at 6:09 PM / IP Logged

Would a Kenwood KAC-929 be alright? It produces 460x1 at 4 ohms. But I don't know if it is stable for 2 ohms. Should I get a 2 ohm stable amp???

nedgeworth

Silver - Posts: 264

Joined: November 03, 2002

Location: Australia

Posted: June 17, 2003 at 6:20 PM / IP Logged

Make sure your looking at the RMS rating of the amp not the total. But if you are not looking to put another sub in or anything you should be fine with an amp that is only stable at 4ohms in one channel.

esmith69

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Joined: November 26, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: June 17, 2003 at 8:12 PM / IP Logged

You'd have to hook up the sub to the KAC-929 as a 4-ohm stereo load; in that configuration the amp will give you 150 watts RMS per channel, so for your wiring situation it would be 150 watts per voice coil, or 300 total for the whole sub. It's just a standard 2-channel class AB amplifier, though, and that's why it can't be run at 2-ohms mono. Since you have a DVC sub with 4-ohm voice coils, if possible you really should be looking at an amp that is 2-ohm mono stable. Most likely only mono amplifiers will have this capability.

The JBL amp that wvsquirrel recommended is a really nice amp and you can find it for under $150 at some places online. Just remember that it's only gonna give you 150 watts per voice coil--the same thing as the KAC-929. It is a dedicated bass amp though, and that does have its advantages. If you could get both amps for the same price, I personally would rather have the JBL amp.

Whoa holy snikes this is my 1000th post!!!!! Need some help please -- posted image.

Ethan

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"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"

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wvsquirrel

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Joined: July 27, 2002

Location: Florida, United States

Posted: June 17, 2003 at 9:26 PM / IP Logged

Congrats esmith on making Gold Need some help please -- posted image.

(sorry Velocity, had to snag it!).

I have to once again agree with esmith69 on the amp choice between the JBL and the Kenwood. Class AB (multi-channel) amps weren't specifically designed for subs, although they can work just fine in certain applications. A Class D mono amp, like the JBL BP300.1, was designed specifically for running subs, and can reach a lower stable mono impedance. Not to mention that all JBL BP series amps are 1ohm mono stable, which will allow for more flexibility in the future if you decide to expand/upgrade.

Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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Need some help please

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