amp is on, but the subs dont work

oh ok cool, all good information, i'm gonna try out alot of stuff tomarow. I have a friend who is really good with eletronics who is gonna be able to help me out so hopefully will be able to figure it out. But i'll be sure and check out the barrel connections as well as the integrity of the rca cables themselves.

Tried out the portable player --> mini-to-rca cable --> barrel connectors --> already-run rca's --> amp and it worked so the problem is the deck, like Dyohn said earlier. Now i guess i am going to go get a new deck, oh well. I was thinking about trying one other thing, running the signal from the rear speakers, is this a bad idea? when i was buying the rca jacks from radio shack, the dude said some stuff about clipping and how running the low output from the reaer speaker will blow my amp because it needs a higher output? I have no idea what he was talking about but i hope he was wrong.

zbig2187 wrote: Tried out the portable player --> mini-to-rca cable --> barrel connectors --> already-run rca's --> amp and it worked so the problem is the deck, like Dyohn said earlier. Now i guess i am going to go get a new deck, oh well. I was thinking about trying one other thing, running the signal from the rear speakers, is this a bad idea? when i was buying the rca jacks from radio shack, the dude said some stuff about clipping and how running the low output from the reaer speaker will blow my amp because it needs a higher output? I have no idea what he was talking about but i hope he was wrong.

A new deck is your best bet.  Get one with a dedicated subwoofer output.  Ignore the dude at Rat Shack, but at the same time don't try to hook your speaker outputs to the input of the amp. 

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lets say hypothetically i did hook up the speaker output to the input of the amp, what would happen?

zbig2187 wrote: lets say hypothetically i did hook up the speaker output to the input of the amp, what would happen?

If the amplifier has high-level inputs, nothing.  If you connect speaker-level signals to the low-level (RCA) input you will get pure distortion at best and blow the input section of your amp at worst.

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well, you could always use a hi-lo converter as a temp fix.. it's the same thing you'ld use if you had a factory radio with no rca pre-outs. alot cheaper than a new deck too... best buy sells them for $23 so i know you can get it cheaper elsewhere

Well through all this i learned never to buy a kenwood deck again. I just replaced the deck with a wal-mart bought deck for my truck that i've been trying to sell, works fine for now, until i can afford to buy something a little more reliable. Thanks for all the suggestions and help everyone, this site has been a great tool for knowledge. Maybe after i build my first fiberglass box i'll post some pictures of it. Thanks again. Zach.

zbig2187 wrote: Im pretty sure the rca's are good, i mean i did just buy them last week, is there something wrong with rockford fosgate patch cables?

i dont do alot of installs, but when i use rockford rca's they turn out to be crap..they short out alot, and once there wasn't any signal goin though 'em93' Cutlass

It actually wasnt the rca's in the end that were screwed up, but i will definetley keep in mind to not make rockford a first option.