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audiobahn amp, subwoofer, dead?


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xtremej 
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Posted: April 10, 2007 at 5:28 PM / IP Logged  
I got turned around and thought you were running 2 10's, my bad. You could definetly look into a lower price sub but I think if you look into pricing on the powerbass equipment you'll find the prices to be very resonable, I sell the m-10 svc for $80 retail.
thechris2233 
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Posted: April 10, 2007 at 6:57 PM / IP Logged  
I have another question. The amp does have two 30 amp fuses and I was thinking about it. If 800 watts is about the peak it can put out, how can they say that 800 is the rms power and that 1600 is the max? I'm not by any means trying to dispute you, but isn't that false advertising or something? I've seen the tricks where a company says a 10rms 40 peak speaker is a 40 watt speaker, but this seems different.
xtremej 
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Posted: April 11, 2007 at 7:54 AM / IP Logged  
Its audiobahn they overrate their equipment to staggering numbers to aw the average customer. Its simple math I use 13.8 x whatever amperage the fuses add up to in the amp. 13.8 represents very good voltage of your charging system. 13.8x60=828 watts absolute max the amp will hold before the fuses blow. Mind you most vehicles do not achieve 13.8 volts consistenly so generaly I cut this peak number in atleast half for audiobahn equipment, I was generous by giving this amps output at 400 watts rms. If you had a 27 volt system you could hit numbers as audiobahn is advertising?
thechris2233 
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Posted: April 12, 2007 at 9:06 PM / IP Logged  

xtremej wrote:
If you had a 27 volt system you could hit numbers as audiobahn is advertising?

Yes?

That actually makes a lot of sense because the built in meter thing in the amp is constantly reading 13.x.

Also as an update. I have been driving around the past week with the fuse out of the block between amp / battery. I feared that if it was the big box or something screwing stuff up, it would be better to leave the power off and salvage what I can. I was planning on taking my car to a local sound shop today so I put the fuse back in the block thing and turned down the gain and LPF on the amp. To my surpise the dam thing is magically working again. I went there anyway and the guy said my box should be ok. I turned it up a little, and it sounds good now. I am thinking that I possibly had the setting too high on the amp.

thechris2233 
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Posted: April 12, 2007 at 9:10 PM / IP Logged  
Also I was thinking. So basically all you have to do to get a true wattage figure is multiply your charging system by combined number on fuses? Because if that is true that seems like an incredibly simple way for teh nubs (me) to get some real numbers.
stevdart 
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Posted: April 13, 2007 at 7:15 AM / IP Logged  

You have to consider the efficiency of the amplifier as well.  An amp will always pull more power than it will output;  the heat you feel coming off an amplifier is a necessary waste of some of that input power.  Depending on the class of amp, there is an average efficiency that you can assume.  Does it feel very warm to hot in operation?  Probably 50 - 55% efficient, or thereabouts.  Or does it feel slightly warm to cool to the touch?  Most likely 80 -90% efficient.

Here's an alternative formula to use.  The object with this is to find out how much power an amplifier uses in order to produce results:

e = efficiency of amplifier

total RMS = watts demanded from source

(RMS X 2) / (e X 2) = total RMS

Then use Ohm's Law I = P/E to find demand in amperes.

In using this efficiency formula, you have to be fairly certain of the true RMS output of the amplifier at the impedance load it is working with.  But as many of the common amplifiers on the market now are suspect in their ratings, output can't be determined with formulas or counting up fuses.  The output has to be directly measured in a controlled test.

The fuses' total rating can be a general guide for the more experienced installers / users, as xtremej was speaking of.  They will consider build quality, brand stability and all that comes into play due to having experience with the various brands and models.  Shady manufacturers can put any fuses they want to in an amplifier whether the amp is truly capable of producing results with that amount of current or not.  And I've seen at least one time when it was apparent that the assembly line put in the wrong fuse rating in a production run.

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
thechris2233 
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Posted: April 13, 2007 at 5:07 PM / IP Logged  

Ahh gotcha. Well is runs pretty hot so I would definately guess its not very efficient. Although my trunk isn't exactly climate controlled either. In other news, the amp wasn't working again this morning, but was working this afternoon. I have heard of amps over heating but it seems like mine is underheating (lol). The only time it is going dead is when it is real cool.

I am guessing this is probably related to the thermal properties of metal + cheap design. Perhaps getting too hot caused the metal to expand and push out other components so that when it cools they no longer touch? Or maybe this just happened at its operating temps due to cheap design. Its hard to say, but I'm probably going to try and contact audiobahn in hopes of an RMA. Actually now that I think of it, I may just contact the vendor and see about a refund.

If no one has a suggestion to fix this, does anyone have a suggestion for new brand / model of amp? Audiobahn has the speaker rated at 900watts rms. Assuming this is overated aswell, what would be a good way to get an accurate number?

Also, thanks a ton for input and help. This website and forum are incredibly informative.

thechris2233 
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Posted: April 21, 2007 at 2:39 AM / IP Logged  

Well I finally had time to take my car to a local shop. After running a DMM and a toner tester (where can I get one of those?), the guy discovered my rcas were bad. We pulled the rcas and sure enough there was a pinch in the wire. I let him re run a new wire (17ft rca cable cost 18$ ? pretty sure I got ripped) and it works fine now.

So after all that trouble, imagine that.

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