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subwoofer and amp dont work after hook up

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=72336
Printed Date: July 15, 2025 at 7:54 AM


Topic: subwoofer and amp dont work after hook up

Posted By: aallbbeerrttttt
Subject: subwoofer and amp dont work after hook up
Date Posted: February 07, 2006 at 1:22 AM

i have a JVC headunit and i wanted to add a small subwoofer in the trunk of my 240sx just cause the rear speakesr are out and i want a little more bass

i got all the wiring part done since the previous owner had a system in it, the power and remote wire were already there, just a matter of hooking them up, i mounted a new ground wire and i hooked it all up to the amp

now the amp was also from the previous owner, and i have no clue what type it is or whatever, it was just there, he siad he was using it to power his speakers and never ran a sub, not sure if that matters, it also says 120w x2 on the cover

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posted_image

the sub has all of these connections
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posted_image

-power
-ground
-remote
-1 white RCA
-1 black RCA
-left speaker -
-left speaker +
-right speaker -
-right speaker +

and it also has these settings
-subwoofer level: 80, 120, "subwoofer off"
-mode: st, brg

so i was thinking today, if i just bought a cheap subwoofer and hooked it up, i'll have some bass right? so i got one from work, cheap 15 dollar POS that was on clearance, and tried to hook it up

i hooked up the power, ground, remote accordingly, and also the RCA cables, the power cable near the battery terminal didn't have a fuse in it, so i put in a 25amp fuse, the amplifier itself has a 30amp fuse in it, and it's still good

then i took regular speaker wire and i connected the subwoofer + to the "left speaker +" and the subwoofer - to the "left speaker -"

then i turned on the radio to see what was up, the amp turns on, and the subwoofer turns on about 1 second later, and i hear the subwoofer bump once, then the rest i hear is slight low volume thumps, it is always in the same pattern, bump..bump..bump..bump.. and it just keeps going when i play music, then if i turn off the radio, the subwoofer turns off and i hear a small thump before it goes off, also the subwoofer doesn't bump to the music at all

i got a couple questions
-did i hook up the subwoofer correctly? i'm only going to be running one subwoofer, it is rated at 200w
-what should i set the amplifier to? ST or BRG?
-what subwoofer level should i set it at? 80 or 120?
-would a different amplifier with more power solve my problem?
-the protection light comes on with the amp, i'm not sure what that means

thanks a lot to those who answer my questions, i tried to be as in depth as i could



Replies:

Posted By: tex12gage
Date Posted: February 07, 2006 at 9:30 AM

i would start of testing the wires the previous owner left there. Check 'em all with a DMM.

Next, (if your amp is stable) bridge your sub wiring,   (sub + to amp left + /  then sub - to amp right -)

Set your amp to bridged.

Hope this works out, just check wires first.



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TEX





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