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Amp problems
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:37 am
by jetas
Alright so i kno im not the only one thats had this problem. I kno it happens. So i took out my amp and sub and i re-installed it a few days later. (had a race to win) lol. but wen i had evrything hooked up the sub started to thud. like if a kick drum was hittin. its annoying at low RPMs but i start takin off it goes away. is there somethin wrong wit the wiring? help me out plz.
Ok n jus another ?. My sub handles 200 WRMS and 600 peak. do i necessarily have to run the RMS watts to it? or can i bump it up to lets say 300 without any damage.
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:43 am
by kc2005ptgt
Wow, your posts are hard to read, but from what I can gather you have a thudding sound in your sub after you re-installed it? I would assume you have something not hooked up rght, maybe wires are backwards, I dunno. As for the other question, I was not aware that one can turn up the RMS on your amp... RMS is wattage a sub can handle at a continuous rate. How you turn it up....?
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:40 pm
by jetas
lol i thought it wud b hard to read. And wat I meant by running more RMS wattage was if i get an amp that pushes out more wRMS. im mainly askin cuz theres very few amps that iv seen that push out 200 RMS.And yes it started happening after i re installed it. the wires are wired correctly. It aint my first install so i kinda know wat im doin. but this jus has me stuck
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:12 pm
by kc2005ptgt
I always matched RMS watts on the amp to the sub... you get a better sound... but if you have an amp running more rms, but same peak I wold assume that the sub would be ok, since you arent going to get peak sound all the time. I dunno, tough question... I think someone else who knows more or is currently in this business would be able to answer better than I.
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:15 pm
by jetas
yea il just wait. Cuz i dont wanna go ask at the stereo shops here. theyl try to stick me wit a whole new system. lol
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:46 pm
by ZeroChad
You really don't want to exceed 10% of the rms rating on the sub. Sure you can, but you're killing its life expectancy. I'm running a 200wrms rockford amp.
Link. My sub has a ported enclosure that really helps bring out the sound. Its quite impressive for a low watt system.
You can adjust the rms output of your amplifier by tweaking the gain knob. Just beware that your output can begin to clip as it reaches the peak output. You'll want to double check your wiring too to look for that problem. Something may be grounded, connected wrong, or say the amp power line is next to the rca signal cable.
Link This guy's site has a lot of useful info on car audio. Eat it up like a fat kid eating cake.
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:30 pm
by Anonymous User
the thudding noise you have, it happens when your car is at idle? It might be that your RCAs to either the headunit side or amp side are not plugged in all the way or snuggly or it could be a ground issue.
your 200w RMS sub, should be able to handle 300w. just make sure your hooking up the sub to the right ohm to match the wattage the amp would put out at it.
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:06 pm
by jetas
Alright cool. Ima just keep the amp i have. And now that i think of it it rained really heavily before this started happening. kud this pussibly have something to do wit it? Oh and if it helps i have it grounded in the spare tire well.
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:45 pm
by nineball
subs and amps have ratings for a reason, and they should be matched. power is rated 2 ways, RMS and MAX. MAX is just that - the maximum potential power for a given moment, usually happening when you hit a really big boom. rms is the continous possible output / input with no cause for worry. always go by the RMS ratings, not the MAX. if your sub is 200RMS, i would not suggest putting more than 200RMS from the amp into it. if you have no other way you can turn the gain down accordingly (i.e. 400RMS amp, set gain to half). make sure you are aware of the ohm load of the sub and the output of the amp as well. wiring and ohm oad play a large role in the power game. if you can post models of both i can tell you more.
as far as the noise, follow the golden rule - recheck every connection. power, signal, ground, remote, speaker connections, everything. chances are one of them is looose.
Re: Amp problems
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:12 am
by Daymon
jetas wrote: but wen i had evrything hooked up the sub started to thud. like if a kick drum was hittin.
My buddy's system had a thud like this for awhile.
Turned out that his gain was set just alittle too high.
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:53 am
by zerocoolok
You probably have either a loose ground connection or you are running your RCA's too close to your power/ground cables, which is causing interference. From your symptoms, it sounds like you have a ground loop issue, which generally means that you are using a separate grounding point for your amp than something for the car itself, but very close to each other. If you see a grounding point that your vehicle is already using, try to take advantage of that instead of drilling a separate grounding point for your ground wire.
More info here
http://tinyurl.com/283pth