Somethings wrong..

[JPx7 1]

So something has gone wrong with my system and I am not sure exactly what it is...

My setup is...

-12" Icon

-AQ 1200d; installed with 1/0 gauge wire and then 12 gauge for the speaker wire.

-MY car is a 2000 Jetta VR6 and the alternator is stock.. it's either 90a or 120a but i'm not sure

-I am using the AQ gain knob and I have a stinger volt meter..

I had everything installed at a local shop and it was VERY LOUD.. it was so loud that I was afraid to even push it for the little time it was working right, so I don't think any problems have been caused by listening to it too loud. About 6 days after it was installed I was driving around and I noticed on one song the bass was a lot quieter than it had been. So I listened to a few other songs and turned up the bass just a little to see if it was just me but it was at least 50% quieter than it had been. I immediately turned off my music and when I got home I made sure all the wires were still connected. I checked too see if the problem had fixed itself the next day and at first it sounded like it had but after driving around a little the bass started to cut in and out and it would randomly get loud then go back to being quiet again so I turned it off. I took it back to the install shop and they think the amp is too powerful for my electrical system but he only listened to it, I am going back in this weekend and they are going to check that everything is connected correctly. When the system was working correctly the volt meter seemed to be fine.. It averaged around 13.9 or so and every once in a while it would drop to around 12.6 but it would go back up.. It never dropped below 12.6 from what I could see. At first I thought the amp was blown or something but now I think it probably has to do with my electrical..

What do you guys think the problem is and suggestions to fix it?

-If it is due to my electrical I do not want to replace the alternator or add an extra battery/capacitor.. At most I could maybe replace the battery and do the big three.. So I really want to know if there are any inexpensive options.. if not I will probably just go with a much smaller amp.. I also plan on adding another amp for my components..

Edited December 2, 2011 by JPx7

[ssh 924]

Well now that it's not working correctly, whats your voltage at idle, and whats your voltage dropping to when playing music?

An amp can never be too powerful, you can always adjust the gain, in your case lower the gain, creating less power output, and less amperage draw. (So it won't be as harsh on your electrical, but loudness will likely lower)

When the bass would cut out, would it literally stop playing bass, then start playing again? Check the leds on the amp and verify that the amp is not going into some sort of protection mode / turning off.

Depending on the above, I would take the driver out of the enclosure and visually inspect the tinsel leads and coils. Could also try putting a dmm set to ohms on the speaker terminals and push up and down on the cone, see if the reading ever changes and drops to 0.

[Julian 641]

Woah 8/0 for speaker? Damn I'm doing it wrong.

[ssh 924]

Woah 8/0 for speaker? Damn I'm doing it wrong.

That was my first thought. If he was actually using 8/0 then possibly the terminals are short circuiting.

[bassahaulic 155]

Check the woofer itself. The ohm load specifically.

[JPx7 1]

Woah 8/0 for speaker? Damn I'm doing it wrong.

oh my mistake idk why i put 8/0... its 12/0 lol

[bassahaulic 155]

Woah 8/0 for speaker? Damn I'm doing it wrong.

oh my mistake idk why i put 8/0... its 12/0 lol

HOLY!!!!!! I quit audio, i fail.

You mean 8awg or 12awg. lol not 8/0 or 12/0 that's bigger then the wire on the power lines outside.

[ssh 924]

Woah 8/0 for speaker? Damn I'm doing it wrong.

oh my mistake idk why i put 8/0... its 12/0 lol

HOLY!!!!!! I quit audio, i fail.

You mean 8awg or 12awg. lol not 8/0 or 12/0 that's bigger then the wire on the power lines outside.

hahahahahahaha.

[JPx7 1]

I fail lol that's what I meant

[bassahaulic 155]

Edit: The people at the shop are fucking retarded.

What all have you checked thus far?

[JPx7 1]

Well now that it's not working correctly, whats your voltage at idle, and whats your voltage dropping to when playing music?

An amp can never be too powerful, you can always adjust the gain, in your case lower the gain, creating less power output, and less amperage draw. (So it won't be as harsh on your electrical, but loudness will likely lower)

When the bass would cut out, would it literally stop playing bass, then start playing again? Check the leds on the amp and verify that the amp is not going into some sort of protection mode / turning off.

Depending on the above, I would take the driver out of the enclosure and visually inspect the tinsel leads and coils. Could also try putting a dmm set to ohms on the speaker terminals and push up and down on the cone, see if the reading ever changes and drops to 0.

When the bass cuts out it still plays bass but its not that loud and it sounds really bad.. it doesn't really go with the beat of the song because the loudness of each beat is not staying steady and it will sometimes get a lot louder on one beat randomly.. it is irritating so I turned off the subwoofer through my headunit and have had it off for a few days now.. with the woofer turned off the voltage reads anywhere between 13.7 and 14.5.. it is normally right around 14.1..

[05Trailblazer 1]

try the amp on one of your friends car and make sure it isnt your amp or may be your HU alot of things come in play thats so far i could think of!! i hate when things like this happens!!! make my these awful!

[JPx7 1]

Edit: The people at the shop are pucking retarded.

What all have you checked thus far?

I haven't checked much yet because I don't want to void my warranty on the install.. so I'm taking it in this weekend for them to look at it

P.S. sorry for the mistakes in my post.. I'm really tired right now

Edited December 2, 2011 by JPx7

[ssh 924]

After checking the amp for protection lights when the volume is jumping around (or as you put it: cutting out), you could try using a 3.5mm jack to rca cable and plug your ipod into the amplifier (just start with the volume low because the input voltage going to the amp from the ipod will be different then the headunit), and see if the problem persists.

[JPx7 1]

After checking the amp for protection lights when the volume is jumping around (or as you put it: cutting out), you could try using a 3.5mm jack to rca cable and plug your ipod into the amplifier (just start with the volume low because the input voltage going to the amp from the ipod will be different then the headunit), and see if the problem persists.

I just drove around the block a few times to listen to it again since its been a couple days.. I checked the leds periodically and it wasn't going into protection mode.. When I first started the car and listened to it a little it was acting pretty normal.. then I drove around a little and the problem progressively started happening.. The bass would get really quiet and stay pretty steady then it would get louder and stay steady at that for a few seconds and it kept doing this.. It wasn't cutting in and out as bad as it was the other day but this time it would be quiet for a few verses of the song then be loud for one verse and get quiet again.. The last song I played it was quiet for basically the whole song and didn't jump up that much. I thought it was weird though that the problem got worse the longer I drove.

[ssh 924]

With moderate volume, play a sine wave, does the loudness fluctuate?

If so, turn stereo off, disconnect the speaker wires at the amplifier terminals, hook up a dmm on the terminals, set to volts, turn stereo back and play sine wave.

The voltage reading on the dmm should slightly vary, if its jumping around like crazy (like how it was when playing songs), then either your amp has a problem or the input signal is bad.

[Beandip 3]

Unplug the bass knob from the amp. I have seen a few go out and would randomly make the volume fluctuate as you are describing....though it shouldn't make the bass sound bad so I have a feeling it isn't the problem.

Worth a shot I suppose.

Edited December 3, 2011 by beandip

[JPx7 1]

Unplug the bass knob from the amp. I have seen a few go out and would randomly make the volume fluctuate as you are describing....though it shouldn't make the bass sound bad so I have a feeling it isn't the problem.

Worth a shot I suppose.

I tried this last night.. and it worked! It sounds normal again so for now the problem has been fixed.. hopefully it doesn't come back!

Thanks for all of the help

[Beandip 3]

Sweet! Glad it fixed the problem.