ya try to swap ur wires at the amp from + to - and - to + i've had subs completely change my opinion by doing so. also u might try hooking ur amp up to other sub/subs possibly a friends if u dont have extras layin around. then if that dont work id say its ur box maybe try tunin about 33hz with summore port area

Ok let my explain a little more thoroughly. The sub is quieter at ALL volumes. As I said, I have to turn the gain up way past half to get anything that is considered "loud" to me. And that is on 4 volt pre-outs!!!! That is not a port area problem... I know my port area is a little small, but that is something that would affect this scenario at very high volumes/near xmax, not at these volumes.

You say wiring problem... What wiring exactly? Wiring to my subwoofer? I'll take any advice. Do I have to swap the + and - wires, or can I just reverse the polarity on the amp? (easier to do)

Ok let my explain a little more thoroughly. The sub is quieter at ALL volumes. As I said, I have to turn the gain up way past half to get anything that is considered "loud" to me. And that is on 4 volt pre-outs!!!! That is not a port area problem... I know my port area is a little small, but that is something that would affect this scenario at very high volumes/near xmax, not at these volumes.

You say wiring problem... What wiring exactly? Wiring to my subwoofer? I'll take any advice. Do I have to swap the + and - wires, or can I just reverse the polarity on the amp? (easier to do)

Check your ohm load with a dmm or open up the box and make sure the speakers are wired correctly. Are they in phase?

gotta switch the wires.

i can swicth my polarity from my HU and cant hear a diff.

Hook them up backwards and it plays like a fat lady is sitting on the cone.

Edited April 27, 201114 yr by djjdnap

Im not to sure about sundown amps, but i know alot of manufactures that their amps wont push there max unless they have 14.1 volts, but like above theres no way, you went from one extreme to another nearly doubling your power, and its quieter

You can't find an amp to test it ?

Don't you have an amp for your mids ? Try it on the btl, at 4 ohms.

Check the leads with a dmm and confirm you have 1 ohm coming from the sub.

I don't have another amp on hand... sorry

Something I really think is strange is that if I turn the gain to, let's say, halfway (straight up and down) there is NOTICABLY less bass than there was with the Havoc. Now I bought this amp from dB-r, and they said that the repair done to it was for the gain knob. Maybe the gain knob is "out of tune"?

And I agree that 12.5V is too low of a drop. That also confuses me. I've got Big 3 in 1/0 (KnuKonceptz) and 1/0 all the way around. The battery up front is like... 750 CCA. It's not a little puss.

Check the ohms of the coils , not the frst time the wrong coils got installed.Amp hour rating is the important rating for the bat. A good agm like xs-power makes a big difference.

Trying turning the subsonic all the way down and the lowpass nearly all the way up. You said the sub is wired correctly, so I'm thinking that the sub isn't getting much power. Have a friend with a dmm and clamp meter so that you can read the ouput voltage and current from the amp?

I don't have a dmm right now I'm sorry guys. And I know nobody around here with a suitable amp. But I just figured something out. I never upgraded my 200A fuse. Whatcha think???

how high have you turned the volume up to? that amp will do rated or damn close to it at 12.5v. why dont you take some pics of how you have the sub wired up and such and post them. sometimes seeing makes it easier for the rest of us. reason i asked about the volume, that amp should draw around 250-300 amps at full tilt, so that fuse shouldnt last long under heavy beating. but im with everyone else, find a dmm somewhere, a friend or family member, check the load the amp is seeing first, if its off, then pull the sub out and check the coils, if they are good, you have it hooked up wrong. good luck man

nah 200A fuse is ok, 250 is more suitable(for the wire if it's 1/0 not the amp), but it doesnt limit current so it wouldn't effect ur voltage.

fuses can handle higher current than there rated at as well, just not for long periods of time.

and jeez y is everyone sayin the same shit like he didnt read it the first time someone posted.

Make sure you are using the correct terminals on the SAZ-2500D. I know when I got my first SAZ series amp I had it wired to a higher impedance by accident. There are pictures in the manual so just double check that again. I'd also HIGHLY recommend purchasing a DMM. Even a cheap $15 one from Wal-Mart will do.

Yeah I had a cheap one. They all stop working. I'm saving up for a nicer one. I'll go take some pics this afternoon. It's wires like this. Positive on amp to terminal. One positive wire from terminal to positive one coil one. One positive wire from terminal to positive one coil two. Same with negative. I'll see if I can find a DMM from someone today, however.

They all stop working? Are you dropping them or what?

They all stop working? Are you dropping them or what?

No no, I wouldn't tear something up without purpose. I've got one one that is needle style and one that is digital, both the cheapest versions from walmart. The needle style one blows the fuses no matter what I do, and the digital one just shows crazy numbers no matter what I do. That has nothing to do with my problem, however. I guess I could go buy another cheap one, as I cannot seem to find one to borrow.

How are the LPF and Sub-Sonic set ?

Yeah. It drops no lower than 12.5. T1000.1bd to SAZ2500D

Voltage dropping to 12.5v isnt good imo. With a 225a alt and 2500wrms amp on music (doubtful you even come close to that rms rating), you shouldnt really have considerable voltage drop.

You went from a RF amp to Sundown. Sundown amps are no joke. You may want to consider upgrading or reworking your electrical wiring if needed. You might even need to look into XS Power battery up front and another XS Power battery near the amp. I have a feeling you are starving your Sundown amp.

Maybe your enclosure foe the sub is less than optimal.

Good luck

Whats wrong with voltage at 12.5?

Also, why wouldn't he have a considerable voltage drop? Assume at idle the 225a only puts out 150ish, the voltage is going to drop when the alternator is reaching its output limits.

I don't see how he is "starving" the amp either.

How are the LPF and Sub-Sonic set ?

Well the subsonic is something I was waiting to get set until I solve this problem. For now, I have turned it all the way down (yes I did during my initial testing to all of those who suggested it). Also, my LPF is turned all the way up on the amp, but it is set at 60 Hz at a -18 dB/oct. digitally on my radio.

I'm going out to do more testing this afternoon.

Yeah. It drops no lower than 12.5. T1000.1bd to SAZ2500D

Voltage dropping to 12.5v isnt good imo. With a 225a alt and 2500wrms amp on music (doubtful you even come close to that rms rating), you shouldnt really have considerable voltage drop.

You went from a RF amp to Sundown. Sundown amps are no joke. You may want to consider upgrading or reworking your electrical wiring if needed. You might even need to look into XS Power battery up front and another XS Power battery near the amp. I have a feeling you are starving your Sundown amp.

Maybe your enclosure foe the sub is less than optimal.

Good luck

Whats wrong with voltage at 12.5?

Also, why wouldn't he have a considerable voltage drop? Assume at idle the 225a only puts out 150ish, the voltage is going to drop when the alternator is reaching its output limits.

I don't see how he is "starving" the amp either.

With the information the op supplied he changed amplifiers and upgraded to one with 2.5 times more potential output. Therefore the electrical requirement is 2.5 times more. But.........no additional electrical upgrades were done to support all the added power.

12.5v is basically the resting voltage of his battery. This means, to me, that his amp is pulling 100% power out of the alt and them dipping into battery reserves. Dead battery anyone? 13v or higher for me or my systems is turned down.

There are many unknown variables here, but my opinion stands.

Op, how hot does the amp get? Pretty hot I bet.

Yeah. It drops no lower than 12.5. T1000.1bd to SAZ2500D

Voltage dropping to 12.5v isnt good imo. With a 225a alt and 2500wrms amp on music (doubtful you even come close to that rms rating), you shouldnt really have considerable voltage drop.

You went from a RF amp to Sundown. Sundown amps are no joke. You may want to consider upgrading or reworking your electrical wiring if needed. You might even need to look into XS Power battery up front and another XS Power battery near the amp. I have a feeling you are starving your Sundown amp.

Maybe your enclosure foe the sub is less than optimal.

Good luck

Whats wrong with voltage at 12.5?

Also, why wouldn't he have a considerable voltage drop? Assume at idle the 225a only puts out 150ish, the voltage is going to drop when the alternator is reaching its output limits.

I don't see how he is "starving" the amp either.

With the information the op supplied he changed amplifiers and upgraded to one with 2.5 times more potential output. Therefore the electrical requirement is 2.5 times more. But.........no additional electrical upgrades were done to support all the added power.

12.5v is basically the resting voltage of his battery. This means, to me, that his amp is pulling 100% power out of the alt and them dipping into battery reserves. Dead battery anyone? 13v or higher for me or my systems is turned down.

There are many unknown variables here, but my opinion stands.

Op, how hot does the amp get? Pretty hot I bet.

Sooo he needs at least 2.5 more 225 alternators just to meet your standards?

Yeah. It drops no lower than 12.5. T1000.1bd to SAZ2500D

Voltage dropping to 12.5v isnt good imo. With a 225a alt and 2500wrms amp on music (doubtful you even come close to that rms rating), you shouldnt really have considerable voltage drop.

You went from a RF amp to Sundown. Sundown amps are no joke. You may want to consider upgrading or reworking your electrical wiring if needed. You might even need to look into XS Power battery up front and another XS Power battery near the amp. I have a feeling you are starving your Sundown amp.

Maybe your enclosure foe the sub is less than optimal.

Good luck

Whats wrong with voltage at 12.5?

Also, why wouldn't he have a considerable voltage drop? Assume at idle the 225a only puts out 150ish, the voltage is going to drop when the alternator is reaching its output limits.

I don't see how he is "starving" the amp either.

With the information the op supplied he changed amplifiers and upgraded to one with 2.5 times more potential output. Therefore the electrical requirement is 2.5 times more. But.........no additional electrical upgrades were done to support all the added power.

12.5v is basically the resting voltage of his battery. This means, to me, that his amp is pulling 100% power out of the alt and them dipping into battery reserves. Dead battery anyone? 13v or higher for me or my systems is turned down.

There are many unknown variables here, but my opinion stands.

Op, how hot does the amp get? Pretty hot I bet.

Sooo he needs at least 2.5 more 225 alternators just to meet your standards?

haha, that amp does rated at 12.5v. Hes fine

Yeah. It drops no lower than 12.5. T1000.1bd to SAZ2500D

Voltage dropping to 12.5v isnt good imo. With a 225a alt and 2500wrms amp on music (doubtful you even come close to that rms rating), you shouldnt really have considerable voltage drop.

You went from a RF amp to Sundown. Sundown amps are no joke. You may want to consider upgrading or reworking your electrical wiring if needed. You might even need to look into XS Power battery up front and another XS Power battery near the amp. I have a feeling you are starving your Sundown amp.

Maybe your enclosure foe the sub is less than optimal.

Good luck

Whats wrong with voltage at 12.5?

Also, why wouldn't he have a considerable voltage drop? Assume at idle the 225a only puts out 150ish, the voltage is going to drop when the alternator is reaching its output limits.

I don't see how he is "starving" the amp either.

With the information the op supplied he changed amplifiers and upgraded to one with 2.5 times more potential output. Therefore the electrical requirement is 2.5 times more. But.........no additional electrical upgrades were done to support all the added power.

12.5v is basically the resting voltage of his battery. This means, to me, that his amp is pulling 100% power out of the alt and them dipping into battery reserves. Dead battery anyone? 13v or higher for me or my systems is turned down.

There are many unknown variables here, but my opinion stands.

Op, how hot does the amp get? Pretty hot I bet.

I ran my previous amp with the stock 120 amp alternator for.... 2 years I believe without incident. Voltage RARELY dropped below 13.8-14V. The time between the period where I upgraded alternators and sold my amp was maybe 2 weeks. That means that I played my "old system (old amp and sub)" for about two weeks with the upgraded alt. Voltage was fine still, obviously. The battery was replaced about 4 months ago. It's resting voltage is 12.6V. Your logic doesn't make sense. Just because I upgrade amplifiers does NOT mean I need to upgrade my electrical if it is already at or above par. I do not ride around playing tones either, so The amount of time my amplifier will draw full current is VERY short. You know about the dynamic properties of music, etc. 225*12.5 (the LOWEST voltage it will drop to) =2812.5. And this doesn't account for impedence rise. And it doesn't include the current the battery has available!!!!! I believe my electrical system is not the problem. I do not mean to be offensive, I just get the feeling that this is NOT and electrical system related problem. My friend was running a SAZ3500D to two 18" Xcons on stock electrical (150 amp alt and one battery temporarily) and he could drop to 11 V!!!!! And it was still loud as fawk.

Amp stays cool as a cucumber.

However, the dustcap of the sub got quite warm, which lead me to believe I was driving the amplifier into clipping, which baffles me, because it does not feel like 2500 watts of punishing power. It barely feels like 1000 watts!

Oh and ANOTHER issue I have is that when playing at full volume, my voltage will actually spike up to over 15V, sometimes giving me an error message on my Driver's Information Center. This is a very strange problem I cannot figure out. It happened with my old amp as well. Stupid PCM monitored voltage. I need to get my alternator internally reg'd I guess.

Edited April 28, 201114 yr by nick_19

Sounds to me like an amplifier problem. Especially if you pulled something out and dropped the new setup in and properly connected everything.

Can you get access to another amp or subs? That is the only good way to test.

If the dustcap of the sub is hot..and it is not moving, you have a coil out of phase.

Take the sub out take a picture of both terminals label them 1 and 2, positive should always be on your left.

Occasionally there is one that has the bands mixed up on the wrong side...it does happen once in a blue moon we miss it and dont get them swapped over.