Calling the audio Gurus!!!

[Zeik75]

So I feel that I know my stuff when it comes to audio but I am having a hell of a time with the system in my 2000 and would like some more experienced opinions. I think part of it is the headunit only having 2V preouts and part of it is my mess of an amp system. So I'll start by listing my gear and their specs. I'll link the products for people but will try to list all the relevant specs for those on phones and such.

HU:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ ... VIC-X850BT all the goodies, has high and low pass filters, 8 band EQ, sub level adjustment, and 2V front/rear/sub preouts

Speakers:
Front are http://precisionpower.com/store/product ... 5c-65.html These are 3 way components that I am currently running in a 2 way mode, the crossover has a switch for this as the crossovers are for either the 2 or 3 way components so no harm there. 100w RMS ratings

Rears are http://www.polkaudio.com/products/mm691 these have a seperate crossover in them and are 125w RMS rated

Sub is 1 http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_271 ... .12SQ.html (its not on the PPI site anymore for some reason ) This is in a Polk audio box tuned to abut 38hz and is rated 300w RMS on Sonic, but my box and manual says 425w RMS

Amps:
These are just whatever I could cobble together at the time

Sub amp is http://www.polkaudio.com/products/pa880 It and the sub are wired as a 2ohm load and is rated at 500w RMS for 2ohm. I don't have any boost from the HU going to it, however I do have the 12db bass boost switch on the actual amp switched up.

6x9 amp is http://www.polkaudio.com/products/pa330_2 I have the speakers just wired in standard left and right no bridging or anything. This amp has a High pass built in and bass boost, neither are being used. It is rated for 125w RMS to each channel

Front door amp is http://www.polkaudio.com/products/pa880 same as the sub amp, not ideal no, but its what I had. nothing on this is turned on and the gain is a little low to keep from cooking the speakers. I would like to replace this sometime but it will be a bit before that happens.

The RCA's are either 17 or 20 foot cables, all good quality DB Link not some crappy rockford ones, and wired directly into each amp. No chaining between the amps.

The power and ground are fine and more than enough size wise.

none of the stock wiring is used and everything I ran is of proper size.




So onto the problems I am having.

1. It doesn't seem to get loud "enough", yes it can blast and sound pretty good, but I did a comparision between my car and a friends running the same 6x9's and his can get much louder and is clearer than mine. If my volume is on 36 his only needs to be on 20 to match. His amp is another Polk amp rated 100w RMS, the only major difference in our setups are that his HU has 4V preouts. Also that his gain is all the way down when we tested, mine is at about 1/4-1/3 turned up. Would the preout volts have that much effect on the signal? I could see it working in that you are getting twice the signal so have twice the volume roughly but IDK for sure.

2. My sub has started acting up the last 2ish months. After I installed and tuned everything it was left alone for 8 months, In this time I was regularly commuting on hour long drives, did some 6 hour roadtrips, and the 12 hour drive to the michigan meet, in all this time my sub never acted up even blasting the dubstep WUBS the whole time. Then a couple weeks after I got back from Michigan my amp went into protect mode, when I pullled over to check on it I couldn't touch it it was so hot. I then went into my HU to turn it off and noticed that the HU sub signal had been boosted to its max of +8. I'm not sure how this happened as I had left that at 0, and NEVER turn up the signal like that from the HU like that. Ever since then it has started shutting down after about 2 hours of heavy bass, If I listen to a podcast or something there is no problems. I tried turning down the gain a bit with no luck. Now I would assume that the sub was clipping like crazy with the HU boosted to +8 so it may just be on its way out, but at the same time I don't see how the sub dying could cause the amp to shut down, unless It has to work harder for the dying sub? Maybe something like the voice coil on the sub is having its resistance go up from breaking down and drawing on the amp more?

3. I thought I had amp Gain adjustment figured out but have been questioning my knowledge. As I understand my system has 2V preouts and the amps all have gain adjustment of 175mV-8V, I take this to mean that I have to turn the gain to about 1/4 to have the 2V HU signal and the amps Input signal match? Is this right or am I way off?


If anyone needs more info just ask.

Thanks for any help guys!

[nos4blood70]

Use the 6X9 amp for the front stage because that is way more important... IMO, get rid of the 6X9s entirely.

[Zeik75]

Hmmm valid point, ill have to try changing those around. I do like the 6x9s though for some extra bass fill, they seem to work well with the sub setup.

[nos4blood70]

If you set the HPF and LPF frequencies right you can delocalize the sub, making the 6X9s unnecessary. I would suggest starting at 90hz and then going by ear.

Getting rid of my 6X9s was the best thing I did for my sound system. Along with sound deadener.

[bobgto65]

I replaced my 6 x 9 with triaxials and left the rear doors disconnected, then put 12" subs in the trunk. I think you just need to turn the gain up a little at a time until the volume is satisfactory. You may have blown the sub or its amp may be on its way out. All of these systems need to be tunes to some extent by adjusting the gain. I agree with switching the 6 x 9 amp and using it for the front doors.

[crappiefisher]

You have a mono block amp on your front stage, so you have no stereo separation up front. Also the frequency response on a sub amp is definitely not going to be 20hz-20khz, further limiting volume and how it sounds. You can run all 4 speakers off the 2CH amp, you just wont have fading ability. As far as the amp shutting off, it might not be the sub. What size speaker wire are you running to your sub, and what size power/ground wire do you have. And, is it all oxygen free copper, or copper clad aluminum? Amp overheating could also be a bad/loose ground. Not trying to question your abilities as an installer, but it gets overlooked often as a culprit.

[Zeik75]

No problem with the questions, Thats what troubleshooting is! As far as the power and ground i believe it is oxygen free copper, and everything is 4 gauge power and ground.

[crappiefisher]

Well 4 gauge wire is sufficient for 100a of current for 18'.. The polk pa series amps run a little hot, but I haven't seen any go into thermal protection. I would assume the voice coil on the sub is the issue. Unless your using really small speaker wire going to the sub. Or a wire is loose inside the box. I've seen terminals get loose and actually melt the terminal cup.