I have a 1997 Honda Accord and figured I'd toss this question at you fine
people.

I have quite an odd problem. My friend and I have troubleshooted it and have
found the problem must be caused by the Alpine head unit.

I have an Alpine head unit, a Kohl Audio amp, and two Alpine Type-E subs. The
system has worked fine for a few months. Recently, we noticed one sub is
working fine while the other is extremely low. We looked at the amp, which is
fine and found the RCA cable was the problem. We could change the sub not
working properly by switching the RCA cables in the amp.

We replaced the RCA cable with a new one and all was well. A few days later,
the problem reoccured. Once again, the wire is not working. One part of the RCA
works fine, while the other does not. The problem can again be switched to the
opposite sub by changing the wire in the amp.

As such, we figure the head unit must be frying the RCA cable somehow. I spoke
to Alpine and I need to send the head unit back (with me paying shipping) to
have them look at it. If that isn't the problem, I pay all costs. Otherwise,
they cover it.

It's a major pain in the butt, but regardless, I'm upset this problem has
reoccurred. Has anyone heard of this problem or know of an alternate solution?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

- Brian

As such, we figure the head unit must be frying the RCA cable somehow.

Quite frankly, it's impossible. In order to "fry" a cable, a device needs
to pass an incredible amount of current through it to essentially melt the
connection between the RCA connector and the wire, at the solder joint (if
it's soldered). It's impossible because: a) the unit would not produce any
sound if this was the case because it would be blowing all its low-current
circuitry; and b) you'd be popping fuses like crazy.

The culprit is probably the Alpine unit itself and not the cable. To test
this, try swapping R and L at the head unit output rather than at the amp
input.

The other possibility is that you've just had bad luck with RCA cables.
This is certainly not unheard of. The only more unreliable audio cables I
can think of are 1/4" jack cables (like those used for electric guitars).

Okay, so if it's not frying the cable, what else could be happening?

I guess it is possible to have two bad cables, it just seems a bit
coincidental. And it isn't the head unit itself as the sole problem because
once the RCA was replaced, it worked fine again.

If the subs change from bring the "good one" to the "bad one" when the wires
in the amp are switched, wouldn't switching those in the head unit do the same
thing?

I suspect it is the head unit causing the problem but have absolutely no reason
it might be doing so. I am hesitant to buy and ruin another RCA cable.

Thanks for any help.

pam said:The other possibility is that you've just
had bad luck with RCA cables.
This is certainly not unheard of. The only more unreliable audio cables I
can think of are 1/4" jack cables (like those used for electric guitars).

- Brian

Okay, so if it's not frying the cable, what else could be happening?

I guess it is possible to have two bad cables, it just seems a bit
coincidental. And it isn't the head unit itself as the sole problem
because
once the RCA was replaced, it worked fine again.

If it's a loose connection in the head unit RCA output (very very common),
then it wouldn't be surprising that mucking with it when putting a new cable
on would have fixed the problem, at least temporarily.


If the subs change from bring the "good one" to the "bad one" when the
wires
in the amp are switched, wouldn't switching those in the head unit do the
same
thing?

Not sure what you mean by good one and bad one. If you have two subs, each
being run by one of the two channels, and if switching L and R at the
amplifier's input makes the opposite sub work, then you've isolated the
problem to everything upstream of the amplifier input. In other words, that
means it could be the cable or the RCA output of the head unit. In order to
tell which of these it is, you need to swap L and R on the back of the head
unit instead of at the amplifier. If THAT makes the opposite sub work, then
the problem is with the head unit output. If the problem remains in the
same speaker, then the problem is with the cable. While you're back there,
try wiggling the cable to see if it fixes the problem.

Thanks. I'll give her a try tomorrow.

- Brian