confusion with my amp

[chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com]

im running a pyramid crystal series 1000w amp thats pumping 2 10" 1200w sony
xplods. the amp turns on and it says its working, but i get a high pitch
hiss and the amp seems to be doing nothing, although it turns on. im using
either 6 or 8 gauge wire from the battery and as the ground and im using 16
gauge wire from the subs to the amp and 18 gauge REM cable. can someone
please inform me on what could be the problem, im only 17 and im not too
experience with this kind of thing. the headunit im using is a JVC KD series
that is 45x4.

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[GregS]

In article <696ffa39e194e@uwe>, "chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com" <u29211@uwe> wrote:
>im running a pyramid crystal series 1000w amp thats pumping 2 10" 1200w sony
>xplods. the amp turns on and it says its working, but i get a high pitch
>hiss and the amp seems to be doing nothing, although it turns on. im using
>either 6 or 8 gauge wire from the battery and as the ground and im using 16
>gauge wire from the subs to the amp and 18 gauge REM cable. can someone
>please inform me on what could be the problem, im only 17 and im not too
>experience with this kind of thing. the headunit im using is a JVC KD series
>that is 45x4.

Did it once work??

Make sure you connection from the Head Unit
are OK. It likely there is something not configured or set
in the head unit.


greg

[chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com]

GregS wrote:

>Did it once work??
>
>Make sure you connection from the Head Unit
>are OK. It likely there is something not configured or set
>in the head unit.
>
>greg

yeah, i bought it from one of my friends brother and he said it was working
perfect and i just attempted to put it in the other day. ill make sure i
check that. what could it be if the connection is good though? thanks for
answering so quickly.

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[brianlanning]

chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com wrote:
> im running a pyramid crystal series 1000w amp thats pumping 2 10" 1200w sony
> xplods.

i'm assuming these are "peak" numbers?

>the amp turns on and it says its working, but i get a high pitch
> hiss and the amp seems to be doing nothing, although it turns on. im using
> either 6 or 8 gauge wire from the battery and as the ground and im using 16
> gauge wire from the subs to the amp and 18 gauge REM cable.

You generally want to make the power and ground wires the same gauge.
The remote turn on wire can be small.

>can someone
> please inform me on what could be the problem, im only 17 and im not too
> experience with this kind of thing. the headunit im using is a JVC KD series
> that is 45x4.

Is the gain on the amp turned all the way up? This is probably the
hiss you're hearing. It's probably amplifying the noise.

It sounds like you're not getting signal from the head unit to the amp.
I used to have this portable boom box with RCA inputs on the back. As
a test, I used to take it out to the car and plug the RCAs for the amp
inputs into the back of this boombox. If I got audio, I knew they were
ok.

brian

[chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com]

brianlanning wrote:
>> im running a pyramid crystal series 1000w amp thats pumping 2 10" 1200w sony
>> xplods.
>
>i'm assuming these are "peak" numbers?
>
>>the amp turns on and it says its working, but i get a high pitch
>> hiss and the amp seems to be doing nothing, although it turns on. im using
>> either 6 or 8 gauge wire from the battery and as the ground and im using 16
>> gauge wire from the subs to the amp and 18 gauge REM cable.
>
>You generally want to make the power and ground wires the same gauge.
>The remote turn on wire can be small.
>
>>can someone
>> please inform me on what could be the problem, im only 17 and im not too
>> experience with this kind of thing. the headunit im using is a JVC KD series
>> that is 45x4.
>
>Is the gain on the amp turned all the way up? This is probably the
>hiss you're hearing. It's probably amplifying the noise.
>
>It sounds like you're not getting signal from the head unit to the amp.
> I used to have this portable boom box with RCA inputs on the back. As
>a test, I used to take it out to the car and plug the RCAs for the amp
>inputs into the back of this boombox. If I got audio, I knew they were
>ok.
>
>brian

yeah your right, they are peak numbers because off the top of my head i cant
remember the RMS, and the power and ground wires are the same gauge, its the
wire from the subs to the amp that is 16 gauge. from what the other guy told
me to do, making sure the connections were good, i got rid of the hiss, but
its still acting like it doesnt do anything. now that the hiss is gone all
that it is doing is keeping the bass at the same level from stereo level 1
clear to 30, but the louder i put the radio, the more interference i get and
it sounds worse and worse. all the lights come on and say that im getting
power, but i just dont understand. is my amp bad? or what do u think i should
check in addition to what u guys already told me? and i want to thank u all
for your imput and please keep it coming because im a high school student and
i dont really have the money to go out and buy a new one, but i will if i
have to. thanks again for all the input

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[brianlanning]

chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com wrote:
> yeah your right, they are peak numbers because off the top of my head i cant
> remember the RMS, and the power and ground wires are the same gauge, its the
> wire from the subs to the amp that is 16 gauge. from what the other guy told
> me to do, making sure the connections were good, i got rid of the hiss, but
> its still acting like it doesnt do anything. now that the hiss is gone all
> that it is doing is keeping the bass at the same level from stereo level 1
> clear to 30, but the louder i put the radio, the more interference i get and
> it sounds worse and worse. all the lights come on and say that im getting
> power, but i just dont understand. is my amp bad? or what do u think i should
> check in addition to what u guys already told me? and i want to thank u all
> for your imput and please keep it coming because im a high school student and
> i dont really have the money to go out and buy a new one, but i will if i
> have to. thanks again for all the input

At this point I would find a way to check the RCA outputs from the head
unit and the RCA inputs on the amp. For the head unit outputs, do what
I suggested already. For the amp inputs, you would need to find a
signal source to plug in that's not your head unit. If you have a wire
lying around that goes from a headphone type connector to RCA cables,
you could plug an ipod or something like it staight into the amp. If
you hear the ipod music, then you know it's either the head unit or the
wire between them. Just start eliminating causes of the problem until
you're left with the bad item.

brian

[brianlanning]

chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com wrote:
> yeah your right, they are peak numbers because off the top of my head i cant
> remember the RMS, and the power and ground wires are the same gauge, its the
> wire from the subs to the amp that is 16 gauge. from what the other guy told
> me to do, making sure the connections were good, i got rid of the hiss, but
> its still acting like it doesnt do anything. now that the hiss is gone all
> that it is doing is keeping the bass at the same level from stereo level 1
> clear to 30, but the louder i put the radio, the more interference i get and
> it sounds worse and worse. all the lights come on and say that im getting
> power, but i just dont understand. is my amp bad? or what do u think i should
> check in addition to what u guys already told me? and i want to thank u all
> for your imput and please keep it coming because im a high school student and
> i dont really have the money to go out and buy a new one, but i will if i
> have to. thanks again for all the input

One more thing. If your head unit is outputing only bass signal and
your amp has a built-in crossover, and that crossover is configured
wrong, you'll end up with no sound, or at least very quiet sound.

brian

[chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com]

brianlanning wrote:
>> yeah your right, they are peak numbers because off the top of my head i cant
>> remember the RMS, and the power and ground wires are the same gauge, its the
>[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>> i dont really have the money to go out and buy a new one, but i will if i
>> have to. thanks again for all the input
>
>One more thing. If your head unit is outputing only bass signal and
>your amp has a built-in crossover, and that crossover is configured
>wrong, you'll end up with no sound, or at least very quiet sound.
>
>brian

hey man, thanks for the advise ill get to it as soon as possible, and ill
make sure i keep u posted. like i said im new to this but i find it really
fun. ive already rewired my entire truck with brand new wire and this was the
last thing to do. and i want to thank you for teaching me more and how to
diagnose problems with my amp, i really appreciate it.

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[chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com]

chevy_layin_low wrote:
>>> yeah your right, they are peak numbers because off the top of my head i cant
>>> remember the RMS, and the power and ground wires are the same gauge, its the
>[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>>
>>brian
>
hey brian i just did what u said and it acted the same way with my ipod and
then to see if it was the subs i wired those strait to the headunit to see
the possibility of the problem being the subs. sure enough the subs are
doing the same thing even without the amp, so im pretty sure ill need to buy
some new ones. i dont get it, they worked perfect 3 days ago before i put
the amp in. i had detailed instructions and i know i did it right but they
still blew. what kind of system, that is good, do u think that i should and
can get on a high school salary? i really want one that works well, but
doesnt break the bank too hard. thanks for all your help.
-chad

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[brianlanning]

chevy_layin_low via CarKB.com wrote:
> hey brian i just did what u said and it acted the same way with my ipod and
> then to see if it was the subs i wired those strait to the headunit to see
> the possibility of the problem being the subs. sure enough the subs are
> doing the same thing even without the amp, so im pretty sure ill need to buy
> some new ones. i dont get it, they worked perfect 3 days ago before i put
> the amp in. i had detailed instructions and i know i did it right but they
> still blew. what kind of system, that is good, do u think that i should and
> can get on a high school salary? i really want one that works well, but
> doesnt break the bank too hard. thanks for all your help.

I'd take them somewhere and have them tested just to verify that
they're bad.

Have a look at somewhere like sounddomain.com and see what's on sale.
iirc, you have a fairly high power amp. You should really match the
rms power rating of the subs to the amp. If you can't afford the high
power subs, you can attach weaker subs to the amp you have, but you
have to back the gain off or you'll blow these also.

If you're worried about how loud they'll get, I'm running two 10s at
100amps (rms) a piece and it's enough to vibrate the rear view mirror
and my hair.

brian