I have a Sony XM-280GTX amp that I am using to push 2 old school MTX
Thunder 3000's..(Been serving me well for almost 6 years now!) The
problem is this..I just recently put the new amp in..works great..gets
SUPER hot though. It's under the passenger seat in my 94 Acura
integra. After running for a while.(1/2 hr, 45 min.., something like
that), the amp starts to cut out. The song will be playing and then
there will be no bass for like 2 seconds then its back..as time goes
by, the length and frequency of the bass leaving starts to increase..I
checked under the hood..everythings ok. Checked the amp..All the
connections are tight, sealed, etc.
.I read in my manual that if the sound is interrupted the
"thermal protection" may be activating and to "turn the volume down."
I am assuming this is what's happening.. So am I just stuck with only
being able to listen to music loud for a short while ? There is air
flow..Nothing is under the seat but the amp..The amp touches the top
of the seat a little but I can't prevent it.
.Any ideas? Is it dangerous to run it to the point of the
thermal protection kicking in alot? I don't wanna screw up the
amp..But I mean I don't think i'm overtaxing the amp it just gets
REALLY freakin hot..
What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance
-Jordin M

This is a pretty common Sony problem. Some units never come out of thermal
protect.

--
---------------------------------------------
:-D I just cut the cheese!
"UserJ" wrote in message
...
I have a Sony XM-280GTX amp that I am using to push 2 old school MTX
Thunder 3000's..(Been serving me well for almost 6 years now!) The
problem is this..I just recently put the new amp in..works great..gets
SUPER hot though. It's under the passenger seat in my 94 Acura
integra. After running for a while.(1/2 hr, 45 min.., something like
that), the amp starts to cut out. The song will be playing and then
there will be no bass for like 2 seconds then its back..as time goes
by, the length and frequency of the bass leaving starts to increase..I
checked under the hood..everythings ok. Checked the amp..All the
connections are tight, sealed, etc.
.I read in my manual that if the sound is interrupted the
"thermal protection" may be activating and to "turn the volume down."
I am assuming this is what's happening.. So am I just stuck with only
being able to listen to music loud for a short while ? There is air
flow..Nothing is under the seat but the amp..The amp touches the top
of the seat a little but I can't prevent it.
.Any ideas? Is it dangerous to run it to the point of the
thermal protection kicking in alot? I don't wanna screw up the
amp..But I mean I don't think i'm overtaxing the amp it just gets
REALLY freakin hot..
What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance
-Jordin M

Try mounting the amp somewhere else?

Carl



"UserJ" wrote in message
...
I have a Sony XM-280GTX amp that I am using to push 2 old school MTX
Thunder 3000's..(Been serving me well for almost 6 years now!) The
problem is this..I just recently put the new amp in..works great..gets
SUPER hot though. It's under the passenger seat in my 94 Acura
integra. After running for a while.(1/2 hr, 45 min.., something like
that), the amp starts to cut out. The song will be playing and then
there will be no bass for like 2 seconds then its back..as time goes
by, the length and frequency of the bass leaving starts to increase..I
checked under the hood..everythings ok. Checked the amp..All the
connections are tight, sealed, etc.
.I read in my manual that if the sound is interrupted the
"thermal protection" may be activating and to "turn the volume down."
I am assuming this is what's happening.. So am I just stuck with only
being able to listen to music loud for a short while ? There is air
flow..Nothing is under the seat but the amp..The amp touches the top
of the seat a little but I can't prevent it.
.Any ideas? Is it dangerous to run it to the point of the
thermal protection kicking in alot? I don't wanna screw up the
amp..But I mean I don't think i'm overtaxing the amp it just gets
REALLY freakin hot..
What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance
-Jordin M

UserJ wrote:
I have a Sony XM-280GTX amp that I am using to push 2 old school MTX
Thunder 3000's..(Been serving me well for almost 6 years now!) The
problem is this..I just recently put the new amp in..works great..gets
SUPER hot though. It's under the passenger seat in my 94 Acura
integra. After running for a while.(1/2 hr, 45 min.., something like
that), the amp starts to cut out. The song will be playing and then
there will be no bass for like 2 seconds then its back..as time goes
by, the length and frequency of the bass leaving starts to increase..I
checked under the hood..everythings ok. Checked the amp..All the
connections are tight, sealed, etc.
.I read in my manual that if the sound is interrupted the
"thermal protection" may be activating and to "turn the volume down."
I am assuming this is what's happening.. So am I just stuck with only
being able to listen to music loud for a short while ? There is air
flow..Nothing is under the seat but the amp..The amp touches the top
of the seat a little but I can't prevent it.
.Any ideas? Is it dangerous to run it to the point of the
thermal protection kicking in alot? I don't wanna screw up the
amp..But I mean I don't think i'm overtaxing the amp it just gets
REALLY freakin hot..
What do you guys think?

You're over taxing it. I'm just guessing that your subs together form a
2 ohm load (assuming they are both 4 ohm SVC), and that you are running
your amp bridged.

The solution would be to hook the amp up so that each channel is running
a sub. You'll lose a little bit of power, but your amp shouldn't
overheat on our any longer.


--
Lizard

teamROCS #007 / Technical Director / Founding Member *res derelicta*
http://www.teamrocs.com/
X-Header-PO: This Line Exists to Violate Usenet Protocol, Disregard

UserJ wrote:
They are already like that..Each sub is on a channel...The gains were
turned up..turned them down a little..Maybe that will help?
Do the head unit settings matter alot too?

If they were way up (past 3/4) then that would certainly be a culprit.
Generally though, the amp ought not to thermal below that, and certainly
not below 1/2.

Another possibility is that your speakers are just plain worn out.


--
Lizard

teamROCS #007 / Technical Director / Founding Member *res derelicta*
http://www.teamrocs.com/
X-Header-PO: This Line Exists to Violate Usenet Protocol, Disregard

So is it generally safe to push them to around 3/4? I put them back
down to 1/2 each and the amp is much cooler. The bass is MUCH less
though..I don't wanna dick up the amp but I would like my music to
sound good too..Just a little more ok u think?
-Jordin


If they were way up (past 3/4) then that would certainly be a culprit.
Generally though, the amp ought not to thermal below that, and certainly
not below 1/2.

Another possibility is that your speakers are just plain worn out.

I've never need to run an amp with the gain at 3/4, but all of my HU's have
had high voltage preouts. If your HU has low voltage HU's then running it
at a higher gain setting will be ok. It just depends on your HU.

Paul Vina


"Jordin M." wrote in message
m...
So is it generally safe to push them to around 3/4? I put them back
down to 1/2 each and the amp is much cooler. The bass is MUCH less
though..I don't wanna dick up the amp but I would like my music to
sound good too..Just a little more ok u think?
-Jordin


If they were way up (past 3/4) then that would certainly be a culprit.
Generally though, the amp ought not to thermal below that, and certainly
not below 1/2.

Another possibility is that your speakers are just plain worn out.

What kind of numbers do I look for in my HU manual? The bass is hardly
there with the gains only at slightly over 1/2..The HU bass is at 5
out of 6..Things get hot with gains at 3/4..sigh..I guess I just have
to live with a cool amp and a lot less bass.
-Jordin




I've never need to run an amp with the gain at 3/4, but all of my HU's have
had high voltage preouts. If your HU has low voltage HU's then running it
at a higher gain setting will be ok. It just depends on your HU.

Paul Vina


"Jordin M." wrote in message
m...
So is it generally safe to push them to around 3/4? I put them back
down to 1/2 each and the amp is much cooler. The bass is MUCH less
though..I don't wanna dick up the amp but I would like my music to
sound good too..Just a little more ok u think?
-Jordin


If they were way up (past 3/4) then that would certainly be a culprit.
Generally though, the amp ought not to thermal below that, and certainly
not below 1/2.

Another possibility is that your speakers are just plain worn out.

Look at the maximum preout voltage in your HU manual. Where is your
crossover set? If it's too low, setting it higher will help a lot.

Paul Vina


"Jordin M." wrote in message
m...
What kind of numbers do I look for in my HU manual? The bass is hardly
there with the gains only at slightly over 1/2..The HU bass is at 5
out of 6..Things get hot with gains at 3/4..sigh..I guess I just have
to live with a cool amp and a lot less bass.
-Jordin




I've never need to run an amp with the gain at 3/4, but all of my HU's
have
had high voltage preouts. If your HU has low voltage HU's then running
it
at a higher gain setting will be ok. It just depends on your HU.

Paul Vina


"Jordin M." wrote in message
m...
So is it generally safe to push them to around 3/4? I put them back
down to 1/2 each and the amp is much cooler. The bass is MUCH less
though..I don't wanna dick up the amp but I would like my music to
sound good too..Just a little more ok u think?
-Jordin


If they were way up (past 3/4) then that would certainly be a
culprit.
Generally though, the amp ought not to thermal below that, and
certainly
not below 1/2.

Another possibility is that your speakers are just plain worn out.

Hey,
I looked up my HU specs..The max pre-out voltage is 2V / 10k Ohms
...that's whats listed..(Its an Alpine CDA-7839) .. My amps low-pass
crossover is set to: 60 Hz..The settings go from 50 up to 300hz with
settings of 50, 60, 100, 160, 250 and 300..Where would you recommend I
set it to? (just curious what does this do to help with the amp? By
cutting out stuff that is too high and taking some of the load off?)

Thanks in advance
-Jordin


Look at the maximum preout voltage in your HU manual. Where is your
crossover set? If it's too low, setting it higher will help a lot.

Paul Vina


"Jordin M." wrote in message
m...
What kind of numbers do I look for in my HU manual? The bass is hardly
there with the gains only at slightly over 1/2..The HU bass is at 5
out of 6..Things get hot with gains at 3/4..sigh..I guess I just have
to live with a cool amp and a lot less bass.
-Jordin




I've never need to run an amp with the gain at 3/4, but all of my HU's
have
had high voltage preouts. If your HU has low voltage HU's then running
it
at a higher gain setting will be ok. It just depends on your HU.

Paul Vina


"Jordin M." wrote in message
m...
So is it generally safe to push them to around 3/4? I put them back
down to 1/2 each and the amp is much cooler. The bass is MUCH less
though..I don't wanna dick up the amp but I would like my music to
sound good too..Just a little more ok u think?
-Jordin


If they were way up (past 3/4) then that would certainly be a
culprit.
Generally though, the amp ought not to thermal below that, and
certainly
not below 1/2.

Another possibility is that your speakers are just plain worn out.