Paul Riccioli Jr

iTrader: (1)

Ok so I finished installing my new system yesterday. I dropped the subs in the box and wired it to the amp. This is the first time I've wired an amp but I'm pretty sure I got it all right....it's not that hard. Well when I turned on the headunit I was getting next to no bass....I could feel the speakers moving and hear it if I put my ear right up to the sub. The light on the amp came on but like I said, next to no bass. Only connection I was unsure of was my ground to the body side. I put it under one of the small bolts for the hook that the t-top bag goes to. I sanded the paint off there but maybe it's not good enough? Would a bad ground allow the light on the amp to come on but no bass? I'm gonna try getting a ground washer (the kind with the teeth) and moving the ground wire right to the rear panel of the car after work probably but I wanted some opinions. Thanks.

*F-BodyFanatic*

iTrader: (2)

if you have a bad ground, you're going to hear noise in your system. did you set the gain on your amp?

Paul Riccioli Jr

iTrader: (1)

Definitely no "noise"....the bass is barely audible and there is no hissing sound. I believe adjusted the gain. I fiddled with all the ***** and switches on the amp with no luck.

NEEDAZ

More then one sub? Are they moving a lot? You don't have the subs wired out of phase do you? You've got + to + and all on all of then, non backward?

*F-BodyFanatic*

iTrader: (2)

double check your wiring.... if that's good then I'd say its a problem with your gear.

Do you have a friend's car you could test the amp & sub in, just to make sure they're both functioning properly?

Paul Riccioli Jr

iTrader: (1)

Wiring should be fine...I don't think I could have fubarred it on both of them....one I could see making a mistake on but not both. I might have a friend coming over later who's car I can test my stuff in. I also have my old headunit still that I can plug right in and see if the bass starts working.

NEEDAZ

If you made the same mistake on both of then you'd never notice. You'd only notices if one for two was off.

But anyway. You're using that new Kenwood right? Do you need to turn up the sub output on the HU? Don't know about that one, but some default to the sub output being set vary low. You may need to get into the menu and turn it up.

Paul Riccioli Jr

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I made sure the sub was set to On in the headunit and tried turning it up and down with so real help.

Gummie

How are the subs wired? It's possible that you wired them up to a higher numerical impendence, which would mean that they would be receiving a lot less power than if they were wired lower. I wouldn’t point your finger at the ground yet because the amp is turning on and staying on. If the ground was at fault it would most likely turn its self off and/or go into protect mode.

You said that you could feel the speakers moving if you touched them but you couldn’t visibly see them moving. I’m guessing this is when you had the head cranked? You should have defiantly gotten some excursion.

Have you played with the gain on the amp and checked to make sure that you’re using the right preout on the deck?

It’s possible that you have something wired out of phase but you would still be getting some excursion. You can check your wiring here: Elemental Designs - Wiring Guides

It’s most likely something silly that you’re overlooking. If you want we can hook my amp/deck up this week when we get together help to eliminate things.

Paul Riccioli Jr

iTrader: (1)

Ok I got it working now. I went to the stereo shop I bought my subs and wiring at and we fiddled with it. It was pretty much a combo of the settings on the amp and where I had the speakers attached to it....weren't bridged correctly. It's working now and just needs to be tuned.