whats the problem?

[AndonD454]

ok my buddy just bought a 12" rockford fosgate p3 and p5002 amp. the amp puts out 500 watts@ 4 ohms bridged and the sub is a dual 2 ohm wired in series. sealed box, about .8 cu ft (rockford specs).

anyways my buddy hooked it up and i checked it out yesterday.. it sucks ass. sounds liek its not getting half the power it should be. i turned the gain up all the way and it got louder but still not as loud as it shouldve. but dont worry i put the gain back down right away.. what could be wrong with it to where its not giving output like it should?

also, dont knwo if this is realted but this kid has some serious wiring issues, first, when he took the HU wire for the remote wire, it was already connected to somethin.. he disconnected it for the remote wire and it turns out when he turned it on he lost his real speakers.. he hooked the wire back up and the speakers were on.. what the hell?? and besides this after he put the system, he cant roll down 3 of his windows. anyways figured id put his in if it makes a difference. please help if you can.

[threedd97]

Time to buy a new HU and quit trying to run systems off of a stock HU? He probably cut the wrong wire too. He's a n00b.

[AndonD454]

well he has a panasonic, not sure what model but its not the stock radio. and as far as the wire goes im pretty sure he cut the right one but the HU is wired totally wrong i think.. not sure though you could be right..

anybody? any other suggestions?

[dice daniels]

What vehicle is this in? Is it dodge? It probably has a factory amp. just splice both wires in. I had the same prob with my boddy's 2000 ram. Installed his system turned it on and no sound. took me about two hours to figure it out. Do you hear a click when you conect and disconect the wire?

[dice daniels]

as far as the sound goes check the settings on his deck.It may have a subwoofer volume or built in filters.????????????????????????duno.

[dice daniels]

as far as the windows go if he can only control the drivers window he probably cut into the power wire that runs from the drivers door to the passengers doors. Does he have a window lock sw. on the drivers door?have him flip it to lock and see if his deck turns off.hahahahaha.

Check his wiring. check http://www.ucinet.com/~rmssound/wirecode.htm for wiring color codes and print them out for him so he doesnt burn his car up.

[Brandish]

Things to check (some of which have already been posted, but just to reiterate)...

- pre-out settings on deck (ie if it has a sub out, check sub level; if you're using rear sp pre-out, check fade, etc)
- adjust amp gain - there's nothing wrong with having it full if you need to
- power distribution to amp - make sure buddy has wiring/fusing that will support the current draw requirements of that amp
- check impedance of sub - probably not an issue, but just in case. There is a dual 4-ohm version of that sub as well, so make sure he's got the right one

If everything seems to check out, I'd highly reccommend porting that sub. Hell, I'd reccommend that even if it was pounding nicely. I've heard P3s in sealed boxes before, and their performance is lackluster, to say the least. You need to port them to make them shine IMO.

[AndonD454]

dice daniels.. no factory amp. theres sound from speakers, sub, everything. he replaced his speakers and they worked without amp bypass so im assuming theres no amp.

" - adjust amp gain - there's nothing wrong with having it full if you need to "

um... no comment.

as for wiring, i checked impeadence and it appears to be a dual 2 ohm sub.

but im wondering if his power wire is having any affect. RF recommended 4 guage wiring for this amp and hes only got 8 guage, but for 500 watts it didnt think that this would play a huge role. maybe im wrong.

preout settings: at full, even with that and the gain all the way up it still sucks ass.

[Mannyb18b]

" - adjust amp gain - there's nothing wrong with having it full if you need to " LMAO, your just making yourself look like a fool already.

Anyways, 8 guage should be plenty to supply 500 watts, definelty shouldnt make that big of a difference even if not. but using 8awg i highly doubt is the problem

[bumpinstang77]

well if your deck only puts out .15volts then it would be all the way up.

[dice daniels]

I was always told that you should'nt run your amp too far above the normal volume mark. Causes distortion and clipping.

[dice daniels]

unless the wire is heating up I'd say its ok. Does the power light on the amp flicker alot when you turn it up?

It could also be his sub enclosure all together.
was that 8 cubes or .8 cubes?

I have had to run a second crossover before just for the bass boost.
most of the time it was because the deck had like 1.5 or 2 volt pre outs.
Most decks now days have like 5 volt and higher pre outs, sub woofer controls ,filters and some even have bass boost options. If his is pretty plain jane he may need to invest in a boost of some sort. I'm sure he cant turn any of the lows up on his deck without distorting his cab speaks.maybe it will make the difference you're looking for??????????????????????

as for the remote track it down. do some wire chasing. I was told that only "some" dodge rams have factory amps and some have a relay of sorts. My old 87 chrysler new yorker had the same little ponder and I tracked it down to a little relay box. Turns out it was a protection breaker to keep from blowing speakers. Didd'nt work to well beings the stock speaks were blown though.

[bumpinstang77]

you fuckin noobs. Gains are not volume knobs. The purpose of gains are to match up with the input voltage of the HU. If your Hu puts out .15 volts then the gains will be all the way up 2 volts somewhere near the middle and if it puts out 6-12 volts whatever the highest is on ur amp then the gains are all the way down.

[maspoon]

is the amp bridged properly

[dice daniels]

Shit bro calm down!!! So what you are saying so dickishly is that if my deck has 7 volt pre outs setting my amps gain to 7 volts is safe even if it is above the little safe mark right? what if I decide to put a crossover between the deck and amp? wouldnt that change the voltage?