Wiring a Sub & Amplifier

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:03 pm

Hi Guys,
My friend gave me a sub & a amp to test if I like to have one. Normally, I dont like too much duff duff in the car, thats why never had a sub before.
So, I bought myself a amplifier wiring kit, and tried to install it today.
- Red power cable has a fuse on it which is located very close to the battery. I ran this cable to the boot, and plugged into the amp where it says (B+).
- I ran the RCA cables - which has the trigger cable in it as well - to the boot and connected to the amp, where it has the right colours, (red & white).
- Pugged in the ground cable on amp where it says (GND), and connected the other end to the bolt just behind the passinger side indicator, under the flap thing.
- Connected the remote cable to the amp where it says (REM), and other end to the blue ingition cable behind the head unit.
Amp has 2 channels, so I bridged the cables coming from the sub on amp.

Now, there is nothing happening with the amp & sub, not even any light on the amp is up.

What could be the problem? Thanks

scracy · Post by **scracy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:59 pm

Most bridgeable amps usually have a switch which allows it too run in bridged mode,has your amp got one of these switches?

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:23 pm

I cant see any swithes about bridged mode. However, there is a switch on the amp labelled (Sub/XOver), and it is selected as "Sub".
What I am thinking is that even if I dont connect the cables coming from sub, the light (power or safety mode lights) on the amp still shoul be on, shoulndt it?

Oh, btw, I just realised that when I turn on my stereo I am getting a some kind of izzzzzzzzzz noise.

scracy · Post by **scracy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:36 pm

Ok if there is no switch then at the speaker terminals on the amp there should be some indication as to how to wire in bridge mode. You may have blown the fuse on the amp.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:56 pm

hmmmm, blown fuse.... I really didnt want to go to Bunnings/Kmart today.

If a fuse has blown, can you physically see that the wire between fuse ends has separeted?
BTW, I did all the connections while my battery was totally disconnected.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:00 pm

Yep, there is a diagram how to connect in bridge mode. Normally there are two (+) and (-), and bridge diagram shows that far left (+) is (+) for bridge and far right (-) is (-) for bridge. This is exactly how I connected.

scracy · Post by **scracy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:04 pm

Most amps use a wedge type fuse so you can see if its blown. Does the inline fuse on the battery power cable appear to be ok?

scracy · Post by **scracy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:07 pm

What brand is the amp?

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:10 pm

Both fuses looks OK to me from outside.
Now, how does amps work with trigger cable?
Lets forget about all other cables now. If I only connect the red power cable and the ground wire to the amp and nothing else is connected, should I get the light on the amp going? or the power only goes into the amp as long as trigger cable is connected to the headunit and turning the amp on.

scracy · Post by **scracy** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:27 pm

Unless the trigger wire is connected properly it wont give any indication that its on. Bridge the trigger wire to the red battery cable temperarily it should work. If so then take the trigger wire to the back of your head unit which should also have a blue wire and connect it together.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:12 pm

OK,
Finally, I bought myself a multimeter and found the problem. It was dodgy ground wiring. It wast grounding at all. So, I swapped the sides to use driver side back light's bolt & it works well.
Now, I have the green light going on the amplifier when the ignition is on.

However, the bad news is that there is no sound coming out of the sub.

What might be wrong?
Also I am getting some kinda izzzzzzz back ground noise from my back speakers. Why?

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 9:53 am

Just figured out that something is wrong with the cable between amp and sub. So, got the new cable, and looks like it is working.
However, I keep getting this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz noise that really iritates me. Also this noise increases and decreases depending on my engine rev. This noise also increases for a few seconds (than drops to regular zzzzzz) when I change the cd track, or from cd to radio.
How do I fix this guys?

FTOluv · Post by **FTOluv** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 10:05 am

this noise can be eliminated by buying high end cabling and (oh my god im so out of it today i forgot the name

) a 'Stinger' noise eliminator (make sure its a Stinger as their ones are the only ones that actually work). They cost roughly $65 from HiFi Supermarket. But make sure u have both to eliminate the entire noise.
btw, u need one for the front speakers and one for the rear speakers. Buying just one for the front speakers is sufficient because its harder to hear the noise from the rear.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:21 am

I had a bit of reading about the stereo noise, which I didnt know anything about it before. Following link seems to me a good source of explanation. http://www.automotiveforums.com/t59831.html
Now, I understood that this noise is happening due to the reason that my RCA cables are getting affected by a some sort of power source. As this noise wasnt happening before I install the sub & amp (also the amp is bolted on to the sub box), I am thinking that the amp might be the effecting power source.
Also, i only get the noise from my back speakers.
I read about the noise reducers, they are good, however, it seems to me that it is a patch release rather than trying to fix the problem at where it enters.
I was reading about this UTP (unsheilded twisted pair) RCA cables and CAT5 cables, which seems to me that they have great results in terms of reducing the engine noise.
Anyone using this kind of cabling?

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:33 pm

I separated the Power and RCA cables and the alternator noise seems to me disappeared. Everything seems to me working OK.
However, there is still one thing left, which frusturates me.
When I turn on the head unit first time, or when I change the cd tracks or when I change the volume, subwoofer makes this high volume single burst,

, it sounds like a "POH".
What the hell is this?