Almost too perfect....
 

I have everything installed, and it was going great.


Except that I was shipped a dead amp :doh:



I have everything wired correctly, had a friend that is big into cars and car audio check it out.

The funny thing is it has lights on the amp, and the lights work, but no signals are being fed to the subs.

I went and bought a muiltimeter to test my connections, tested the sub's wiring--tested for 2 Ohms like I want. Pulled the dash apart, checked all the connections. Went back into the AVIC-D3 and made sure I had the preout set to non fading. Still no good :(

So I am on hold right now with the place I bought it. Think I am going to return it, and get a punch amp instead like I wanted to.

It's rare to get a dead amp these days. Most if not all are tested before packaging. There may be another setting on the head unit to turn on the sub out.

Try feeding another signal into the amp before sending it back. Find an MP3 player or even drag the home stereo out see if it plays.

i was a n00b :loser: and overlooked something. I have never worked with mono amps, and this one had a level knob to up the voltage i guess from the rca signal. I turned it and my sub came to life.

Used to just seeing bass eq and gain, this crunch has 5 knobs.

LOL I hate it when stuff like that happens,,,,,makes you nuts anyway!!!

I got ____ed and went to best buy and bought a apline mono amp to see if my wiring was messed up. after i hooked it up, it did the same thing. I got really mad, and then I walked away, came back and messed with the knobs. after i did that the sub worked. im like wtf, so i take that amp out and put the other in...and sure enough it was the same way.


I didnt think about it though, but if my volume is at like 10-20 there isnt much to push to the amp, so that was why i needed to crank the gain/bass eq up.

how high does the radio go, volume #. the way I set my gains is...Put a a good bass song something you always listen to and turn the volume to 3/4 full then adjust amp gain slowly untill you get the output desidered or clipping(distortion) happens.
also the pioneer HU you have only puts out like .5 mv of signal (not really that much) and the amp might not be all that effecient. meaning it has to work harder to achive the power output. You may want to think about a different amp like you said something like the Rockford... If you want to boost the signal look to phoenix golds line drivers then you can adjust the voltage going to the amp and you can lower the gains.
just my 2 cents.
-nick

This is exactly how I normally adjust my amps but I tend to use about 90% volume. I have a son that is 24. I find that, if I set the amp gains at 90% to a point a bit below clipping with hard bass running, my sub woofers last longer:) ( This of course has nothing to do with the fact that he will sometimes max it and boost the bass at the HU as well I am sure:) )

so would a line driver be a good idea using the stock upgraded headunit? how do they work and how do they install? does the brand really matter? i'm gonna be instaliing some subs in the next few weeks and this sounds interesting.

im going to research these line drivers, may help me out.

the D3 has a max volume of 50 i think. Anything above 30 I have to set the eq to flat and turn the loud off so my speakers are not distorting.

hmm little guy(line driver) is 60 bucks...is there anything to it for wiring it?

I am considering putting some componts in the doors, or 8s...i need more mid bass i think.

You don't neccessarily need a line driver. Line drivers are used to up the preout voltage of your deck to give you a cleaner signal. Use your multimeter to set your gain. This is one of the best tutorials to use for setting gains...

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/support_pages.php?page_id=143


If you want more midbass, I recommend running a 4 channel amp. If you feel you still need more midbass, try better mids like some RE XXX 6.5's or some CDT's. It'll list how low they can go in their specs. The lower the number in hZ, the lower the speaker can play.

I have 2 12's in a rear loaded horn on 400watts. It's pretty dang loud, but I'm still waiting for my 2400watt amp to come back from repair. I know I will NEED more mids and highs. I'm really looking into the RE XXX mids.

i sorta wish i would of got the 2 kicker L7 10s and a 2000w amp...not enough bass for me right now.

You know it helps reading manuals...I reset the HU, and now the non fading acutally works, and I was able to turn my voltage/gain down. :loser:

Just like a guy, just want to stick it in and think everyone is happy. You've gotta tweak the knobs and make believe you're interested. And only then will she put out. :P