This is very very likely user error but...
I bought an X-treme 600 watt 2 channel amplifier, worked really great, first amp I've ever had over 300w. 8-gauge wiring kit (1000w or less), everything was done up right. I didnt know how I would mount it though so I left it loose... first mistake. Ground wire kept getting disconnected... no biggie, I just tightened the screw. But the ground wire wasnt being grounded properly (I didnt scrape the paint off the bolt) so eventually the amp became ungrounded for so long it died one day in silence. No biggie, warranty kicks in and I get a new one.
This time I scraped all the paint and rubber crap off and it was now properly grounded and extremely tightly locked in by the washer on the bolt. I was using this amp with my 8 ohm house speakers, it ran okay, not as much boom as if they were with the original stereo system, but they worked awesome (plus the second amp blew up the JVC deck somewhatly. The deck no longer sends signals to the interior speakers so all I had was the home speakers, which was okay, they were loud, the boomed, and they were really light. What killed THIS one is I set both 8 ohm speakers to the right channel, and the two 6x9 interior rear speakers to the left channel (one of which was blown) and cranked the balance to the right so I had lots of boom and volume. But after about 5 minutes the amplifier would be too hot to touch until finally... it blew up.
Between this amp and the third one, I noticed the engine was having a little trouble keeping the voltage up so it would surge from 12.8v to 14.8v every half second to a second.
And finally, I'm stuck with a semi-crappy 400 watt Kenwood 4-channel amplifier that I will NOT let the home stereo speakers go near, because the guy who sold me the X-tremes said that if this one blew up, I'd be SOL. So my amp is now running the two 6x9 rear speakers and I'm trying (hopelessly) to connect the front 3 1/2" speakers to the other 2 channels and have the rear 6x9's play the bass. I bought a 500K farad Capacitor from Scosche to protect the amp from surges and have better bass... for the JVC's I've got.
Now, my question is... what should I do first? Should I trade in the 4-channel kenwood for my booming 2 channel 600 watt X-treme for subs (or the 8 ohm speakers) and buy a 240 watt amp to power the interiors? Should I replace the rear blown 6x9's with something of higher grade and wattage? Or should I buy a whole new stereo deck and spend hours on end cramming my hands in spaces smaller than the 80mm fan slot on my computer just to connect it (or just get a pro or a friend to do it)?
I want to do all 3, option 2 I'm thinking comes first, option 1 comes afterwards (because I am REALLY too lazy lately to do up a whole new deck when next year I'm just getting a DVD player with motorized LCD put in anyway) Option 1 will obviously come with lower gauge wires and fuse distributors, etc.
BTW I'm the first guy in moose jaw to ever return an X-treme amplifier due to blowing up, nevermind twice.
forgot to mention the kenwood amp and capacitor is mounted now. screwed them into the wood that hides the spare tire (AFTER removing the tire of course) and I had a 200 watt 4-channel amp, 240 watt 4-channel amp (Same brand and model as the one I mentioned buying) that ran the 8 ohm speakers for a few months each and were still pumpin the crap outta them
Where are the high quality amps? Or were you being sarcastic? I'm confused
X-treme or something. Not sure if that's the model or the make. I'm not being sarcastic, MJ audio is supposed to be 'the place' to get car audio here. Bazooka subs, Kenwood dealer, etc. The X-treme amp I got was supposedly supposed to be a super high-quality amp that never blows. I blew two of them in 2 weeks flat. I dont wanna blow the kenwood so I'm givin it power protection.
1st of all, GET IT INSTALLED by a PRO, your not doing a good job, and do not seem to care what it sounds or looks like. If you cared about the amp you spent your $$ on , you would have taken the time to atleast mount it, and ground it correctly the 1st time.
Xtreme is made by Directed, it is a good amp, but is our stores lowest priced amplifiers.
If you install it correctly, you will not have problems, and 8awg, with a poor ground is not good.
And you said it, "YOU BLEW @ OF THEM IN A WEEK FLAT", not the amps fault. sounds like "it must have been the installer"
Sorry to come off as an a$$hole, but you set yourself up. I am a salesman at a stereo shop, and I get kids comin in after the bridged there Kenwood 920 watt amp into .5ohms and the damn thing is almost on fire, and they say "I don't know why it did that" And right on the freakin bow it says 4ohm stable. If you seriously do not have enough knowledge to do it right, or know someone who does, PAY TO GET IT INSTALLED!!
My 0.02
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:1st of all, GET IT INSTALLED by a PRO, your not doing a good job, and do not seem to care what it sounds or looks like. If you cared about the amp you spent your $$ on , you would have taken the time to atleast mount it, and ground it correctly the 1st time.
Xtreme is made by Directed, it is a good amp, but is our stores lowest priced amplifiers.
If you install it correctly, you will not have problems, and 8awg, with a poor ground is not good.
And you said it, "YOU BLEW @ OF THEM IN A WEEK FLAT", not the amps fault. sounds like "it must have been the installer"
Sorry to come off as an a$$hole, but you set yourself up. I am a salesman at a stereo shop, and I get kids comin in after the bridged there Kenwood 920 watt amp into .5ohms and the damn thing is almost on fire, and they say "I don't know why it did that" And right on the freakin bow it says 4ohm stable. If you seriously do not have enough knowledge to do it right, or know someone who does, PAY TO GET IT INSTALLED!!
My 0.02
well put. I remember bridging my first Sony GTX amp...It survived...but I learned my lesson.
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
Yeah, I remember doing stuff sort of like that when I was younger. My advice is save up, buy high quality stuff (I buy Kicker), and get it installed professionally.
trail and error sucks i fried bazooka 6x9's 5 minutes after i bought them. too much power for them to handle... i learned my lesson from that one...
i have a question thats been buggin me lately tho to do with amps.. i have a 4ch 500W amp and i have 2 200Wrms subs and 2 100Wrms 6x9's and theyre all on the same amp thats 600Wrms on a 500W amp... and it works perfectly...??? how is it working right ??
"this is only the beginning"
Oh man.... you half-assed the install, and blew the amp twice? I'm surprised any store would let you get warranty on that.
What a nightmare... Do it right the next time, so you don't have to keep re-doing it.
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you should not be doing audio at all just give up or have a licensed professional do it for you
