alright ive got 2 12' Dual Subs in a dual bandpass ported box w/ neon lights (got em at best buy for 149.99) and i have the phoenix gold sapphire amp.... a few of you remember when i asked awhile ago about the amp...
well i hooked up the amp (had all the cords run) and the subs and it didnt work.... had the RCA hooked up Speaker wires hooked up ground battery and remote.... then i toyed w/ the speaker wire (moving it to see if i could get better reception or something....) and when i did move it and held it where i moved it it would go BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP really loud and really deep and bass sounding but it was really fast like the sound of a machine gun on TV.... so i knew that was bad.... cause the song i was listening to didnt have that kind of bass.....
then i found the fuse that goes to the battery sitting on the ground...... so im like O CRUD and ive got it hooked up w/o a fuse but the light on the amp still lights up so it isnt blown is it?
i put the fuse in and all and it still doesnt work....
please tell me if i messed my amp up.....
Replies (15)
P0werLifter on 09/9/2004 22:42:52
This isnt my real area of expertise but....lets see
Hmm, ok as far as the amplifier being fried, I doubt thats the issue, when it lights up is it a green light, or a red light? If its a green light your fine, If its red, it means it has gone into protect mode. can you smell any burnt kind of material? in the amplifier, if you cant smell any burnt components your most likely alright.
Now down to business, If you dont have your fuse in, and your getting power, We have a issue here. The idea of the fuse is to interupt the power once there is a short, with the fuse out there should be NO power running through that wire, so in that case you must have switched a wire somewhere, are you sure everything is wired in correctly? The fuse is on the power wire correct?
Do you have the RCA's connected on in the correct manner? Hooked up to the sub output terminals on the back of the HU if they have them? and connected correctly to the amplifier?
How do you have the subwoofers wired? parallel? series/parralel? do you have the correct leads + hooked to + term ,.,.,, - to - terminal on the amplifier?
How are your grounds hooked up? Do you have them hooked up to a BARE metal surface? i usually go straight to the body of the car or the frame. Make sure it is a SOLID ground.
thats about all i can think of...im sure Swez, Chronos, ttocs, Kittle or one of the other guys will ave more experience in this problem.
Jason
ssallstar598 on 09/10/2004 11:09:29
the light is green, i smelt like burnt plastic at one time but it was inside the car where as the amp is in the trunk.... and the amp doesnt smell like it.... i never found out what it was though
Everything is wired correctly.... i made sure of that... in the 4 hours i was out there....
the fuse might not be.... the car amp kit i got came w/ a fuse box that wasnt hooked to the wire yet.... so i jammed it in as hard as i could into the hole after i stripped it and hoped it worked
they are connected to the right ones on the HU and doesnt matter about the amp i tried both of them and reversed them each time.... still didnt work
well the + is in the + on the amp and the + is in the + on the sub
idk what parallel and series/parralel means.... but i have them in the subwoofer channel.....
my ground works for sure..... i sanded off a bit of paint in the trunk under the carpeting and have it in that way
swez on 09/10/2004 11:57:59
Trouble shooting time here.
1. Pull all RCA's out of amp
2. Get a walkman or similar audio source and connect this to your amp
3. Set amp gains at midpoint for now
4. With walkman playing, do you hear any sub action happening? If yes, your RCA signal wiring may be the problem
5. If no sound at all through subs, have to check them with a different audio source to confirm they do work.
If subs work fine on another amp, something wrong with the amp. If you have other speakers on hand, try them on the amp. If they work fine, then you wiring of the subs may need tweaking.
If there is no sound to alternate speakers, then amp has a problem.
Comments?
Swez
ssallstar598 on 09/11/2004 22:55:44
ok so how do i hook the RCA cables to the walkman? and the remote?
ssallstar598 on 09/11/2004 23:12:10
the subs are 4 ohm btw.... and the amp... is.... ill get the specifications and edit this post....
ssallstar598 on 09/11/2004 23:16:56
The Sapphire 1.5x was Phoenix Gold's first low priced, multi-channel
amplifier capable of full front and rear fading for mid/high speakers and a
dedicated non-fading subwoofer channel. Front and rear channels feature
continuously variable high pass crossovers. The dedicated subwoofer channel
features a continuously variable lowpass crossover. Front, rear and
subwoofer channels feature independent input sensitivity controls. First
production was in 1993. Last Production was in 1996.
Use at least 8 gauge power wire. The amp must be isolated from the car's
chassis by mounting it to a board or other suitable insulated surface. The
subwoofer channel can handle 2 ohm operation. 4 ohm bridged operation is
acceptable for the front and rear channels. However, 2 ohms bridged is NOT
acceptable.
The entire amplifier can run from a single pair of signal inputs plugged
into the front input jacks. The rear input jacks automatically receive
signal from the front inputs. Plugging signal cables into the rear input
jacks automatically defeats the front signals and allows front to rear
fading.
The subwoofer channel is non fading. The subwoofer channel uses signal from
all four input jacks.
To run the amplifier in a 3 channel configuration with the front and rear
channels bridged to a pair of mid/high speakers requires a specific
arrangement for the input signals. There are two ways to set up the input
signals correctly. The easiest is to run both front and rear pre-amp signal
cable from the head unit to the amplifier. Plug both front and rear right
signal cables into the front inputs. Then plug both front and rear left
signal cables into the left inputs. For head units with only one set of
pre-amp cables, split them into two rights and two lefts using a pair of "Y"
connectors. Plug the two rights into the front inputs and the two lefts into
the rear inputs. Bridge the right mid/high speaker to the Front Left + and
the Front Right - speaker terminals. Bridged the left mid/high speaker to
the Rear Left + and the Rear Right - speaker terminals.
Specifications:
Main Channels
Output Power per Channel @ 1% THD (all channels driven)*
Into 4 ohms @ 12.0 VDC 30 watts x 4
Into 4 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 40 watts x 4
Into 2 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 60 watts x 4
Bridged into 4 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 120 watts x 2
High Pass Crossover Frequency Range 30Hz to 500Hz
Crossover Slope 12dB per octave
Subwoofer Channel
Output Power per Channel @ 1% THD (all channels driven)*
Into 4 ohms @ 12.0 VDC 90 watts x 1
Into 4 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 120 watts x 1
Into 2 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 180 watts x 1
Low Pass Crossover Frequency Range 30Hz to 250Hz
Crossover Slope 12dB per octave
Frequency Response ± 1dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
Signal to Noise Ratio >100dB
Input Sensitivity 200 millivolts to 2 volts
Input Impedance >30k ohms
Input Voltage Range 10.5 volts to 15.0 volt
Typical current draw at idle 1.5 amps
Internal Fuses 2 x 30 amp ATO
2 layer, 2 ounce Copper G10 Glass-Epoxy printed circuit board
Power-on LED indicator
High Current Triple-Darlington Output Stage
MINIMUM LOAD IS 4 OHMS BRIDGED OR 2 OHM STEREO FOR HIGH PASS CHANNELS
MINIMUM LOAD IS 2 OHMS FOR LOW PASS CHANNEL
swez on 09/12/2004 17:40:14
This is a strange amp! All the wiring detail (words) makes my head spin off. (Imagine that one for a minute) It'd be nice to have a diagram for proper wiring here.
After re-reading it, maybe not so odd afterall. Need 2 pair of RCA cables from the HU (Front R&L; Rear R&L) The sub channel sums all 4 inputs and feeds them to sub amp internally.
Best i can offer is to trouble shoot with the Walkman as noted earlier. You will need a patch cable that has a headphone jack on one end and dual RCA males on the other. Just unplug all RCA cables to amp for now. The go through each channel set, (front, rear and sub inputs)
You may need 2 "Y" adapters here. These "Y"s have 1 female RCA and 2 make RCA's This allows your walkman to feed all 4 inputs to amp and then have sub channel as well. You may have to adjust the amp gains on each channel setting for more output to amp/speakers.
If the sub channel still does not work after doing this test, may have an internal problem with the amp. If it does work, then next step is to reconnect all HU wires correctly and test again. If you still get weird noise in the sub channel, try grounding the HU to firewall or floor pan. This may be a rare ground loop issue.
Swez
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 10:24:33
i need 2 pairs of RCA cables???? i knew it had 2 sets of jacks in the back but my friend had it hooked up fine in his car w/ just 1 set of RCA
"You may need 2 "Y" adapters here. These "Y"s have 1 female RCA and 2 make RCA's This allows your walkman to feed all 4 inputs to amp and then have sub channel as well. You may have to adjust the amp gains on each channel setting for more output to amp/speakers."
yeah.... i went out and bought 2 cause i thought i might need them because i didnt see on the back of my HU had more than 1 RCA inputs but it has 3 sets of RCA inputs
"Best i can offer is to trouble shoot with the Walkman as noted earlier. You will need a patch cable that has a headphone jack on one end and dual RCA males on the other. Just unplug all RCA cables to amp for now. The go through each channel set, (front, rear and sub inputs)"
where would i get a patch cable? could i make one myself using ends of RCA cables and a walkman end and splicing?
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 10:46:35
also how many ohms is that amp?
P0werLifter on 09/13/2004 11:28:30
From the looks of it, on the Low Pass channel it 2ohm stable...Dont go below 2 ohms when wring your subs for the low pass....
As far as the other channels from the specs 4ohm if you bridge the amplifier, or 2 ohm is your going to wire them normal.
The specs for this amplifier are a bit wierd...lol maybe not but its early here...Hope this helps
-Jason
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 11:42:44
ok well if i hooked the amp up to 2 12' dual subwoofers which are 4 ohms nominal 600 watt rms it would work correct?
and swez.... when i hook up the walkman with the amp i run the battery and ground wire regularly and the remote wire goes where?
swez on 09/13/2004 12:30:25
Your present power, ground and REM are used. Just use the HU REM as the amp turn on signal. The RCA's from the HU are to be removed when using the walkman as your audio source.
You can make that patch cord via parts from Radio Shack or similar or just buy one from Target, Walmart or an Audio retailer like CC or BB. Should only be a few bucks for that patch cord.
This is what you want:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=240-135
The 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, goes into your walkman. The Male RCA pairs go to your "Y" splitter females. The "Y" splitter males, go into the amp inputs.
Got it?
Swez
PS Gee, only took 45 minutes to find this on PE site... geez-0-peas
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 12:33:20
swez - thanks i didnt know where to look for one and i obviously didnt know about the remote so thanks alot
swez on 09/13/2004 19:29:27
Keep plugging along there buddy... you'll figure it out in due time. We're here to help as you need it.
Swez
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 20:04:19
thanks man - although now i dont have ne subs......... sold the duals... for 20 more than i paid and i just bought em... ill prob buy the same ones tho unless uve got a suggestion for sum nice SPL ones?
well i hooked up the amp (had all the cords run) and the subs and it didnt work.... had the RCA hooked up Speaker wires hooked up ground battery and remote.... then i toyed w/ the speaker wire (moving it to see if i could get better reception or something....) and when i did move it and held it where i moved it it would go BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP BUMP really loud and really deep and bass sounding but it was really fast like the sound of a machine gun on TV.... so i knew that was bad.... cause the song i was listening to didnt have that kind of bass.....
then i found the fuse that goes to the battery sitting on the ground...... so im like O CRUD and ive got it hooked up w/o a fuse but the light on the amp still lights up so it isnt blown is it?
i put the fuse in and all and it still doesnt work....
please tell me if i messed my amp up.....
Replies (15)
P0werLifter on 09/9/2004 22:42:52
This isnt my real area of expertise but....lets see
Hmm, ok as far as the amplifier being fried, I doubt thats the issue, when it lights up is it a green light, or a red light? If its a green light your fine, If its red, it means it has gone into protect mode. can you smell any burnt kind of material? in the amplifier, if you cant smell any burnt components your most likely alright.
Now down to business, If you dont have your fuse in, and your getting power, We have a issue here. The idea of the fuse is to interupt the power once there is a short, with the fuse out there should be NO power running through that wire, so in that case you must have switched a wire somewhere, are you sure everything is wired in correctly? The fuse is on the power wire correct?
Do you have the RCA's connected on in the correct manner? Hooked up to the sub output terminals on the back of the HU if they have them? and connected correctly to the amplifier?
How do you have the subwoofers wired? parallel? series/parralel? do you have the correct leads + hooked to + term ,.,.,, - to - terminal on the amplifier?
How are your grounds hooked up? Do you have them hooked up to a BARE metal surface? i usually go straight to the body of the car or the frame. Make sure it is a SOLID ground.
thats about all i can think of...im sure Swez, Chronos, ttocs, Kittle or one of the other guys will ave more experience in this problem.
Jason
ssallstar598 on 09/10/2004 11:09:29
the light is green, i smelt like burnt plastic at one time but it was inside the car where as the amp is in the trunk.... and the amp doesnt smell like it.... i never found out what it was though
Everything is wired correctly.... i made sure of that... in the 4 hours i was out there....
the fuse might not be.... the car amp kit i got came w/ a fuse box that wasnt hooked to the wire yet.... so i jammed it in as hard as i could into the hole after i stripped it and hoped it worked
they are connected to the right ones on the HU and doesnt matter about the amp i tried both of them and reversed them each time.... still didnt work
well the + is in the + on the amp and the + is in the + on the sub
idk what parallel and series/parralel means.... but i have them in the subwoofer channel.....
my ground works for sure..... i sanded off a bit of paint in the trunk under the carpeting and have it in that way
swez on 09/10/2004 11:57:59
Trouble shooting time here.
1. Pull all RCA's out of amp
2. Get a walkman or similar audio source and connect this to your amp
3. Set amp gains at midpoint for now
4. With walkman playing, do you hear any sub action happening? If yes, your RCA signal wiring may be the problem
5. If no sound at all through subs, have to check them with a different audio source to confirm they do work.
If subs work fine on another amp, something wrong with the amp. If you have other speakers on hand, try them on the amp. If they work fine, then you wiring of the subs may need tweaking.
If there is no sound to alternate speakers, then amp has a problem.
Comments?
Swez
ssallstar598 on 09/11/2004 22:55:44
ok so how do i hook the RCA cables to the walkman? and the remote?
ssallstar598 on 09/11/2004 23:12:10
the subs are 4 ohm btw.... and the amp... is.... ill get the specifications and edit this post....
ssallstar598 on 09/11/2004 23:16:56
The Sapphire 1.5x was Phoenix Gold's first low priced, multi-channel
amplifier capable of full front and rear fading for mid/high speakers and a
dedicated non-fading subwoofer channel. Front and rear channels feature
continuously variable high pass crossovers. The dedicated subwoofer channel
features a continuously variable lowpass crossover. Front, rear and
subwoofer channels feature independent input sensitivity controls. First
production was in 1993. Last Production was in 1996.
Use at least 8 gauge power wire. The amp must be isolated from the car's
chassis by mounting it to a board or other suitable insulated surface. The
subwoofer channel can handle 2 ohm operation. 4 ohm bridged operation is
acceptable for the front and rear channels. However, 2 ohms bridged is NOT
acceptable.
The entire amplifier can run from a single pair of signal inputs plugged
into the front input jacks. The rear input jacks automatically receive
signal from the front inputs. Plugging signal cables into the rear input
jacks automatically defeats the front signals and allows front to rear
fading.
The subwoofer channel is non fading. The subwoofer channel uses signal from
all four input jacks.
To run the amplifier in a 3 channel configuration with the front and rear
channels bridged to a pair of mid/high speakers requires a specific
arrangement for the input signals. There are two ways to set up the input
signals correctly. The easiest is to run both front and rear pre-amp signal
cable from the head unit to the amplifier. Plug both front and rear right
signal cables into the front inputs. Then plug both front and rear left
signal cables into the left inputs. For head units with only one set of
pre-amp cables, split them into two rights and two lefts using a pair of "Y"
connectors. Plug the two rights into the front inputs and the two lefts into
the rear inputs. Bridge the right mid/high speaker to the Front Left + and
the Front Right - speaker terminals. Bridged the left mid/high speaker to
the Rear Left + and the Rear Right - speaker terminals.
Specifications:
Main Channels
Output Power per Channel @ 1% THD (all channels driven)*
Into 4 ohms @ 12.0 VDC 30 watts x 4
Into 4 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 40 watts x 4
Into 2 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 60 watts x 4
Bridged into 4 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 120 watts x 2
High Pass Crossover Frequency Range 30Hz to 500Hz
Crossover Slope 12dB per octave
Subwoofer Channel
Output Power per Channel @ 1% THD (all channels driven)*
Into 4 ohms @ 12.0 VDC 90 watts x 1
Into 4 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 120 watts x 1
Into 2 ohms @ 14.4 VDC 180 watts x 1
Low Pass Crossover Frequency Range 30Hz to 250Hz
Crossover Slope 12dB per octave
Frequency Response ± 1dB from 20Hz to 20kHz
Signal to Noise Ratio >100dB
Input Sensitivity 200 millivolts to 2 volts
Input Impedance >30k ohms
Input Voltage Range 10.5 volts to 15.0 volt
Typical current draw at idle 1.5 amps
Internal Fuses 2 x 30 amp ATO
2 layer, 2 ounce Copper G10 Glass-Epoxy printed circuit board
Power-on LED indicator
High Current Triple-Darlington Output Stage
MINIMUM LOAD IS 4 OHMS BRIDGED OR 2 OHM STEREO FOR HIGH PASS CHANNELS
MINIMUM LOAD IS 2 OHMS FOR LOW PASS CHANNEL
swez on 09/12/2004 17:40:14
This is a strange amp! All the wiring detail (words) makes my head spin off. (Imagine that one for a minute) It'd be nice to have a diagram for proper wiring here.
After re-reading it, maybe not so odd afterall. Need 2 pair of RCA cables from the HU (Front R&L; Rear R&L) The sub channel sums all 4 inputs and feeds them to sub amp internally.
Best i can offer is to trouble shoot with the Walkman as noted earlier. You will need a patch cable that has a headphone jack on one end and dual RCA males on the other. Just unplug all RCA cables to amp for now. The go through each channel set, (front, rear and sub inputs)
You may need 2 "Y" adapters here. These "Y"s have 1 female RCA and 2 make RCA's This allows your walkman to feed all 4 inputs to amp and then have sub channel as well. You may have to adjust the amp gains on each channel setting for more output to amp/speakers.
If the sub channel still does not work after doing this test, may have an internal problem with the amp. If it does work, then next step is to reconnect all HU wires correctly and test again. If you still get weird noise in the sub channel, try grounding the HU to firewall or floor pan. This may be a rare ground loop issue.
Swez
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 10:24:33
i need 2 pairs of RCA cables???? i knew it had 2 sets of jacks in the back but my friend had it hooked up fine in his car w/ just 1 set of RCA
"You may need 2 "Y" adapters here. These "Y"s have 1 female RCA and 2 make RCA's This allows your walkman to feed all 4 inputs to amp and then have sub channel as well. You may have to adjust the amp gains on each channel setting for more output to amp/speakers."
yeah.... i went out and bought 2 cause i thought i might need them because i didnt see on the back of my HU had more than 1 RCA inputs but it has 3 sets of RCA inputs
"Best i can offer is to trouble shoot with the Walkman as noted earlier. You will need a patch cable that has a headphone jack on one end and dual RCA males on the other. Just unplug all RCA cables to amp for now. The go through each channel set, (front, rear and sub inputs)"
where would i get a patch cable? could i make one myself using ends of RCA cables and a walkman end and splicing?
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 10:46:35
also how many ohms is that amp?
P0werLifter on 09/13/2004 11:28:30
From the looks of it, on the Low Pass channel it 2ohm stable...Dont go below 2 ohms when wring your subs for the low pass....
As far as the other channels from the specs 4ohm if you bridge the amplifier, or 2 ohm is your going to wire them normal.
The specs for this amplifier are a bit wierd...lol maybe not but its early here...Hope this helps
-Jason
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 11:42:44
ok well if i hooked the amp up to 2 12' dual subwoofers which are 4 ohms nominal 600 watt rms it would work correct?
and swez.... when i hook up the walkman with the amp i run the battery and ground wire regularly and the remote wire goes where?
swez on 09/13/2004 12:30:25
Your present power, ground and REM are used. Just use the HU REM as the amp turn on signal. The RCA's from the HU are to be removed when using the walkman as your audio source.
You can make that patch cord via parts from Radio Shack or similar or just buy one from Target, Walmart or an Audio retailer like CC or BB. Should only be a few bucks for that patch cord.
This is what you want:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=240-135
The 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, goes into your walkman. The Male RCA pairs go to your "Y" splitter females. The "Y" splitter males, go into the amp inputs.
Got it?
Swez
PS Gee, only took 45 minutes to find this on PE site... geez-0-peas
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 12:33:20
swez - thanks i didnt know where to look for one and i obviously didnt know about the remote so thanks alot
swez on 09/13/2004 19:29:27
Keep plugging along there buddy... you'll figure it out in due time. We're here to help as you need it.
Swez
ssallstar598 on 09/13/2004 20:04:19
thanks man - although now i dont have ne subs......... sold the duals... for 20 more than i paid and i just bought em... ill prob buy the same ones tho unless uve got a suggestion for sum nice SPL ones?
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