okay one of my friends has the same system i use to have two audiobahn aw121t s and an audiobahn a8000t amp he also blew his amp so when he asked me what amp i would sudjest. with the resent discoussion we had here i sudjested the kenwood kac-9152d.
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=14934
this was installed in a 2005 mazda 6 he has the factory HU i had ran a tap off of the rear speaker and used the high line input on the a8000t originaly. well last nite we installed the new kenwood amp after all was said and done it seamed to be weak yes the subs were playing but it lacked the depth and wasent as loud as the audiobahn use to be i double checked the conections and all the settings nothing looked wrong.
now the audiobahn claims 800 watts rms at 2 ohms and the kenwood claims 900 rms @ 2 ohms and this is class d the audiobahn is ab so i would think the kenwood would be just as good if not better .
what is going on here i couldent figure out whats wrong what should i do?
a8000t
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13490
Replies (16)
Pinch on 10/11/2006 10:15:52
I think the easiest thing to mix up when connecting an amp to a stock headunit is the phase (polarity) ((Plus/Minus)) of your high-level input signal. Make sure your connections from your rear speaker(s) are plus to plus and minus to minus all the way from the speaker back to the amp. If you get one backwards your subs will sound very strange at best.
-Pinch
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 10:17:15
yeah made sure of that i even tried to swich them but it dint work to good so put them back
Pinch on 10/11/2006 10:40:44
Hmm....
Are you running input from both of your rear speakers (left and right)to the high-level input of your amplifier? Also, have you changed the wiring inside the subwoofer box itself?
I am assuming you have all your crossover setting on the amplifier set correctly. That amp has some fairly decent filter settings.
ftp://inform.kenwoodusa.com/MANUALS/KAC9152d.pdf
Page 5 has the section on the crossover.
-Pinch
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 10:48:32
no i am only runing from one side the left and yes the filters are set rite and no i did not change the wiring in the box they are two svc 4 ohm wired in parallel for 2 ohm load
Pinch on 10/11/2006 11:09:14
I would recommend connecting high-level input to your amp from both left and right rear speakers. This way if a song has tones played on a single side you will still get bass output. As for your amplitude problem, since you had basically the same connections going to your Audiobahn amp which sounded fine I am going to assume power/ground wires are connected properly. So the problem has got to be either signal wires in, output wires to the speakers, or settings on the amp. Try disconnecting the remote bass knob at the amp if you are using it (just to eliminate it from the equation), and then try tweaking the settings with the sub playing at a modest volume level.
It sounds like you did everything right. Just tryin to be helpful by double and triple checking things.
-Pinch
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 11:13:17
well ill put the input from the right side too and see if that makes a dif
swez on 10/11/2006 12:49:26
Since this is a dual MONO channel amp, I would hazzard to believe you'll need both L/R input signals off the rear speakers as noted by Punch. Without both inputs connected, you may only have half the amp powered up w/o both channels connected.
http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Manuals/113/113KAC9102.PDF
See pages 4 & 5 on the link above for recommended wiring setup when using speaker outputs for this amp. You may also find that missing power by tweaking the input gain under the control panel cover. Under that panel, you'll find:
1. Bass boost (+3 - +6 dB boost if required)
2. LPF, (Set @ 80-100 Hz.)
3. Gain sensitivity control. (Adjust that for loudest and cleanest bass w/ HU volume set at 60-75% of max.)
4. Infrasonic filter: (Set at 25 Hz.)
5. Sub phase switch (Use best sounding selection)
Do you have an AC volt meter handy? If yes, measure the output voltage at the amp. I would hope after dialing in your gain control, this amp should produce 40 - 42.5 volts (@ 2 ohms load) for rated power of 800-900 RMS, and still produce clean bass.
Good luck an let us know your outcome as this amp is one I'd like to know is worth recommending OK?
swez
PS Nice to see ya back here Pinch! As usual, your help is right on target and most accurate!!!
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 15:13:57
on page 4 of that guide it shows how to put on the rca and speaker level inputs. on the one that shows the rca it shows a ground screw rite above the high level input what is that for and do i need to conect that
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 15:16:31
and just to make sure with the ac meter i touch the + and - leads to +/- speaker terminal on the amp while it is on and playing sound corect?
swez on 10/11/2006 17:34:40
The RCA's are not used in this application and the added ground is not needed here. The chassis is already grounded via ground wire at the power lugs. You're good here as is.
To measure amp output, we look for AC voltage. The speaker terminal markers do not matter, (as in DC circuits) as audio signals are also AC and polarity changes constantly.
Clear on that now?
swez
raulbustos on 10/12/2006 15:39:25
um okay but i do test on the terminals on the amp rite
and i put a lead from the rite speaker and it made no difference what so ever i checked the spl with a meter and i was getting around 125 spl where with the audiobahn amp it was pushing 138 spl
swez on 10/12/2006 22:16:27
Yes, that is the proper way to test amp output with a volt meter.
The SPL meter readings mentioned indicate either the Bahn amp was really clipping hard or, the Kenwood is not adjusted properly.
FYI: When measuring SPL in a vehicle, we can expect about +10dB more SPL then if testing the same system in a large open area.
swez
raulbustos on 10/12/2006 22:22:37
all rite well i check on the ac voltage next time he comes back. and i did the test in the vehicle now about the clipping im not to sure the sound didnt ever really sound slopppy or nothing but im not exactly sure all i know is he is and so am i disapointed with this amp so far i was thinking of puting it set up in my car being that i have an aftermarket stereo with low level outputs to see if it some how makes a diference with this amp
swez on 10/12/2006 22:26:29
Try adjusting his gain a tad more sensitive, to get a few extra dB from it. See what ya get when the meter reads between 45 - 50 Volts AC. If the amp clips badly here, this amp is sorely overrated.
swez
raulbustos on 10/12/2006 22:45:39
okay will do thanks swez
swez on 10/13/2006 12:29:53
You bet!
swez
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=14934
this was installed in a 2005 mazda 6 he has the factory HU i had ran a tap off of the rear speaker and used the high line input on the a8000t originaly. well last nite we installed the new kenwood amp after all was said and done it seamed to be weak yes the subs were playing but it lacked the depth and wasent as loud as the audiobahn use to be i double checked the conections and all the settings nothing looked wrong.
now the audiobahn claims 800 watts rms at 2 ohms and the kenwood claims 900 rms @ 2 ohms and this is class d the audiobahn is ab so i would think the kenwood would be just as good if not better .
what is going on here i couldent figure out whats wrong what should i do?
a8000t
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13490
Replies (16)
Pinch on 10/11/2006 10:15:52
I think the easiest thing to mix up when connecting an amp to a stock headunit is the phase (polarity) ((Plus/Minus)) of your high-level input signal. Make sure your connections from your rear speaker(s) are plus to plus and minus to minus all the way from the speaker back to the amp. If you get one backwards your subs will sound very strange at best.
-Pinch
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 10:17:15
yeah made sure of that i even tried to swich them but it dint work to good so put them back
Pinch on 10/11/2006 10:40:44
Hmm....
Are you running input from both of your rear speakers (left and right)to the high-level input of your amplifier? Also, have you changed the wiring inside the subwoofer box itself?
I am assuming you have all your crossover setting on the amplifier set correctly. That amp has some fairly decent filter settings.
ftp://inform.kenwoodusa.com/MANUALS/KAC9152d.pdf
Page 5 has the section on the crossover.
-Pinch
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 10:48:32
no i am only runing from one side the left and yes the filters are set rite and no i did not change the wiring in the box they are two svc 4 ohm wired in parallel for 2 ohm load
Pinch on 10/11/2006 11:09:14
I would recommend connecting high-level input to your amp from both left and right rear speakers. This way if a song has tones played on a single side you will still get bass output. As for your amplitude problem, since you had basically the same connections going to your Audiobahn amp which sounded fine I am going to assume power/ground wires are connected properly. So the problem has got to be either signal wires in, output wires to the speakers, or settings on the amp. Try disconnecting the remote bass knob at the amp if you are using it (just to eliminate it from the equation), and then try tweaking the settings with the sub playing at a modest volume level.
It sounds like you did everything right. Just tryin to be helpful by double and triple checking things.
-Pinch
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 11:13:17
well ill put the input from the right side too and see if that makes a dif
swez on 10/11/2006 12:49:26
Since this is a dual MONO channel amp, I would hazzard to believe you'll need both L/R input signals off the rear speakers as noted by Punch. Without both inputs connected, you may only have half the amp powered up w/o both channels connected.
http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Manuals/113/113KAC9102.PDF
See pages 4 & 5 on the link above for recommended wiring setup when using speaker outputs for this amp. You may also find that missing power by tweaking the input gain under the control panel cover. Under that panel, you'll find:
1. Bass boost (+3 - +6 dB boost if required)
2. LPF, (Set @ 80-100 Hz.)
3. Gain sensitivity control. (Adjust that for loudest and cleanest bass w/ HU volume set at 60-75% of max.)
4. Infrasonic filter: (Set at 25 Hz.)
5. Sub phase switch (Use best sounding selection)
Do you have an AC volt meter handy? If yes, measure the output voltage at the amp. I would hope after dialing in your gain control, this amp should produce 40 - 42.5 volts (@ 2 ohms load) for rated power of 800-900 RMS, and still produce clean bass.
Good luck an let us know your outcome as this amp is one I'd like to know is worth recommending OK?
swez
PS Nice to see ya back here Pinch! As usual, your help is right on target and most accurate!!!
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 15:13:57
on page 4 of that guide it shows how to put on the rca and speaker level inputs. on the one that shows the rca it shows a ground screw rite above the high level input what is that for and do i need to conect that
raulbustos on 10/11/2006 15:16:31
and just to make sure with the ac meter i touch the + and - leads to +/- speaker terminal on the amp while it is on and playing sound corect?
swez on 10/11/2006 17:34:40
The RCA's are not used in this application and the added ground is not needed here. The chassis is already grounded via ground wire at the power lugs. You're good here as is.
To measure amp output, we look for AC voltage. The speaker terminal markers do not matter, (as in DC circuits) as audio signals are also AC and polarity changes constantly.
Clear on that now?
swez
raulbustos on 10/12/2006 15:39:25
um okay but i do test on the terminals on the amp rite
and i put a lead from the rite speaker and it made no difference what so ever i checked the spl with a meter and i was getting around 125 spl where with the audiobahn amp it was pushing 138 spl
swez on 10/12/2006 22:16:27
Yes, that is the proper way to test amp output with a volt meter.
The SPL meter readings mentioned indicate either the Bahn amp was really clipping hard or, the Kenwood is not adjusted properly.
FYI: When measuring SPL in a vehicle, we can expect about +10dB more SPL then if testing the same system in a large open area.
swez
raulbustos on 10/12/2006 22:22:37
all rite well i check on the ac voltage next time he comes back. and i did the test in the vehicle now about the clipping im not to sure the sound didnt ever really sound slopppy or nothing but im not exactly sure all i know is he is and so am i disapointed with this amp so far i was thinking of puting it set up in my car being that i have an aftermarket stereo with low level outputs to see if it some how makes a diference with this amp
swez on 10/12/2006 22:26:29
Try adjusting his gain a tad more sensitive, to get a few extra dB from it. See what ya get when the meter reads between 45 - 50 Volts AC. If the amp clips badly here, this amp is sorely overrated.
swez
raulbustos on 10/12/2006 22:45:39
okay will do thanks swez
swez on 10/13/2006 12:29:53
You bet!
swez
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