bb123

Not sure what happened and the final outcome leans in the direction of my needing a larger amp.

Last night I had the subs cranked up for a bit, turned truck off, then 2hrs later and it didn't work. This system was professionally installed about 1wk ago and never had an issue.

The amp and door speakers worked fine.

The amp for the sub was lit up like normal but none of the subs worked at all.

Frustrated, I drive home with the music playing only from the doors.

Then, this morning on my way to work, I turn on the radio, and it's back on.

My setup:
- Pair of Infinity Kappa Coaxial 90w RMS/ea
- Pair of Infinity Kappa Component 90w RMS/ea
- Powered by Kicker KX400.4 (100w RMS/channel)

- Pair of 12" Kicker Comp RT; 500w RMS/Ea
- Powered by Kicker KX800.1 (bridged to 2ohm; 800w RMS).

Do you think the amp was working too hard pushing 800w to 1000w of subs? Should I return this amp and get the next one up? I'm thinking the KX 1200.1 and bridging it for the 2 subs.

Perhaps the Gain **** isn't clicked on 100% or is faulty. But then again, I turned the gain, up as well as the bass on the deck, and would have heard of the subs on.

What's your thoughts on how/why it just died for hours and came back to life?


Here's my the amp I'm thinking I need to get as well as my current setup...

bb123

I figured it out. When it died,I took a 3.5 jack and plugged it to my phone with the other end being RCAs. I unplugged amp and plugged in RCA so it bypasses my wiring from the line converter.

I then played music from my phone and sure enough it didn't play.

I then did it when it worked and it played through phone/RCAs.

So, my brand new amp, failed.

I bought a CX and will return the KX model perhaps. I could always send it in to kicker for repair but not sure yet...

In your opinion, is the KXthat much better of a brand over KX? I may just keep this other and return the KX...

_MacLeod_

What is the gain set to?? Please tell me its not set to 100%!!!

The gain is not a volume control. It is used to match the amp's output with the head unit's output so that when the head unit is at 50%, the amp is at 50%. If the gain is set too high then when the head unit is at 50% the amp could be at 80% and when you turn it up to 75% you're asking the amp to make more power than it can which causes clipping which can fry speakers. In all the years I've tinkered with car audio, I've never seen the need to set the gain over halfway and almost always it's going to be around the 11:00 position.

So yeah, if your gain is set too high, you could be pushing your amp too hard and it could be shutting down due to thermal protection.

bb123

Nope, gain **** only at 25% depending on song. Max is usually 75% from non-bass heavy songs.

You'll hear it if the song is too heavy and the volume turned up it'll start sputtering with the subs not playing any for fractions of a second, play and the 0.5sec it'll pop and stop playing, etc. They were saying its bc the amps aren't getting enough power.

But I don't ever play it that loud and only one or two song in particular does it.

But no, I bought a "aux to RCA" cable, when it went out I plugged it in, and it didn't work with direct phone/sub connection.

I bought another of the same amp and haven't had that prob since.

_MacLeod_

OK, missed this post I guess. Glad you got it figured out. I'd stick with the bigger amp. It's not so much that it's "better", it's that more power is better. I'd just return that one for a new one.