stereo issues

[zilla]

So I got a new amp to replace the system that i had stolen. The weather was nice today and I installed it.

I ran new RCA cables from the HU back to the amp.

Had to splice a few more feet of speaker wire onto the existing speaker wire that was already there (thieves cut the speaker and RCA cables when they stole my old system.)

Problem now is that when I turn the HU on, i get some sound on the left components, and even less on the right. The sound is really thin with next to no bass.

I've checked the splices on the speaker cable and they seem ok. i've double-checked the connections on the amp and they seem ok, too. ditto for the RCA cable. i tried flipping the L and R RCA on the amp side and noticed no difference in sound quality or output.

I double checked the crossovers and they look just as fine as they did when i did the original install.

The only thing I can think of at the moment that it's something inside the door pannel where the speaker wire connects to the speakers.

any ideas??

Tim

[blackradon]

Re: stereo issues

hmm, maybe the wires are backwards on the headunit? try switching the two, maybe you got the left speakers and right backwards...idk just my .02cents

What kinda HU is it? and speakers?

[Stonewall]

Re: stereo issues

Check the ground on the amplifier.

[zilla]

Re: stereo issues

I triple checked the pos and neg on the speaker wires when i wired everything up. unless the amp is labeled wrong i don't think it's that.

I will re-do the ground terminals as soon as the weather warms up. I was hoping to have tunes before the cold snap :(

Thanks

[Kordain]

Re: stereo issues

if they didnt just cut the wires and actually tried to just rip it out first then they may have stretched the cables breaking the actual strands of wire somewhere inside the insulation you cant see. if they have broken and only a couple are just touching then there would be much more resistance to the signals and you would gt much quieter sound and the bass would suffer because that takes the most power to push through.

You could try just temp running some wires between each point one at a time in parallel with the existing wires and see if it makes a difference, that will tell you if the wires are broken. Or actually you could test the resistance of them if you know anyone with a test meter.

Let me know how you get on.

having the pos and neg the wrong way round to speakers will should still give you the enough sound it would just be less powerfull and out of phase.

[Kor]

Re: stereo issues

Basically all my ideas have already been posted, some good help here so you should be ok to figure it out with these tips!

[Stonewall]

Re: stereo issues

Having the polarity reversed will not make the speakers quieter (AC signal speakers move the same distance in and out). Nore will most people notice as the distance to each ear in cars are never equal. If one set of speakers is quieter no mater which set of RCA's is feeding the channel then the amp or the speakers could be damaged. Unhook all the speakers and use one of the channels that was putting out full output and test out each speaker one at a time. When you know if it is the amp or the speaker you can look into wiring problems.

[zilla]

Re: stereo issues

I think the thieves just cut the speaker wire and RCAs in the trunk when they stole the system.

I ran new RCAs from the HU back to the amp, spliced new speaker cable to the old cable, used the existing power and remote lines, and ran a new ground cable.

The passenger door is the side that seems to be giving me problems (thieves broke thru the passenger window) but even the drivers side does not seem to be as loud as it should be.

I won't be able to do any of this until the temperature gets more reasonable. hopefully sometime this weekend.

Thanks for the ideas.