after market amp and subs installed, got some problems.

Hi all, today after work I came home and decided to install a aftermarket amp "cheap one" lightning bolt 150.2 and the speaker that i was hooking it to is a 12in JL 12w0 sub-box, I had used a LOC and tapped into my factory amp according to this diagram

The pinouts for the 15 pin connector are:
PIN CONNECTION
1- Sub 1 +
2- Sub 2 +
3- LH Rear loudspeaker + (Touring LH rear speaker ground)
4- Radio on/antenna signal I used this to tap in my amp remote wire ?
5- RH rear loudspeaker + (Touring RH rear +)
6- Sub 4 -
7- Sub 3 -
8- Terminal 30 connects to Fuse 56
9- Sub 1 -
10- Sub 2 -
11- Touring LH rear +
12- Touring RH rear -
13- Sub 4 +
14- Sub 3 +
15- Terminal 31 connects to Ground Point

and i connected the speaker wire from my LOC to the red outlined is that correct ?

now the problem is the 12inch speaker plays but its sooo damn weak , I cranked it up all the way and i barely can see the speakers buddging any ideas ?

should i change the amp ? I have a JL 500/1 amp I was thinkin about swapping the amp out and putting this one but also I was worrying that since my amp is 500watts and the 12inch speaker that I will be using is only 150watt i think , will my amp blow up the speaker?

is the gain and settings adjusted properly?

go to speed world in queens blvd, and let them do your system , they are pro. I did mine and ican't be more happier

I also notice that my amp's power lights are not on or maybe the LED's are broken ?, how long does it take for an amp to get hot ? but I know for a fact that the subwoofers that is hooked upto my OEM amp was booming a little just its very very very weak. its also possible that my amp is a piece of $hit , I might just have to put in my JL 500/1 amp and test it and it result is the same... then im screwed. Im just worrying about blowing my subwoofer because atmost that subwoofer is 150w its a 12in JL w0.

can it be possible that even tho your amp has no power can the DSP amp (factory amp) push the sub woofer that I have connected to the OEM amp, which is tapped into the DSP amp (factory amp) using a LOC ? can it be possible that the LOC that I am using is a piece of **** ? I paid $7 for it from this site http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISLOC ,
this LOC "The SLOC can accept input up to 12 watts per channel" can it be this problem which is why its so weak ?



I followed everything according to the people from the forums on tapping the wires to the rear speakers on the factory amp with the LOC

I did the exact same thing with tapping the wires in as this post
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...hlight=dsp+amp

here is the link for the 15pins out

I connected #7,#14 and #10,#2 from my 15pin out to the LOC then I used a pair of RCA cables and connected from LOC to my AMP

I read all of that post and did not really help only to find that Iam having the same exact problem. 1 extra thing I did was I tapped my amps remote wire to the white wire #4 in the 15pin out diagram

This problem is giving me a headache ,
can all the audiophiles come out and help me ,
what should i do next ? bring my car to the shop ? I know I already done more then half of the work already... but i have no idea what went wrong.

HELP!!~!~~!~

Originally Posted by chivas

is the gain and settings adjusted properly?

someone also told me about the gains settings I did not check, but I will check it out tonight. they also said something about bridging my amp. I will also look into this tonight.

LED's usually doesn't go bad so it's probably not getting any power or it's a defective amp.

Originally Posted by chivas

LED's usually doesn't go bad so it's probably not getting any power or it's a defective amp.

I agree. It is definitely not a problem bridging will fix so don't bother trying. Either the gains are wrong, the high/low sensitivity switch (if it has one) is "high" when it should be "low", there is a power problem (fuse or wiring) or the amp is fried.

Have you checked the power? You do have a multimeter, right?


Bill

Originally Posted by BillP

I agree. It is definitely not a problem bridging will fix so don't bother trying. Either the gains are wrong, the high/low sensitivity switch (if it has one) is "high" when it should be "low", there is a power problem (fuse or wiring) or the amp is fried.

Have you checked the power? You do have a multimeter, right?


Bill

yes, I will check with a multimeter tonight with connection and power. I will also swap out another working amp to test it just to make sure.

ok after carefully examining the wiring, I have found out that I forgot to ground the cable from the amp , how stupid of me, it was late last night and i was rush and over saw that , so today after work , i looked at my trunk and was like wtf is this cable doing loose, and found out that i forgot to ground it . now since the amp works and all , another problem arises , I realize that all my bass is trapped in the trunk. the only way to get it to the cabin is by cutting thru the armrest area where the skis go, any recommendation for getting bass into the cabin without cutting of metal ?

Originally Posted by flyboyy

any recommendation for getting bass into the cabin without cutting of metal ?

more bass.

Originally Posted by z0lt3c

more bass.

more cowbells! lol..


if you have fold down seats, the bass comes through rather well. but other then that, you'll have to cut.

Originally Posted by z0lt3c

more bass.

when you say more bass, do you mean. hook up more subs or bigger sub ?

Originally Posted by flyboyy

when you say more bass, do you mean. hook up more subs or bigger sub ?

maybe a bit of both but just because it's bigger doesn't mean it's better... well, bigger what? magnet or diameter?

more subs would do it but then what are you left with? draggin' around 200 lbs of magents in the trunk?

i would suggest popping the rear sub holes (if you haven't done that already) and if that's not enough, cut bigger holes in the shelf, just not too big.

Originally Posted by chivas

maybe a bit of both but just because it's bigger doesn't mean it's better... well, bigger what? magnet or diameter?

more subs would do it but then what are you left with? draggin' around 200 lbs of magents in the trunk?

i would suggest popping the rear sub holes (if you haven't done that already) and if that's not enough, cut bigger holes in the shelf, just not too big.

I think you posted some pic about popping the sub holes in the rear right ?

Originally Posted by flyboyy

I think you posted some pic about popping the sub holes in the rear right ?

yep.. i'll pop them for you saturday if you like.. it's quite easy actually.

Originally Posted by chivas

yep.. i'll pop them for you saturday if you like.. it's quite easy actually.

cool sounds great.

Not sure what frequency you are running, but anything below 80 hz should definitely be passing through your rear seat due to its wavelength. What is your crossover set to for your subs?

10w7 + 500/1 and youll wish you had less bass in ur car LOL

Originally Posted by xclone

Not sure what frequency you are running, but anything below 80 hz should definitely be passing through your rear seat due to its wavelength. What is your crossover set to for your subs?

where do i set the frequency to be below 80hz and what crossover setting should I have on the woofer amp ?

Originally Posted by frhsfootball80

10w7 + 500/1 and youll wish you had less bass in ur car LOL

I bought a JL 500/1 amp did not install yet, but I was thinkin about 12w6 because right now in my car I have bull**** amp lightning bolt 150.2 and jl 12w0 in a Qlogic box for testing purposes, I was thinkin about getting a 12w6 and swap the speakers out of the box and then swap out the amp. will this do it ?

Originally Posted by flyboyy

where do i set the frequency to be below 80hz and what crossover setting should I have on the woofer amp ?

I'd have to see your setup to tell you more...
I'm assuming you have a crossover somewhere, or are you running full band through your subs? If the amp doesnt have a crossover point, and you haven't installed one, its likely hard wired into your subs. Can you hear full vocals through your subs?

Just to be clear (and my apologies if this is remedial) - a crossover is, in essence, a frequency filter that routes signal based on a frequency range. Some are adjustable, some are fixed. If its a capacitor/resistor setup on your sub itself, its fixed and you have to swap out the componenets to change the range. If its on your amp, it *may* be adjustable.

If you are running true subs, you shouldn't be over 120hz, but that really comes down to tuning it for your taste.

In the end, the basic rule is low frequencies will easily pass through soft/hard material no thicker then X (if X ='s your backseat, no problem). The higher your frequency, the shorter the *wave* and greater chance it will be blocked by X.

This is why you never hear the high frequncies (treble) from the hopped up cars at stoplights when they have their windows closed. The highs bounce right off the glass and everything else whereas the bass penetrates everything.

Originally Posted by chivas

maybe a bit of both but just because it's bigger doesn't mean it's better... well, bigger what? magnet or diameter?

more subs would do it but then what are you left with? draggin' around 200 lbs of magents in the trunk?

i would suggest popping the rear sub holes (if you haven't done that already) and if that's not enough, cut bigger holes in the shelf, just not too big.

by any chance does anyone have a link to this thread

Originally Posted by flyboyy

I bought a JL 500/1 amp did not install yet, but I was thinkin about 12w6 because right now in my car I have bull**** amp lightning bolt 150.2 and jl 12w0 in a Qlogic box for testing purposes, I was thinkin about getting a 12w6 and swap the speakers out of the box and then swap out the amp. will this do it ?

dude if you get teh 10w7 itll hit way harder then the 12w6. youll need 2 of the 6's to keep up with the w7. i had the w7 wired up wrong and frequencies all wrong and it was still enough to get neighbors 2 houses down to complain. and when i got it set up right i had neighbors on the next street complain