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Bass loss... (UPDATE)

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Old 06-13-2004, 03:26 AM
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Default Bass loss... (UPDATE)

I've got the factory gain control and amp, with woofer leads fed to a 2 channel sub amp. When I start the car, most times the subs are powered for a few seconds, then die out for a minute. They usually come back on with a click through the speakers, and anything electrical on will dim very momentarily, like headlights, dash, etc. Usually the kick in seems to accompany a little stab at the throttle, sometimes all on it'* own.

My setup: stock gain control and amp, fed into sub amp with RCA convertors, 1 farad Rockford Fosgate cap on sub amp power lead, and 2 10" Pioneer Premiers. Pioneer 6x9'* powered by 300W amp fed by other factory leads for 6x9'*.

I've checked all my grounds, nice and tight and clean. BTW, everything grounds to the same point, both amps and cap. Any ideas?

I've also got whine. Comes and goes in intensity, changes pitch with engine speed. Sometimes hitting the door locks or moving a window will instantly kill the whine, but it comes back soon. I've got a ground loop isolator on the 6x9 amp, the only speakers it comes through. No change. It seems to almost disappear when I used stock spark plug wires vs. my MSD 8.5mm wires. Is there anything I can do about it?
Old 06-13-2004, 10:35 AM
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Are both amps connected to the cap or just the sub amp?

Hmmm...alternator whine usually = ground differential and dim lights, etc usually = excessive current drain.

My first guess would be thermal protection shutdown in the sub amp. Let'* see what the big boys of audio think though.
Old 06-13-2004, 12:43 PM
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I'm not sure about the amps, but the whine is usually a bad ground. I know you said everything is grounded to one point, which is great. At this point though, I would try another ground point. Any chance you could ground 'em to the seat belt bolt? Thats usually a good ground point. Make sure you (carefully) scrape away any paint.

As far as the amps go, thats a mystery. You could try running a temporary turn on lead to each amp directly from the battery to see if that solves the problem.
Old 06-13-2004, 03:39 PM
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what size amp and speakers r u running? i've had about 1600 watts running on my 90 bonne and only noticed a slight dim in the lights, no whine. i would disconnect the factory gain and amp from the rest and see how it does. if still the same check your alt.
Old 06-13-2004, 04:43 PM
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You can try this out. See if it helps any.

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...tion+checklist
Old 06-13-2004, 09:11 PM
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The MSD wires will give more feedback (whine) then stockers.
Old 06-16-2004, 02:09 AM
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Any ideas on the subs cutting out?
Old 02-09-2005, 04:33 PM
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This is still happening. Moved all the grounds to a clean spot.

I did mostly fix the whine, it seems. I put a 12" cable on my negative battery cable and ran it to the top post of my Optima cause my side terminal stripped out. Now the whine is nearly unnoticible. Would the alternator upgrade cable from ZZP further fix the whine?

Oh, the voltage readout on my cap is only a few volts until the subs kick on, then it jumps to normal.
Old 02-09-2005, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by jwikoff99
This is still happening. Moved all the grounds to a clean spot.

I did mostly fix the whine, it seems. I put a 12" cable on my negative battery cable and ran it to the top post of my Optima cause my side terminal stripped out. Now the whine is nearly unnoticible. Would the alternator upgrade cable from ZZP further fix the whine?

Oh, the voltage readout on my cap is only a few volts until the subs kick on, then it jumps to normal.
are any of your Speaker cables or RCA near any of the power wires?
Old 02-09-2005, 04:50 PM
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The main power lead runs next to the antenna feed for my 6 disk. There is some extra power and ground wiring coiled up under the box. I didn't cut it to length. Could that be a problem? It is on my to do list, however.


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