QuestionHi,
Remember me? A while back I asked for advice from you and you helped me out so now I have a problem and I hope u can help me.
Here is what I have,
Starsound head unit SSUSB-100 55w per channel
XTC 5000w Hooka series: Fantasy 5.0 4ch amp
Kenwood 1200watt 12" sub KFC-W3011
2 X 6X9 300watt Pioneer speakers
2 X 6.5" 160watt Pioneer speakers
Digital power capacitor 2.0 FARAD R-CAP2
Line converter.
Amp specs
Max output power 4Ω (watts) 90w rms x 4ch
Max output power 2Ω (watts) 140w RMS x 4CH
Bridged power 4Ω (watts) 290w rms x 2CH
THD <0.15%
Frequency response (+-2db) 10Hz~23KHz
Signal to noise ratio >90dB
Sensitivity 200mV~8V
And the subs specs:
Maximum power 800w
Rated power 400w
Impedance 4Ω
Sensitivity 90dB / W at 1 m
So, the head unit has 4 normal 55w outputs (front left, front right, rear left, rear right) and a red and white rca.
The rca's go to ch1 and 2 on the amp and the sub is bridged on ch1 and 2, then the front left and right is connected to the 6.5"es in the front and the rear left and right is going through the line converter to ch3 and 4 on the amp and the 6x9's is connected to ch3 and 4.
Everything worked great for a month now but yesterday my earth cable that runs from the battery to the body came loose, and after I fixed it my sound is buggered up, only the sub is playing quite soft and the rest is dead..
I reset my head unit but still nothing. I even disconnected everything from my head unit and made sure all the earths are connected. I then disconnected the line converter and used splitter cables on the rca's that normally was connected on ch1 and 2 and then the 2 6x9's played but also not very loud (I could usually not go over 25 on my head unit volume and now I pushed it to 40 and U could barely hear it when sitting in the front seats.).
How can I test my wiring for shorts?
Because everybody is telling me there must be a short and that my head unit's sound ic is blown, but why all of a sudden now?
AnswerHi Dewald,
It certainly sounds like the head unit has a problem, though I'm not sure what may have caused it. You might try disconnecting all outputs (including the line output converter) and connecting a single test speaker to one of the head unit's speaker outputs. If you don't get any sound, then it's pretty certain that the head unit's internal amplifier has failed. If you do get sound from a test speaker, though, then it's possible that some other part of the system--either one of the front speakers or front speaker wires, or a defect in the line output converter--is causing the deck's internal amplifier to shut down. In this case, you can re-connect the LOC and speakers, one at a time, to determine which component is causing the problem.
Sometimes when an amplifier's ground wire is disconnected, the amp will try to ground itself through the RCA cables connected to it. The extra current running through the RCA cables could potentially damage the head unit or the line output converter. It's possible that this is what's happened in your system.
Hope this helps!
Brian
