Two problems - one message

[SiriusBlack]

Well, something for sure is damaged in my car.

I swapped the RCA lines, and tried it, same result. Low to no bass with both lines, and lots of bass with one line. It's like it shorts out/distorts when both lines are hooked up.

So, I pull out the Eclipse amplifier. I set everything up for subs, and hook it up, and I get the EXACT SAME PROBLEM! So... I'm back there messing with settings, etc, and I get absolutely nothing. I then decide to try the RCA's on the front line (not rear/sub like I had been trying). I plug these in, and it works great, so I figure it's a problem with the CD player, and in hopes of it working, I try it again on the Sub line. Well... it worked. I didn't try the PPI amp on the sub line after it started working, but I think it will work. Now can anyone explain this? I simply can't make anything out of it.

I'm going to try the PPI amplifier tomorrow on the RCA's now that they work, and if it does work, I'll plan on it being a problem with the CD player that is now either permanently or temporarily fixed.

[lotas]

Well, something for sure is damaged in my car.

I swapped the RCA lines, and tried it, same result. Low to no bass with both lines, and lots of bass with one line. It's like it shorts out/distorts when both lines are hooked up.

So, I pull out the Eclipse amplifier. I set everything up for subs, and hook it up, and I get the EXACT SAME PROBLEM! So... I'm back there messing with settings, etc, and I get absolutely nothing. I then decide to try the RCA's on the front line (not rear/sub like I had been trying). I plug these in, and it works great, so I figure it's a problem with the CD player, and in hopes of it working, I try it again on the Sub line. Well... it worked. I didn't try the PPI amp on the sub line after it started working, but I think it will work. Now can anyone explain this? I simply can't make anything out of it.

I'm going to try the PPI amplifier tomorrow on the RCA's now that they work, and if it does work, I'll plan on it being a problem with the CD player that is now either permanently or temporarily fixed.

are you sure you had the colors right? (like + and - for speaker wire) but the RCA colors...you sure you didnt mix R and L? that might make something funny like that happen. if that wasnt it i dunno...at the beginning of your post i was gonna say your rear/sub RCA outputs were bad but now you say they work so i dunno.

[SiriusBlack]

I checked, double checked, and triple checked every connection. I also tried the RCA's the proper way, the improper way (left on right, right on left). I'm not sure what happened, but if it happens again, I think that it'll be going up for sale.

[GlassWolf]

my point was that running the sub out of an enclosure gives absolutely NO damping or suspension for the speaker, so very little power is needed to cause the sub to over-excurse, and that will damage the sub.
If you had it turned up loud enough to sound 'normal' for a listening level, chances are you were giving it too much power already.
running the sub open air that way and letting it bottom out will cause distortion and cause the speaker to lose it's linearity which will fray the coil windings and freeze up the cone.
when that happens, the sub is trashed.

[Minnoe07]

While this thread is on the topic of it tho, don't most sub-out on home audio recievers just send a signal anyways? Most of the subs I've looked at for home audio have a built in amp that you plug into the wall.

[GlassWolf]

yeah most AV receivers are a line level RCA connection crossed over at about 120Hz.
even the HTiaB ones with the power from the receiver are still an LFE signal that's crossed over.
I wasn't sure how he had it all wired up though.
not all receivers even have LFE output unless they are DD/DTS capable