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Help! My aMp fried!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by GreenSpeed, Apr 9, 2007.

  1. GreenSpeed

    GreenSpeed New Member

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    Hi Guys,

    I've had my 300W MTX amp installed for awhile now, and all of sudden it just stopped working. After a quick run down to Circuit City (where i had it installed) it turns out that the 'power coupler fused' on my amp. The tech that was helping me out said this is most probably due to the 'heat & environment' of where i've placed it (right above spare tire).

    All in all i bought a 400W amp now that's supposed to "run cooler" but i have one niggling question. Since the installation of my aftermarket subs and amp i've noticed that my sub's go into 'overdrive' (serious overcompensation of bass) when i try to meddle with the 'directional' settings of my JBL system (Sound only to: Front Left, Front Right, Back Left, Back Right). Attempting to isolate sound (which is within normal functions on the Prius Stock JBL system) will result in a sudden HUGE increase into the level of bass.

    After i swapped out my amp (for the brand new one) i showed this to the tech. He suggested i goto the intitial Circuit City where i installed this, stating that it was a 'Hi/Lo input error' (The intial tech 'Snaffued' the installation) and that they could definitely fix it. Could this be related to my amp burning out?

    I know for a fact that I didn't skimp on the power wires (thick gauged wire) and neither did i skimp on the connecting wires. Am i just a victim of bad luck?

    Cheers all!
     
    #1 GreenSpeed, Apr 9, 2007
  2. adam1991

    adam1991 New Member

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    My first thought is that any amp worth its salt has plenty of protections against burning out like that. If it gets hot, it's just supposed to shut down until it cools down.
     
    #2 adam1991, Apr 9, 2007
  3. GeoGeek

    GeoGeek Member

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    Location:
    Auburndale, FL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    When I added an amp in my Prius, I noticed what seemed like a disproportionate bump in the low
    frequencies.....it seemed to be "fixed" when I shut off the ASL (auto sound levelling) feature of the
    factory head unit.....this is the feature that's supposed to automatically increase the volume as you speed up
    and the road noise increases......try disabling the ASL setting on your head unit.

    I agree with the last poster....any amp should have thermal protection circuitry that prevents it from "frying itself".
     
    #3 GeoGeek, Apr 9, 2007
  4. adam1991

    adam1991 New Member

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    Is ASL on all units? I don't remember seeing any mention of it in my 07 base model. My guess is not.
     
    #4 adam1991, Apr 9, 2007
  5. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    2005 Prius
    IIRC, you're the same guy whose installer installed the amps in the trunk, but then drew power from the engine compartment rather than from the battery (which was about a foot away), and then called all of us "old school" for the way we wired up our systems (to the battery in the trunk). You also had noise problems that you were never able to solve.

    My advice is to rip your system out completely and have someone competent install a new one.
     
    #5 priusenvy, Apr 9, 2007
  6. Vagabond

    Vagabond Active Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Two
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ Apr 9 2007, 04:43 PM) [snapback]420478[/snapback]</div>

    Wait, even I know better than to do that. That's a big no-no.
     
    #6 Vagabond, Apr 9, 2007
  7. GreenSpeed

    GreenSpeed New Member

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    Yeah, i remember that. Actually i took it down to another Road Shop and insisted the Manager come out and do the tuning. It turns out that since the amp is a 'Mono' Amp it was basically 'halving' it's output because both the Left and Rigth inputs (from the head unit) were plugged into the amp. After removing just one i've been able resolve all my issues with it 'not being able to fade properly' and the actual sound level has definite boost in both power and clarity. :)
     
    #7 GreenSpeed, Apr 15, 2007
  8. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

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    2005 Prius
    This might be a good opportunity for you to rip everything out yourself and learn about installing the reverse engineering method :). I paid a store to install a deck and 5x7s in my K-car 10 years ago, and that's the last time I paid for an install. Once I took the system apart, I quickly learned a lot about car audio. The place that did the install, did a barebones job. The only person that'll really care about the quality of the install would be yourself. Once you get the basics, everything comes easy.:)
     
    #8 Presto, Apr 15, 2007
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