my amp turns off

bjohnson69

I just purchased a pair of mmc525's and a pair of db400's for my truck. I'm trying to power the 4 of them with an older kenwood 2xchannel amp. Right now I have them wired up in parallel using both channels. When I try and turn it up, the amp shuts down. Do I need to wire them up different, or is it more likely a power/ground problem? Just another note, I noticed today that the volume changes. I was sitting at a red light, and after a little bit it seemed to get louder. Any ideas?

neomagus00

just out of curiosity, when you're idling, does the volume change coincide with the engine fan turning on or off?

it's possible that the amp you have is not 2-ohm stable, in which case it would do exactly what you describe (if this is the case, i'm surprised you're getting music at all!)

if you put only one pair of speakers on the amp, does the problem go away?

1996blackmax

Sounds like the amp is not liking the lower impedance. I had an older Kicker that was 1ohm stable at one point. Many years later it did not like that load any more.

bjohnson69

It's a mechanical fan, so that can't be it. But yeah it worked just fine until today, after I hooked up the second pair of speakers. So it sounds like I get to run some wire from speaker to speaker huh? One other thing I was wondering about, is it ok for 2 amps to share a remote wire? just curious, thanks

neomagus00

yes, amps can share a remote wire... three or more amps may require a relay, but two should be just fine

and yes, you'll need to run the speakers in series... note that the power output will drop significantly, so your maximum volume will probably be lower than your current cut-out volume...

bjohnson69

thanks for the help, now I get to go have some more fun with wires