Any car audio guru's here?

[AZSnake98]

I Have a Clarion DXZ675USB head unit in my jeep. As most aftermarket head units, it runs at 4 ohms, however my infinity kappa door and rear deck speakers are 2 ohms. Ive been doing a little research on the problem I'm having and can't find a definitive answer.

The problem I'm having is that the head unit will shut off when the volume is turned up too high, and if I don't turn it down immediately when it comes back on it only stays on for a split second then turns off again and repeatedly does this until the volume is turned down again.

I've been to numerous sites and there are some people that say its the impedance the speakers are running at, others that say bad ground, others say too small of a power wire going to the head unit, others say not enough wattage going to the speakers from the head unit, Some say to just get a 4 channel amplifier and use that to power the speakers, but I don't want to do that and then have that not solve my problem.

Another question I have is if i DO end up getting a 4 channel amp, whats the proper way to wire it so that it runs at 2 ohms for the 2 ohm speakers?

I thank anyone who can help in advance.

 

[JasonSnake]

Are you using the factory speaker wires or did you run cabling directly to the speakers?

 

[AZSnake98]

Are you using the factory speaker wires or did you run cabling directly to the speakers?

Factory wires. I was told by a few people that the stock wires would work... I thought this was bullshit myself because you get in there and the wires are hella thin, like 18-20 gauge. The thing is it would be a bitch to run new wire to the rear because they are in the ceiling/roof w/e.

 

[AZSnake98]

Negatory i suppose.

 

[offroadkarter]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I'd believe the headunit is going into a safe mode because you are overpowering the internal amp every time it cuts out. So adding a 4 channel amp isn't a terrible idea, I mean it'd make the speakers sound better for one.

 

[virginiafiveo]

I have been doing car audio setups for a very long time. I always run new wires for speakers and never use the internal amplifier of any head unit. pm me for more questions.

 

[OutKast]

The 2ohm speakers are the problem. Unless these kappas are like the ones I have been looking at buying that have a 2 ohm coil and 2 ohm wire impedence for a total 4ohm load. The amp will shut down once it becomes unstable at higher power levels with the ohm mismatch. The amp always must see an equal or higher impedence on the output than what it is rated. The speaker wire will be fine for the head units amp, since it is only rated at 53x4. There are a couple things you can do. Adding a 4 channel amp is one as long as it can handle the 2 ohm load. The other thing you can do, if you don't care about losing balance control, is to wire the left and right speakers in series behind the head unit. Resistance adds in series. Usually, or at least this use to be the case, the head unit manual will tell you you whether to use front or rear channels to accomplish this. I remember this usually being the front. I assume you have the connection adapter to connect to the factory connectors behind the head unit, if so this would be quite simple. This also assumes all four speakers are 2 ohm loads. If you want more clarification, I can probably add more from home tonight.

 

[baldtaco]

I Have a Clarion DXZ675USB head unit in my jeep. As most aftermarket head units, it runs at 4 ohms, however my infinity kappa door and rear deck speakers are 2 ohms. Ive been doing a little research on the problem I'm having and can't find a definitive answer.

The problem I'm having is that the head unit will shut off when the volume is turned up too high, and if I don't turn it down immediately when it comes back on it only stays on for a split second then turns off again and repeatedly does this until the volume is turned down again.

I've been to numerous sites and there are some people that say its the impedance the speakers are running at, others that say bad ground, others say too small of a power wire going to the head unit, others say not enough wattage going to the speakers from the head unit, Some say to just get a 4 channel amplifier and use that to power the speakers, but I don't want to do that and then have that not solve my problem.

Another question I have is if i DO end up getting a 4 channel amp, whats the proper way to wire it so that it runs at 2 ohms for the 2 ohm speakers?

I thank anyone who can help in advance.

You need new speakers or an JBL MS8. 4- 2 OHM speakers is telling the headunit to see something like 0.25 ohms. A four channel amp would probably suffer the same issues if I remember correctly.

 

[AZSnake98]

The 2ohm speakers are the problem. Unless these kappas are like the ones I have been looking at buying that have a 2 ohm coil and 2 ohm wire impedence for a total 4ohm load. The amp will shut down once it becomes unstable at higher power levels with the ohm mismatch. The amp always must see an equal or higher impedence on the output than what it is rated. The speaker wire will be fine for the head units amp, since it is only rated at 53x4. There are a couple things you can do. Adding a 4 channel amp is one as long as it can handle the 2 ohm load. The other thing you can do, if you don't care about losing balance control, is to wire the left and right speakers in series behind the head unit. Resistance adds in series. Usually, or at least this use to be the case, the head unit manual will tell you you whether to use front or rear channels to accomplish this. I remember this usually being the front. I assume you have the connection adapter to connect to the factory connectors behind the head unit, if so this would be quite simple. This also assumes all four speakers are 2 ohm loads. If you want more clarification, I can probably add more from home tonight.

I had to splice all 8 speaker wires because the truck didn't have a head unit in it when i bought it and the previous owner cut them all. So what your saying is running either the front or rear speakers in series would compensate for the ohm load variance?

So it would go:

Left front + connected to head unit +
Left front - connected to right front +
right front - connected to head unit -

Right?

So basically all Id have to do is cut the left front - and right front + and splice them together behind the head unit...

 

[streetassasin]

I have been doing car audio setups for a very long time. I always run new wires for speakers and never use the internal amplifier of any head unit. pm me for more questions.

same here, I have a jl jx 360/4 and 16ga knukonceptz karma wire on my mids n highs in my truck and I really like the amp. If you are on a budget I'd go with a mb quart onx4.60 amp and cadence wire, audiosavings.com has the amp with a wiring kit for around $120 and 125ft of cadence 14 awg for $20. Shouldn't take more than a few hrs to get the amp in and all wires ran, and it will sound so much better than if they were ran off the hu

 

[OutKast]

I had to splice all 8 speaker wires because the truck didn't have a head unit in it when i bought it and the previous owner cut them all. So what your saying is running either the front or rear speakers in series would compensate for the ohm load variance?

So it would go:

Left front + connected to head unit +
Left front - connected to right front +
right front - connected to head unit -

Right?

So basically all Id have to do is cut the left front - and right front + and splice them together behind the head unit...

Yeah, that's correct. You will also have to disconnect the right negative and connect it to the left negative so the two speakers use the same channel coming out of the radio. This should prevent having to buy more equipment or fishing wires.

 

[AZSnake98]

Yeah, that's correct. You will also have to disconnect the right negative and connect it to the left negative so the two speakers use the same channel coming out of the radio. This should prevent having to buy more equipment or fishing wires.

Ok another question... Amp for the sub works fine after i drop it from about 1-2 inches... shaking something loose... Ive checked all connections ground is good amp powers EVERY time fine... Ive rewired the damn thing 3 times now every connection is SOLID but something is keeping signal from getting to the sub... i let it lay still, and move EVERY connection, swivel the RCA's around and everything... This leads me to believe that something internal on the amp isn't connecting properly, or something on the HU is muffed... it only stops working when I shut off the vehicle... I can drive around for hours, and the amp will work. But as soon as I shut it off and take out the key, I have to "bump" the amp a couple times to get it to work again... This is the most ANNOYING thing in the world...

Any ideas?

 

[AZSnake98]

Bump for some help. This is driving me nuts and I can't find anyone who's had the same problem...

 

[OutKast]

Ok another question... Amp for the sub works fine after i drop it from about 1-2 inches... shaking something loose... Ive checked all connections ground is good amp powers EVERY time fine... Ive rewired the damn thing 3 times now every connection is SOLID but something is keeping signal from getting to the sub... i let it lay still, and move EVERY connection, swivel the RCA's around and everything... This leads me to believe that something internal on the amp isn't connecting properly, or something on the HU is muffed... it only stops working when I shut off the vehicle... I can drive around for hours, and the amp will work. But as soon as I shut it off and take out the key, I have to "bump" the amp a couple times to get it to work again... This is the most ANNOYING thing in the world...

Any ideas?

I assume you are having to physically hit the amp? Is it old or new? If you are hitting the amp to make it work, there might be something broke on the inside.

 

[AZSnake98]

Now the amp just goes directly into protect mode when the key is turned... doesnt matter if RCAs OR speaker wires are installed.