Circuit City is evil... and whats up with my amp?

[flyguy]

Okay.. they are not that evil... but im a bit irritated... Heres my story. I have a somewhat dated sytem in my truck.. but most of it is aftermarket... my subs pretty new though... anyways... All of a sudden.. my sub stops (now that I think about it... I wonder if it got killed during hte header install...) So I take it to my local Circuit city... who installed and sold me most of my stuff... they take the sub out and test it.. it works... so they say my amp is probably bad. So I say, well before I go spend a few hundred bucks, can your turn that probably bad into a definatly bad? So the guy pulles the deck and checks the connections, I mention that I have cut into some wires in the past that run under the seats.. he checks those... and then declares my Amp 100% bad. Still doubtful, I ask the guy if I go buy an amp if I can return it... he says yes... so I go inside and purchase this MTX amp.. seems pretty cool by the way... a real little guy... 350 watts... anyone know what Im talking about? hmm.. anyways... I go home.. plug the thing in.. still doesnt work. AGHGH! I just spent $350 bucks for nuthin. And the shop is closed tomorrow. Sigh. Well.. Im debating keeping the amp anyways... its double the power I have now... and I wanted new equipment anyways.... but I have no money. Oh well. Anyways... because I really dont wanna spend the money... any ideas what could be wrong? My old amp had a power light on it.. which was lit. I dont know if that means anything or not... I suppose its still a possibility that there is a cut wire somewhere...

nick

 

[JTang]

I don't understand. He checked the sub (worked), and then checked the head unit (worked), but didn't try putting a different sub up to the amp? Sort of seems like missing a link in the troubleshooting. All he did was check that your sub's not blown and that your head unit worked putting out signal, and did he even check if it was the RCA's or just the speaker outs? Is the light on your amp coming on? Make sure all your wiring is connected. If it was grounded, then it could be burned out and bad, but if the new one isn't working, then I think it's the wire between the radio and the amp, or the radio. I'd suspect the remote line lead is burned out. Make sure he checks thouse.

Good luck flyguy.

Jon

 

[flyguy]

He sorta check the remote line... Im putting my money on that. Its been thrashed before.. oh well.. I take it back Wed... although I would like to have it fixed today.. hmph.

nick

 

[JTang]

Flyguy-

One last thing, try something simple and just replace the amp fuses. I had an MTX amp that cut out on me once, and when I checked the fuse, it didn't appear blown, but the amp wouldn't work. I put in a new one, and everything was back up.

Jon

 

[flyguy]

Yeah I looked at the fuse... looked fine... the guy there checked it too... no... wait.. if that was the problem.. the new amp would have worked! ah! so its gotta be a wireing problem... also... what is acually transmitted down the remote wire? Just a power signal?

nick

 

[mrsteve]

The remote line is just a 12v current that turns the amp on. The MTX may not need a remote line though. Some now have auto-on. The amp senses signals from the RCA's and turns itself on. Just one less wire to run.

 

[JTang]

Yeah, MrSteve's right.

It's just a small amount of voltage sent to let the amp know to turn on. Your amp SHOULD have a small light to tell when it's on or not. You should just look to see if that turns on. If not, then it's probaly the remote line lead. Since components just need a tiny bit of power to be turned on, manufacturers make the remote line lead power outs on the head units with barely any power. So, they're sorta weak. More than 2 or perhaps three components, and you run the risk of it burning out. Still, it's fragile, so I'd check there. Still, the deal with mine was that the fuse LOOKED fine, but on a fluke I changed it, and it worked. So just try it in case, it would have to be the one inline to the power in the amp.

Jon

 

[flyguy]

okay.. theres more than 1 fuse to check? we just checked the one on the amp.. and the light is on... well.. its hopefully going into the shop today... wish me luck

nick

 

[Alec]

IMHO, Circuit City is pretty good. I get their extended warranty most of the time, though. Their warranty has more than paid for itself with my home system and portable equipment. Remember, if you take something in 3 times, they give you a new one, no questions asked!

 

[flyguy]

Yeah.. the do take stuff back no questions...and I have to say the car SHOP is very helpful. Although... the staff inside the store sucks... in my experience..its always been bad. Good Guys is my store... Of course I only deal with one guy there... he is very helpful.

nick

 

[kubben]

Yep Curcuit City is the best place in the world.
I bought a portable CD Player there about 3 years ago. Each year it seems to break cause I put them thru hell and I just take it in and they give me a new CD Player.
It's awesome because each time I get a new one it's better than the old one and usually cheaper. Seems I can do this for the rest of my life because each time I get a new one I get that warrenty.