today i received my brand new US AMPS XTERMINATOR XT4000D. i was previously running my JBL GTO 1201.1 with no problems. after i installed the new amp today, it played for about 10 seconds and the protect light came on. i checked all my connections, and rewired the sub again (its wired @ 1-ohm). [i think this whole problem is stemming from my headunit tho, its a cheap "Eonon" brand tv]. so after re-wiring & checking connections, it does the same thing, except if i leave the amp on with the protect light, the speaker makes a dull humming sound (sounds like frequency distortion) and then when the bass in the song hits, the bass is very distorted and jus makes a little popping sound. so i called the guy at US Amps and he told me i was just not getting a strong signal from the head unit. he suggested i wrap some wire around the RCAs behind the headunit and ground them to one of the headunit screws. afterwards, this got a little better, but i was still having the same problem and the protect light didnt go off. so, any help is GREATLY needed and appreciated. should i buy a better high quality unit, or is there a way to fix this without me having to spend even more $ now? thanks!

 

I'm gonna say you are correct in your idea that it's the radio. I have had two customers that I sold complete systems to that have had radios from Eonon. Both of them crapped out on them after a short time. Come on.... A indash DVD for $200-$300 bucks. What do you expect. These radios have a very low RCA output as well. Both customers would experience bad amp output. I recommend installing a line driver to boost the signal strength to the amplifier. Your US Amp tech would probably recommend the same.

 

well i took out the eonon tv jus to check & see if i was right. so i used a sony cd player i had layin around the house. i hooked everything up, and the protect light on the amp still came on, but now there is no sound comin thru the sub . i checked all the wires, and i even went back in the house and hooked my JBL up and then the sub was actually working properly. so i unhooked the JBL and put the US Amps amp back in. the protect light does not come on until i plug in the RCA wires . after it comes on and i unplug them, it goes back off. so i thought maybe the cables were jus low quality (i dont have the $$ to go buy some monster cables right now tho anyway) but when i hook it up to my JBL using the same RCAs it works fine...? so now im thinkin my prob is in the new amp itself.. PLEASE, thanks

 

Then you could have an issue with the inputs on the amp. US Amps has a pretty good Quality Control department but some slip through the cracks I guess. Do you have a continuity tester on a volt meter that will beep when the two test leads are touching. Test the female jacks of the amp and see if you get a "beep". Maybe there is a short on them.

I am a US Amp fan. I could probably sell the brand if I asked. I still have the burned out casing from my old VLX-400 amplifier. This amp is rated at 2400watts at 1ohm but will actually produce over 3600 watts at a 1/2 ohm load. This monster is 44 inches long with four 8 gauge powers and four 8 gauge grounds. I had it running six Kicker 15 Solobarics in a 6th order box in the bed of my 87 Nissan pickup in high school.

I stole some pics from the web of one.

 

wow!, thats a f'n beast. yea, im runnin an RE sub so i wanted to ditch my JBL to go for a matching brand. im gonna send the amp back, but i havent decided ifi want an exchange or refund. i do still want this amp, but idk if i get another one will it do the same thing. theres nuthin wrong wit my RCA cables (i mean they arent the highest quality but theyre brand new) and they work wit my jbl but not wit the us amps amp. initially that wasnt even the prob, at first it was at least making some noise. after i fFIRST put it in, it played fine for about 10 seconds...then protect light.

 

RE and US Amps arent matching in any way what so ever. US Amps bought out RE audio...it ends there. REs subs are exactley the same as they were before the buyout (save for double the pricetag now though)...still designed and made by RE, not by US Amps or anything.

US Amps is still just US Amps....not really part of RE or designed/made by RE or anything.


If you want matching you should have gotten an RE 35.1 amp....


The Xterminator is just a lower line cheaper US Amps model anyway....I would just return it and keep the JBL on the sub if the only reason you changed it out is to 'match'/

 

well thank you, i was aware of that. i didnt say i changed it out so they would compliment each other. but now i have both that have an RE logo on em. and that isnt the only reason i changed it out. the JBL isnt 1 ohm stable so i wasnt gettin enuff power to my sub to satisfy me @ 4 ohms

 

I had a problem just like this in the shop the other day, guy came in with some cheap amp and wanted us to switch it out with a new memphis amp he had bought, every time we would plug his RCA's into his new amp, the amp would throw itself into protect mode, but they still worked fine on his old one. We tested a new set of RCA's on the new amp and it worked fine, so if you haven't already tried pulling you hu out and just running a set from the back of the hu to the amp, try that i guess, im not sure if its the same thing i ran into or not.

 

sounds exactly like my prob. but the other amp isnt some little cheap amp tho.. but yea, i had another set of nvr used RCAs layin around that came wit another amp kit i got a while back and tried them too but it did the same thing...? guess i'll try to buy another set tomorrow and test that before i send the amp back. thanks.

 

When you do get it solved I recommend you get a Pac Turbo 1 or a Pac Turbo X with bass boost.

Both of these line drivers will boost your RCA output from your radio up to a 4.5volt output. This will drive your amplifier better.

 

should i try one of those before i send the amp back? guess i could search online & order one cuz i live in the middle of nowhere so theres no store around here that would have that, except maybe walmart wit their scosche stuff. but anywho.. thanks

 

With your radio that you have and the experiences that my customers had with them I would recommend a line driver for ANY amplifier that you run. A line driver is always nice to run. In both my wife's and my trucks I run a Audio Control Matrix. These are a six channel line driver to run the four channel and the subwoofer amps. I have them set up to drive the amplifiers with almost 13 volts of input.



With what you are describing it seems that the inputs are having an issue on the amplifier with all the troubleshooting that you have been doing. When returning it I'd make sure you describe everything your did to who ever you purchased this from so it rules out any human error and lets them know that the amp is defective from the start.

 

Your welcome, glad I could help.

 

well, i'm sending the XT4000D back cuz its defective. i'm wondering if you guys can give me some suggestions on better & powerful 1-ohm stable amps to push my sub with. i've got a list i'm gonna check out, but feel free to help thanks

jus gotta check which are 1-ohm stable and give the best bang for the buck..

JL AUDIO TMA 1000.1
Kicker ZX1000.1
anybody know anything bout planet audio? buddy of mine has 3 pioneer premier 12s & 9 planet audio amps in his f-150 back in SC but i cant contact him bout his setup..i'll try to find some pics of his truck tho
Phoenix Gold amps
US Amps Merlin Series