Ok, so I hooked another head unit with a different set of rca cables to the amp, sounds about the same. If I hook up the rigged up speaker wire/rca cable to the amp its much louder. I'm thinking this may be normal. Either way it sounds ok with the volume down low but once you crank it up a little it sounds like shit.

The speakers are 10"Kicker Comps 8ohz. amp Fosgate 1200 watt 401s. What would be the preferred way to wire the speakers up and the correct way to tune the amp? thanks Ken

 

More information you can come here

 

frikin spammer !.........:rant:

 

This will show you the ways you can connect them...
http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp

 

sounds like you may want to check the connections inside the amp, im the speakers are 8 ohm, you will want them wired in parallel (+ to +, - to -) you may also want to see if the gain on the amp is cranked way up because this will cause distortion and kill both the amp and the speakers.

anyway, the first thing i would check is the connection of the RCA jack in the amp to the board of the amp

 

One of the rca plugs ends is making a bad connection, wiggle it a little and it goes in and out, probably just replace the plug. The main problem was the gain was maxed out, you can't accidently adjust the gain so I "assumed" it was close. Thanks, glad it was that simple.

 

If you hooked up your RCA cables and didn't disconnect the battery there is a good chance you shorted them out and no longer have a good ground. You will know if you did because you will also hear engine noise or whining through the speakers. Easy fix though so if you need to know how to fix just let me know.

 

ive connected and disconnected RCAs many a time without unhooking the battery, how the hell do you short them? it doesnt even make sense, RCAs only see low voltage and amperage, and there isnt any way under normal circumstances for them to see voltage directly from the battery

 

That's what I thought to until I did it. Spent more time and money fixing a whinning and week sound then I care to admit. All it takes is to touch the ends to ends to anything metal basic + to -. I'm sorry I wasn't aware that volatage gave a s*** whether it was high or low before for it would short out. My bad.

 

Hmmmm??? Wonder what all those little diodes, transisters, ect.... on the circuit boards in my head unit and amps do??? Wonder what would happen to all those little do hickies in there if I put the wrong voltage to them or shorted one out??? Wonder why it says in any and every repair instruction for any and everything electrical it says that 1st step is to disconnect power supply??? I should be able to wiggle jiggle connect disconnect any of these wires while I have the system on cause I done it a million times and never had a problem shouldn"t I??? One tiny little spark won't cause any damage will it???