Help diagnose problem with amp or sub

[Mitchss]

I have a 2010 RZ2 with the factory installed and set-up Wet Sounds system. A WS SYN 6 amp drives six inboard 6.5s on channels 1-4 and an XS-10FA sub on channel 5. Channel 6 was unused. A SYN 2 powers the two tower tower speakers. All inboards and tower speakers work flawless.

A few weekends back, I realized the sub was not working. After messing with all connections, changing the wiring output from channel from 5 to 6, and messing with settings, it suddenly started working. Worked great for the rest of the weekend.

Went to the lake this weekend, and the sub was not working again. Checked the wiring and all was good. Checked the resistance on the sub and all was good. Made sure the cone moved easily and all was good.

So I know just enough to be dangerous, but not sure how/or if you can measure the channel output. Can I check the sub wiring with a voltmeter to see if the amp is putting out power on that channel??? If so, how? What's the setting? DC Volts? What reading am I looking for? Odd that the amp would be working perfect on channels 1-4, but both 5 and 6 not be working???

I read where you can hook up a 9V battery to a speaker and it will hum if it's good. Is this an option to test the sub? How best to check if the sub is the culprit and is bad?

Thanks in advance for any advice, ideas or assistance you can offer!

Scott

[Brianrzr]

I believe the sub should be bridged on both 5 and 6 channels, with the Xover set to low, and stereo/mono set to mono.

[Bamer]

I believe the sub should be bridged on both 5 and 6 channels, with the Xover set to low, and stereo/mono set to mono.

Yes, sub should be bridged between 5-6.





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[Bamer]

When you say sub doesn’t work, do you mean no sound comes out at any volumes settings? It’s not muted is it[emoji12]


Easiest way to verify sub wiring is ok will be to remove both wires at the amp and measure the resistance (ohms) of the wiring with the sub connected. You should get 4 ohms plus or more minus a few 0.1s of ohms. If you get 4ohms, all should be good. If not, then measure sub at the sub with wires off.

If sub and wiring is good, then you can put volt meter set to AC on the output of the amp and play music, you will not get a consistent reading as the reading will jump all around. If no reading, then most likely dead amp, but don’t declare it dead yet. Get a test tone at 100Hz, assuming crossover is set to 80HZ. Play test tone and measure amp output with speaker disconnected and this time you should see a constant reading that goes up or down as you changed the volume level.


A 9V battery will make a one time popping sound when u hook it up and push the wofer out or in depending on polarity. It should not hum.


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[Bamer]

Just reread the OP, what are the current amp settings?


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[Mitchss]

It doesn't play any sound at any volume. It is not muted.

When you say it should be bridged between 5 and 6, it is not. Was wired that way from factory. Just a gray + and a black - from the amp on channel 5 originally. I guess it splits/spliced somewhere because it plugs in to sub with a gray/black to both coils.

I checked the resistance of each coil at the sub, and both showed ~2 OHMs. I didn't test the wires at the amp (disconnected) that run to the sub (connected) as you recommend. The boat is in the boat house at the lake so I'll have to check your recommendations and current amp settings the next time I can run down there. The amp settings were whatever the factory set up originally. I never adjusted or messed with them from the time it was working fine, to when it quit.

Thanks for the help!

[Bamer]

Help diagnose problem with amp or sub

How are the two coils connected? Series or parallel? If parallel then that could be the problem because amp is working too hard.

Series will be positive amp wire to positive coil1, neg coil1 to pos coil2, neg coil2 to neg amp. You should see ~4ohms (coil1 2ohms + coil2 2ohms).

Parallel is pos amp to pos of both coil1 and coil 2. Neg amp to neg of both coil1/2. This will measure ~1 ohm.

Manual
https://pdf.crutchfieldonline.com/Im.../867SYNDX6.PDF


By not using 5-6 bridge, you are only getting 150W to the sub, bridge you can get 600W according to the latest SYN6 spec...@CHPtril will have the knowledge about your year equipment. Be sure to know what power specs are for your sub. The sub may not have high enough power handling to bridge!!!


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[Mitchss]

I am almost certain it is Parallel. I don't know what goes on in between amp and sub, but I have one gray wire + and one black wire - at the amp. At the sub, I have a gray + wire to the + terminal of both coil1 and coil 2 and a black - wire to the - terminal of both coil1/2. Strange that's how the factory wired it.

[Bamer]

I am almost certain it is Parallel. I don't know what goes on in between amp and sub, but I have one gray wire + and one black wire - at the amp. At the sub, I have a gray + wire to the + terminal of both coil1 and coil 2 and a black - wire to the - terminal of both coil1/2. Strange that's how the factory wired it.

So you should see about 1ohm at the amp then. I doubt in 2010 that the SYN6 could handle 1ohm load, today’s data sheet can’t! Assuming you measure 1ohm, I’d guess then amp is toast.


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[chpthril]

In 2010, i believe the woofer would have been a dual 4 ohm, wired in parallel to 2 ohm, then wired to just one chnl, not bridged on 5/6. Sounds like each coil was measured, still connected. This would have shown the summed value, not the value of each coil.

A couple years later, they supplied a single 4 ohm coil woofer, but still wired it to one chnl, not bridged. They later finally starting bridging the 4 ohm SVC.

Id leave the woofers wires as is at the amp for now. Bridged or not bridged, is not the cause of the woofer stopping working. The fact that it worked, stopped, worked after messing with setting, them stopped working again, points to the amp, the woofer, an RCA or low voltage to the amp. Keep in mind, this amp is basically three 2 chnl amps in one. So you can lose 1 chnl, or you can lose a pair of corresponding chnls.

Messed with the setting: Blunt question. Do you understand these adjustments? Are you confident that you have them in a safe and working point? I suspect one of those adjustment dials/buttons, has gotten oxidized. This can cause a chnl or chnls to drop it. Working the adjustment can temporarily return to operation.

[Mitchss]

Awesome info, thank you all!!!

Chpthril, your description of the factory set up would match up perfectly with how mine looks. Definitely dual coil and wired to amp not bridged.

As far as settings, I only adjusted gain and frequency slightly to see if there was any difference. When there wasn't, I set everything back to factory settings. I also tried switching the X-over button as well as the Stereo/Mono, with no effect. Both were set back to factory position.

Keep in mind, this amp is basically three 2 chnl amps in one. So you can lose 1 chnl, or you can lose a pair of corresponding chnls. This is good to know as I couldn't understand how just a couple of the channels stopped working while the others were unaffected.


When I can make the hour and half drive back to the boat, I'll try the things suggested like:

Easiest way to verify sub wiring is ok will be to remove both wires at the amp and measure the resistance (ohms) of the wiring with the sub connected. You should get 4 ohms plus or more minus a few 0.1s of ohms. If you get 4ohms, all should be good. If not, then measure sub at the sub with wires off.

If sub and wiring is good, then you can put volt meter set to AC on the output of the amp and play music, you will not get a consistent reading as the reading will jump all around. If no reading, then most likely dead amp, but don’t declare it dead yet. Get a test tone at 100Hz, assuming crossover is set to 80HZ. Play test tone and measure amp output with speaker disconnected and this time you should see a constant reading that goes up or down as you changed the volume level.

Thanks!

[Bamer]

Easiest way to verify sub wiring is ok will be to remove both wires at the amp and measure the resistance (ohms) of the wiring with the sub connected. You should get 4 ohms plus or more minus a few 0.1s of ohms. If you get 4ohms, all should be good. If not, then measure sub at the sub with wires off.
.

Thanks!

Based on CHP’s knowledge of your sub being duel 4ohm coils and if wired in parallel, then you should get about 2ohms, not 4.


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