4-Channel Amps outputting the same voltage, one side sounds louder

[dwz]

What's up yall

I have a 4-channel amp (Alpine F300) that is running bridged, powering a set of Alpine Type-S 6.5" components.

The output is the same on each channel, but the right sounds louder than the left. I found out that the tweeter is facing an elevated part of the dash which would prevent it from dispersing sound properly. While on the passenger side, the dash isn't elevated and it flows down and sounds great.

I'm planning on changing the directions of the tweeters to the rear view mirror instead of straight out from the door (they're in the factory locations).

My question is, if the amp is outputting the same voltage and speakers sound different, is it the speakers that could be the issue? OR is it possible for amps to get damaged to where they still send the same amount of voltage, but the volume actually being sent to the speakers isn't the same? I'm wondering if my amp is damaged and one of the channels is not as loud as the other. Like.... if one channel was out, lets say channel 1, and 1/2 and 3/4 were @ the same voltage /w a test tone, and the knobs are visually in the same spots, could I still experience a lower volume in channels 1/2?

Thanks for your help

[skittlesRgood]

is it a big difference or do you just hear the driver side a little louder?

rear view mirror or the side mirrors?

try sitting in the passenger seat and listen to it?

Edited March 25, 2011 by skittlesRgood

[DeathByBass]

Had to edit this.

Edited March 25, 2011 by DeathByBass

[DeathByBass]

Have you checked your rcas ? And the Polarity on the speakers

[dwz]

My tweeters are coming from right next to the side mirrors, facing straight out. I'm going to angle them towards the rear view mirror tomorrow.

When listening in the passenger seat, it still sounds louder from the right side. But then again, since the dash and steering wheel are in the way, the left tweeter could possibly be not hitting the left side of the passenger side.

I wanna clarify that the difference in volume isn't tremendous, but it's noticeable to my ears.

I've checked my RCA's, and one of them has a minor short at the headunit so I bent it and kept it in place with duct tape. It's pretty solid. If I check my RCA's again, and one of them is bad, would that mean the gain would need to be higher for channels 1/2 in result?

As for the polarity, when sitting in the passenger seat, I guess I can try switching the polarity of the right speaker since the sound seems like it's coming from the door (hints of out of phase). However it could also sound like that cause the highs aren't coming in from the left thanks to the driver dash and angle of the tweeters.

If the RCA's are good, and the phase is good, would L and R theoretically be sending the same levels of volume to the speakers no matter what?

Edited March 25, 2011 by dwz

[skittlesRgood]

what tone did you use when you measured voltage?

if the RCAs are bad, you replace them lol.

again, how big of a difference is there?

what HU do you have?

[dwz]

what tone did you use when you measured voltage?

if the RCAs are bad, you replace them lol.

again, how big of a difference is there?

what HU do you have?

I used an 80hz tone... do you have suggestions for what I should be using instead?

As for the RCA's, the issue with the RCA's is actually in the headunit. One channel wasn't holding in the pin properly so I used some tweezers to bend them so its tight against the pin. I have a bunch of extra's though.

I'm using an Alpine CDE-102 headunit. But I opened it up to check the solder points, so I can't have it serviced under the Best Buy service plan. I'll have to wait til they let me simply replace it.

If anything, which RCA's do you think are better? Or are they about the same?

I was using these, but changed to kicker.. I ended up getting these cause I was paranoid about one of the set, but they're good now that I found out it was the headunit.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_16508_Rockford-Fosgate-RFIT-20.html?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=froogle

I ended up getting these and was too lazy to change.

http://www.kicker.com/signal_cable X2 X125 2CH

I'm using the 2CH RCA on the F/R on the headunit, and then I split them with kicker y-splitters @ the 4-channel amp

Edited March 25, 2011 by dwz

[skittlesRgood]

for tuning components i would use 100hz but for this test it shouldnt matter much.

was it the inner pin or outer part of the RCA that you bent? if it was the inner, so you mean the RCA had a split pin that you just expanded? if so, thats not really a HU defect. its pretty common. in fact thats why I buy split tip RCAs.

[jconnway]

check all the connections, speaker to amp, terminal to wire. its probably bad RCAs and one side is getting a cleaner signal as a result. one time, my left channel was playing much stronger than my right and it was just a loose power wire in the back (the connection wasnt fully secured)

[dwz]

for tuning components i would use 100hz but for this test it shouldnt matter much.

was it the inner pin or outer part of the RCA that you bent? if it was the inner, so you mean the RCA had a split pin that you just expanded? if so, thats not really a HU defect. its pretty common. in fact thats why I buy split tip RCAs.

There were little metal pieces on the inside of the RCA jack on the headunit. I bent them so that they hug the pin better, cause they seemed to be loose.

Jconn, if I measured the voltage coming from the headunit, by using a multimeter on the RCA's, and they were the same, could the RCA's still be bad?

And to everyone here.. is it possible for it to be an internal headunit or amp problem? It's gettin difficult to diagnose.

Just so you know I already replaced the left speaker set with a spare I had. Same problem. Hopefully the crossover I changed out was good too.

Edited March 25, 2011 by dwz