ShockStruck Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) First off I'll list what's in my system. Headunit - Kenwood X896 Fronts - Infinity Kappa 680.9cs components - 270 watts peak/90 watts RMS @ 2 ohms Rears - Infinity Kappa 682.9cs coaxials - 300 watts peak/100 watts RMS @ 2 ohms Amp - Kicker zx350.4 (2011 model) - 90 watts RMS/channel @ 2 ohms, 45 watts/channel @ 4 ohms Rears are not yet installed mainly because I don't want to overdrive my amp Now here's my questions I've read around and from what I hear, Kicker amps almost always put out more power then they are rated at, but as of right now with just my fronts installed(components) my amp is running pretty hot and is distorting pretty bad, leading me to believe I need to upgrade my amp. Is my amplifier powerful enough to run my components? Also, a question regarding my components, they say they are 90 watts RMS. What exactly does that mean? Is that 90 watts per side or 90 watts total? Edited June 15, 2012 by ShockStruck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassHead1990 Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 i have that amp and it sounds so clean and clear i love it! 90wrms per channel mid and tweet Quote (2007 Chevy Tahoe LT) Mechman 320A OEM AGM D'Amore Engineering HLC-2 Sig Converter D'Amore Engineering E1500.1 Fi Audio Neo 3.5 12" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpnFosgates Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 dude needs to turn the gain down. if you tune it right it wont get so hot. also check your ohm load. is it just 1 set of speakers? Quote Lucky Durango Sony hu 4 croosfire 6.5mids crossfire 600.1 mono amp American bass 1280.4 mids and highs amp aq hdc3 12 2.4 cube net box, tuned to 34 and 14.4 inches of port per cube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShockStruck Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 dude needs to turn the gain down. if you tune it right it wont get so hot. also check your ohm load. is it just 1 set of speakers? Ohm load is 2 ohms. I just have 1 set of speakers running off of 2 channels. It's wired channel 1 to left crossover, channel 2 to right crossover. My gain is barely even up at all (15/100) and it's still running hot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 your gain is likely too high. or your treble and mid and bass settings on the headunit are up from 0. or a combination. you wont overdrive the amp by putting 4 speakers on it. thats what its made for for gods sake. 90 watts means that each side is 90 watts. meaning (again) that both speakers (one tweeter and one midrange speaker) combined can handle 90 watts rms. so each speaker in itself is probably 45 watts, but theres no way to tell since that information isnt given so disregard this sentence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 where is the amp grounded to? are the power and ground wires of adequate size? meaning if the amp calls for 4 gauge, are you using 4 gauge and not 8? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShockStruck Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 where is the amp grounded to? are the power and ground wires of adequate size? meaning if the amp calls for 4 gauge, are you using 4 gauge and not 8? I'm running Kicker 8 awg from front battery to amplifier(amp takes 8 awg) and 8 awg ground to bolt behind trunk lining. I might add that I am running only 1 battery that was just purchased (Duralast red top - 590 cold cranking amps) but since I'm not running any crazy wattage, I figured it should be okay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShockStruck Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) your gain is likely too high. or your treble and mid and bass settings on the headunit are up from 0. or a combination. you wont overdrive the amp by putting 4 speakers on it. thats what its made for for gods sake. 90 watts means that each side is 90 watts. meaning (again) that both speakers (one tweeter and one midrange speaker) combined can handle 90 watts rms. so each speaker in itself is probably 45 watts, but theres no way to tell since that information isnt given so disregard this sentence. My rears are 100 watts, amp puts out 90. Since it's running hot with 90 watt speakers, I didn't think it was a good idea to try and install 100 watt speakersHeadunit settings are flat, gain is barely even touched(15/100) Edited June 15, 2012 by ShockStruck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 your gain is likely too high. or your treble and mid and bass settings on the headunit are up from 0. or a combination. you wont overdrive the amp by putting 4 speakers on it. thats what its made for for gods sake. 90 watts means that each side is 90 watts. meaning (again) that both speakers (one tweeter and one midrange speaker) combined can handle 90 watts rms. so each speaker in itself is probably 45 watts, but theres no way to tell since that information isnt given so disregard this sentence. My rears are 100 watts, amp puts out 90. Since it's running hot with 90 watt speakers, I didn't think it was a good idea to try and install 100 watt speakers the wattage of the speakers has nothing to do with how hot an amp will get. i can put a 100w amp to a 1000w sub and neither will get warm as long as everything is properly set up and you dont overdrive the amp and there is a strong ground and tight connections all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShockStruck Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 your gain is likely too high. or your treble and mid and bass settings on the headunit are up from 0. or a combination. you wont overdrive the amp by putting 4 speakers on it. thats what its made for for gods sake. 90 watts means that each side is 90 watts. meaning (again) that both speakers (one tweeter and one midrange speaker) combined can handle 90 watts rms. so each speaker in itself is probably 45 watts, but theres no way to tell since that information isnt given so disregard this sentence. My rears are 100 watts, amp puts out 90. Since it's running hot with 90 watt speakers, I didn't think it was a good idea to try and install 100 watt speakers the wattage of the speakers has nothing to do with how hot an amp will get. i can put a 100w amp to a 1000w sub and neither will get warm as long as everything is properly set up and you dont overdrive the amp and there is a strong ground and tight connections all around. That clears up some misunderstanding but the thing is, I've ran my amp at 0 gain and it was still running pretty hot (not warm, but hot), all of my connections are strong, and I'm above 12 volts on my voltage guage. I'm starting to believe that my amp might be damaged since I bought it used, could that be a possibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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