Another Noob :)
 

This is my first attempt at setting up a car-audio system and as with every thing that i do for the first time, im having trouble. I have some crappy Pyramid Gold blue series amp which I've been trying to google forever but i cant seem to find it. It's definitely old because i got it off a friend who used it ages ago. I'll get the model # for u guys later if u might recognize it. Ok so i wire the power to it, i wire the REM cable from my deck to it, i ground it to a bolt (and the area around the bolt which i sanded) and i connect the positive and negative speaker wires from my left rear speaker. Success, i get sound, and it sounds great. I get excited, and naturally install the right speaker, however no sound in it (only the left speaker works). Puzzled, i push the button that says "bridged" or "normal" on it. suddenly the right speaker works, but no longer the left :dunno: . After turning off the system I pull out the two fuses on my amp and push em back in (both got the # 15 on them). I disconnect both speakers and try the left speaker again. wouldnt you know it doesnt work at all now. My fuse at the car battery is fine.

What on earth is going on?????? Anyone had this problem before that can help? I also noticed that on this amp, there are 2 12v+ screws, 2 grnd screws, and one REM screw. I only have one 12v wire and one grnd running (and one REM ofcourse). (Oh i almost forgot, i have my RCA cable running from my deck to the amp too, thats not the problem lol).

I'm not a fan of pyramid whatsoever but I'll give it a shot. What are you running off the amp? subs, mids or both? What are your power requirements? What kind of speakers/subs do you have? What is the model # of the amp?

hmmmm, sounds like a problem with the amp, runs one speaker bridged and the other in stereo. Never heard of anything like this happening, good luck

Ok, the amp is powering my rear 6X9" speakers, so i guess those are my mids. The actual model # of the amp is Pyramid Gold Series PB-370G "Super Blue" (It's a class A). the 6X9's are Legacy LS6945RD "Red Series" speakers. (lol maybe i shouldnt mix blue with red :) ). Anyway, I've noticed that my power and RCA cables shouldnt be beside each other so I'm gonna run the RCA cables on the driver's side. I dont know if thats going to help, so for now I'll have my deck out of its mount and directly (temporarily) connect my deck to my amp right down the middle of the car. Anyone else have any suggestions?? I'm still puzzled about having 2 grnds and 2 12V+ screws on my amp.

Oh, almost forgot, the speakers are rated 500W, which i know is unreal and the RMS wattage is unposted, but i believe the amp can power em. The reason I'm installing this amp in the first place is because my JVC deck can't power those speakers at anything over 22/50 Volume.

I found my amplifier on ebay, but i cant seem to find it online, however according to http://cgi.ebay.ca/Pyramid-PB-370G-Car-Stereo-Amplifier-500W_W0QQitemZ260003868248QQihZ016QQcategoryZ10925 4QQcmdZViewItem

the amp is 500W RMS, that should be able to power my speakers no? for further info, i noticed that it has 2 fuses on it. the bottom fuse had some aluminum foil on it, when i asked a buddy about it, he said it had something to do with "bypassing" or something. Thats about all i can say :ohwell:

I had a look at that amp and I'm sorry to say it, but it's garbage. If you can spare $100, you should be able to find something much much better...

Whats the fuse rating on the amp?

Each fuse has the number 15 on it. srry im not much of an electrical guy. I tried using a volt meter to verify im getting power to the amp, and i am, because im gettig 12-13V when i got the voltmeter connected to my wires.

Basically with 30 amps of fusing and 12.5 volts, the most power you can get out of that amp is 30 x 12.5 = 375 watts. Now before you get excited, class A amps are VERY inefficient and waste most of that power. To my knowledge, the efficiency on a class A is in the neighborhood of 45%. This equates to about 170 watts total combined power for all channels...