A lot of people love good music, which is why they will always ensure they have the proper equipment to enjoy it – like a good home stereo system. But with technology comes technical difficulties. One common complaint we hear from people is: My Amp has Power but no sound to sub.
Amplifiers produce power to subwoofers to produce bass and good sound quality. Subwoofers are electronic speakers specially designed to produce low-frequency sounds like a bass.
In situations when your amplifier has power but no sound is coming from the subwoofer, you wont enjoy it. You’re favorite song sounds less than impressive without the bass.
In this post, we will walk you through how to troubleshoot and fix a faulty amplifier.
The Working Principles of an Amplifier
You’ll first want to understand how an amplifier works normally before we can know how to troubleshoot it when faulty and also fix any fault that is detected. So before you ask why the sound isn’t up to par, check out the working principles.
As the name implies, an amp amplifies or boosts the sound it receives from a particular source and transmits the sound signal it receives to the subwoofers. The subwoofers then produce the bass sound.
The audio signal received from the music source is improved through the process known as audio amplification. The magnitude of sound produced at the end depends on the magnitude of the signal received initially.
Most amplifiers are powered by a voltage of about 12 volts. You should also expect that to be the voltage at the final output level. It shouldn’t be more than this.
My Amp Has Power But No Sound to Sub: The Major Causes
If you notice that your amplifier isn’t producing any sound, many reasons could be responsible for that. We’ll go over some of the most common ones below.
It Could be Overheating With a High Current
When an amplifier begins to experience overheating, it will lead to excess current and voltage, which will gradually begin to affect the quality of sound that the speakers will produce.
If the user doesn’t observe this problem early enough, the effect will increase over time and eventually lead to a total lack of sound. When an amplifier begins to overheat, certain factors might have contributed to it.
Fortunately, amplifiers also come with a cooling system that helps to regulate the temperature of the amp when it is higher than normal. But unfortunately, the cooling system can be faulty, causing the amp to overheat anyway.
Another reason for overheating could be using the amplifier on a hot surface or in direct sunlight. This can also affect it and possibly cause overheating.
Since overheating is so common, the first thing to do is switch off the power source and disconnect everything when you notice that your amp is overheating and not producing any signals.
Now you can try to find out the cause of the overheating.
Faulty Power System
Your amplifier can sometimes develop a fault that will affect the power system and can lead to the disappearance of sound signals from the amplifier. So it is very important to check the power system of the amplifier too.
It could be that the amplifier remote isn’t working as it should, or there could be a wiring problem. If the real cause is detected, you can repair the remote or adjust the wiring system.
Faulty Remote System
Amplifiers usually come with remotes for controlling them. The same way the subwoofer will not receive any signal if the remote’s power button isn’t on, the remote won’t power the amplifier if there is a problem with the wiring system.
You might conclude that your amplifier is faulty if the remote doesn’t power it, but you’d be wrong in this case. That is why it’s important to try powering it on manually – without the remote – to see if it will come on.
Once you detect that there is a problem with the remote, you can check the arrangement of the batteries in the remote. If the batteries aren’t arranged in the proper way, the remote won’t work.
Also, the remote wire around the batteries could be disconnected or sometimes rusted. This can also affect the remote’s performance. So make sure the batteries are well arranged and the wires are properly connected.
The Power Wires Could be Faulty
The amplifier receives current through the power wires. So the major function of the power wire is to deliver current to the amplifier.
The power wires also connect the amplifier to the subwoofer to transmit signals. One thing that could go wrong with the power wire is that it could burn, especially when an incorrect gauge is used.
We know that part of the energy used to carry current through the power wires is converted to heat, which is one reason the wire gets burnt.
So the thickness of the power wires needs to be put into consideration. Not all wires can withstand the heat produced when the current is passing through. Thin wires tend to burn out very easily and can be the reason why sound isn’t reaching the speakers.
So it is important to make sure that the wires are able to withstand the heat produced when there is a flow of current.
Corrosion may also affect the current flowing through the wires. In a situation like this, the amplifier will turn on, but won’t be able to supply enough power required for the speaker to produce sound.
How to Troubleshoot an Amplifier That Has Power but No Sound from the Sub
Inspect the Input and Output of the Amplifier
Suppose you discover that your amplifier in your car is turned on but not producing any sound in the speaker. In that case, you can check if its input is properly connected to the head unit, especially the RCA cables that connect them.
It is important to check if the RCA cables are plugged into the right ports or aren’t disconnected because the RCA cables deliver signals to the amplifier. So you check to make sure that the cables aren’t the problem.
You can get another subwoofer or speaker when you want to check the output. You should hook the subwoofer up to all channels in the amplifier to check for issues in the output.
The cables can be tested with a multimeter to see if there is any voltage in them. You should change the damaged ones to make sure everything is working well.
Check the Amplifier’s Power
From what we’ve discussed so far, we’ve established the fact that an amplifier can still come on if it isn’t supplied with the required amount of voltage. The only way to know is that the speakers or subwoofers won’t receive signals from the amp.
The normal voltage range for a good amplifier is about 12-14 volts. So you can test for the voltage of your amplifier using a multimeter to ensure that it doesn’t fall below 12 volts. If this happens, then the problem is low voltage.
As mentioned, you should inspect the battery connections. You should also check the fuse in your amp. In addition, the ohms reading should be measured with a multimeter to see if it’s okay.
In a case when the fuse is blown, before replacing it, make sure you are replacing it with the fuse that corresponds to your amplifier so it won’t be damaged. If it still blows up after doing this, then the wiring might need to be checked for faults.
Verify that the Subwoofer isn’t Short-Circuited
Sometimes, when your subwoofers don’t receive sound signals from your amplifier, the problem might not be with the amp. It could be that the subwoofer is short-circuited.
It is kind of difficult to detect a short-circuit problem when it occurs. The best way to find out if the subwoofer is short-circuited is by getting it connected to another amplifier.
If you still don’t get sound signals in the subwoofer, it might just be that some wires are burnt, making it impossible for signals to be transmitted.
Bottom Line
If you ever notice that your amp has power, but there’s no sound going to your sub, follow these steps to get to the root of the problem. Try troubleshooting it if you discover that your sub isn’t receiving sound signals from your amplifier.