[navin]

Originally Posted by adityamunshi

I have another question about amps, Other than making the music louder, how does the amp help ?

an amp can control your speakers better and hence not only can you play louder but you will find that the bass is better defined. A good amp that complements your speakers will also make the mids and high frequencies sound smoother.

[nishantgandhi]

Originally Posted by adityamunshi

I have another question about amps, Other than making the music louder, how does the amp help ?

In the context of my setup, (four speakers running off the HU) what will be the difference at the same volume ?

I am no ICE guru, but from what I have learnt and gathered on TBHP forum - an amp helps deliver cleaner, richer sounds. There is less to almost nil distortion (unless of course you crank up the volume to the max!). Basically the HU in built amp is of a low power rating so it cannot provide adequate juice to the speakers and hence the sound will not be amazing. It will be good nonetheless, but not best.

It's like the difference between 'a must have' vs 'a nice-to-have'

[manujkansal]

well i have a question. my speakers make a very irritating humming sound all the time . the mechanic says that its because of the amplifier and this happens in case of every amp. Is it true ? I have even got a noise filter installed. what is the solution to this problem ?

[abhinav.gupta88]

Aha,
You've got pioneer right?

Does it increase with RPM.
Is it like a whistle?

[manujkansal]

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

Does it increase with RPM.
Is it like a whistle?

no it is not that. that is the sound of race . well that is not the case with me. actually its a general humming sound which increases with increase in volume.

[Sportsmind]

I had my ICE upgrade completed last week, with a hertz amp and a polk sub. The amp is installed under the front passenger seat. I have been observing that it gets heated very fast. Is this normal. Hope there is no need for worries when i do the long trips of 8 and 10 of drives, when i normally have the ICE running non stop.

[Sam Kapasi]

Amplifiers do get hot, quite hot in running.

However if your amplifier is heating up to I-cannot-touch-it hot in a few minutes of switching it on, you may have a problem.

If you want to be sure that there is no short-circuit, turn the amplifier on with no volume and leave it on for a few minutes. The amplifier should not be hot to touch, just warm. If it is still hot, you have a problem.

[Sportsmind]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Amplifiers do get hot, quite hot in running.

However if your amplifier is heating up to I-cannot-touch-it hot in a few minutes of switching it on, you may have a problem.

If you want to be sure that there is no short-circuit, turn the amplifier on with no volume and leave it on for a few minutes. The amplifier should not be hot to touch, just warm. If it is still hot, you have a problem.

Thanks sam, shall do the checks as you mentioned.

[greenh0rn]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Amplifiers do get hot, quite hot in running.

However if your amplifier is heating up to I-cannot-touch-it hot in a few minutes of switching it on, you may have a problem.

If you want to be sure that there is no short-circuit, turn the amplifier on with no volume and leave it on for a few minutes. The amplifier should not be hot to touch, just warm. If it is still hot, you have a problem.

Sam what part inside would be the problem here- can't imagine the entire board heating and transferring its heat to the outer casing.

[ghpk]

It should be your Power IC or Power Transistor which gets heated up.
Wrong connectivity/improper grounding can be 2 prime causes.

[Turbo Head]

Originally Posted by manujkansal

well i have a question. my speakers make a very irritating humming sound all the time . the mechanic says that its because of the amplifier and this happens in case of every amp. Is it true ? I have even got a noise filter installed. what is the solution to this problem ?

Check it out for proper earthing, that is the culprit most of the time, the headset and the amp both have to be grounded properly to avoid any sort of humming.

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

Aha,
You've got pioneer right?

Does it increase with RPM.
Is it like a whistle?

Dude it has nothing to do with pioneer
Any headset/amp which is not grounded properly will do this

[navin]

Originally Posted by greenh0rn

Sam what part inside would be the problem here- can't imagine the entire board heating and transferring its heat to the outer casing.

the borad is not phyically connected to the casing (which usually is also the heat sink). If the output transistors are being forced to carry too much current then they will heat up and since they are connected to the casing (heatsink) the caing will heat up. The cause for this however could be anything from a short (usually short circuit protection will trip), to a passive component going south and hence dumping too much bias current into the output transistors etc..

[greenh0rn]

Originally Posted by navin

the borad is not phyically connected to the casing (which usually is also the heat sink). If the output transistors are being forced to carry too much current then they will heat up and since they are connected to the casing (heatsink) the caing will heat up. The cause for this however could be anything from a short (usually short circuit protection will trip), to a passive component going south and hence dumping too much bias current into the output transistors etc..

Thanks Navin. My other query was about the casing/heatsink- many guys (including me) put the amp on the back of the rear seat in a hatch, so suppose if we are packing the boot with bags for a trip, which will effectively suffocate the amp (some bags might get touchy-feely with the amp's casing)- will this affect heat dissipation majorly, causing either of a) amp tripping, b) bags catching fire?