Need professional solution

[babu123]

Hey..

I have a Sony XMDS1300P5 1-Channel Car Amplifier. It was powering my 2 Rockford P212S4 12" subs for about a year until it recently blew both its 30A fuses. I have checked all connections and they seem to be fine. I replaced the fuses and those blew as well before i could connect the subs. I was suggested by one person that there may be a possible ground wire issue. Someone else told me that the amplifier itself is dysfunctional due to the fact that it blew the fuses before the load was connected. I really need some expert advice on what are my alternatives other than purchasing a new amplifier. Btw the amp cost about $300 (CDN) at the time and i am not willing to spend more than $50 on it.. not that im cheap but it doesnt seem worth it.. might as well buy a new one... also i have heard sony amps are not very reliable and now i have living proof of that fact.

[Alme]

If the fuses blow as soon as you connect battery, then FET converter died there. This could happen,
- because of overheating (or overheating protection failure);
- bacause of input overvoltage (if alternator produces for some reason above 16VDC - that happens sometimes!);
- because of main amplifier and overload protection failure.
(not mentioning random defect failure)
Show it to service professional and you'll get it back alive soon. But maybe repair cost will be over 50USD in Canada - i'm not in the know

[DonoMan]

Yeah, Sony car products are absolutely horrible. If you want to replace it, I recommend searching for Planet Audio on Ebay. Very reasonable prices. I have a Planet Audio P1250D driving 2 JL Audio 12W6s and it works very well. Or look for Xtants on Ebay - they often go for a good price and Xtant is a very good brand.

Brands to AVOID:
-Pyramid (all variations, even those with words like super, royal, etc)
-Pyle
-Legacy
-American Legacy
-American Pro
-Sony
-Profile
-Boss
-Soundstorm/Viper
-Bazooka
-Jensen
-Road Gear
-Volfenhag
-Audiobahn
-Audiovox/Rampage/Prestige
-Radio Shack brands
-Anything where the brand is not given or is hard to find

[Evan Shultz]

I have found that blowing fuses without a load connected is often a power supply issue. Usually it would be a shorted diode, transistor, or transformer. If it is not the transfomer it is easy to check and replace. I would start with that. Also just check some traces and make sure obvious connections are made. Check impedance between battery input terminals, output terminals, and the input and output of any regulators on board. A 'hard' failure like that often isn't too difficult to find.

[Yves Smolders]

If you have an idea of the layout, and you can find some (working) rails around 40V you could pop 60$ on a UcD180?

I'm afraid it won't handle the load of 2 of your subs in parallel though... It's 2 omhs load if I read the specs correctly, so you have to put them in parallel.

Jan-Peter stated that the Ucd400 "new" version is stable even below 2 ohms but you won't get power doubling from 4 to 2 ohms or below.

About a year you say... how about warranty?

[spots25]

Its a sony, it did what it does best. I think its time you saw what a GOOD amp can do for you. Check out the Minilith http://www.zedaudio.com/products.html I've owned a bunch of Zed amps in the past, and they have are phenominal performers.