Hifonics Zeus

[92mr2T]

Anyone run one of these Amps? Ive had one for almost a year and it keeps cutting off when the bass hits. I have a good ground,wiring, and my sub is not blown. I think the AMP has an internal problem. Its a zxI 6406 model (4 channel). I have it bridged on both sides. 4 speakers on ch1 and 1 sub on ch3. I hope Sonic will exchange it for a newer model, but at this point I don't trust these Hifonics amps anymore. Thinking of getting the Kicker zx650.4.

[slimm]

how do you have it wired? if theyre not wired right, the ohm ratings are my be off. that would cause the amp to clip. if it is messed up, Adrenaline Tuning can repair it for you.

[DynamicSound]

Yeah, most likely you are trying to run it at a too low of an Ohm load. It also make sure your power and ground wires match as far as gauge. I see people all the time have a 4 gauge power wire and a 8 gauge ground wire. Another problem with that is mixing brands. This is because some brands 4 gauge kits are truly 8 gauge...it is just sorrounded with tons of rubber to make it look like it a 4 gauge. So if you had a true 4 gauge on the power and a cheap 4 gauge on the ground...you could be getting the same effect.

[92mr2T]

well, I have the 4 channel bridged so Im running 2 channels just using the sub(single 4ohm) for a left and 4 speakers for the mids and highs using the right (channel1 and channel3). Yes, I know I have no fade or balance, I have both sides wired to give me a 4 ohm load on each channel. I ran this amp in my 96 civic with the same wiring plan. The only difference is I am using a different brand 4 gauge power and ground plus the amp is in a chevy with an ls1 motor now. I know better than using a smaller ground than the power cable. I hope my new power cables aren't an issue or my chevy! The ground is only 3ft long and my power cable is about 16-17ft long. I really hope its just the amp! Im probably gonna add some tweeters to lay on the dash and rewire the mids and highs so i can at least have balance. I have no blown fuses either.

[92mr2T]

Yeah, most likely you are trying to run it at a too low of an Ohm load. It also make sure your power and ground wires match as far as gauge. I see people all the time have a 4 gauge power wire and a 8 gauge ground wire. Another problem with that is mixing brands. This is because some brands 4 gauge kits are truly 8 gauge...it is just sorrounded with tons of rubber to make it look like it a 4 gauge. So if you had a true 4 gauge on the power and a cheap 4 gauge on the ground...you could be getting the same effect.

I hope my 4 gauge is true 4 gauge since the old 4 gauge was purchased in a kit for like $30 at a flea market. From what I can remember the new power cable seems to be similar in thickness to the old one. The insulation was blue for the power and clear for the ground. Now My power is Red and ground is brown. Ill see if i can dig up some pics on what brands i had/have. The old RCA patch cables weren't shielded and the new ones are. I think I had a noise problem which could have been a ground issue, but Im not having the noise issue anymore with the shielded wires. And yes I know not to route the power cables near the RCA cables.

[civic-r11]

i have always used Hifonics Zeus amps for years now.. and they have not given me any problems.. i like them better than kicker.. for sure!!

[BanginJimmy]

let me get this right.

Channel 1 has 2 mids
Channel 2 ?
Channel 3 has 2 mids
Channel 4 sub

Do I have that right?

If I do then you are running channels 1 and 3 at 2 ohm then the sub at 2 ohm?

[DynamicSound]

let me get this right.

Channel 1 has 2 mids
Channel 2 ?
Channel 3 has 2 mids
Channel 4 sub

Do I have that right?

If I do then you are running channels 1 and 3 at 2 ohm then the sub at 2 ohm?

He has all 4 bridged...1/3 running 4 speakers...2/4 running 1 sub.

As long as you ran the 4 speakers to a 4ohm load (parallel down/series up or series up/parallel down) then it is not a ohm load problem since you said your sub is a single 4ohm.

As far as the wiring, as long as you bought a kit all the wiring would be the same, so that would not be it. I was speaking more of if you mixed wires and even through they both are 4 gauge, one my be a cheap 4 gauge with more insolation than normal.

The last thing to check is to make sure your gain is not turned up too much. That can cause the amp to shut off.

[BanginJimmy]

I suck at trying to troubleshoot without actually looking at it. I am guessing it is something with the wiring or gains though. Or there is the fact you may have gotten a bad amp or damaged it in some way. EVERY manufacturer in the world has the occasional bad product leave their factory no matter how much QC they do. This is especially true of chinese manufactured products.

[92mr2T]

I suck at trying to troubleshoot without actually looking at it. I am guessing it is something with the wiring or gains though. Or there is the fact you may have gotten a bad amp or damaged it in some way. EVERY manufacturer in the world has the occasional bad product leave their factory no matter how much QC they do. This is especially true of chinese manufactured products.

Thanks Bangin, its all good. Dynamic has it correct though. Im running two 6.5's and two 5.25's in series/parallel to give me a 4 ohm load bridged on 1 side and a single 4ohm 12'' sub on the other side that I have bridged. I have no balance or fade capability but thats fine as long as I can balance the levels between the highs and lows. I never turn the gain all the way up. Usually just to about 80% depending on what everything sounds like.

I actually thought the kicker would have been better, but maybe Im just deaf literally.

[92mr2T]

He has all 4 bridged...1/3 running 4 speakers...2/4 running 1 sub.

As long as you ran the 4 speakers to a 4ohm load (parallel down/series up or series up/parallel down) then it is not a ohm load problem since you said your sub is a single 4ohm.

As far as the wiring, as long as you bought a kit all the wiring would be the same, so that would not be it. I was speaking more of if you mixed wires and even through they both are 4 gauge, one my be a cheap 4 gauge with more insolation than normal.

The last thing to check is to make sure your gain is not turned up too much. That can cause the amp to shut off.

I actually had the same problem last year with the different cable kit last year, so Im gonna assume its the amp at this point.

[BanginJimmy]

TUsually just to about 80% depending on what everything sounds like.


That is most likely your problem. You need to set your gains correctly or that clipping will kill your sub and speakers. Clipping also creates more heat which can cause your amp to go into thermal protection.

[DynamicSound]

Yep, 80% is too high. At the most you would go up to 75% (3/4) of the way. However, how you tune an amp is...

1) Turn the gain on the amp all the way down to 0.
2) Turn up the headunit to the max listening level that you would use.
3) Slowly adjust the gain up until it starts cutting out or clipping.
4) Once you hit that point, you need to adjust it down a little from there.
5) Then you should be fine running at that level.

You can run a gain high as long as you do not turn up the headunit. When you turn up the volume, when the bass hits, it makes the amp overload which makes it cut off or go into protect mode. This will happen on all amps, no matter the brand.

As far as going to Kicker, you will not getting anything different. When power levels are equal, amps are pretty much the same when it comes to pushing a sub since clarity is not as much as an issue.

[92mr2T]

Yep, 80% is too high. At the most you would go up to 75% (3/4) of the way. However, how you tune an amp is...

1) Turn the gain on the amp all the way down to 0.
2) Turn up the headunit to the max listening level that you would use.
3) Slowly adjust the gain up until it starts cutting out or clipping.
4) Once you hit that point, you need to adjust it down a little from there.
5) Then you should be fine running at that level.

You can run a gain high as long as you do not turn up the headunit. When you turn up the volume, when the bass hits, it makes the amp overload which makes it cut off or go into protect mode. This will happen on all amps, no matter the brand.

As far as going to Kicker, you will not getting anything different. When power levels are equal, amps are pretty much the same when it comes to pushing a sub since clarity is not as much as an issue.

Ok got it! I guess I used to do this all the time and didn't have too many problems until I started buying newer amps. I really miss my orion 225hcca. Well, Im still looking at getting the Kicker zx650.4 or either a Boston Acoustics GT-42. The Boston acoustics seems to be 2ohm stable in brigded mode while the kicker is only 40hm stable when bridged. Im leaning towards the boston acoustics since its about $10 cheaper and puts out a little more power in bridged mode 400wrmsx2@2oms versus the Kicker at 325wrmsx2@4ohms. The only problem is I would have to run a 10'' sub that is dvc to get the 400wrms from the amp opposed to my old school 12'' solo-b that Is a single voice coil of 4 ohms.

[DynamicSound]

Ok got it! I guess I used to do this all the time and didn't have too many problems until I started buying newer amps. I really miss my orion 225hcca. Well, Im still looking at getting the Kicker zx650.4 or either a Boston Acoustics GT-42. The Boston acoustics seems to be 2ohm stable in brigded mode while the kicker is only 40hm stable when bridged. Im leaning towards the boston acoustics since its about $10 cheaper and puts out a little more power in bridged mode 400wrmsx2@2oms versus the Kicker at 325wrmsx2@4ohms. The only problem is I would have to run a 10'' sub that is dvc to get the 400wrms from the amp opposed to my old school 12'' solo-b that Is a single voice coil of 4 ohms.

You might want to check out JL Audio too. They are great because they put out the same power no matter what the ohm load.

[92mr2T]

Finally got everything resolved. Problem was user error! Sonic took about 3 weeks to get my amp back to me. I ended up locating a better ground and ran some extra grounds from the the battery to chassis and the alternator to chassis.

I rewired the the speakers to allow for balance. The tweeters sound great. Thanks DynamicSound! Ill probably send someone else your way soon for some tweeters or may come back and pick up some extra for myself.

I'm happy with the Zeus zxi 6406 and it has plenty of power for my needs. I now have the gains for the sub and the mids/highs at less then 40% mark! Thanks everyone for all the help.