Thanks for the link and all info you and everyone else have given me.

I finally got my system hooked up today. Everything came on when I powered it up. But I have a problem. I have to turn the volume all the way up to hear it. I did flip the switch on the bottom of the stereo for the amps (ext ap) Not sure what is wrong. Any help is appreciated.

This is my system:

Head unit - iDA-X100M
Speakers 4 pr - SPR-M700 7"
Subs 2 - SWR-M100 10"
1 amp for subs -PDX-1.600M
2 amps for speakers - PDX-4.100M

May be a dumb question, but you set the gain??

What is the voltage of the preouts coming off the head unit?? 2v, 4v, or 5v? It will make a difference when you have more amps. Does the stereo have zones? If so, make sure you are on the right one.. Make sure the stereo is not on ATT mode. All these can come into play..

First of all... no question is dumb. This is my first ever install.:eek: I adjusted the gain. But it didnt make much difference.

I wasnt able to check the the volts. Ill do that tomorrow or Monday. Phone isnt hooked up to stereo so I dont think the ATT mode on.

ATT is like a mute function. Its just a button on the radio that will drop the sound.

Your Alpine head unit is only a 2v preamp output. You didn't, by chance, put a Y adapter on your RCA's did you, to support all 3 amps? That can cause enough signal drop on a low voltage RCA to make it sound quite. Since you are using 2 - 4 channel amps, you'd have to put splitters in since the Alpine headunit supports only 6.

How did you wire the speakers to the amps if you are using 8 channels for 4? You really only need one of those alpine 4 channels for those 4 speakers. THey are 150w peak and each of those amps are producing 100w rms, which is plenty for each speaker. I would take 1 of the 4 channels out and just use 2 amps. 1 for subs, 1 for speakers.

Someone I knows has the exact same setup. Yes I have Y`s on the RCA`s. Thats what the audio shop told me to use. They put his system in.

I am using 8 speakers (4pr). These are connected to th 2 amps - 1 speaker per channel. I dont have the amp for the subs hooked up yet. That wouldnt cause the problem would it?

I am headed back up to work on it later today.

Get rid of the Y's. Your head unit has 6 channels of pre outs. One for subs, one for fronts and one for rears.
The amps also have a switch so you can run only one set of inputs/preouts to them and power all 4 channels.

Check the gains on the amps. Make sure they are turned up. The Y's will only drop your output a very little bit, maybe 3DB (very little) I don't see why you are using them but I don't think they are causing your issue either. If you have a spare set of RCA's then try running them from the head unit to each amp channel. Make sure you don't have the bridged switch in the on possition, make sure your fader and balance are at 0. If you have an IPOD or I-touch test with taht into the amp with a headphone to RCA adaptor cable you can get at any Radio Shack. Could be a bad head unit... Start by breaking the system down into small parts and get each part working on it's own then start adding.

I got the amps going for the mid's. They sound good. Have to do some adjusting, but I can handle that. Now I have a issue with the amp for the subs. I think its shot. A red fault light comes on when it is powered on. Everything is wired correctly. Guess I'll have to see about getting another amp.

Did you try and remove the speaker wires from the amp and see if you still get the FAULT light? If you do not get a fault light that way try removing the speaker and leaving the wires hooked up. Ussually a bad speaker is what causes that or a speaker that is wired incorrectly or a wire that is shorted out.

Did you set your crossovers for the mids and highs and the subs? If not and you want a starting point I would start with the mids/highs at 120 and the subs at about 80 or lower. If your amp has a slope switch on it then set it up as high as it will go (24db per octave for example). These are just starting points but they should keep your equipment protected tell you can get it all set up perfect.