20 Most Recent Kenwood KAC-8101D Car Audio Amplifier Questions & Answers

Audio section
Max Power Output (4 ohms, 1kHz)
Rear 70W + 70W
Front 35W + 35W
Max Power Output (4 ohms, 1kHz, 10% THD)
Rear 45W + 45W
Front 25W + 25W
Max Power Output (4 ohms, 1kHz, 1& THD)
Rear 37W + 37W
Front 20W + 20W
Frequency Response (-3dB)
Rear 2 Hz ~ 100 kHz
Front 5 Hz ~ 50 kHz

I just bought some at Radio Shack

Check the connection of the rca cables coming from the radio. One way to test to make sure the speakers are connected properly is take a portable drill battery. Touch your positive and negative leads of your speaker wire to each terminal on your drill battery. If it pops that means they are properly connected. Also, What lights are on on the amp?

it sounds like the power wire might be grounding out somewhere that you dont know of it could be by the fuse link so I would say put electrical tape on any exposed wire on the fuse link first if that don't work try change the power wire.

sounds like you have the power antenna remote wire (blue) instead of the amp remote wire (blue/white stripe). when you go from radio to cd the power antenna wire shuts off.

Hi I am vortash .. sorry to say it sounds like your output stage has gone and it will need to be repaired by a service engineer . regards Vortash

first make sure your remote wire is hooked to amp turn on wire not power antenna wire if head unit has both wires or if you have multiple amps you may need to put a relay in line to help keep voltage steady

Hello sbendorffe,

You can download a manual for the GX-401EF2 here:

http://eshop-manuals.com/product_info.php/cPath/17/products_id/197639

Hope this helps.

Hi There.

When you say the 40 Amp fuse blew. Was it your mains battery fuse or was it the fuse on the amplifier? If it was the fuse on the amplifier then you may have hurt the amplifier. The Kenwood KAC-8101D is a 1000 Watt monoblock amplifier. Therefore if you say that 1 of your woofers is not playing, then it is almost certainly blown if you are sure it is connected correctly. Try disconnecting it and only running the woofer that tries to play. If this woofer is still working correctly, you will notice a drastic drop if the sound of your bass. The reason for this is because you have changed the impedance load on your amplifier due to the fact that the other woofer is not working. Have your working woofer checked and replace the faulty woofer then you should be banging again.

Hope this helps!!

no its not dead u prob blew a couple of heat sensors or a capacitor. most defenetly a capacitor. ceck ur capacitor and see if its blowned

Hello pelikant75,

The best answer depends on your budget for the sub(s) and exactly what kind of sound you are looking to get. Your amps RMS output at 4 ohms is 200 watts and at 2 ohms, it's 400 watts. I could not find that it was 1 ohm stable.

If you are looking for the absolute best bang for your buck, I would highly recommend a pair of entry level MTX 10" subs, model 4501-04, currently priced by Crutchfield at $49.99. And if you buy a pair, they throw in a free Bass Slammer BS210S sealed enclosure. The MTX's power range is 112.5 to 225 watts each, right in there with your amps output. 2 of them in parallel give you a 2 ohm load, just right for your amps best power. And they sound great. You simply can't find a better deal for $100 bucks!

If you want a little better SQ, a pair of Rockford-Fosgate P1S410's should be considered. Again, going to Crutchfield, they currently have this one "BOGO" (buy one get one) for $99.99. You will have to provide your own box, though, no free one with these.

Finally, if you want the best SQ, and your budget allows, consider a set of Alpine SWR-1022D's for $179.99 each. These have dual 2 ohm voice coils, allowing you to series the coils and parallel the subs, resulting in a 2 ohm load to you amp just like the MTX's and RF's recommended above. You will probably want a somewhat larger enclosure for the Alpines as well as a fatter wallet. Your amp is right at the lower end for powering them, so they probably will not be as loud. But they will sound good.

One thing we haven't discussed is the box. The enclosure is just as important, perhaps even more important than the sub(s). More accurate bass is generally produced from a sealed enclosure. A ported enclosure will be louder, but at the expense of sound quality. And whether it's sealed or ported, the enclosure needs to have enough internal volume for the particular sub you are planning to use. A sealed box in the range of .75 to 1 cu/ft will be OK for any of the recommended subs. Add about 15-20% more volume for a ported box and keep in mind that the port needs to be specifically sized for the frequency for which it is tuned.

Hope this helps.