what's wrong
 

last week my driver's side front component stopped playing and now there's a ton of altenator whine from the speaker that still works, and when i crank it up a little the speaker starts to cut out. they aren't blown b/c they're almost new CDT's that can handle 130 watts, i'm giving them less than 50 max. i think the problem may be from my cheap optimus amp giving out or maybe a bad rca connection? any help? thanks

jayme

check your ground wire and your amp fuses

I would check your RCA's 1st. Swap the RCA's from their side. L to the R. R to the L. The DS should work. If not, the Amp blew out a Channel. If it does work, Check your RCA's along the whole run. Might have the DS side undone and touching Gnd somewhere.

This is assuming that the Amp powers your Fronts.

You only check Power if it has NO output. Ground if no output, or Other floating type symptoms. i.e. Noise, Low power, intermitent power.