Smoked sub

[pokesmot]

well, I eagerly finished work today and was driving home, decided to crank my deck up when I started to smell smoke...

considering the sub is in a sealed trunk and the windows were cracked a bit, there was alot of smoke.

surprisingly the voice coil did not short out... the sub still works but the trunk was full of smoke.

It was an audiobahn AW122N 550 RMS watt sub on a 500watt RMS bridged output amp.


I am confused how I fried the sub... I figured if I got an amp that put out peak output power less than what my sub was rated for I would be fine.... but I guess not!! :mad:

so now the question is, is it bad for my amp to run this sub? I figure my amp has an overload protection feature... but still I wanted to check anyway... amp is a kenwood KAC-7252 1000w peak 500 rms bridged.

gonna be a few weeks before a get a new sub... this time it will be even more powerfull than the last!! anyone have any suggestions for a 12" sub with GOOD sound?

[pokesmot]

Pioneer TS-W3002SPL (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_4061_232689560_tab=D,00.html?compName=PNA_ V3_ProductDetailsComponent)

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/images/portal/cit_3442/232689560TS-W3004SPL_Angle.jpg

Picked out a new sub... going to wire it in series to give me 4 Ohms. 3000 watts maximum, 1000 watts nominal, by running them in series does it change the maximum input?


will they be safe on a 1000w peak, 500w RMS amp thats bridged?

[inferno]

good choice of sub. i have a pair in my car and they sound GREAT

[car audio dave]

power doesnt kill speakers, distortion does. you can have a sub that can take 500 watts RMS and give it 100 watts distorted and itll blow the sub. thats why you need a good quality amp and you need to keep the gains down. if the speaker is distorting it will blow.

they usually recommend an amp more pwoerful than what your sub needs because otherwise you tend to crank up your amps gain to distortion levels and then the sub blows. case and point.

[car audio dave]

oh i forgot to include, its not the sub that caused the problem its the amp. getting an even more power hungry sub will nto solve the problem. it will blow out eventually as well.

[hamiltonaudio]

clipping = bad. if you're looking for more output, I'd strongly consider getting a properly designed vented enclosure - it'll retain your sound quality but get down and much louder than sealed...really a cheaper way to improve things than buying a bigger amp.

bmoney

[pokesmot]

thanks for the info, I currently have an ok enclosure.

its a bassworx GP12, 12" slot ported.

its about 1.9 cubic feet with a 38Hz tuning frequency.

so I need to get a better amp, with better filters?
there is no way to make this amp work?

[hamiltonaudio]

yep, bassworx boxes are basically "ok"...there is a LOT more there if you can have a pro installer model YOUR sub and design/execute a box for YOUR ride/music/power. I prove this on a weekly basis in my town ;)

Don't forget, its not just about "watts"....for example, compare a Kenwood 1000 watt monoblock to say even a USAmps MD1D (1000 wrms into 1 ohm).... there is /some/ price diff, but not a lot. What are the other differences?

1. efficiency - makes more power with less current
2. cleanliness - the delivered power is MUCH cleaner
3. "electrical torque" - just like lots of HP with no TQ in an engine :)
4. better quality filters - the lowpass xover and subsonic filter will be of higher grade, and better quality

The best way to do it (and something I regularly do) is to try it. You'd be surprised at just how much difference there is when you hear it.... a good quality amplifier is an investment...Kenwood is a great place to start, but as your desires increase, so should your choice in amp <wink> Believe me, there is a HUGE difference....

bmoney

[pokesmot]

agreed :)

got any suggestions on a fairly cheap amp for ~$200 ?

[car audio dave]

you need to consider a price/power scale. in the $200 range, you will either get decent quality with lower power, or very poor quality with higher rated power.

you need to give us a budget for the sub and amp, and we can come up with some solutions. you need a very efficient subwoofer if it will be powered with a $200 amp, otherwise you run into the same problem you had, a power hungry sub with an amp thats working overtime.

[hamiltonaudio]

on a 200 dollar amp, you're gonna need one of MY boxes :) Yes, I'm a USAmps guy - but not all of them are $2K AX line vaccuum driven pieces :) You can get yourself into the XT2000D class d monoblock (over 1KW at 1 ohm) for $450 ish plus taxes... VERY powerful amplifer for the money.

Your sub is a DVC2 ohm, so it will also work on a 4 ohm bridged 2 channel. I've sold TONS of the XT1600.2 which delivers about 600 wrms into 4 ohms mono....that one goes for $380 plus taxes... all prices CDN.

Or you could step up to an MD1D and punish just about any single sub you can afford to buy ;)

bmoney