i have a clarion apx400.2 amp powering two dvc orion 10" subs. recently i had to disconect my amp so that i could test out a new amp and see how it powered my subs, i changed the fuse and everything and some of the settings on my old amp were off a little but when i hooked it up again and put the setting back to what they were it felt like i lost a lot of spl i still have enough to give me a nice little back massage but it used to make my windows vibrate and just be downright louder. i don't know what i did and i tried tweaking everything my bass boost frequency my gain is turned right up. on my deck i have a bunch of subwoofer and bass controls but no matter what i did i couldn't get it to play at the level it was before. also the sq is down too it almost sounds like the subs are rattling... any ideas on what might have gone wrong?
Replies (5)
swez on 09/30/2004 19:17:58
Wonder if your subs are on their way out? If you have rattles in the cones, that usually means physical damage to the coils, spider etc.
If you have DVC's and one coil blows, the other will still work if wired in parallel... but now you have a 4 ohm load and half the amp power. If you have an ohmeter, test the coils to see what ya get from each coil. My guess, you have a blown coil or 2. That would explain the loss in SPL.
Swez
oldmazda on 10/1/2004 00:55:53
would there be any particular reason for them blowing, i don't think i'm putting enough power to them to blow them but i don't think i'm underpowering them either. its gotten a little bit chilly up here in the great white north so i haven't been playing them as loud but would playing them at all have caused them to blow? but i think that both have them have done the same thing.... how likely is it that i blew a voice coil on each of them at the same time and they are in seperate enclosures. i'll grab my multimeter and check it out tomorrow but if anyone has any other ideas i'd love to hear em.
swez on 10/1/2004 07:36:46
Hard to say exactly what the issues are until you test the coils. Did not mention what model Orion subs you have here and how much power the test amp had thrown at the subs. Can only base diagnostics on what info was given as we aren't there to hear it for ourselves right?
Did the subs sound fine before you swapped amps... then sound less robust after the test? If the answer is yes, that points to something has changed with the subs or the amp. Some basic diagnostics will give the answer.
BTW, cannot find any useful data on that amp model mentioned. I did find the manual on the apx4002m version. Looks like ~300 RMS when bridged @ 4 ohms.
http://www.teamclarion.com/sharedwebdbs/ClarionSupport.
nsf/b519d112bdcca8b588256a630071fab1/af048b4744400
d6b88256a64006efb98/$FILE/APX400.2M%20(OWNERS%
20AND%20INSTALL).pdf
The only other item to check would be polarity match on the wiring to each sub. If one sub is out of phase, bass output will be reduced and so will fullness of the bass. Confirm that item first.
Swez
oldmazda on 10/1/2004 14:31:14
the subs are orion XTR3s and i only tested one sub on the amp that i tried, it was an alpine MRV T505 its a small amp and i only had it on for about second i just wanted to make sure it worked because i was thinking about powering my highs with it but didn't wanna uninstall the speakers. the subs are 2 or 8 ohm 500 watt peak and i think it was something like 200 watts rms. i have some seriously bizzare results from the ohm test though, i took the sub out and tested positive to posive negative to negative for each of the ports on each of the sub and they had a rating of 0 which i don't understand. perhaps i made some kind of mistake but i really am unsure about what is going on... my subs still work they just don't work well. sorry about the lack of info i'm usually in kind of a rush.
swez on 10/1/2004 14:59:31
Since these are DVC's, you test the POs/NeG on one side of the sub, then do the same with other coil on the other side. Should get a reading below 4, but above 3 ohms per coil. No jumpers wires when testing OK... just each coil set.
The test you mentioned would read "0" as there is no connection between both Pos or Neg in a coil set.
Test like this:
Pos------WWWW-------Neg coil #1 = ~3.5 ohms
Pos------WWWW-------Neg coil #2 = ~3.5 ohms
Swez
Replies (5)
swez on 09/30/2004 19:17:58
Wonder if your subs are on their way out? If you have rattles in the cones, that usually means physical damage to the coils, spider etc.
If you have DVC's and one coil blows, the other will still work if wired in parallel... but now you have a 4 ohm load and half the amp power. If you have an ohmeter, test the coils to see what ya get from each coil. My guess, you have a blown coil or 2. That would explain the loss in SPL.
Swez
oldmazda on 10/1/2004 00:55:53
would there be any particular reason for them blowing, i don't think i'm putting enough power to them to blow them but i don't think i'm underpowering them either. its gotten a little bit chilly up here in the great white north so i haven't been playing them as loud but would playing them at all have caused them to blow? but i think that both have them have done the same thing.... how likely is it that i blew a voice coil on each of them at the same time and they are in seperate enclosures. i'll grab my multimeter and check it out tomorrow but if anyone has any other ideas i'd love to hear em.
swez on 10/1/2004 07:36:46
Hard to say exactly what the issues are until you test the coils. Did not mention what model Orion subs you have here and how much power the test amp had thrown at the subs. Can only base diagnostics on what info was given as we aren't there to hear it for ourselves right?
Did the subs sound fine before you swapped amps... then sound less robust after the test? If the answer is yes, that points to something has changed with the subs or the amp. Some basic diagnostics will give the answer.
BTW, cannot find any useful data on that amp model mentioned. I did find the manual on the apx4002m version. Looks like ~300 RMS when bridged @ 4 ohms.
http://www.teamclarion.com/sharedwebdbs/ClarionSupport.
nsf/b519d112bdcca8b588256a630071fab1/af048b4744400
d6b88256a64006efb98/$FILE/APX400.2M%20(OWNERS%
20AND%20INSTALL).pdf
The only other item to check would be polarity match on the wiring to each sub. If one sub is out of phase, bass output will be reduced and so will fullness of the bass. Confirm that item first.
Swez
oldmazda on 10/1/2004 14:31:14
the subs are orion XTR3s and i only tested one sub on the amp that i tried, it was an alpine MRV T505 its a small amp and i only had it on for about second i just wanted to make sure it worked because i was thinking about powering my highs with it but didn't wanna uninstall the speakers. the subs are 2 or 8 ohm 500 watt peak and i think it was something like 200 watts rms. i have some seriously bizzare results from the ohm test though, i took the sub out and tested positive to posive negative to negative for each of the ports on each of the sub and they had a rating of 0 which i don't understand. perhaps i made some kind of mistake but i really am unsure about what is going on... my subs still work they just don't work well. sorry about the lack of info i'm usually in kind of a rush.
swez on 10/1/2004 14:59:31
Since these are DVC's, you test the POs/NeG on one side of the sub, then do the same with other coil on the other side. Should get a reading below 4, but above 3 ohms per coil. No jumpers wires when testing OK... just each coil set.
The test you mentioned would read "0" as there is no connection between both Pos or Neg in a coil set.
Test like this:
Pos------WWWW-------Neg coil #1 = ~3.5 ohms
Pos------WWWW-------Neg coil #2 = ~3.5 ohms
Swez
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