I finally got everything hooked up today. I went ahead and bought a new deck becuase I was mad that GM puts the anti theft on the radio and it locked up and I dont want to take it in and pay em to get my code back. I ran everything right made sure + is to + and - is - on the amp and the rca wires. I noticed when I play a song with tons of bass there is a weird smell coming out of the port holes from my sub. I almost smells like it is burning it gave me a headache smelling it. Any ideas? Im running one sub on a 2 channel amp bridged just to that sub. 400 watt sub with 230 RMS watt amp. Thanks
Replies (6)
uochronos on 11/18/2004 23:30:24
well first off subs get hot thats alot of wattage after all. think about how hot a 60watt light bulb gets.... anyway aside from that if this is excesive and really doesnt seem right there is a chance its wired wrong and your giving it too much power or something. what sub and amp model?
Chronos
ttocs on 11/19/2004 01:34:40
you can burn a sub with too little pwr if you are driving it to clipping. If there is a bad smell you are probably driving it too hard. How does it sound? Where are the gains set at? Bass and loudness Settings on the deck?
swez on 11/19/2004 06:55:49
Something is not right on this one. Can you remove the sub and inspect it cloesly for hot spots, discoloration or scuffing of the voice coil?
Also, some subs have a cooling vent in the back of the sub magnet. They are often plugged in shipping to prevent debris from getting inside the coils. Check to see if you sub has a plug in it. If yes, remove it and the sub will run cooler and the smell should go away.
Comments?
Swez
CLTX11 on 11/19/2004 18:14:12
I had this same setup when it was in my jeep and it never smelled like that. Im running it off a pioneer and I ran the RCA plugs to the 2nd output to see if it helps. I took the sub out of the box and inspected it and it was the sub that smelled funny. I took apart the speaker wire and triple checked to see if it was correct. I triple checked all the other wires and everything seems to be correct. Im running a POS Jenesen 460 (230RMS) watt and a POS 10" pioneer, its an older model got it about 2 years ago maybe. I followed the instructions on the level and bass adjustments in the Jensen manual. It sounds great in that little cab but the smell is awful. I cant tell if it is any worse after checking everything and changing the output from the deck because when its off you can smell it lingering from the sub.
danielm87 on 11/19/2004 20:42:28
I have a related problem with a pair of AW1251Ts that are underpowered, the bass notes that the subs are getting come in just a tad too late from when they're supposed to be there. The bass hits just a milli-second too late from the rest of the song, and i'm sure its hitting wrong because i've compared it with a handheld CD player.
The subs are getting 200rms, the subs themselves are 400rms, which brings me to the question - what are the risks of underpowering a sub by 200rms watts? Distortion is frequent when cranked, although when i find a smooth deep song it hits good, other times it distorts. I assume my amp is clipping? Enlighten me on what exactly that is and what i should/should'nt do while those subs are underpowered. On my power wire, i used a 20A Fuse, and i had three of them blow when i had it on a deep song.
swez on 11/20/2004 21:19:31
In both cases, it sounds like the amps are clipping. (distortion % is high) When a small amp is pushed beyond its' limits, it puts out a large degree of distorted signal as well as bass signals. The distortion can get so bad, the amp will actually produce a near DC voltage wave. This is very hard on speakers as they need AC signals to make them move and cool properly.
You can dial up the gain control, eliminate the bass boost and see what happens... but a larger amp is usually the correct solution.
In short, we can under power our subs and still be OK if the amp is not clipping excessively. A better choice is to use an amp that is equally rated to the speakers or perhaps a bit more RMS power than the subs are suppose to handle. A clean signal that is a bit strong for the subs, is better than pushing a small amp into heavy distortion.
Swez
Replies (6)
uochronos on 11/18/2004 23:30:24
well first off subs get hot thats alot of wattage after all. think about how hot a 60watt light bulb gets.... anyway aside from that if this is excesive and really doesnt seem right there is a chance its wired wrong and your giving it too much power or something. what sub and amp model?
Chronos
ttocs on 11/19/2004 01:34:40
you can burn a sub with too little pwr if you are driving it to clipping. If there is a bad smell you are probably driving it too hard. How does it sound? Where are the gains set at? Bass and loudness Settings on the deck?
swez on 11/19/2004 06:55:49
Something is not right on this one. Can you remove the sub and inspect it cloesly for hot spots, discoloration or scuffing of the voice coil?
Also, some subs have a cooling vent in the back of the sub magnet. They are often plugged in shipping to prevent debris from getting inside the coils. Check to see if you sub has a plug in it. If yes, remove it and the sub will run cooler and the smell should go away.
Comments?
Swez
CLTX11 on 11/19/2004 18:14:12
I had this same setup when it was in my jeep and it never smelled like that. Im running it off a pioneer and I ran the RCA plugs to the 2nd output to see if it helps. I took the sub out of the box and inspected it and it was the sub that smelled funny. I took apart the speaker wire and triple checked to see if it was correct. I triple checked all the other wires and everything seems to be correct. Im running a POS Jenesen 460 (230RMS) watt and a POS 10" pioneer, its an older model got it about 2 years ago maybe. I followed the instructions on the level and bass adjustments in the Jensen manual. It sounds great in that little cab but the smell is awful. I cant tell if it is any worse after checking everything and changing the output from the deck because when its off you can smell it lingering from the sub.
danielm87 on 11/19/2004 20:42:28
I have a related problem with a pair of AW1251Ts that are underpowered, the bass notes that the subs are getting come in just a tad too late from when they're supposed to be there. The bass hits just a milli-second too late from the rest of the song, and i'm sure its hitting wrong because i've compared it with a handheld CD player.
The subs are getting 200rms, the subs themselves are 400rms, which brings me to the question - what are the risks of underpowering a sub by 200rms watts? Distortion is frequent when cranked, although when i find a smooth deep song it hits good, other times it distorts. I assume my amp is clipping? Enlighten me on what exactly that is and what i should/should'nt do while those subs are underpowered. On my power wire, i used a 20A Fuse, and i had three of them blow when i had it on a deep song.
swez on 11/20/2004 21:19:31
In both cases, it sounds like the amps are clipping. (distortion % is high) When a small amp is pushed beyond its' limits, it puts out a large degree of distorted signal as well as bass signals. The distortion can get so bad, the amp will actually produce a near DC voltage wave. This is very hard on speakers as they need AC signals to make them move and cool properly.
You can dial up the gain control, eliminate the bass boost and see what happens... but a larger amp is usually the correct solution.
In short, we can under power our subs and still be OK if the amp is not clipping excessively. A better choice is to use an amp that is equally rated to the speakers or perhaps a bit more RMS power than the subs are suppose to handle. A clean signal that is a bit strong for the subs, is better than pushing a small amp into heavy distortion.
Swez
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