hooking up system, blew my old subs, dont wanna blow my new ones Options

[Snodalo]

i dont know much about sound systems, so i need some help. right now i have a hifonics amp and 2 jl 12w0. but i blew the subs, and tomorrow i am getting 2 jl 12w3v2-4ohm and i REALLY do not want to blow those, so how can i adjust the amp so the subs wont blow?

amp and subs

[massbrandon]

make sure your gain isnt all the way up
make sure your ground is stable
and make sure there arent any shorts in your wires(make sure there arent any bare spots touching any other wires).

Now Im by no means a car audio expert but, I have installed a few systems and when some of my friends have problems with their's this is what I tell them to check.

This post has been edited by massbrandon: Nov 13, 2006 - 7:37 AM

[Alex-UKSC]

Same subs i have & very good choice.

maybe get a pro to wire them up if your unsure or once wired get a 2nd opinion from a pro on set up.

Other than that aslong as u remember the jlw3's do NOT need massive power so around 350RMS will be the maximum load they will want to run best so adjust the gain accordingly & at the same time don't under power them too much.

ALSO make sure you run them in at half volume etc for a good 15+ hours before you let em rip

If you didn't know there is many ways to wire the W3 to get different OHMS so take a look on google for your prefered setup!!!!

This post has been edited by Alex-UKSC: Nov 13, 2006 - 8:41 AM

[Snodalo]

thanks, also alex-uksc... i didnt read your reply until after i hooked it up, and i when was adjusting the settings on the amp i had the volume up almost all the way for a good hour or so. what are the chances of them getting messed up from that? and there also was a point where the amp had shut off and we turned off the car and turned it back on and it was working fine, could that have been from something? is there a way to tell if i did something to the subs?

ohms... what are they? are more ohms better or are less ohms better?

This post has been edited by Snodalo: Nov 14, 2006 - 7:43 AM

[Alex-UKSC]

You shouldn't have done any damage yet but all subs need to be run in before using them full blast so use them on medium volume aslong as you can.

The less ohms the better if you like hard bass, i run mine in 2ohms set up.

How have you wired the subs

ie One amp channel per sub ?

[Mystify.]

Ohms is the measure of resistance in a circuit. Lower ohms = less resistance = more power is able to pass through the circuit.

How did you wire up the subs? Wiring the voice coils in parallel or series will yield different ohm variations. For this amp and sub combo you're going to want to wire them in parallel, giving you a final resistance of 1 ohm (see picture below).

(2) Dual 4 Ohm subwoofers wired parallel to 1Ohm


It is VERY IMPORTANT to set your gains properly, especially since your wired down to 1Ohm and pumping out 1000W. Your subwoofers combined are recommended at 600W RMS for safe, daily use. Not setting your gains right will likely make your subwoofer "clip" and blow it if you're not careful with the volume knob. To properly set your gains, grab a DMM (Digital Multi-Meter) and follow this tutorial. For the test wave, I used a 20Hz Sine Wave recorded at -5dB. This can be found on Bass Mekanik - Audio Toolbox CD, which I got from iTunes, but I'm sure can be found other places.

You're also going to want to set your Low Pass Frequency cross over point to ~80Hz. This will filter out all of the unwanted higher frequencies and only play 0-80Hz.

EDIT: Your amp shut-off because it's a built in feature in most amps that cause a failsafe whenever too much clipping occurs and it overheats. This is caused when the gain is set too high and an excessive amount of the volume knob is turned up. The subwoofers shouldn't have sustained any major damage if you stopped it after that.

P.S. What kind of box are you using with these subs?

This post has been edited by Mystify.: Nov 14, 2006 - 7:15 PM

[Snodalo]

wow thanks alot. all that stuff really helps. im gonna go ahead and buy a dmm and do that. and also im gonna rewire the subs. i wired em in series.

[Snodalo]

well i rewired my subs to parallel... so i get 1Ohm and WOW, it sounds MUCH better.. after i set the gain to the correct spot and my watts are at 700 rms... what about the bass adjustment and everything? will that affect watts? if not, then what is the reason for me not turning it up all the way? the subs can still blow from that correct? and also, when i turn up the volume on the deck, that will give off more watts correct?

[soven]

lay off the bass adjustment. If you want to play with that. turn the bass adjustment to max on the deck before you set the gains. Therefore, you will never blow your subs even when you turn the bass boost to maximum.

lower volume = lower watts . turn it up and there will be a point when the headunit or amp would start to "clip". In layman's term, think of your sub suddenly receiving twice the power 1000w to 2000w when it gets a clipped signal.

Best way to set gains is to.
1. Turn gains all the way down on the amplifier
2. Turn up headunit until about 80percent of total volume( headunit will clip too therefore not turning it over 80percent would be safe, if the signal is clipped you blow your subs)
3. start turning up the gains on the amplifier until the subwoofer starts distorting then back down a bit.

This way, you will never kill the subs again.

[Alex-UKSC]

I was saying about using low volume as when a sub is new it needs to be run in much like a car before you use it to it's maximum, this will help preserve the life of the sub in the long run

[Snodalo]

alright thanks everyone. my friend has a dmm but we couldnt find it so when we find it (tomorrow hopefully) that is when we will work on the amp settings.

so about the volume thing... my deck goes up to 62. so you are saying that if i want to be safe and avoid clipping, then i dont turn it above ~49? sounds hard, haha i usually listen to my music at about 58. would it be possible to turn the volume up to 58, and then set the gain?

mystify... thanks for the info. im using a standard box, that i got for 40 bucks from circuit city. When im using the dmm, what should i be playing in the deck? how many hz?

what about the bass adjustment on the amp? and the subsonic? what should i do with those?

[Alex-UKSC]

Just use it on half power for aslong as possible as simple as that just be patient for a week It's got nothing to do with clipping it's just to stop the sub dieing before it's time..............leave a week then crank it up !

[soven]

Gains = sensitivity control

If you turn the volume on your headunit to 58, then your gains on the amp have to be turned down anyway in order to prevent killing your sub.

Think of it this way. gains low, headunit volume high is the same as gains high, headunit volume low.

I told you to only go to about 50 on the headunit because, the headunit by itself can send a clipped signal when overdriven. It is your choice if you want to continue at 58. Not my money.

[Mystify.]

If you followed the tutorial correctly and set your gain right, then you shouldn't have any problem with clipping up to 3/4 volume (~47). 58 is pushing it a bit, if your wanting you get more thump out of your system I would recommend getting a ported box for the subwoofers (assuming you have a sealed). Ported boxes will generally be louder since the rear waves are coming out of the box giving you better lower extension and power handling.

Leave the bass adjustment at 0dB, the only things you want to adjust are your gain and the low-pass frequency which you should set at 75-80Hz.