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Not Getting Enough Power To The Sub


beewerks

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I have no idea how I skipped over the actual issue you are having, before you spend any money I'm curious how this little test turns out.....

Simulate the condition where the problem is present.

When the sub cuts out push the speaker into it's basket gently.

Also, with the power to the sub off, if you apply pressure to the speaker can you hear a rough metal on metal sort of noise?

Once upon a time, long long ago I purchased used ebay JL 12w3's. Anyhow, the voice coils separated inside. Also known as they were abused prior to and were fucked before I even installed them.

If the sub comes on when you push the sub into it's basket I'm betting that it is blown.

I tried that and I can't hear any sounds at all when I push it in. It was brand new out of the box a week ago, so I'd like to think it's still okay. :lol: I ordered an amp last night to give it some more power and I'll clean up the ground connection a bit.

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Well, it was extremely close between the Alpine MRP-M500 that you recommended (I have the MRP-F300 4 channel for my speakers and like it) and the Kicker ZX500.1. I ended up getting the ZX750.1 for a little headroom. It's supposed to do 750 watts at 2 ohms and only cost another $20 on top of the Alpine, plus it will accept my pre-existing 4 gauge power cabling. Now I just need to wait 3-5 days for it to arrive... :rolleyes:

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Great,keep us updated with the situation.While I agree with what Chuck says,but I also agree with Aaron.While the best way to tune and check the clipping is a scope,not everyone has them,I have a scope in my multimeter.If you do abit of reading about tuning,it's really not that hard.i have tuned about 10 totally different setups and i always stay to the same formula.

First of all i will turn all the gains down to zero and put my head unit to the max level I normally would listen to.

Then I will set the frequencies,for subs I usually set the low pass cutoff to about 80-120 depending on the speaker size and gradually increase the gain,if the bass starts sounding mashed and not clear then back it off and reduce it till you get the best cleanest bass.I will then mark it on the amp or add some tape etc..as a reference point for later.

Then turn the gain all the way down on the sub so you can tune the other speakers without the extra bass distracting you.

I will do the same thing tuning style regarding the higher range speakers depending on the type of speakers and whether there is a seperate crossover,etc..all situations are different.

This way you will not get clipping when the head unit is turned up to your maximum listening level.

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if thats the case y such a powerful speaker to a achieve the same as a lower powered could

other than bragging rights but even then its silly and wouldnt impress me personally

buy sub buy amp to properly power sub and done

play it loud or go home, that is the nature of a system

yes yes what do i know i blow start my car

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if thats the case y such a powerful speaker to a achieve the same as a lower powered could

Same reason bass amp use larger speakers than guitar amps. Freq/responce and efficiency. With just a couple watts my 18 will flex the sunroof and you cannot even hear it. 10hz at 75dB is gravy. With the cross over set at 40hz this sub can reach full excursion with 2000rms with no clipping. Yes, if I wanted to set the cross over at something like 80 or 100hz I would need a lot more power. A 12" speaker is not gonna do that.

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Chuck, do you need to run an extra battery or anything else special to pump those 2000 watts? What model car is this in?

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Guest FaultyWarrior

OK. There's not just one factor here, there's many.

A - get a dual 2 ohm sub or a 2-ohm stable amp. You're hitting a wall because you're running the sub at either 2 ohm or 8 ohm, and your amp is meant for 4 ohm. It's do 8 ohm, but you lose lots of power doing that way. Often 1/2 of your RMS.

B - you ground is a joke. Strip the paint, roughen both the bare metal and the ring connector.

C - the stock Volvo battery/frame ground is crap. Re-do it with 0 AWG.

D - The "sputtering" you're getting is from you hitting the protect limiter on the amp. You're either over-driving it or starving it of power.

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OK. There's not just one factor here, there's many.

A - get a dual 2 ohm sub or a 2-ohm stable amp. You're hitting a wall because you're running the sub at either 2 ohm or 8 ohm, and your amp is meant for 4 ohm. It's do 8 ohm, but you lose lots of power doing that way. Often 1/2 of your RMS.

B - you ground is a joke. Strip the paint, roughen both the bare metal and the ring connector.

C - the stock Volvo battery/frame ground is crap. Re-do it with 0 AWG.

D - The "sputtering" you're getting is from you hitting the protect limiter on the amp. You're either over-driving it or starving it of power.

I know minimal about audio systems, but still. Jimmy monkey off kid

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Well, I got my new amp installed on Tuesday and everything works much better! I cleaned the paint off of the ground connection, too. I still need to adjust the amp to match the rest of the speakers, but it bumps pretty well. :D I was able to drive up to work with it playing and I got the boss to come outside to see what the noise was! :lol:

Now I just need to take the time to build a better sub box.

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