Sub Smell - Audio & Electronics Forum

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Sub Smell
Friday, February 08, 2013 10:03 PM
Specs

ALPINE
SWR-12D2 12" Dual 2-ohm Car Subwoofer wired to 1 ohm
1000 rms peak

Hifonics GLX1000.1D Gladiator 1
1000 rms at 1 ohm, cea

Band Pass Box
12 gauge wiring, also rewired inside box

Gain set to a little over half, maybe 60%
Bass Boost on amp- 75%
Bass Boost on control- 75%
Phase- 180 degrees
LPF
Low Pass Frequency- 75Hz
Subsonic- 20Hz

I bought the sub and amp a month ago but when I have the volume turned up a lot the sub starts to have a weird smell.
The sub is located in the trunk and I don't really notice it unless the back seat is down or my head is in the trunk.
So I'm wondering if the smell is because the sub is new, or if it's because I'm burning the voice coil?
Also, would it be better to turn bass boost down or off and increase the gain?
Thanks.

Re: Sub Smell
Saturday, February 09, 2013 7:09 AM
Its probably the VC heating up. The Type Rs used to be 750W rated subs so I wonder if Alpine changed anything on the new subs or just changed the rating number.

Id try turning off the bass boost and setting your gains with a multimeter.



Re: Sub Smell
Saturday, February 09, 2013 7:28 AM
ALPINE
SWR-12D2 12" Dual 2-ohm Car Subwoofer wired to 1 ohm
1000 rms peak

Hifonics GLX1000.1D Gladiator 1
1000 rms at 1 ohm, cea


I'd say you have too many watts going to the sub. It's rated 1000 peak, which means for a second, and you give it 1000 all the time, RMS.


- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs
Re: Sub Smell
Saturday, February 09, 2013 7:34 AM
ah, nothing like the smell of a fried voicecoil. lol



It's nice to be injected but I love being blown.
Re: Sub Smell
Saturday, February 09, 2013 7:38 AM
The swr-12d2 is 1000 rms and 3000 peak so there isnt too many watts going to it. I have the same same in 4 ohm. My guess is too much bass boost and gain settings too high



Re: Sub Smell
Saturday, February 09, 2013 9:55 AM
I'd turn your gain down to about 45%, then again have u worked your sub in yet on lower volume? if u hook that shyt up and play it super loud from the start that could be your problem too.



Skr8 Goodz in tha hood
Re: Sub Smell
Sunday, February 10, 2013 10:19 PM
Ok thanks, I'll try setting with a multimeter.
Re: Sub Smell
Monday, February 11, 2013 4:22 PM
A. Turn off the bass boost. Both of them. Now.
B. I'm assuming "bandpass box" means one of those pre-fabbed garbage ass boxes with the plexiglass on front? Yeah, get a normal ported or sealed enclosure built for the right airspace and port tuning(if ported).
C. Hifonics...cringe... They are cheap amps made with cheap parts poorly put together. They are also notoriously power hungry and over rated on their output.
You have a sub rated to take 1000 watts RMS. That's 1000 watts tuned correctly, cleanly provided. My faith in a Hifonics 1000 watt amp being able to CLEANLY provide anywhere near 1000 watts consistently is about on par with my faith in being swept away by a Unicorn and taken to Candy Land in the morning...
D LEARN TO TUNE THINGS RIGHT. That will be a huge ally of yours. "60%" is not a measurement of tuning. It's "well I turned the gain knob somewhere".
That gain knob is an amplifier of the input signal. To attain the same output power from the amp, where the gain is depends on the input signal. Pre-amp voltage coming from the RCA's off the head unit provide the signal, the gain matches those to get the right output. A decent ROUGH STARTING POINT to tuning a sub amp would be to find a chart listing what voltages each power amount would be and hooking a voltage meter to the speaker terminals(no speaker wire hooked up, only the meter on ac voltage and also unhook your speakers for this process), download a 50hz test tone to a cd, play it on repeat at a listening volume on the head unit that would be the highest you expect to have it, and turn the gain knob until you get a voltage reading consistent with the power output you're looking for. And honestly, with that amp, I would look for about 700 watts at best if you don't want to send a nasty clipped signal to your sub and burn up the voice coil for good.

Those are my tips, bottom line, you're sending a clipped signal to the sub by trying to turn up the volume and bass boost knobs too far in order to compensate for not having the right enclosure or a decent amp to provide the power needed for the sub to perform it's best. You ask too much out of too little equipment, you destroy the equipment.

Take a CLEAN high end amp and send 5-700 good clean watts of power to that sub and it will sound better and get louder than trying to send 1000 watts to it out of a crappy cheap amp with cheap parts that can't actually keep up with the subs demands.


(tabs) wrote:
z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know

Re: Sub Smell
Monday, February 11, 2013 4:45 PM
As stated set your GAIN properly. I have the new type R's and an AQ2200d powering them and have no problems whatsoever. Please turn your bassboost and gain down till you set it properly or you will be buying new subs
Re: Sub Smell
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 7:46 PM
The JLAudioCavalier has spoken!!! I agree with his points, i am pretty novice in car audio myself, pretty good with wiring, the subwoofer theory is where i'm lacking, im just learning a bit here and there as I go.. I was looking at that same amplifier for my new setup for my truck, found a few reviews/comments on amazon that state the amp was tested to be around 700 watts, not the full 1000 as claimed, but still a decent amp for what you get at the price. the subs i was looking at are only rated at 300 RMS though so that amp would be plenty for my needs with two subs with normal use. I'm not so sure on the quality, there are more good reviews than bad, I know my friend is still running his hifonics 1600 watt amp, over 5 years of use, maybe another case of drop in quality in recent years?


Have a nice day.
Re: Sub Smell
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 8:09 PM
Jordan wrote:The JLAudioCavalier has spoken!!! I agree with his points, i am pretty novice in car audio myself, pretty good with wiring, the subwoofer theory is where i'm lacking, im just learning a bit here and there as I go.. I was looking at that same amplifier for my new setup for my truck, found a few reviews/comments on amazon that state the amp was tested to be around 700 watts, not the full 1000 as claimed, but still a decent amp for what you get at the price. the subs i was looking at are only rated at 300 RMS though so that amp would be plenty for my needs with two subs with normal use. I'm not so sure on the quality, there are more good reviews than bad, I know my friend is still running his hifonics 1600 watt amp, over 5 years of use, maybe another case of drop in quality in recent years?


Not really a drop in quality. They just suck power and put out a dirty signal from what Ive seen.




Re: Sub Smell
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 9:22 PM
Definitely a drop in quality. I know someone who works at a retail audio shop that sells Hifonics and he said in his time there a third...... THIRTY THREE @!#$ PERCENT Came back within warranty period for replacement. More yet later on. Did your friends amp last 5 years? Sure. Not every single product made by a company is going to fail, they wouldn't be in business if that were the case. But 33% return rate within warranty period at 1 dealer? Yikes....


(tabs) wrote:
z yaaaa wrote:its not much fun trying to argue with a wall.
oh, trust us, we know

Re: Sub Smell
Friday, March 01, 2013 8:31 PM
JLAudioCavalier wrote:Definitely a drop in quality. I know someone who works at a retail audio shop that sells Hifonics and he said in his time there a third...... THIRTY THREE @!#$ PERCENT Came back within warranty period for replacement. More yet later on. Did your friends amp last 5 years? Sure. Not every single product made by a company is going to fail, they wouldn't be in business if that were the case. But 33% return rate within warranty period at 1 dealer? Yikes....


I'm using a Craig Powerplay 500 for my sub. It's as old as my Cav, at least lol. It pounds real nice for what it is, too. I love really old stuff that works awesome. Seems quality control on stuff is dropping lately.



Re: Sub Smell
Friday, March 08, 2013 2:56 PM
mmmm voice coil.

i have a hifonics amp from 2007 still kickin. Recently installed it in my Lancer for sh!ts and giggles. Pushes a Rockford Punch HE pretty good.



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