i have a clarion 400watt amp with 15" 600watt sub (clarion) and when i play my music loud it sounds like its almost blown, its relatively new, and when i turn it back just a few notches it sounds better, but then its not as loud as i prefer to listen to it at. is it possible that my sub just needs more watts to make it sound good? is there a way to fix this without buying a whole new 600watt amp?
what you are hearing is one of 2 things. 1)the sub is bottoming out. What type of enclosure is the sub in? 2)you are clipping the amp both of these can have a horrible effect on the sub, and can destroy it quite easily. I would say that more than likely you are clipping the amp, drawing more power from it than it can put out. This will cause distortion (what you are hearing) and can damage the voice coil in the sub. From my experiences, it is better to have too much power than too little. Exactly what amp and sub do you have?
We could also use the RMS input of the sub and output of the amp, and whether or not its bridged, etc etc. Basically the details of the whole setup.
well in order to help you we'd need the specs of your equipment. But I am quite sure you are clipping the amp.
To find the info on the amp: turn it over, should be a model number on the bottom. To find the details on the sub: Unscrew it from the box, look at the back, should also be a model number there.
All information on my Amp: http://www.clarion.com.au/Car/products/amps.html All information on my Subwoofer: http://www.doranproaudio.com.au/products/detail.asp?prodID=57
The link for the amp you provided us is nothing but a page with general info about the manufacturer. The sub, however, is 600 watts MAX. I was unable to find more info on the sub, so I'm going to assume that it is 300 watts RMS (its typical for the rms of a sub to be half of its peak). Incase you are unaware, the rms is the amount of power to be pushed through a speaker at any given time, while the peak is something that really will never be reached in a typical setup. You say you have a 400 watt amp. So We're going to assume thats 400 watts across two channels. Bridged, your sending 400 wats to your sub, if its 400 across 4 channels, then your sending 200 to your sub. I think. This is where my knowledge of car audio gets fuzzy. Long story short: Your sub is only 300 watts and your amp is overpowering it, as mentioned before. Your solution, is to not bridge it ,or buy a smaller amp, or bigger sub. I would recommend a bigger, sub, and I'm hoping that you didnt pay the $290 for it mentioned on that page. Also, as a slightly temporary fix, turn down the levels on your amp. If it has bass boost, turn it off. Lower the dB and the frequency. This just makes it so you wont have to completely remove your setup so you wont damage your sub, it does not give you leeway to play your music loudly quite yet ;p ps. is anyone else having trouble when typing "I'm" in firefox? Mine opens the search box and its pretty annoying, lol.
no i payed $350CAD for the sub, box, and amp, which is a 400watt amp. im hoping thats not too much i am bridging it so i guess ill take the bridging off so it sounds better. in the future i will consult you guys again on what to upgrade first, the 400watt amp or this 600watt sub. thanks!
I don't blieve you are overpowering it. The specs on the amp are really needed. if your amp puts out 200W per channel to 4 ohm, then bridging it will give you 400W but at 8 ohm. The sub is a single 4 ohm voice coil, so the load on the amp is too heavy. This means that you would be clipping it, and hearing massive distortion. But like I said, I can only guess untill I have the specs.
Leave the amp bridged, that will give the best amount of power, the 4 ohm load will be fine. Bottoming out sounds like a loud rapid clacking sound, this happens with a driver is pushed past its mechanical throw (excursion) limts. Distortion is different, is sounds like the music you are playing but worse. My bet is that your are not overpowring the driver but actually clipping the amp, this is what happens 9 out of 10 times. Most subwoofer drivers can take mechanicly more than there rated RMS, but thermally they my not be able to, it really depends on the subwoofer driver. I run over twice the RMS ratings to my both front speakers and my subwoofer in the car, as log as you are careful with the setup and volume control then this is fine.
