4 8’s, tuning/clipping issues

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EricF

CarAudio.com Newbie
Hey everyone,

I’m having some issues with clipping during low bass notes at half volume and above depending where the bass knob is set at. Car audio isn’t huge up here so I’m trying to source a good shop that can look into everything. For reference I’ve got a 2020 F150 with 4 8” Audio mobile subwoofers (600rms each) custom sealed box, soundigital 5k amp (Wired to 4 ohms), LC2i line output converter and 0 gauge wiring. The shop originally used the LC1i line output converter which doesn’t compensate for OEM roll off. (This factory B&O system is brutal for it) While they swapped it out for the LC2i they noticed that the amp had cooked itself (Soundesign 3k wired to 1ohm) so they swapped it for the 5k model and wired it to 4 ohms instead of 1. They said that there wasn’t enough air circulation behind the back seat and it got too hot too many times. So they decided to throw in a bigger amp and re wire the subs to keep the heat down. I haven’t messed with too many settings yet. It’s definitely not as loud as before and I’ve clipped it a few times without really pushing it. It doesn’t seem to clip on the higher bass notes. It shouldn’t be a wiring issue and the subs shouldn’t be underpowered by any means right? Those seemed to be the biggest reasons on the videos I’ve watched that cause clipping. The gain on the amp is only set at 1/3 and the bass boost at 0 on the amp. I’ve added a few pics to help. Anything obvious I’m missing here? The windshield wipers use to move pretty good before even at half volume (Max volume before the OEM bass roll off would pull the subs back with the LC1i) I definitely can’t turn them up that much anymore without risk of wrecking something. Thanks for any help!
 

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set your gains right. heres how. test tones are at the very bottom

 
How have you determined something is "clipping"? Do you mean that you are bottoming out the subs when you play hard?

More of a guess on my part from the other clipping videos I’ve seen, it’s a god awful loud sound when it’s happened the couple times. It never did it with the other amp and I’ve played these subs way louder. But maybe when they installed the new amp they set it to play too low?
 
set your gains right. heres how. test tones are at the very bottom


Thanks for the link, aside from the amp gains how would you set the LC2i? I’ve heard multiple things. Some said to turn the level all the way up and then start on the amp so the signal is as strong as it can be from the amp to LC2i.
 
More of a guess on my part from the other clipping videos I’ve seen, it’s a god awful loud sound when it’s happened the couple times. It never did it with the other amp and I’ve played these subs way louder. But maybe when they installed the new amp they set it to play too low?
Actually it does sound like they might be bottoming out. There’s no warning for it, it just screeches.
 
More of a guess on my part from the other clipping videos I’ve seen, it’s a god awful loud sound when it’s happened the couple times. It never did it with the other amp and I’ve played these subs way louder. But maybe when they installed the new amp they set it to play too low?

You are bottoming out the subs. You are probably playing bass notes that are too low for your subs and box.
 
Thanks for the link, aside from the amp gains how would you set the LC2i? I’ve heard multiple things. Some said to turn the level all the way up and then start on the amp so the signal is as strong as it can be from the amp to LC2i.

id contact Audio Control and see what they say. their manual has a link to a YouTube vid, explaining how to do it, but its a dead link
 
You are bottoming out the subs. You are probably playing bass notes that are too low for your subs and box.

I went to another shop and he figures there's a sub on its way out as well. He metered the resistance and said the numbers he got made zero sense. It sure does sound like its bottoming out though, you can play them hard without issue on all the notes except lows. But he did say the LC2I has a built in safety feature to prevent sending 30 hertz and below frequency to the subs.
 
If there is a sub that really is going out and has ohm readings that are off you’ve found your problem. I would personally stop using your system until you get it fixed. your amp and your good subs are at risk of burning up if a bad sub truly is the case.
 
Also ”bottoming out“ in a sealed box likely doesn’t make a screeching sound. The sound of screeching is more like a box leak or air leak from the subwoofer ring I would think.
 
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EricF

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