Amp/Sub Wattage Matching Question/Help

[zoltman1991]

Alrighty.

I have CXA1200.1 with DVC 4ohm Kicker CVX wired at 2ohms.
I know the amp is rated at 1200@2o and Sub is rated at 1000@2o.

I knew this coming in and I was hoping I wouldn't see any issues if I adjusted gain and played at lower powers. Well sure enough, I blew the sub. I had it 'professionally' installed, but to be honest, I don't trust these guys. He said he set the amp according to his hearing. I want math and science involved. So whatever. It blew. I'm down a CVX. Oh well.

Scratching this, I want to look into other set ups.
1: Any recommendations of a quality 15" subwoofer that would match my amp's output?
2: I'm thinking of going with a CXA800.1 with a DVC 2ohm 15" CVX wired at 1 ohm stable.
-I would be underpowering. I assume this is safer than overpowering. Any considerations I should take? Amp is 1ohm stable so I don't foresee any issues. My thing is I want to make sure it's properly powering subwoofer. I'm not going for massive sound, but I do like to live a little large.

Would love thoughts and inputs!

Click to read more...

 

[Deiimos]

I personally prefer more power on hand, that way you can achieve rated clean power, which is much better than dirty clipped power. Setting by ear could have caused this, and sent it way above rated power but clipped = guaranteed blown sub (you might have been feeding it 1500+ watts of dirty power depending how it was set, really hard to say though).

What size coil does that CVX use? How long did you have this installed before it blew? Months? Days? Years?

Setting by “ear” is not a good way to set the amp at all and a fast way to fry stuff. this is okay if you're bass testing, tinkering, playing around with stuff / SPL testing or whatever, but not for an install / daily driver meant to have longevity.

I like Kicker, and that CVX's demise may have been install error, but I think you’d be better suited with a different sub entirely. I have zero experience with the CVX subs, but the coil might just not be up to the task of what you want it to do, I'm not sure.

If you were to go with the 800 amp, it would have less output overall than you do now, so are you happy with the current bass level? Would you be happy with less bass?

I'd go with a different sub all together, reliable 3" coil 15 that can handle 1000+w of clean power, run it with that CXA1200 amp.

 

[Blackout67]

Alrighty.

I have CXA1200.1 with DVC 4ohm Kicker CVX wired at 2ohms.
I know the amp is rated at 1200@2o and Sub is rated at 1000@2o.

I knew this coming in and I was hoping I wouldn't see any issues if I adjusted gain and played at lower powers. Well sure enough, I blew the sub. I had it 'professionally' installed, but to be honest, I don't trust these guys. He said he set the amp according to his hearing. I want math and science involved. So whatever. It blew. I'm down a CVX. Oh well.

Scratching this, I want to look into other set ups.
1: Any recommendations of a quality 15" subwoofer that would match my amp's output?
2: I'm thinking of going with a CXA800.1 with a DVC 2ohm 15" CVX wired at 1 ohm stable.
-I would be underpowering. I assume this is safer than overpowering. Any considerations I should take? Amp is 1ohm stable so I don't foresee any issues. My thing is I want to make sure it's properly powering subwoofer. I'm not going for massive sound, but I do like to live a little large.

Would love thoughts and inputs!

What's the box specs? Matching a subwoofer to an amp based on the "rated power" without a proper box is like putting trying to buy new tires for a car without knowing the size of the wheel itself.


Could be that the box you have it in is too large and the coil is travelling inside the gap .Those kicker subs use tiny voice coils and if you are getting too much excursion outside the magnet gap (non linear movement), it will not be able to cool adequately.

If you are worried about setting gains, you can buy a amp with a clip light. Kicker sells some but honestly you can get better for the price like the JP8. When the clip light blinks, back it off cause you're pulling too push voltage and distorting the signal

 

[zoltman1991]

I personally prefer more power on hand, that way you can achieve rated clean power, which is much better than dirty clipped power. Setting by ear could have caused this, and sent it way above rated power but clipped = guaranteed blown sub (you might have been feeding it 1500+ watts of dirty power depending how it was set, really hard to say though).

What size coil does that CVX use? How long did you have this installed before it blew? Months? Days? Years?

Setting by “ear” is not a good way to set the amp at all and a fast way to fry stuff. this is okay if you're bass testing, tinkering, playing around with stuff / SPL testing or whatever, but not for an install / daily driver meant to have longevity.

I like Kicker, and that CVX's demise may have been install error, but I think you’d be better suited with a different sub entirely. I have zero experience with the CVX subs, but the coil might just not be up to the task of what you want it to do, I'm not sure.

If you were to go with the 800 amp, it would have less output overall than you do now, so are you happy with the current bass level? Would you be happy with less bass?

I'd go with a different sub all together, reliable 3" coil 15 that can handle 1000+w of clean power, run it with that CXA1200 amp.

Thanks for detailed response! It was literally 2-3 days after installation, so definitely not set correctly and something happened. I came from 400w to a 12", so I'd be very happy with 800w to a 15".

What I want, as you said, is longevity and cleanliness. I want something stable that will last a very long time.

Someone posted the KXA series. I like but golly so expensive still.

 

[zoltman1991]

What's the box specs? Matching a subwoofer to an amp based on the "rated power" without a proper box is like putting trying to buy new tires for a car without knowing the size of the wheel itself.


Could be that the box you have it in is too large and the coil is travelling inside the gap .Those kicker subs use tiny voice coils and if you are getting too much excursion outside the magnet gap (non linear movement), it will not be able to cool adequately.

If you are worried about setting gains, you can buy a amp with a clip light. Kicker sells some but honestly you can get better for the price like the JP8. When the clip light blinks, back it off cause you're pulling too push voltage and distorting the signal

Box specs:

• Dimensions: Width 21-1/2" x Height 16-1/2" x Depth 18"

That's all that's available. No hertz or anything. It's also really the only one on eBay that was cheap. I know boxes can get up there, and trunk space is limited.

 

[spokey9 5,000+ posts]

I knew this coming in and I was hoping I wouldn't see any issues if I adjusted gain and played at lower powers. Well sure enough, I blew the sub. I had it 'professionally' installed, but to be honest, I don't trust these guys. He said he set the amp according to his hearing. I want math and science involved. So whatever. It blew. I'm down a CVX. Oh well

We're you playing tones, or bass heavy music or have the volume on the hu higher than what it was set at?

Playing music you'd rarely if ever see that 1200 watts so the fact the amp put out a negligible amount of power over your sub rating wouldn't matter. Something else is the issue. And for what it's worth I've never blown a sub or seen a sub I've installed blow because I set the gain by ear. It's usually from the volume knob going to the right. Not that couldn't happen one day

 

[Blackout67]

Box specs:

• Dimensions: Width 21-1/2" x Height 16-1/2" x Depth 18"

That's all that's available. No hertz or anything. It's also really the only one on eBay that was cheap. I know boxes can get up there, and trunk space is limited.

Do you have a link for the original listing? Prefab boxes are a such mixed bag some are great, some are shit, and some are meh. I assume ported given how wide the box is?

 

[zoltman1991]

I personally prefer more power on hand, that way you can achieve rated clean power, which is much better than dirty clipped power. Setting by ear could have caused this, and sent it way above rated power but clipped = guaranteed blown sub (you might have been feeding it 1500+ watts of dirty power depending how it was set, really hard to say though).

What size coil does that CVX use? How long did you have this installed before it blew? Months? Days? Years?

Setting by “ear” is not a good way to set the amp at all and a fast way to fry stuff. this is okay if you're bass testing, tinkering, playing around with stuff / SPL testing or whatever, but not for an install / daily driver meant to have longevity.

I like Kicker, and that CVX's demise may have been install error, but I think you’d be better suited with a different sub entirely. I have zero experience with the CVX subs, but the coil might just not be up to the task of what you want it to do, I'm not sure.

If you were to go with the 800 amp, it would have less output overall than you do now, so are you happy with the current bass level? Would you be happy with less bass?

I'd go with a different sub all together, reliable 3" coil 15 that can handle 1000+w of clean power, run it with that CXA1200 amp.

Thanks for detailed response! It was literally 2-3 days after installation, so definitely not set correctly and something happened. I came from 400w to a 12", so I'd be very happy with 800w to a 15".

What I want, as you said, is longevity and cleanliness. I want something stable that will last a very long time.

We're you playing tones, or bass heavy music or have the volume on the hu higher than what it was set at?

Playing music you'd rarely if ever see that 1200 watts so the fact the amp put out a negligible amount of power over your sub rating wouldn't matter. Something else is the issue. And for what it's worth I've never blown a sub or seen a sub I've installed blow because I set the gain by ear. It's usually from the volume knob going to the right.

Typically electronic music wither heavier basslines - more fluid, liquid bass as opposed to the thumping repetitive electronic.

So then definitely the issue was maybe gain was set too high and clipping blew them? I keep my volume knob no more than like 72% at max.

 

[Blackout67]

We're you playing tones, or bass heavy music or have the volume on the hu higher than what it was set at?

Playing music you'd rarely if ever see that 1200 watts so the fact the amp put out a negligible amount of power over your sub rating wouldn't matter. Something else is the issue. And for what it's worth I've never blown a sub or seen a sub I've installed blow because I set the gain by ear. It's usually from the volume knob going to the right. Not that couldn't happen one day

That's what I'm thinking. Possibly the subsonic is not set right and the subwoofer unloading and becoming non linear. Could be bass boost or other settings that cram more power into the signal.
4
0-45 hz is usually where most amps use bass boost and if that box is tuned around that same area, which it could be if it's a cheap prefab from eBay, the subwoofer might be taking too much power at tuning frequency which where it has the least amount of excursion so it won't be moving enough to dissipate heat

 

[spokey9 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for detailed response! It was literally 2-3 days after installation, so definitely not set correctly and something happened. I came from 400w to a 12", so I'd be very happy with 800w to a 15".

What I want, as you said, is longevity and cleanliness. I want something stable that will last a very long time.

Typically electronic music wither heavier basslines - more fluid, liquid bass as opposed to the thumping repetitive electronic.

So then definitely the issue was maybe gain was set too high and clipping blew them? I keep my volume knob no more than like 72% at max.

Keep in mind not every song is recorded at the same level...one track 72% is perfectly fine on the knob but on another track that 72% is the danger zone. I've got my subs on an amp 1k over rated and the gain is set by ear...I have to adjust the volume depending on the track I'm playing. Not 100% ruling out the gain but 200w over isn't a death sentence for a sub rated at 1k (if you ever actually saw that power playing music for more than a fraction of a second)

 

[spokey9 5,000+ posts]

That's what I'm thinking. Possibly the subsonic is not set right and the subwoofer unloading and becoming non linear. Could be bass boost or other settings that cram more power into the signal.
4
0-45 hz is usually where most amps use bass boost and if that box is tuned around that same area, which it could be if it's a cheap prefab from eBay, the subwoofer might be taking too much power at tuning frequency which where it has the least amount of excursion so it won't be moving enough to dissipate heat

The link takes me ebay not the box page. If it's a ported box then I'd point more to a combination of a prefab box with bad ssf settings.

If it was a sealed box it's not beyond the realm of possibility of running the volume too high to get more output in the heat of the moment

 

[Deiimos]

Yeah it would be interesting to see the link to the actual box.

 

[Blackout67]

Thanks for detailed response! It was literally 2-3 days after installation, so definitely not set correctly and something happened. I came from 400w to a 12", so I'd be very happy with 800w to a 15".

What I want, as you said, is longevity and cleanliness. I want something stable that will last a very long time.

Typically electronic music wither heavier basslines - more fluid, liquid bass as opposed to the thumping repetitive electronic.

So then definitely the issue was maybe gain was set too high and clipping blew them? I keep my volume knob no more than like 72% at max.

I talk about these boxes a lot, maybe cause Im biased, but they are just great boxes

TRU SPEC Prefab Single 15" Subwoofer Enclosure Sundown SA 15v2

GP Car Audio is a manufacturer of many USA Made ðºð¸ car audio products. We are also a distributor for several top Audio brands including Sundown Audio, XS Power, and Deaf Bonce.

gpcaraudio.com

You'll have to paint it and get some copper bolts, washers, and nuts for the terminals but these boxes are sturdy AF, displacement taken into account already so you don't have to worry about the tuning being affected, and a recessed double baffle makes it look clean. The biggest downside is that is have pretty much nothing to give below like 28 hertz, but I don't listen to much with windy bass anyways so that doesn't bother me much.

Did mine with 3 layers of roll on bedliner and satin white spray paint. Love the textured look of bedliner