Blew out a JL 12w7 first day of purchase with a JL 1000/1 amp...how did this happen?

[john.mulvehill 10+ year member]

I just purchased a HO112R-W7 and used a JL 1000/1 amp to power it. The audio shop set the gain on the amp to about a third of the way up. I am using a factory head unit on a Pontiac G8 GT and running 4 gauge wire. My battery is in my trunk.

As soon as I drove away from the car audio store with this particular sub and amp, I smelled a weird smell in the car. I drove home about 20 minutes and then parked the car. I went out about an hour later to pick up dinner and the bass cut out after driving 5 minutes. I pulled over and opened the trunk only to find smoke coming out of the sub.

I took it back to the audio shop today and they now have to send it back to JL. How did this happen? Is it because the subs were not broken in yet? I was not playing them too too loud. What's even more confusing is that I smelled that weird smell right after driving away from the shop. The sub and the amp were both new equipment.

A replacement sub should be arriving in a couple weeks. What can I do the next time to ensure that I break the sub in properly and how do I keep it from blowing? Is one third of the way up a proper setting for the 1000/1 amp to power the 12w7 in a high output ported box?

I thought the 12w7 matched the 1000/1 really well and I did not think there was a danger in them blowing out that easily.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

John

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[MONSONwarrior Premium Member]

set your gains correctly and stay far away from that shop.

 

[Bad4health 10+ year member]

lol is this the same guy who spent 2k on the shutf that just BLEW!!!!!! if so i kinda wanna say i told you so. but im not lol say i want my money back then come here an buy the good stuff, we wont steer u wrong or anything we just dont like seeing people pay high prices for sub par equipment. when i came here i had **** Q-powers now i have digital designs. alot of the stuff i learned was from this site. they are cruel but true an helpful.

 

[813thumper 10+ year member]

find a new shop to go to.

/thread

 

[john.mulvehill 10+ year member]

how do i know what to set the gains to?

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Break in? Uh, no.

severe factory defect is all I could guess.

Are you using a line out converter? Those can provide a pretty high voltage signal. If the input range was set to low at 1/3 you'd be set up for about 1v input possibly getting 4v+. Even that I wouldn't think could have been the cause unless you were blasting it.

 

[Slappin azz]

how do i know what to set the gains to?

you clock it all the way to the right, and put the bass boost at 100%.

 

[SPLaudio 5,000+ posts]

jl will NOT warrenty that sub! you smoked the coil go on there website and read burnt coils are NOT covered under warrenty. for about $350 the will recone it for you. the soft parts in a w7 are crapolla to say the least.

really you shouldnt have blown that sub with that amp though if set up rite. radio at flat, amp set flat. are you using high or low level input?

 

[john.mulvehill 10+ year member]

and by the way, for everyone that thinks it's hilarious that I spent 2k, here is the breakdown:

1000/1 v2: $650 (bought online)

12w7 in High Output Box: $900 (bought at shop to get 2 year warranty). The cheapest price online for the 12w7 in the high output box was $700. The high output box makes it cost a lot more than the 12w7 on its own

Dynamat Xtreme Pack: $130 (bought online)

Remote bass adjustment (0-15 level) for 1000/1 slash amp: $50 (bought online)

tax/shipping/labor to mount amp and hook into my existing wiring: ~$200-$300

So, I don't think I was really ripped off. I could have saved a couple hundred on the sub but then I would be screwed in the situation that I am in now with the sub being blown. It was worth it to me to have the 2 year warranty via the shop for the couple hundred extra. The other prices were the lowest I could find online.

Also, I am guessing the reason that it blew is because it was playing too loud before being broken in properly? Doesn't that make more sense that blaming the shop? They seem to have a very good idea what they are doing and they said 1/3 up on the gain was correct. Does someone here think it should be something different?

One last thing is that it turned out to be a line converter that was making it sound quiet originally. Once that was removed and the speaker wire was hooked directly to the amp, the sub got a lot louder.

So my questions are:

What do I do to not blow the replacement sub right away?

What should the gain be set at?

How can I get maximum output out of this amp/sub combo in a safe way?

Any other comments are welcome.

J

 

[MONSONwarrior Premium Member]

and by the way, for everyone that thinks it's hilarious that I spent 2k, here is the breakdown:1000/1 v2: $650 (bought online)

12w7 in High Output Box: $900 (bought at shop to get 2 year warranty). The cheapest price online for the 12w7 in the high output box was $700. The high output box makes it cost a lot more than the 12w7 on its own

Dynamat Xtreme Pack: $130 (bought online)

Remote bass adjustment (0-15 level) for 1000/1 slash amp: $50 (bought online)

tax/shipping/labor to mount amp and hook into my existing wiring: ~$200-$300

So, I don't think I was really ripped off. I could have saved a couple hundred on the sub but then I would be screwed in the situation that I am in now with the sub being blown. It was worth it to me to have the 2 year warranty via the shop for the couple hundred extra. The other prices were the lowest I could find online.

Also, I am guessing the reason that it blew is because it was playing too loud before being broken in properly? Doesn't that make more sense that blaming the shop? They seem to have a very good idea what they are doing and they said 1/3 up on the gain was correct. Does someone here think it should be something different?

One last thing is that it turned out to be a line converter that was making it sound quiet originally. Once that was removed and the speaker wire was hooked directly to the amp, the sub got a lot louder.

So my questions are:

What do I do to not blow the replacement sub right away?

What should the gain be set at?

How can I get maximum output out of this amp/sub combo in a safe way?

Any other comments are welcome.

J

the error was all gains. do you have a digital multi-meter? if so look at the gain tutorial on here and check how they did it by how it should be done. 1000 watts should be fine for a W7.

 

[armyatc1]

high output box=tuned ported box.... man.. and 900 for it? cmon man... JL W7 was a bad call in the first place.. you are paying for a name and that is it

 

[sub-FATHER 10+ year member]

sounds like you played it full tilt.

plus the box was probably not built right. and then you probably overpowered that OVERATED SUB. and for 900 i coulda built you a couple of 15s that would EAT JL AUDIO>

 

[Cabin_Pressure 10+ year member]

Why you need a remote gain? Anyway, sounds like the combo of that and bad settings.

 

[Bad4health 10+ year member]

the price list was just fail city browse the classifides here an dont try to kill your self when u see what a w7 goes for on this site....an the box costing more then the sub laughable

 

[twistedchild420 5,000+ posts]

and by the way, for everyone that thinks it's hilarious that I spent 2k, here is the breakdown:1000/1 v2: $650 (bought online)

12w7 in High Output Box: $900 (bought at shop to get 2 year warranty). The cheapest price online for the 12w7 in the high output box was $700. The high output box makes it cost a lot more than the 12w7 on its own

Dynamat Xtreme Pack: $130 (bought online)

Remote bass adjustment (0-15 level) for 1000/1 slash amp: $50 (bought online)

tax/shipping/labor to mount amp and hook into my existing wiring: ~$200-$300

So, I don't think I was really ripped off. I could have saved a couple hundred on the sub but then I would be screwed in the situation that I am in now with the sub being blown. It was worth it to me to have the 2 year warranty via the shop for the couple hundred extra. The other prices were the lowest I could find online.

Also, I am guessing the reason that it blew is because it was playing too loud before being broken in properly? Doesn't that make more sense that blaming the shop? They seem to have a very good idea what they are doing and they said 1/3 up on the gain was correct. Does someone here think it should be something different?

One last thing is that it turned out to be a line converter that was making it sound quiet originally. Once that was removed and the speaker wire was hooked directly to the amp, the sub got a lot louder.

So my questions are:

What do I do to not blow the replacement sub right away?

What should the gain be set at?

How can I get maximum output out of this amp/sub combo in a safe way?

Any other comments are welcome.

J

Those prices are fuking horrible!