Blown solo x; underpowered?

[modskwod 10+ year member]

I think it's a sign to buy something better than kicker.

 

[twistedchild420 5,000+ posts]

I'm glad i went DD! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

Galactic thanks for the thoughts. Looking back voltage may have been the problem; it's my best guess. Already ordered the recone, and will be tracking the sub carefully. No more demos for a long time.

 

[Winter_C 10+ year member]

when i first read the title, audioholic's sig came to mind.

X2

 

[thericanballer 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif amp messed up maybe? or coils werent equally configured..... i really dont know

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

Ditch the Solo X.They are known to pop windings under load.

 

[Synyster97XLT 10+ year member]

Galactic thanks for the thoughts. Looking back voltage may have been the problem; it's my best guess. Already ordered the recone, and will be tracking the sub carefully. No more demos for a long time.

That's why I'm definitely mounting a volt meter near where I can see it all the time.

 

[Kyle_Keating 10+ year member]

I was a believer you can't blow a sub by underpowering it. I had a solo x 18 d2 with an ma audio hk4k pushing around 3k watts. I had the system running for 7ish minutes and the sub cut out, and started smoking. Blown sub. Any thoughts?

it was overpowered, you cant underpower a subwoofer - if that was true, then speakers would not work and you could not turn down your volume.

- low power clipping is generally not going to hurt a driver unless its a tweeter and the forces are enough to rip or tear a diaphragm. The subwoofer is so large, that any square wave is going to be mechanically smoothed anyway. If the coil smoked (clipped or unclipped), then the glues reached several hundred degrees and the insulation melted , the coil either shorts or separates from itself and the former, and gets stuck in the gap. My point is, if you're clipping a subwoofer, this does not mean its underpowered, it could be (and often is) still overpowered and it just so happens to be the amp is reaching its limit too. I can assure you, what you did is overpower that driver. I have not found a driver that can take 3000 watts indefinitely - true power tests would show that maximum continuous input for subwoofers is probably 5 to 10 times lower than what manufactures specify. So depending on what you were sending to your driver for seven minutes, you might have easily killed it!

 

[nickolas_j_t 10+ year member]

I think it's a sign to buy something better than kicker.

JL//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

I was a believer you can't blow a sub by underpowering it. I had a solo x 18 d2 with an ma audio hk4k pushing around 3k watts. I had the system running for 7ish minutes and the sub cut out, and started smoking. Blown sub. Any thoughts?

Dood, y wud u dew that? Underpowering is like instant death for subwoofers... U should have used bass boost to try and make up for the underpowering lol, might have saved ur subwoofer lol.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

clipping came to your house, disrespected your sub

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

it was overpowered, you cant underpower a subwoofer - if that was true, then speakers would not work and you could not turn down your volume.
- low power clipping is generally not going to hurt a driver unless its a tweeter and the forces are enough to rip or tear a diaphragm. The subwoofer is so large, that any square wave is going to be mechanically smoothed anyway. If the coil smoked (clipped or unclipped), then the glues reached several hundred degrees and the insulation melted , the coil either shorts or separates from itself and the former, and gets stuck in the gap. My point is, if you're clipping a subwoofer, this does not mean its underpowered, it could be (and often is) still overpowered and it just so happens to be the amp is reaching its limit too. I can assure you, what you did is overpower that driver. I have not found a driver that can take 3000 watts indefinitely - true power tests would show that maximum continuous input for subwoofers is probably 5 to 10 times lower than what manufactures specify. So depending on what you were sending to your driver for seven minutes, you might have easily killed it!

All good points. To go one step further, manufacturer power ratings are generally with the assumption of playing music, and they count on the transient nature of the signal to allow to enough cooling to handle the 'rms' rating they provide for 'continuous' use. IOW, they do not rate speakers with 100% duty-cycle. Even the manufacturers who give 'SPL' or burp ratings assume this is for 30 seconds or less, which is why that spec is generally higher than the music rating.

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the input. Besides digital designs what would you guys recommend for a woofa that would handle equivilant power?

 

[Synyster97XLT 10+ year member]

I'm glad i went DD! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

After watching some crazy s*** on the internet, I think I'm a believer as well. But after hearing that single Rockford T210 the other day, not so sure.

 

[scottyk 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the input. Besides digital designs what would you guys recommend for a woofa that would handle equivilant power?

Audioque. Specifically an HDC3. What some people have done with these woofers on here is astounding, I'm very impressed with my 2 12's. Guarantee you would be happy with their product, I haven't seen someone on this site who wasn't.

If you like a large woofer, go with the 18 model. They're 280, plus shipping. They won't take 3000 rms by a long shot, but will easily take 2000-2300 safely. That and you can move yourself away from the Kicker label.