Burning smell with EVERY subwoofer I seem to use? Brand new L7 now.

[rpaulg87 10+ year member]

Uh, I'm on the stock battery, using 4-gauge all of it is wired in the trunk as that is where the battery is, I was going to do a new 0-gauge ground in the next day or two, my interior lights dim but my headlights don't at all, and I am also picking up a 75amp\hr battery tommorow too..

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

Could you stop being a smart-*** about it and explain this to me? I have only heard of "clipping" in terms of damage when a gain is set too high as you are forcing an amp to do something it can't possibly do with the signal, aka over-driving it, the LINE driver you just set until it reaches optimum volt, which right now is at 8 aprox, explain to me WHY a subwoofer would OVER HEAT with the gain ALL the way down? As I have never heard of that.
Also pre-volt is at 8...that's fine for the Kicker, it can take up to 9 I believe...>.> I had a MATRIX on my PDX 1000.1 and the gain was still 1\4th and it was fine...correct me if I'm wrong about any of this lol

And the bass boost is at 2 on the HU, I tuned it for the "maxamize" voltage light to blink just a little when it's all the way at 9 (maxed) on the HU, so it's not much at all right now...as I've dropped it down, but it's safe "voltage" at max. I did not hear distortion either. *Update* Checked with Kicker, my amp can take up to 10 volts, so I'm not over-volting, as it's getting a steady 7-8v

Input sensitivity:

Low level: 125mV-5V

High level: 250mV-10V

Are you using RCAs? Because they're low level.

 

[rpaulg87 10+ year member]

all you're doing with the line driver is intensifying the clipped signal. more than likely coming from your headunit

The entire point of a line driver is to catch the signal, process it (flatten it) as the line driver clearly replaces bass notes I did not hear when wired directly to it with a PAC harness (CHY23A) directly at the headunit and then send it on..if my headunit is sending a clipped signal at volumes 20-22 which is where I normally listen (I tuned the line driver for max voltage at volume 30) then I'm stunned, I really don't think that is what's happening...

@ Mister, opps, yeah now I am doing low level I keep forgetting that as I had orignally a RCA PAC harness that turned high levels into RCAS (still high level) then a kicker thingy that turned them into RCAS, now this, so what amps do accept above a 5v input on low-level? Confused as to why Audio Control makes this unit go that high without having other indicators like they did on the MATRIX, (It had lights for 1 through 5 volts so you could see clearly)

Does that mean you could NOT use Kicker\Alpine amps with an Eclipse\Pioneer HU as they have 8v low level preouts?

 

[MANTI5 10+ year member]

A lot of different stuff going on here. First, do not increase the size of your ground wire if you're not increasing the size of the power. Next, get a DMM and check things properly. Some arbitrary position on a dial means NOTHING.

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

A lot of different stuff going on here. First, do not increase the size of your ground wire if you're not increasing the size of the power. Next, get a DMM and check things properly. Some arbitrary position on a dial means NOTHING.

Yeah, this. You really won't know for sure until you actually measure what's going on.

 

[rpaulg87 10+ year member]

A lot of different stuff going on here. First, do not increase the size of your ground wire if you're not increasing the size of the power. Next, get a DMM and check things properly. Some arbitrary position on a dial means NOTHING.

Ok but first I'm still trying to grasp how 8v rca is bad going into an amp...as there are tons of 8v pre out head units out there...so can you not use an amp with them? I'm asking as I'm AT 8v, the same as an eclipse hu\pioneer or kenwood, and I'm being gathering that that is killing my amp\sub...which is strange to me, as it's stock output voltage on headunits..(my stock crap one is 4v in reality maybe 2.5v RER MYGIG)

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

The entire point of a line driver is to catch the signal, process it (flatten it) as the line driver clearly replaces bass notes I did not hear when wired directly to it with a PAC harness (CHY23A) directly at the headunit and then send it on..if my headunit is sending a clipped signal at volumes 20-22 which is where I normally listen (I tuned the line driver for max voltage at volume 30) then I'm stunned, I really don't think that is what's happening...
@ Mister, opps, yeah now I am doing low level I keep forgetting that as I had orignally a RCA PAC harness that turned high levels into RCAS (still high level) then a kicker thingy that turned them into RCAS, now this, so what amps do accept above a 5v input on low-level? Confused as to why Audio Control makes this unit go that high without having other indicators like they did on the MATRIX, (It had lights for 1 through 5 volts so you could see clearly)

Does that mean you could NOT use Kicker\Alpine amps with an Eclipse\Pioneer HU as they have 8v low level preouts?

No you cant. But there are many you can. there is no reason to run it that high anyway. 2v is even fine

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Ok but first I'm still trying to grasp how 8v rca is bad going into an amp...as there are tons of 8v pre out head units out there...so can you not use an amp with them? I'm asking as I'm AT 8v, the same as an eclipse hu\pioneer or kenwood, and I'm being gathering that that is killing my amp\sub...which is strange to me, as it's stock output voltage on headunits..(my stock crap one is 4v in reality maybe 2.5v RER MYGIG)

If your going to use stuff like that you have to match up the equipment. Most people that look for those pointless features are going to run amps that match

 

[MANTI5 10+ year member]

Not all amps like 8v, heck some don't like anything over 4.

 

[rpaulg87 10+ year member]

2v is fine? That sounds so underpowered, how are you not having to crank your gain up big time? I thought the entire point of a LD was to boost your hu signal so you don't have to gain out the amp so much, which means less stress on it? If I was to use a 2v signal I would get literally no sound...that's what my stock was like going directly into it...without bass boost at 3\4th and gain at 3\4th it was very VERY quiet.

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

2v is fine? That sounds so underpowered, how are you not having to crank your gain up big time? I thought the entire point of a LD was to boost your hu signal so you don't have to gain out the amp so much, which means less stress on it? If I was to use a 2v signal I would get literally no sound...that's what my stock was like going directly into it...without bass boost at 3\4th and gain at 3\4th it was very VERY quiet.

Make sure you're at or under 5V and you'll be fine. The thing about different pre-out voltage is that YOU HAVE TO TUNE YOUR AMP REGARDLESS. Stop fucking with bass boost. You're just ruining the sound even more. Turn off all of the extra boosting, tune your equipment, then stop messing with it.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

2v is fine? That sounds so underpowered, how are you not having to crank your gain up big time? I thought the entire point of a LD was to boost your hu signal so you don't have to gain out the amp so much, which means less stress on it? If I was to use a 2v signal I would get literally no sound...that's what my stock was like going directly into it...without bass boost at 3\4th and gain at 3\4th it was very VERY quiet.

All preouts do is tell your amp when to make power. it dont matter if its all the way up or down. Its the same thing. Learn how to set your gain right or your going to smoke that sub you paid WAY to much for. Higher preouts eleminate some of the noise floor but guess what, your in a car, its not that noticable anyway. Now if you where running a highend SQ setup in a proper install and didnt plan on playing music over 120db you MIGHT notice

 

[MANTI5 10+ year member]

Also, think about getting a proper enclosure built.

 

[rpaulg87 10+ year member]

Make sure you're at or under 5V and you'll be fine. The thing about different pre-out voltage is that YOU HAVE TO TUNE YOUR AMP REGARDLESS. Stop fucking with bass boost. You're just ruining the sound even more. Turn off all of the extra boosting, tune your equipment, then stop messing with it.

Bass boost is off...that was prior when it was running HIGH level into the amp which is was far too quiet, THAT is why the gain\bass boost was up so much, why exactly does music get "louder" with a higher voltage signal? I'm worried that if I dial down the Audio control and the kicker all the way, it's not going to be loud at all...when wired directly in it was hardly louder than my 200w Kicker 10" stock subwoofer...unless BOTH bass boost and the gain were cranked up. Now I am able to leave all of that DOWN, and just have the line driver boost it...I figured that was better, am I supposed to drop the voltage to 5v on the Line Driver and then tune the amplifier gain UP more for a match?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Bass boost is off...that was prior when it was running HIGH level into the amp which is was far too quiet, THAT is why the gain\bass boost was up so much, why exactly does music get "louder" with a higher voltage signal? I'm worried that if I dial down the Audio control and the kicker all the way, it's not going to be loud at all...when wired directly in it was hardly louder than my 200w Kicker 10" stock subwoofer...unless BOTH bass boost and the gain were cranked up. Now I am able to leave all of that DOWN, and just have the line driver boost it...I figured that was better, am I supposed to drop the voltage to 5v on the Line Driver and then tune the amplifier gain UP more for a match?

Then get a better sub and amp