Distortion on Infinity Kappa 12 Advice needed.

[mikep123]

Just bought a 12" Infinity Kappa. I wanted Sq more than SPL but still wanted something decently loud. I heard great reviews on the Kappas so I pulled the trigger. I bought a Hifonics Brutis 1100.1d at 450 watts @ 4 ohms. The Kappa is 350 Rms but am hearing all over that it can take more than that. So I have never touched the bass boost and kept the gain at 50-65% at the most and with rap songs I am getting this distortion, sound sort of a rattling sound when I turn it up. Its not the box or anything in the box because i took the speaker out to check and it was deff coming from the sub. I don't know if I was expecting too much or it is a defective speaker. Not that this is a good scale for performance but It wont even rattle the trunk. Any advice would be appreciated. Also I'm pretty sure I hooked it up well. 4 gauge kit its single coil so just match up the positive and negatives. Its in a 1 cubic ft sealed box like recommended.

Thanks,

Mike

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[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I'm thinking gains aren't right. If you set it by ear, you may have been expecting to get too much output, and cranked it too high. How does it sound at lower gain? If the distortion goes away, that may be the problem.

 

[mikep123]

I had to turn the gain just lower that half way to get the distortion to stop. Shouldn't the sub be able to take more than that though? I'm a newbie so maybe I'm way off.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

I had to turn the gain just lower that half way to get the distortion to stop. Shouldn't the sub be able to take more than that though? I'm a newbie so maybe I'm way off.

With one 12" sub in a sealed box on low power, just expect it to blend with your mids/highs. The gain dial is not a volume dial. It only matches your signal source. If you want a louder system, make a ported box. You could also upgrade gear if you really wanted the wow factor

 

[CSCStang]

I had to turn the gain just lower that half way to get the distortion to stop. Shouldn't the sub be able to take more than that though? I'm a newbie so maybe I'm way off.

Distortion=clipping. Clipping=blown sub. Back the gain off and you'll be good to go......

If you want to try a ported, I build them so send me pm if you're interested.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Gain is not a power knob

 

[mikep123]

K thats where I get confused. So I hear that the gain is to match the imput of the HU. So my HU preouts are 2 volts. but to turn the gain to 2 volts would be turning the gain up almost 75% the gain starts at 9v to .2v. I can't get near the 2v level on the gain before it starts distorting. Ill probably try a car audio shop near me to see if I can get it tuned and hopefully learn more.

Thanks everyone.

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

K thats where I get confused. So I hear that the gain is to match the imput of the HU. So my HU preouts are 2 volts. but to turn the gain to 2 volts would be turning the gain up almost 75% the gain starts at 9v to .2v. I can't get near the 2v level on the gain before it starts distorting. Ill probably try a car audio shop near me to see if I can get it tuned and hopefully learn more.
Thanks everyone.

Taking it to a shop does not guarantee it is done correctly. Just saying

 

[mikep123]

So what about getting a second sub since my amp does 800 watts at 2 ohms I can get 2 Kappas at 4 ohms 350 watts each ? Would that work?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

You need to get a better box

 

[kero48]

Do some reading on how to set your gain via dmm instead of bringing it to a shop and you will learn along the way. And agree with others try to go with a ported enclosure that is build to the subs specifications. The ported enclosure if built correctly, would be tunned correctly as well.