Ground zero subwoofers all produce sweet smell?

[sebasboy]

heya good day!


i'm curious to see if anyone got any experience with ground zero gear. subs specifically.

they seem to be absolute massive here in Europe. and also seem to offer some serious bass for the buck.



i am rocking a GZIW 12XSPL-D2 subwoofer with a soundstream stl1.1200d amplifier.

dual 2 ohm 1000watt sub wired at 1 ohm to the 1000watt 1 ohm rated soundstream amplifier.


should be a perfect match. everything is tuned using a O-Scope to have perfect gain's from radio down to amplifier.


along with subsonic being set to about 32 hz (my enclosure is tuned at 38 hz. ported)

i do have voltage issues right now. during SPL Measure tests it drops down to 11.5 volts. (still did 139.23@56hz though!)

but my custom alternator is currently in production. so soon should be fixed. (currently rocking a whole 100A alt)


but weirdly enough...

I've noticed whenever i play the sub quite hard. it produces this.. odd but very sweet lovely smell. (it doesnt have that... bad electronics flavour to it.. yknow?)

what I've heard in general was. any smell from speakers=very bad. turn it down.


each time after i played my system hard i give my dust cap a good feel. and 99% of the time that dust cap is warm but within reasonable levels.

even manually giving the woofer a push after having played hard. it does not produce the smell from the port. it just smells like mint MDF at that point.


the odd thing is though.


after hanging around at a car meet. I've noticed EVERY ground zero sub setup has this same sweet smell.

from the reasonable 1x10/1x12 inch setups.. to the walls full of ground zero's highest end gear...

even with setups that underpower the sub. (9x8inch 1500watts run at 1250 each)

i notice after each demo. that same style of sweet smell coming from the sub's..



which kinda goes against what i seem to have learned about car audio so far.


should i be worried at all or.. what's up? with voltage issues that woofer really isn't seeing 1000w quite yet. maybe 700 at best.


I am quite new with car audio. and trying to learn it as i go. but this is a rather odd case. and preferably I'd like to use my sub for longer than 3 months


thank you in advance for any advice and info!

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Don't see much ground zero on this continent. Looks to be pretty much the same Chinese/Korean catalog equipment that half a dozen other "brands" sell with a different logo stamped on it over here.

Smelly subs is never good. You may well get away with it for a long time but there's only so much of that glue you can burn off of a coil before it'll go slinky or burn open.

 

[sebasboy]

Don't see much ground zero on this continent. Looks to be pretty much the same Chinese/Korean catalog equipment that half a dozen other "brands" sell with a different logo stamped on it over here.

Smelly subs is never good. You may well get away with it for a long time but there's only so much of that glue you can burn off of a coil before it'll go slinky or burn open.

got a small update. talked to a dealer that does Ground zero audio.

turns out my 1000watt sub is 500 watts.

even though the manual's only mention the following 2 things.
"SPL 1000watts" and "recommended amplifier power 500-1000"

it also says "1000+ watts competition no warranty only"


Ground zero's 1500 watts version for about 19 bucks more is 750 watts RMS according to the dealer.


the manual says "700 to 1200 watts daily usage. 1500 Competition only. 1500+ out of warranty competition"



which is kinda vague. so not sure what to make of that.

kinda sounds like if you still do 900w daily it "should" be within warranty because it only stated above 1000 is outside warranty,


either way not sure what to choose for my next sub now. i wanna crack that 150 DB mark with not too much bucks. in a small hatchback shouldn't be too hard.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

my 1000watt sub is 500 watts.

And their "6000W" amp is the same Chinese Soundigital knockoff 5K board that everybody else and their cousin here sells for half the price.

That said, what with EU taxes that might be in line with what Vibe, Alphard, or other catalog "brands" will charge for the same stuff.

Really disappointing that GZ has to resort to that sort of marketing.

i wanna crack that 150 DB mark with not too much bucks.

You will very probably never do this without owning or having easy access to an SPL meter. You probably will not do this without 5000W which you will not do without electrical upgrades, and you probably won't do it too many times with 500W stamped basket type subs before they blow up.

 

[sebasboy]

And their "6000W" amp is the same Chinese Soundigital knockoff 5K board that everybody else and their cousin here sells for half the price.

That said, what with EU taxes that might be in line with what Vibe, Alphard, or other catalog "brands" will charge for the same stuff.

Really disappointing that GZ has to resort to that sort of marketing.


You will very probably never do this without owning or having easy access to an SPL meter. You probably will not do this without 5000W which you will not do without electrical upgrades, and you probably won't do it too many times with 500W stamped basket type subs before they blow up.

Oh yeah no Worries im going to redo everything for my next setup where i wanna Crack as much db as possible for about 3 to 4k budget.

Bigger wiring. Bigger amps. LTO as battery replacement and a enclosure that inches every bit of space i can get out of the hatchback.

This is a 2024 plan though. For now i wanna make due with the 1000w amplifier I got.

Maybe I'll slap in another sub driver that's actually properly rated. Though not in the ideal enclosure till my next setup.

 

[spokey9]

Just a word of caution...that windshield number doesn't necessarily mean it'll be enjoyable to listen to...

 

[sebasboy]

Just a word of caution...that windshield number doesn't necessarily mean it'll be enjoyable to listen to...

yeah haha.

i sat in a few 145DB Vehicles at the event i was at and it varied wildly.

it was the first time for me sitting in vehicles with 145+ DB setups..

some i could sit in for multiple songs in a row and it was just feeling awesome.

and then you got setups which pull the same but you have to just tap out at some point because it's just not enjoyable overall.



in the end. i want a system i can blast at max volume to have some good old SPL fun. and in the end of the day. turn the sub down to have some decent SQ.



as much as this ground zero "lied" about being actually 1000, it can do some decent SQ at lower volumes. and it rips some decent SPL at higher volume's.


but this is my first setup. i wanted to start out small to see if i would like doing this as a hobby.

and i enjoyed the installation process about as much as i love cranking that bass till the mirrors start shaking.. soo i'll definitely grow my setup more and more as i go along


this entire setup is about 700 Euro... which I'd say is not bad for 139DB during contests and some decent listening experience (though not sure how long this woofer will last with my listening habbits)

besides the wiring. the sub. and the custom enclosure. everything has been bought cheaply second hand where possible.

wiring was about 50 to 60 bucks. 200 for the sub. and 180 for the custom enclosure (made to the parameters of this woofer)

 

[SlugButter]

Just a word of caution...that windshield number doesn't necessarily mean it'll be enjoyable to listen to...

I did a box recently for a sundown 12 with dual 4 inch round ports. The box was tuned to 30 HZ with 1 port and 45 on the other depending on which port was plugged with an expandable drain plug. I haven’t actually seen any scores from it or even heard the sub in my enclosure, but he claims it meters quite a bit higher at the 45 HZ port tuning, and does decent on music and floating plastic bags in his window with the 30 HZ port. What I wanted to do was keep both ports the same length, so when you leave both ports open it would be tuned higher with double the port area, and 1 port closed would be the music tuning, but with both ports open with both being the same length as each other, it only raised tuning from 30 to 38 I think, and he wanted 45.

 

[sebasboy]

I did a box recently for a sundown 12 with dual 4 inch round ports. The box was tuned to 30 HZ with 1 port and 45 on the other depending on which port was plugged with an expandable drain plug. I haven’t actually seen any scores from it or even heard the sub in my enclosure, but he claims it meters quite a bit higher at the 45 HZ port tuning, and does decent on music and floating plastic bags in his window with the 30 HZ port. What I wanted to do was keep both ports the same length, so when you leave both ports open it would be tuned higher with double the port area, and 1 port closed would be the music tuning, but with both ports open it only raised tuning from 30 to 38 I think, and he wanted 45.

my sub enclosure is currently tuned at 38 hz.

my woofer's spec is idealy 32 hz. i wanted a bit higher to see how it was.


not sure if i'm going to stick with 38 hz though. i want to be able to crank out some SQ ofc. but i still want some vehicle shake.


when i tested a 150 watt jbl 10 inch home cinema subwoofer in my car.

it was able to shake my mirrors in a different. but more violent way than my ground zero does.

but that home cinema sub was tuned to 27 hz. i liked it alot tbh. but not sure how well 27hz translates to 140+ db setup's in terms of listening enjoyment.

 

[SlugButter]

my sub enclosure is currently tuned at 38 hz.

my woofer's spec is idealy 32 hz. i wanted a bit higher to see how it was.


not sure if i'm going to stick with 38 hz though. i want to be able to crank out some SQ ofc. but i still want some vehicle shake.


when i tested a 150 watt jbl 10 inch home cinema subwoofer in my car.

it was able to shake my mirrors in a different. but more violent way than my ground zero does.

but that home cinema sub was tuned to 27 hz. i liked it alot tbh. but not sure how well 27hz translates to 140+ db setup's in terms of listening enjoyment.

Most of the time metering for scores happens at higher frequencies. 40 HZ and over usually. Getting a 140 DB score at 27 HZ is way way way harder than getting a 140 at 57 HZ.

 

[sebasboy]

Most of the time metering for scores happens at higher frequencies. 40 HZ and over usually. Getting a 140 DB score at 27 HZ is way way way harder than getting a 140 at 57 HZ.

yeah fair point!

my 139.23 db was set at 56HZ.

i just dont have enough alternator to push it at 100% volume at lower freqs.

lower frequencies require so much more power.

i feel like once that 290A alternator+ the big 5 is done next month i will be able to pull higher numbers at lower frequencies.

which in turn will likely also be a killing blow for that "1000w" when it actually get's 1000 shoved down it's coils....



p.s BIG 5 in terms of

battery to block.
block to chassis.

battery to chassis.
alternator to battery.

and number 5. ground ECU wiring to chassis.

i have a weird interference issue that makes it into my audio whenever you touch the ECU power wiring in the engine bay. so i will be regrounding every ground on the ECU to hopefully make it a bit more solid?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Oh yeah no Worries im going to redo everything for my next setup where i wanna Crack as much db as possible for about 3 to 4k budget.

Bigger wiring. Bigger amps. LTO as battery replacement and a enclosure that inches every bit of space i can get out of the hatchback.

This is a 2024 plan though. For now i wanna make due with the 1000w amplifier I got.

Maybe I'll slap in another sub driver that's actually properly rated. Though not in the ideal enclosure till my next setup.

What sort of LTO options do you have in your country?

 

[sebasboy]

What sort of LTO options do you have in your country?

most of them are custom build options here in the Netherlands.

they get made into a custom enclosure's including BMS and stuff.

one of my mate's who makes the banks said to have
40 to 45AH capacity in the end for 450 Euro.

not sure if that's decently priced or not.,

they're meant to be put in the back of the car to be a replacement to the battery under the hood completely.

so i assume they are pretty decent.




my new alternator is about the same price as a LTO bank. 402 for the full custom 290A alternator vs 450 for a LTO bank..

but honestly even though they recommended me getting a LTO bank over a HO alternator..

i just wanted to get my electrical supply done correct.

and slap a LTO ontop of it on the next setup revision.

wouldn't hurt having both a HO alt and a LTO bank together.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

my new alternator is about the same price as a LTO bank. 402 for the full custom 290A alternator vs 450 for a LTO bank..

450 for ready-to-go 40AH LTO bank seems fair and that's about what we pay for high output alternators over here.

I couldn't say if that would be adequate electrical to hang with 4KW, my brother and I went it big on our banks but we got in on them when the prices were about half of what they are right now. I really need to build some smaller banks and experiment with battery delete and powering more modest sound systems with LTO.

 

[sebasboy]

450 for ready-to-go 40AH LTO bank seems fair and that's about what we pay for high output alternators over here.

I couldn't say if that would be adequate electrical to hang with 4KW, my brother and I went it big on our banks but we got in on them when the prices were about half of what they are right now. I really need to build some smaller banks and experiment with battery delete and powering more modest sound systems with LTO.

nice!

yeah i don't know if that would be enough or not for the bigger setups...

people here say it's enough for easily 10kw but i'll research that myself when i get there.


you'd definitely need to run some 50mm2 or 70mm2 to the rear at minimum though.

maybe even thicker if you are dealing with 300+ in HO alt's..


i think i'm either going to do 2x50mm2 to the rear. or 3x25mm2,

anything bigger than 50mm2 would most likely not be a invisible run. which i'd prefer.