Have a problem with setup

[ragtopman]

Hi all,

I use to have the Alpine MRV-M500 and did have it put in professionally, nothing was wrong there. I just recently changed my amp out and upgraded to the alpine MRX-M110.

I have the amp hooked up to 1 Alpine SWR-10D4 type R running at 2 ohm. Now as far as my knowledge goes, that sub should be able to handle that amp and sound great. The RMS of the sub (for those that don't know) is 1000 watts, and the MRX-M110 came at 1207 watts.

The problem is the voice coils are heating up thus creating a burning electrical smell when the sub hits hard for >5 min. The gain is below half but yet when I turn the volume to 3/4 and have a hard hitting song, you can smell it. I don't know what to do but wire the sub at 4ohm to have 600ish watts run to it.

Any help on this would be very much appreciated!

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[snyderd758 10+ year member]

Is the sub new? if it is its probably defective if not it may be time for a new sub. A type r will take the power your feeding it easily.

 

[joom 10+ year member]

That sub can only be wired to 2 or 8 ohms. How did you determine how you set gain? Sounds like you have a miss match. Trying to avoid the c word. Simple solution turn the gain down on the amp until the voice coils quit heating up. Good luck with it.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Clipped recording of music, clipped from amp gain/head unit settings

 

[snyderd758 10+ year member]

I assumed gain was set correctly... yeah you are most likely clipping.

 

[ragtopman]

That sub can only be wired to 2 or 8 ohms. How did you determine how you set gain? Sounds like you have a miss match. Trying to avoid the c word. Simple solution turn the gain down on the amp until the voice coils quit heating up. Good luck with it.

The sub is wired at 2 ohm, I set the gain off of ear and it is about half way. There is also a bass EQ on the amp, and that is set at half way also. Above 3/4 volume you can start to hear distortion in the music. But when it is 3/4 or lower (but still loud) and I have hard bass going, just starts to smell. If I do turn the gain down, its almost no bass at all without cranking the volume all the way up.

 

[ragtopman]

Is the sub new? if it is its probably defective if not it may be time for a new sub. A type r will take the power your feeding it easily.

Nope, had the sub since February. Everything was fine up till now, and that is exactly what I was thinking about it taking the power easily.

 

[ragtopman]

I assumed gain was set correctly... yeah you are most likely clipping.

Best solution to fix it from clipping?

 

[ragtopman]

Clipped recording of music, clipped from amp gain/head unit settings

Hmm ok, not too sure how to fix the clipping. Still fairly new to this.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Hmm ok, not too sure how to fix the clipping. Still fairly new to this.

set the gain using the digital multi-meter method. (google is your friend on that)

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Turn bass EQ off

 

[snyderd758 10+ year member]

Yeah Google set amp gain with multimeter it may not be as loud but your subs will last longer. If you can get your hands on an scope you can see exactly when it clips.

 

[snyderd758 10+ year member]

Also you didn't state whether or not you're enclosure is ported? If it is what is your subsonic filter set at?

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

I'm going to assume several things here so here i go-

Alpine says 1000wrms, 3000w peak

Voice Coil Diam. 2.6"

Those specs do NOT mix together..

But, to give Alpine benefit of the doubt, i looked at the driver..

The entire underside of it is enclosed minus a useless pole vent that doesn't really help with cooling.

So, the power ratings must be from Apparent Power instead of actual power..

So, an amplifier rated no more than 1,000wrms, clip free would work but anything over that wouldn't.

That means the actual RMS of the driver is probably around 400wrms Reactive.

I would say some clipping is at play here but also if not, the amplifier could be too much for the sub based on hardware limitations.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

[Voice Coil Diam. 2.6"

Not a chance that coil will handle 1000W continuous power.

Most honest companies rate their 2.5" coil subs at 600W