How much can you overpower a sub?

Justinw303
10+ year member

[Space for Rent]
I know it's always better to overpower a sub than underpowering it, and it's not overpowering that usually blows a sub, etc., but how much is too much.

For instance, could you send 200 watts to a sub with an RMS of 140?

I'm looking at a CompVR that handles 200 watts in the smallest recommended sealed box size, but only 140 watts at the maximum. Would I hurt anything by continuing to power it like this?

 
How is it better to overpower than underpower?.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif
It's what I've ALWAYS heard. Better to push a sub a little hard than push an amp a little hard.

 
Kicker is conservative in its ratings, you will get away with the extra 60watts no problem, unless your playing test tones continuously at full volume.

 
they say you can over power a sub because distortion usually kills a sub, meaning you will turn the amp up and atry to get those extra watts out of it but really just give off distortion.

BUt your right if the gains are set right it doesnt matter

 
So it really depends on how smart you are with your amp?

I know enough not to set my gains too high because I've heard the horror stories, so I guess I'm safe.

 
So it really depends on how smart you are with your amp?
I know enough not to set my gains too high because I've heard the horror stories, so I guess I'm safe.

No no no... You need to PROPERLY set your gain. Now just set it to where you "think" it might be good. Read the "How to set your gain" sticky in the amplifier forum, you will learn something.

 
they say you can over power a sub because distortion usually kills a sub,
arrrrrggghh.

Squeak and I have answered this three times in the past week //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Distortion does not inherently kill speakers.

As for the original question, you can overpower a sub by several thousand watts, but only if you really know what you're doing, in limited apps. SPL competitors "burp" their subs very close to enclosure tuning (so excursion is the lowest it possibly can be) for very short lengths of time (to prevent thermal failure of the driver, because there's no VC cooling).

In normal usage, I wouldn't go over 100W unless you know the sub can take it (like older model Type R's, which were notoriously underrated).

 
arrrrrggghh.
Squeak and I have answered this three times in the past week //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
It does seem to be quite a popular topic as of lately.

To further detail what he is saying, the only reason a sub will fail will be due to either thermal or mechanical limits being reached and surpassed. You can send all sorts of distorted **** to yoru sub and it could take it like a champ, but if your coil/s overheats then that is when you will run into problems. Or if you overexcurt you can run into problems also. Broken pole pieces, mis-aligned coils, bla bla bla.

 
plus, actually in a sealed, you can usually power it more.
By how much could you overpower a sealed? I have a 5 channel amp with the 5th sub channel 400 rms. And a Kicker 43cwrt101 10 inch wired to 2 ohms (the sub rated for 400 rms). My box is .41 cubic feet. I've been told that is a small enclosure, and it makes sense. But I'm wondering if I could get away with powering it more since it's in a small sealed enclosure. I want to try to keep my box under my seat hidden but unfortunately it's a cramped fit.. Sigh.
 
By how much could you overpower a sealed? I have a 5 channel amp with the 5th sub channel 400 rms. And a Kicker 43cwrt101 10 inch wired to 2 ohms (the sub rated for 400 rms). My box is .41 cubic feet. I've been told that is a small enclosure, and it makes sense. But I'm wondering if I could get away with powering it more since it's in a small sealed enclosure. I want to try to keep my box under my seat hidden but unfortunately it's a cramped fit.. Sigh.


This thread is 17 years old....

really.jpg
 
By how much could you overpower a sealed? I have a 5 channel amp with the 5th sub channel 400 rms. And a Kicker 43cwrt101 10 inch wired to 2 ohms (the sub rated for 400 rms). My box is .41 cubic feet. I've been told that is a small enclosure, and it makes sense. But I'm wondering if I could get away with powering it more since it's in a small sealed enclosure. I want to try to keep my box under my seat hidden but unfortunately it's a cramped fit.. Sigh.
I'm sure you've found the answer now, but for anyone who's wondering. It doesn't matter much what box it's in, if you go over the rated power handling, you risk thermal damage. A small enclosure helps to reduce mechanical damage, but at the expense of less low frequency extension. It's best to model the sub in software to make sure you get the best out of your sub. Ideally, the RMS power handling would be reached at maximum linear excursion.
 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...

Similar threads

Buck, great idea. I did that tonight, and it actually didn't wheeze like a fat guy trying to run a marathon. I am going to put two windows that...
19
1K
Oh, just for future reference. Put $800 OBO, or you will only get that $600, or less. ;)
4
681
If your audio system constantly draws more amperage than your alt produces, it will drain your battery, to the point of the battery needing to be...
14
1K
The one and only mtx amp I've run was like that (it was black with the fake chrome platistic badging back in '01 I think) the first time I made a...
41
3K
You need something more like a pro audio woofer. You want a really light Mms with a lower Fs. Idk how much loudness vs range you want, but a...
14
1K

About this thread

Justinw303

10+ year member
[Space for Rent]
Thread starter
Justinw303
Joined
Location
Silver Spring, MD
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
18
Views
38,512
Last reply date
Last reply from
Popwarhomie
Screenshot 2024-03-07 184329.png

Doxquzme

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
IMG_3075.jpeg

Daniel Lee

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top