I blew a subwoofer with a weak amp?

[AmuletOfNight]

I got my first amp installed in my car today. My friend bought me some cheap (CHEAP!!!) subs rated at 400 RMS. Seeing how they were cheap I didn't want to supply them with their full power, so I didn't. I installed an amp rated at 175 RMS @ 4 ohms. When I plugged them both in, it wasn't enough to drive them to produce an actual bass tone..it was just a tinny noise. I went ahead and bridged the amp to one (it's a 2 channel amp) sub so that it would be putting out it's rated 275 watts @ 2 ohms. I turned the bass all the way up on my radio and turned the subwoofer level up all the way on the radio as well. The bass was great. After about 5 minutes of this, the bass just stopped completely and I could smell the "speaker" smell. You know, the smell of a speaker after it works hard. Sure enough, the sub was blown completely. What happened at 275 watts?!

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[bbeljefe]

You clipped the sub to death. You are far better off giving a speaker more clean power than it is rated for than you are sending it low, dirty power.

And, you should never, ever turn the bass up all the way. Or the bass boost. Or the gain. And the loud button should never be used at high volumes. All of those things cause a clipped signal and you can destroy a 500 watt sub with 50 watts of that kind of distorted signal.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

just out of curiousity --

Amp brand/model?

Sub brand/model?

 

[AmuletOfNight]

Well then I guess I must have clipped it to death, then.

The amp is a Renegade REN550S MK3, brand new, not used.

The subs are Pyle PLBS102 800 watt enclosure (400 watts on each sub). The subs were used and I am unsure of what they went through. I'm thinking either they clipped to death as stated or they were just abused before I got them. Then again, these subs are cheap. He picked them up for $80

 

[Syphlyn]

You clipped the sub to death. You are far better off giving a speaker more clean power than it is rated for than you are sending it low, dirty power.
And, you should never, ever turn the bass up all the way. Or the bass boost. Or the gain. And the loud button should never be used at high volumes. All of those things cause a clipped signal and you can destroy a 500 watt sub with 50 watts of that kind of distorted signal.

Unless you have a Head unit like mine where the sub level is 0-15 and is simply a gate, 0 being closed and 15 being open. I have mine set to 15 it just let's the full signal go through. If you have a -7...0...+7 setting then you should leave it at 0 as that is the full signal.

I read this somewhere and have found it to be useful, correct me if I'm wrong.

Well then I guess I must have clipped it to death, then.
The amp is a Renegade REN550S MK3, brand new, not used.

The subs are Pyle PLBS102 800 watt enclosure (400 watts on each sub). The subs were used and I am unsure of what they went through. I'm thinking either they clipped to death as stated or they were just abused before I got them. Then again, these subs are cheap. He picked them up for $80

Pyle is garbage stay clear away, chances are even if you powered that sub properly if would have died within 6 months.

If you want some cheap subs go with some more mainstream brands such as Alpine, Kicker, Soundqubed, and hell even sundown, just buy the low end models, 9/10 times those are better than Pyle or Pyramids best woofers.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Well then I guess I must have clipped it to death, then.
The amp is a Renegade REN550S MK3, brand new, not used.

The subs are Pyle PLBS102 800 watt enclosure (400 watts on each sub). The subs were used and I am unsure of what they went through. I'm thinking either they clipped to death as stated or they were just abused before I got them. Then again, these subs are cheap. He picked them up for $80

80 bucks is a rip off for a pair of pyles.

 

[AmuletOfNight]

80 bucks is a rip off for a pair of pyles.

Good thing I didn't buy them...

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

before buying subs and amp check with the forum man, we'll let you know whats the gud shiet.

 

[AmuletOfNight]

Okay, well since I already have the amp, can somebody recommend me some cheap subs? The amp is 175W @ 4 ohms and 275 watts @ 2 ohms respectively with bridging capability.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

That amp does not do what it says. Sell that thang

 

[CSCStang]

To run @2 ohms, you need a single voice coil @2ohm or a dual voice coil @4ohm (wired parallel). Check the classifieds.

 

[CSCStang]

That amp does not do what it says. Sell that thang

And this^^^

 

[akillj 10+ year member]

I agree with what everyone else said. Stay away from anything Pyle. I'd always check here or ask questions on here before buying a certain brand if you're unsure of it.

And to anyone else reading for the sake of not spreading misinformation: You cannot blow a subwoofer by simply 'underpowering' it. That is just false. By this logic, you would blow your subs just by turning the volume down. You can however, blow the sub with clipped signals. Never use bass boost on the amp / headunit or anywhere else along the signal chain. If your gains are set correctly you should not need to turn up 'bass boost' anywhere.

Gain is not a volume knob. It's to set your input voltage on the amplifier. The reason the bass actuates when you turn the gain up/down is because you're essentially tricking the amp into thinking it's getting a different input voltage than it really is. The amp is always putting out max power for the input voltage it's set for. So when you turn the gain too high, it simply cannot put out more power, so it just clips the signal off.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

on that power, you'll want very low rms subs with an extremely large custom box or else you wont even tickle the subs. However the output you achieve will be that of door speakers.... horrible lol.

That amp you have lists 75 rms a channel at 4 ohms and 135 rms a channel at 2 ohms with extremely high Total harmonic distortion levels(sign of a cheap crappy amp that are made to be woofer cookers). That amp's in the same category as pyle man, it'll be lucky to do half of the RMS wattage it says it does. That amp is also meant for midrange speakers/tweeters not subwoofer. You'd want a monoblock amp. Best thing to do, hook that amp you have to your speakers and get an actual sub amp and subs. Let the budget grow and do things right the first time around. Buying cheap will always land you in a pyle of dog shit and you'll be hemorrhaging money buying junk all the times.

 

[Charliemkv]

Go buy this, have fun.

12 in Sundown Audio SA series and Kicker Amp