MTX terminator dual 12" subwoofers vented box smelly voice coils?

[youdoofus]

I'm going to leave it at MTX Terminators. 

Hack job boxes and peak power are the icing on the cake. 

You get what you pay for. 

1: fair point, which is similar to what i was saying

2: im no box expert, so i didnt want to speak to that part

3: for the most part, yes

 

[realflow100]

I found out the issue. the subs are getting about 100 maybe 200 watts each and only moving a little bit. no wonder they are heating up at those frequencies. they move more air at higher frequencies and lower frequencies.

Maybe its a thing like I should give them enough power to cool themselves from cone movement but not too little power where they dont move enough to cool themselves but still enough to cook slowly?

Is that even possibly a thing? or should I just keep the power lower around that frequency?

 

[shredder2]

I found out the issue.

Is that even possibly a thing? 

Sounds like you want someone to support your theories... good luck man...  :eyebrow:

 

[realflow100]

I'm just asking what anyone else thinks. lol

 

[youdoofus]

I'm just asking what anyone else thinks. lol

its possible, yes

Sounds like you want someone to support your theories... good luck man...  :eyebrow:

ill mention again the subwoofer i have at home which is a Definitive Technology powered 10". The dustcap will get hot from time to time and start to smell after what wasnt extreme volume levels, but not exactly levels that my neighbors were thrilled with either im sure. The box is 100% factory and so is everything else.

 

[PPVtahoe11]

Crap subwoofers

crap amp.

crap box 

= crap results. 

Just because u used the smd distortion detector doesn’t mean your not clipping. That piece of crap thing only checks the distortion at the frequency test tone your playing. The music u play is recorded at all different types of levels. 

99% sure clipping and low end equipment 

 

[ckeeler11]

I agree with PPVTahoe11. 

The whole they need more power so they move more air to cool off thing is not a good theory. If that was the case you could never turn the volume down or they would overheat.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Extended the port inside to about double its length by adding another port wall. and added tons of stuffing to dampen the boomy resonances 

you didnt lower the tuning by much at all, in fact you could have even raised the tuning by a lot by taking up airspace because those prefabs are already beyond tiny with airspace.  There is a point when adding internal walls cause you to raise tuning because you are starving on airspace. 

I found out the issue. the subs are getting about 100 maybe 200 watts each and only moving a little bit. no wonder they are heating up at those frequencies. they move more air at higher frequencies and lower frequencies.

Maybe its a thing like I should give them enough power to cool themselves from cone movement but not too little power where they dont move enough to cool themselves but still enough to cook slowly?

Is that even possibly a thing? or should I just keep the power lower around that frequency?

they are rated 1000 watts RMS total combined and 2000 watts peak combined power and I'm only giving each subwoofer a maximum of 100 to 250 watts and I was playing some bass and I started to smell it so I turned it down. the dust caps I could feel some warmth to them and I could smell it was cooking a little. they didnt smoke and still seem to work fine but i'm worried they will blow out if I turn it up again. and the amplifier was not clipping or putting any distortion.

The subwoofers were not moving a whole lot at the time. I know they can move more and not smell so I dont know if its a dead zone frequency for the box that makes the subwoofers get hot without flexing and so they get hot?

the frequency is between 25 to 35hz and they can flex way more and not overheat but i'm not sure if they are damaged or if they just need to be broken in longer first?

I am using an equalizer to balance the frequency response so the deep mid and high bass frequencies are similar volume from 30hz to 100hz since they are quite boomy at certain frequencies.

Maybe my subwoofers are just too cheap? they were 100$ from amazon including the box. I had a look inside the box and it seemed alright but I changed the speaker terminal so they are not in parallel (my amplifier has 4 channels so I bridged two of them so each subwoofer gets a stereo signal and not mono.)

also they are rated 4 ohms each so I have them wired up to 4 ohms bridged stereo on my amplifier (1000 watt amplifier. peak. and 240-260 watts RMS bridged stereo. so around 500 watts RMS total combined power for both subwoofers?)

I dont think you know how this works. Giving a sub lower power and it not moving as much does not cause it to heat up. You have less power going to the coils and there should be literally no issues with heat. If what you said was true then whenever anyone lowers their sound system volume down, they will blow their subs. 

You never even mentioned how you tested your amp for clean wattage or if you 100% know you have a clean signal. 

My money is 100% on you having a dirty clipped signal with an amp thats not putting out anywhere enough power to push the subs and you are dissatisfied with the output and cranked it up. Just because you dont hear distorted bass doesnt meant you are not clipping with a dirty signal.  Heated coils basically means clipped dirty signal by almost default and there's no exception in your particular case here.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Terminators are 200wrms subs. They took the place of the old Road Thunders but are built with far lower grade parts. They don't have a strong enough motor to control the cone and are designed for sealed boxes. Thats what had me laughing at the beginning. They are fit to be sold in a Walmart. 

You get what you pay for.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

I'm wondering where your getting 1k rms for the subs from?  No way an entry level sub can handle that much power, esp MTX Audio.

Those bass packages from Amazon, Wal Mart, etc. are just that: to give the owner a little bass. You want something louder, sell everything and start all over. Use that $$ to get some better brands.

 

[youdoofus]

you didnt lower the tuning by much at all, in fact you could have even raised the tuning by a lot by taking up airspace because those prefabs are already beyond tiny with airspace.  There is a point when adding internal walls cause you to raise tuning because you are starving on airspace. 

I dont think you know how this works. Giving a sub lower power and it not moving as much does not cause it to heat up. You have less power going to the coils and there should be literally no issues with heat. If what you said was true then whenever anyone lowers their sound system volume down, they will blow their subs. 

You never even mentioned how you tested your amp for clean wattage or if you 100% know you have a clean signal. 

My money is 100% on you having a dirty clipped signal with an amp thats not putting out anywhere enough power to push the subs and you are dissatisfied with the output and cranked it up. Just because you dont hear distorted bass doesnt meant you are not clipping with a dirty signal.  Heated coils basically means clipped dirty signal by almost default and there's no exception in your particular case here.

why would my home sub be doing the same thing then? I cant imagine that Definitive Technolgy set the gain on the plate amp to give a clipped signal

 

[youdoofus]

I'm wondering where your getting 1k rms for the subs from?  No way an entry level sub can handle that much power, esp MTX Audio.

Those bass packages from Amazon, Wal Mart, etc. are just that: to give the owner a little bass. You want something louder, sell everything and start all over. Use that $$ to get some better brands.

agreed

 

[realflow100]

I checked with an aux cable wired to a 1 ohm resistor and a 10k resistor hooked up together to both speaker outputs and the aux cable plugged into my line in on my computer and recorded it in audacity to check for clipping at various frequencies then played back the recorded samples and heard no clipping and couldn't see any clipping in the waveforms either

I used the 1 ohm resistor and 10k resistor to drop the voltage down to a safe level to hook to my line in on my computer and checked both speakers while running with the subwoofers plugged in playing a variety of frequencies

the voltage on both bridged outputs are about 28.28v with no speakers plugged in at the loudest frequency of about 40hz

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

What is so hard to understand about a low thermal limit?

 

[realflow100]

if I upgrade the subwoofers will it just not overheat anymore on the same clean power? will I need a more powerful amplifier to make it the same loudness as before? or will it be slightly louder on the same power or the same?