sub overextension

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

What causes sub overextension? Is it overpowering the sub, or underpowering it? I think this has been the cause of my last to sub failures. The tinsel wire contact at the speaker cone has been damaged, and I think this is from over extension. THe subs still works if I push down on it, otherwise I get dirty distorted sound coming out of it. Help's appreciated.

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[SoundsUnlimited 10+ year member]

Originally posted by joshpoints What causes sub overextension? Is it overpowering the sub, or underpowering it? I think this has been the cause of my last to sub failures. The tinsel wire contact at the speaker cone has been damaged, and I think this is from over extension. THe subs still works if I push down on it, otherwise I get dirty distorted sound coming out of it. Help's appreciated.

I take it u are talking about the excursion of the sub...If the sub is "OVER EXCURSIONING" if thats even a word..LOL...Then u are most likely over powering them or turning the volume too high on the HU..so go back and turn the gains down on the amp, flat time the CD PLAYER and go from there until u get everything working like it should and sounding as u want it without damaging the subs...If your tinsel thread came loose..Then that is due to excessive heat etc..Which is the main cause of Over powring the subs or constant distortion...So it sounds like u are really over powering the subs...Hope I was helpful..Get back to me if u need any additional help!

Blake

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

Excurding

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[dave_3148 10+ year member]

overextension sound like something you do to a mucsle or something

 

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

Originally posted by SoundsUnlimited I take it u are talking about the excursion of the sub...If the sub is "OVER EXCURSIONING" if thats even a word..LOL...Then u are most likely over powering them or turning the volume too high on the HU..so go back and turn the gains down on the amp, flat time the CD PLAYER and go from there until u get everything working like it should and sounding as u want it without damaging the subs...If your tinsel thread came loose..Then that is due to excessive heat etc..Which is the main cause of Over powring the subs or constant distortion...So it sounds like u are really over powering the subs...Hope I was helpful..Get back to me if u need any additional help!

 

Blake

Shouldn't I be able to listen to my subs is loud as I want? My mids and highs don't have any problems playing loud all the time. Is there any way to know if it is from over powering or underpowering? I know clipping is from trying to get too much out of your amp. The 4 ohm subs are rated at 250 rms each. My amp is rated at 300X1 rms 600X1 peak and I have wired the speakers + to - instead of ++, --. Do I need a bigger amp? I have never heard anyone with the amount of problems that I am having. I've blown six subs and I just got into subs two years ago. My gain is only turned up about 1/4 of full.

 

[gellis4 10+ year member]

You're sending them a distorted signal. It doesn't really matter how much power your sending them when they're distorting at higher volumes. You're still going to blow the sub.

 

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

Originally posted by gellis4 You're sending them a distorted signal. It doesn't really matter how much power your sending them when they're distorting at higher volumes. You're still going to blow the sub.

Okay I'm lost now. How do I prevent a distorted signal. My deck has 5.5v output to the sub amp. When you talk about turning down the gain you are talking about the sensitivity nob right?

 

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

I have heard that the gain doesn't make your amp put out more power. So what is actually happening when you turn up the gain for the subs to sound stronger and louder. How can you tell if your gain is set correctly? Should I just buy a 1200 watt amp for my 250 rms (each) and turn the gain to its minimum so that they get a clean signal? I was reading on a web site and it said the highest voltage you want is 2 volt outputs, mine is 5.5volts so what should I do? They say anything over 2 causes distortion. They also said that decks that have over 2 volts were made to eliminate noise. What does the gain knob scientifically do? My is turned almost all the way to minimum. WHat would you use the maximum gain for, a .25Volt preamp output?

Your help is appreciated. THis problem is getting expensive.

 

[SoundsUnlimited 10+ year member]

**** dude..LEARN SOMETHING!!!!! **** newbies //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif

Blake

 

[SoundsUnlimited 10+ year member]

Originally posted by joshpoints Okay I'm lost now. How do I prevent a distorted signal. My deck has 5.5v output to the sub amp. When you talk about turning down the gain you are talking about the sensitivity nob right?

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION!!! The gain is on the amp..it controls the level of output to the subs...The CD player has sub controls..Both sound be turned down..It only takes 1 watt or distortion to blow a sub..From what u are telling me u have a lot of distortion...Go to your CD player **FLAT-LINE EVERYTHING** Then go to the amp and turn the GAIN down **Sensitivity Knob** on the amp....Then after turning the amp down go to your Head Unit and flat line it Ex**** Bass 0, treble 0, mids 0, subs outputs 0**** THen adjust everything slightly, a little and a little until everything has reached what u want and the subs arent put into a un-safe mode!! If u need anymore help just let me know...Also If u need me to, I'll better explain a few things for you!

Blake

 

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

Originally posted by SoundsUnlimited PAY CLOSE ATTENTION!!! The gain is on the amp..it controls the level of output to the subs...The CD player has sub controls..Both sound be turned down..It only takes 1 watt or distortion to blow a sub..From what u are telling me u have a lot of distortion...Go to your CD player **FLAT-LINE EVERYTHING** Then go to the amp and turn the GAIN down **Sensitivity Knob** on the amp....Then after turning the amp down go to your Head Unit and flat line it Ex**** Bass 0, treble 0, mids 0, subs outputs 0**** THen adjust everything slightly, a little and a little until everything has reached what u want and the subs arent put into a un-safe mode!! If u need anymore help just let me know...Also If u need me to, I'll better explain a few things for you!

 

Blake

I understand about the gain now kind of. Mine was turned almost all the way off. I hear no distortion when I play my subs at all, until the tinsel lead got damaged on one of them. I'm trying to figure out what caused the damage. I do have some low quality music that I burned off the internet, what exactly is distortion? Is low quality music a cause of distortion? I was also reading that preamp output voltage being high causes distortion naturally. THey say that two is about the best for minimizing noise in the car environment without causing excessive distortion. AT first I thought that higher voltage preamp outs were better. But it seems I'd now rather take a .75V output and have a little noise then have distortion. To be exact my sensitivity was only turned 1/12 of its maximum. I mean hardly off of minimum. NO exagerration.

 

[gellis4 10+ year member]

i think distortion is just when the sub isn't getting a clean signal.. this can happen if your deck is all the way up too. so it isn't just the amp. and do what Blake told you to do, it is the best way to setup your system. And also, i think that bad CD quality could be a problem too.

 

[joshpoints 10+ year member]

Originally posted by gellis4 i think distortion is just when the sub isn't getting a clean signal.. this can happen if your deck is all the way up too. so it isn't just the amp. and do what Blake told you to do, it is the best way to setup your system. And also, i think that bad CD quality could be a problem too.

My problem is I can't turn my gain down any lower. THis is why I think the problem is my amp doesn't have enough power for the subs. They are rated at 250 rms each, and I'm sending them 150 watts each. The headunit is a top of the line sony ( about two or 3 years ago model ES model). My deck volume isn't turned all the way up when I play the music, and I don't think this would have an effect on the signal, because I'm running through the Preamp outputs, which just send a signal to the amp and the amp has to produce the wattage. If I was running through the amp in my head unit then I think this would have an effect, or if I was running speaker level inputs from the deck into the amp then I would have problems with having the volume too high, but I also don't have the volume maxed out.

 

[FAM4LIFE 10+ year member]

What type subs and amp do you have?

 

[paikiah 5,000+ posts]

Hey, know what? Older amps were not deisgned to get fed anything over 4V..or was that 2? Anyway, 5V sounds like a high number... if your amp has a input sensitivity knob,maybe you should adjust that too... but anyway, it looks like it might be safer for you to pay a pro to install the equipments for you and learn by watching him... that's how I started...

high output decks...hmmm, I guess that's something that didn't exist when I started, so I'm not sure, but I do know high quality amps accpet high voltage signals without a problem...

just like balanced line, they carry 8v, don't they? Just the double of the standard 4V...

anyway...go to a shop..they'll save you from blowing anymore subs....