Menu
Forum
General Car Audio
Subwoofers
Speakers
Amplifiers
Head Units
Car Audio Build Logs
Wiring, Electrical and Installation
Enclosure Design & Construction
Car Audio Classifieds
Home Audio
Off-topic Discussion
The Lounge
What's new
Search forums
Gallery
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Registered members
Current visitors
Classifieds Member Feedback
SHOP
Shop Head Units
Shop Amplifiers
Shop Speakers
Shop Subwoofers
Shop eBay Car Audio
Log in / Register
Forum
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
Log in / Join
What’s new
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
General Car Audio
Subwoofers
Speakers
Amplifiers
Head Units
Car Audio Build Logs
Wiring, Electrical and Installation
Enclosure Design & Construction
Car Audio Classifieds
Home Audio
Off-topic Discussion
The Lounge
What's new
Search forums
Menu
Reply to thread
Forum
Car Audio Discussion
Subwoofers
Sub started smoking?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Message
<blockquote data-quote="audioholic" data-source="post: 6907556" data-attributes="member: 549629"><p>Is it okay to increase the horsepower of your engine without upgrading the transmission? Maybe yes, maybe no, depending on the engine in question, the ******, the validity of product specs, how much of a HP increase is achieved, how often you actually put all that HP to the pavement, etc. Right? Same thing with your question #1. There is no simple yes or no answer, it depends on many factors.</p><p></p><p>The terms 'overpowering' and 'underpowering' are inherently misleading. If we were to use the term literally and correctly, no, its never okay to 'overpower' your speakers, because by definition, overpowering them means giving them too much power. In reality, people just mean can I hook an amp rated for more power to a speaker rated for less. This doesn't even guarantee the large amp will ever be allowed to output its full potential, thereby never 'overpowering' the speaker. The term 'underpowering' is misleading in that it implies a situation in which a mistake is or has been made. If we used the term literally and correctly, you are not using enough power, just like undershooting the hoop in basketball or under-compensating for something means you missed your window of acceptability. In reality, the term is meant to describe a situation in which the sub is powered by an amp whose specs suggest its output is greater than the specs of the sub. Again, both these situations are highly dependent on the validity of the specs, product installation, and even listener preference.</p><p></p><p>Somehow the popular use of both terms has become flipped. Overpowering is good, and underpowering is dangerous. Silly misunderstandings of the complexities of the situation, in order the simplify the solution down into bite-sized pieces that are easy to swallow. Unfortunately, something was lost in translation and now both terms are almost universally used incorrectly. The truth is you can NEVER blow a speaker by underpowering it. The way you blow speakers are by overpowering them. What exactly becomes too much power is the tricky part.</p><p></p><p>Okay, now for your second question. Incorrect, just because an amp is rated for a certain power output does not mean its impossible to surpass that output. For one, many companies these days intentionally rate their amps artificially low by a small percentage, to give the illusion of higher quality (oooooo its underrated, it must be nice). Also, as someone else said above, severe clipping can increase amplifier output by a factor of double or more, in the form of distortion. It creates a secondary problem of decreasing cone motion (cone stops twice per cycle, at every flat on the waveform), and since cone motion is the largest part of the speaker's ability to cool itself, by pumping cold air through the motor, this makes the speaker that much more sensitive to being overpowered and failing. Clipping, a squared wave, causes a one-two punch of making the sub easier to fail thermally, while also increasing the power output of the amp (and thus heat created in the sub) by potential double or more. Knowing this, you can imagine how easy it is to blow a speaker you thought was relatively safe, even with mild to moderate clipping.</p><p></p><p>An Fi Q should be able to handle a clean 1150 watts without a problem.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="audioholic, post: 6907556, member: 549629"] Is it okay to increase the horsepower of your engine without upgrading the transmission? Maybe yes, maybe no, depending on the engine in question, the ******, the validity of product specs, how much of a HP increase is achieved, how often you actually put all that HP to the pavement, etc. Right? Same thing with your question #1. There is no simple yes or no answer, it depends on many factors. The terms 'overpowering' and 'underpowering' are inherently misleading. If we were to use the term literally and correctly, no, its never okay to 'overpower' your speakers, because by definition, overpowering them means giving them too much power. In reality, people just mean can I hook an amp rated for more power to a speaker rated for less. This doesn't even guarantee the large amp will ever be allowed to output its full potential, thereby never 'overpowering' the speaker. The term 'underpowering' is misleading in that it implies a situation in which a mistake is or has been made. If we used the term literally and correctly, you are not using enough power, just like undershooting the hoop in basketball or under-compensating for something means you missed your window of acceptability. In reality, the term is meant to describe a situation in which the sub is powered by an amp whose specs suggest its output is greater than the specs of the sub. Again, both these situations are highly dependent on the validity of the specs, product installation, and even listener preference. Somehow the popular use of both terms has become flipped. Overpowering is good, and underpowering is dangerous. Silly misunderstandings of the complexities of the situation, in order the simplify the solution down into bite-sized pieces that are easy to swallow. Unfortunately, something was lost in translation and now both terms are almost universally used incorrectly. The truth is you can NEVER blow a speaker by underpowering it. The way you blow speakers are by overpowering them. What exactly becomes too much power is the tricky part. Okay, now for your second question. Incorrect, just because an amp is rated for a certain power output does not mean its impossible to surpass that output. For one, many companies these days intentionally rate their amps artificially low by a small percentage, to give the illusion of higher quality (oooooo its underrated, it must be nice). Also, as someone else said above, severe clipping can increase amplifier output by a factor of double or more, in the form of distortion. It creates a secondary problem of decreasing cone motion (cone stops twice per cycle, at every flat on the waveform), and since cone motion is the largest part of the speaker's ability to cool itself, by pumping cold air through the motor, this makes the speaker that much more sensitive to being overpowered and failing. Clipping, a squared wave, causes a one-two punch of making the sub easier to fail thermally, while also increasing the power output of the amp (and thus heat created in the sub) by potential double or more. Knowing this, you can imagine how easy it is to blow a speaker you thought was relatively safe, even with mild to moderate clipping. An Fi Q should be able to handle a clean 1150 watts without a problem. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forum
Car Audio Discussion
Subwoofers
Sub started smoking?
Top
Menu
What's new
Forum list
