Subs Barely Moving... Searched Everywhere....

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

i'm headin' off to work, when I come back I'll try these things out...
one question though, if you can't just hook one coil in a DVC up, is it impossible to run a 4ohm DVC sub at 4ohms? (by itself)

the amp is on, and running. i can hear the fan when it starts, and it has a digital display that remains on, that tells me the voltage, temperature, and all that crap.

the crossover is set to lowpass.

yes...if the sub is 4ohm DVC then you can run it on half power 4ohm

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

a DVC subwoofer rated at 800 watts is 400 watts per coil....it will run all day long on 400 watts on one coil
I can back this with articles and plenty of experts

oh lawd...

not this argument again

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

Please, feel free to enlighten me.

give me a minute to find the articles

 

[benchambers80]

Check for input modes. Most 4 channels have them.

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

oh lawd...
not this argument again

u have a link to another thread to save my time?

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp~TID~74640~PN~1

i will continue looking

edit: I also ran a single vc on a dvc sub for 3 years with no problems

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

I am an expert.

Running one coil on a DVC sub can and will damage it. There can be excess EMF built up in the coil not being powered. this can create excess heat. Remember that a dual coil sub does not have the same coils as a single coil sub times 2. The sub is designed to use both coils and will not move properly without both coils hooked up. Movement can be non-linear and thus be distorted.

That amp may not be rated at 2ohms bridged but if you DC voltage in is kept above 12.6 then it will run 2 ohms fine. Wire 2 coils in parallel or even wire each coil to its own channel. Anyway you do it, wire all coils.

If you ran 1 coil of a dual coil sub for a few years with no problem, you were lucky. But I bet the sub never played as good as it should have ever again.

If those articles say otherwise, they are wrong. I know some of the guys that write them, not all are experts.

 

[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

so can you run a dual 2ohm sub at 4ohms or what is good to run a dual 2ohm sub at

 

[chronicblazen 10+ year member]

Yeah.... I've also searched on the "can you run only one coil on a DVC" and found a split decision everytime. I'm no expert, but when a sub is advertised as a "4ohm DVC" i would think that it's informing the buyer that it is a 4 ohm sub, but there is another voice coil that gives you the flexibility to lower, or higher the impedance. Then again, damaging a sub by only using one voice coil also sounds reasonable, seeing the subwoofer manufacturer making it with two voice coils to handle all the power.

I am an expert.Running one coil on a DVC sub can and will damage it. There can be excess EMF built up in the coil not being powered. this can create excess heat. Remember that a dual coil sub does not have the same coils as a single coil sub times 2. The sub is designed to use both coils and will not move properly without both coils hooked up. Movement can be non-linear and thus be distorted.

That amp may not be rated at 2ohms bridged but if you DC voltage in is kept above 12.6 then it will run 2 ohms fine. Wire 2 coils in parallel or even wire each coil to its own channel. Anyway you do it, wire all coils.

If you ran 1 coil of a dual coil sub for a few years with no problem, you were lucky. But I bet the sub never played as good as it should have ever again.

If those articles say otherwise, they are wrong. I know some of the guys that write them, not all are experts.

I'm gonna go ahead and try wiring them down to 2 ohm and see what happens. I didn't want to do it initially not wanting to mess the amp up, but there's no way kicker would make an amp that wouldn't be stable at 2 ohm. I just thought since it was a 4 channel it'd be different, but I'll give it a try. Still doesn't make sense why they're barely hitting. If it was only getting "half the power it can get" through once voice coil, it doesn't even sound like it's going at "half its capacity".

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

I am an expert.Running one coil on a DVC sub can and will damage it. There can be excess EMF built up in the coil not being powered. this can create excess heat. Remember that a dual coil sub does not have the same coils as a single coil sub times 2. The sub is designed to use both coils and will not move properly without both coils hooked up. Movement can be non-linear and thus be distorted.

That amp may not be rated at 2ohms bridged but if you DC voltage in is kept above 12.6 then it will run 2 ohms fine. Wire 2 coils in parallel or even wire each coil to its own channel. Anyway you do it, wire all coils.

If you ran 1 coil of a dual coil sub for a few years with no problem, you were lucky. But I bet the sub never played as good as it should have ever again.

If those articles say otherwise, they are wrong. I know some of the guys that write them, not all are experts.

if this was true, then why can you run equipment off the second coil, and why have so many people done this before with no issues......one more-->why would audio manufacturers recommend running only one coil on a DVC subwoofer?(ascendant audio)

what physical property of the coils would cause the sub to move non linearly? to my understanding, a DVC sub has one coil surrounding the second all on the outside of the former!? show a video of one on a single voice coil moving non-linearly

explanation or I call BS

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

Yeah.... I've also searched on the "can you run only one coil on a DVC" and found a split decision everytime. I'm no expert, but when a sub is advertised as a "4ohm DVC" i would think that it's informing the buyer that it is a 4 ohm sub, but there is another voice coil that gives you the flexibility to lower, or higher the impedance. Then again, damaging a sub by only using one voice coil also sounds reasonable, seeing the subwoofer manufacturer making it with two voice coils to handle all the power.


I'm gonna go ahead and try wiring them down to 2 ohm and see what happens. I didn't want to do it initially not wanting to mess the amp up, but there's no way kicker would make an amp that wouldn't be stable at 2 ohm. I just thought since it was a 4 channel it'd be different, but I'll give it a try. Still doesn't make sense why they're barely hitting. If it was only getting "half the power it can get" through once voice coil, it doesn't even sound like it's going at "half its capacity".

half power does not mean half the output

 

[chronicblazen 10+ year member]

if you are running them in parralel the amp is seeing a 1 ohm load per channel, it could be in protect.

not running them parallel. got the amp (four channels) bridged down to two. So each sub has its own channel. then since i didn't want to have a 2ohm load on each (wiring each DVC parallel) I just hooked up one voice coil to keep it at 4 ohm.

I would wire up to 8 ohm and then bridge it to 2 channels.

yeah

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

Alot of companies make a dual coil sub and a single coil sub so you have options. The options you have are 2 ohm or 8 ohm.

Ever see thiele small parameters of a sub?

Well on a dual coil sub they are measured and adjusted for both coils playing. These characteristics can drastically change when using only one coil. Just the fact that you are not using the subs full potential should want you to use both coils

If anyone has any doubts, do a little experiment to see with your own eyes. Take a dual 4 ohm sub, wire 200 watts @ 4ohm to one coil. Measure SPL, or even measure cone travel.

Then wire both coils each to 100w @ 4 ohms so you have a total of 200w but both coils are playing. Now measure SPL and cone travel. I will garuntee with both coils powered, you will have more cone travel and a higher SPL.

In the SPL competition arena there have been many times with myself and with other competitors that we will have the amps on one of our coils not turned on and it blows the sub. So when you have 2 coils and 12,000 watts wired to each coil. One of those coils not moving essentially weighs the cone down and restricts movement. This causes more stress than if the total 24,000 watts were playing.

I can do an experiment and take a video this coming weekend and post it on here.

 

[Ed Lester 10+ year member]

just wire each coil to its own channel.

 

[chronicblazen 10+ year member]

just wire each coil to its own channel.

didn't think of that.... at what "ohm-age" would that set-up be running per channel?