Subs blew.. what could of gone wrong?

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

Is it possible something with the wiring could of caused this? Highly doubtful something was wrong but theres always a chance

With the HU turned up that high AND bass boost on, you were probably sending a clipped signal to the amp

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

poor amp settings and poor understanding of setting ect. do some research so you don't damage anything else

 

[Biggiesmails72]

Well looks like i messed up big time. Oh well at least the sub was cheap... Really never would of thought the sub would just STOP without smoking, smelling, distorting or anything like that. Also didnt realize that a gain ANY past min would not be good... Would you guys say that it would probably be best to not even get another cheap 15 since it wont be able to handle my amp? I've been in cars where you could hear distortion or smell the subs but nothing happened in my case.. just shut off and broke

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

Well looks like i messed up big time. Oh well at least the sub was cheap... Really never would of thought the sub would just STOP without smoking, smelling, distorting or anything like that. Also didnt realize that a gain ANY past min would not be good... Would you guys say that it would probably be best to not even get another cheap 15 since it wont be able to handle my amp? I've been in cars where you could hear distortion or smell the subs but nothing happened in my case.. just shut off and broke

They were likely using smaller amps

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

yeah cooked it, unfortunately you'll need to match you subs and amps for them to work (and not kill each other) the problem you have is that you have a decent pwrful amp but you need to spend a decent amount on a sub that can handle to pwr. do a search and educate yourself on why your sub gave up.

 

[Babykinns 10+ year member]

Sub in question: Hifonics BRZ15D4
Amp that i think destroyed it: American Bass VFL 4480

Put the sub in, had the gain about 1/5th of the way up.. bass boost goes off, 6+, or 12+... I believe it was on 6+... Volume was at about 29 out of 35. It last about 15-20 seconds of life before it just stopped working. Pulled over and there was smoke coming from the vent. I REALLY do not want to have to wait to get my obsidian audio v3's... What could of been the problem here? Was my amp just too good and the sub couldnt handle it? I figured i would of smelled something, heard something, anything to give me a warning that it couldnt handle anything but it just stopped playing. Give me ANY possibilities of why this could of happened.. Id like to get another 15 until i get these 2 12's but if anything i put in is just gonna blow its just not worth it

29 out of 35. You was sendin a hella clipped signal to that sub especially at +6db

 

[Babykinns 10+ year member]

With the HU turned up that high AND bass boost on, you were probably sending a clipped signal to the amp

I think butchered is more like it at that volume lol

 

[bbeljefe]

Parts Express has these Bravox subs. Hunnert bucks for a 600 watt rms sub. Wire it up to 4Ω and set your gain properly... that should get you by.

As for gain settings, bumping the gain up is not an option if you want to protect your equipment. The gain is not a volume knob, it's a signal matching knob and its purpose is to match the output voltage of your head unit with the input sensitivity of your amplifier. When set properly, you do not need to raise it when you change to more powerful subs (unless you've purposefully set it low to match amplifier output with a low powered sub). To elaborate, too low a gain setting won't harm your subs but too high a gain setting can harm virtually any sub. Especially those that only handle at or about the amp's power rating. And even if you have a 500 watt amp and a 5000 watt sub, a clipped signal will still cause the voice coil in the sub to run hotter than it otherwise would, even though in that case you wouldn't likely burn anything up.

Also.... don't use bass boost unless the only thing you listen to is 70's music. And even then... only to a minimum and set the bass boost where you want it before gain setting. Set your gain with the subwoofer control and bass knob (if any) on max, have the head unit bass and treble flat and have the had unit at its max undistorted volume. If you don't know what that is and you can't find that info on Google, then set it at no more than 80%. For your head unit, that would be 28. And with that said, if you're running your mids and highs on the head unit amp, you're probably clipping the mids at volume level 22. Maybe less. So consider that as well, because you can melt down the coils in mids and highs with a head unit, even though it usually takes a while.

 

[Babykinns 10+ year member]

Parts Express has these Bravox subs. Hunnert bucks for a 600 watt rms sub. Wire it up to 4Ω and set your gain properly... that should get you by.
As for gain settings, bumping the gain up is not an option if you want to protect your equipment. The gain is not a volume knob, it's a signal matching knob and its purpose is to match the output voltage of your head unit with the input sensitivity of your amplifier. When set properly, you do not need to raise it when you change to more powerful subs (unless you've purposefully set it low to match amplifier output with a low powered sub). To elaborate, too low a gain setting won't harm your subs but too high a gain setting can harm virtually any sub. Especially those that only handle at or about the amp's power rating. And even if you have a 500 watt amp and a 5000 watt sub, a clipped signal will still cause the voice coil in the sub to run hotter than it otherwise would, even though in that case you wouldn't likely burn anything up.

Also.... don't use bass boost unless the only thing you listen to is 70's music. And even then... only to a minimum and set the bass boost where you want it before gain setting. Set your gain with the subwoofer control and bass knob (if any) on max, have the head unit bass and treble flat and have the had unit at its max undistorted volume. If you don't know what that is and you can't find that info on Google, then set it at no more than 80%. For your head unit, that would be 28. And with that said, if you're running your mids and highs on the head unit amp, you're probably clipping the mids at volume level 22. Maybe less. So consider that as well, because you can melt down the coils in mids and highs with a head unit, even though it usually takes a while.

The last part is exactly what I was thinking. Anything over 22 had to be a clipped signal So he was sending a butchered A$$ signal to that sub.

 

[bbeljefe]

The last part is exactly what I was thinking. Anything over 22 had to be a clipped signal So he was sending a butchered A$$ signal to that sub.

Line outputs don't usually clip lower than 80% unless it's an el cheapo head unit. Head unit amplifier outs however, usually clip at or below 60%... regardless the quality. So considering he was just over 80% on the volume knob, he probably wasn't sending a clipped line level signal or, at least, not much of one. I would bet that the amp gain setting got him.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

LOL. Running a 2000W amp to a optimistically 600W rated sub.... what could possibly go wrong?

 

[basswiigee]

yeah I thought it was the bigger hybrid it should be fine.... I fed one of my 12 v2 oa on the vfl 120.1

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

With the HU turned up that high AND bass boost on, you were probably sending a clipped signal to the amp

^^^ This. I had the vfl 4480 and you do not touch that bass boost knob whatsoever makes any wave go square on the oscope. OP you need to find out what volume level your head unit clips at also. Invest in or rent out an oscope, well worth the money.

 

[shauncox26]

Yep my rf was rated at 1000 @4 and my oa took it like a champ. Test both of them on that power. No problems and they're v1s.

 

[av83 10+ year member]

To everyone that thinks he was clipping the crap out of his hu, keep this in mind. I've tested several Excelon h/u's sub outputs, and the clipping doesn't start until 29 on the volume if the sub gain on the deck is maxed out(+15db). And for every 2db on the sub gain you go down, the volume can go up one click without clipping.

And even with bass boost at +6 on the amp, if the gain was all the way down, he probably had a soft clip at the worst.

I highly doubt this failure was due to clipping. It was likely caused by a poorly built sub that had a weak tinsel lead that broke. Hence the op not smelling coil or noticing distortion.