Subwoofer and Amplifier Help!

SundownSydrome
10+ year member

Member
Story time, I had two MTX Audio 10" subwoofers rated at 200RMS each.

The link to the whole setup is here: bitly/LL4PnH (Put a . between "bit" and "ly")

They sounded great, they had a lot of "boom" versus just straight up shaking which I've seen in setups before. Don't get me wrong, these subwoofers shook my whole truck, but it wasn't like massage chairs, and instead was like "booming" bass.

In my case and I would assume everyones: Boom > Straight up vibration

None the less, I blew one of the subwoofers, as the "voice coil had come unwound", as MTX Audio had told me, so I ended up purchasing two Kicker CVX 10" subwoofers rated at 600RMS each. I replaced the MTX ones with these and used the SAME amplifier. Now the specifications on the amp are listed in the link I posted, but it still confuses me to this day. On the bottom of my two MTX subwoofers was written "0.7 Ohm", which I thought was funny because it was supposed to be 4 Ohms per subwoofer.

Video of blown subwoofer: bitly/Mzdaj7 (Put a . between "bit" and "ly")

Anyways, underpowering these Kicker subwoofers sounded just like my MTX Audio ones, seeing as they were running at 400RMS just like before due to the same amp. The only reason I got these ones is because of the Dual Voice Coil and the fact that they are "Competition" subwoofers. Surely they will last longer.

Which brings me down to my final point. I recently purchased this amplifier: amznto/PbHO2C (Put a . between "amzn" and "to")

Now I had thought I'd be able to wire to 1 Ohm, but I was wrong and am stuck at 2 Ohms. Oh well. Still 900 watts which is more than double what I had previously. Anywho, with these Kicker CVXs hooked up to this amp, I feel as if the car has equal if not less "boom", and more shaking. I honestly think it doesn't sound like ~900 watts.

I guess this is the time to tell you that when I tested the subwoofers while they were in the box and not hooked up, they came up to around 1.5 Ohms. I was told this was okay and figured I'd be at around 1000RMS which I was O.K. with.

Back the point, I feel like something is wrong. The Kicker CVXs get hot to the touch on the metal part surrounding the speaker, and really warm right in the middle of the dustcap. But they are competition subwoofers and aren't even at a full 600RMS each, so why the temperatures?

Sometimes when I listen closer to the subwoofer, I can hear what seems to be the subwoofer pushing harder than making bass. As if it's working harder and not producing. I'm really nervous as I do not want to clip these subwoofers and break them, because they aren't cheap.

Another huge concern to me is this new amp. With my old MTX Audio subwoofers, my rear view mirror would shake like crazy on songs, and the side mirrors would shake mildly, only a lot on the longer frequency songs.

Here's an example of my shaking and what not: bitly/LUSKeG (Put a . between "bit" and "ly")

Now I'm no expert, but I expected my new setup to be the exact same as before, just double everything. It seems now like everything is messed up and to be honest I'm very disappointed and don't know what to do. I'm on here looking for help from anyone.

Some reassurance on the temperatures and what not would make me feel better if it's normal.

That's it....for now. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

EDIT: Well it seems since I am new I cannot post any URLS, so I'll try put them in comments below.

EDIT: Sorry about the links thing, I am new and am not allowed to post any, so I've managed to kind of include them.

EDIT: My lights dim when the bass hits now and I can't believe why seeing as it doesn't sound like ~1000RMS, anyway to measure how many watts I actually have to the decimal?

 
What size power and ground are you running? Where is your ground wire connected to? What deck are you using? Where is you gain set to? What is your low pass set to? Can you take a good picture of the settings and post it up here?

 
What size power and ground are you running? Where is your ground wire connected to? What deck are you using? Where is you gain set to? What is your low pass set to? Can you take a good picture of the settings and post it up here?
The kit I bought is: amznto/NDB1Zr (Put a . between "amzn" and "to")

Everything is 4 guage and the ground is the same ground that my previous kit was grounded to with the MTX Audio subwoofers.

My deck is: amznto/PkgqAE (Put a . between "amzn" and "to")

I could take a picture of all my settings, but as my music was playing I tried adjusting each one and could get it nowhere to what I had before "boom" wise.

 
In Kicker land, Competition is just the brand model name, no more, no less..just a Marketing ploy that worked on you and many other peeps. As far as 2 ohms, that is desirable, most ppl run who run 1 ohm do so simply due to the costs involved to get the same power at a more efficient 4ohms, therefore sacrificing sq and efficiency for cheaper power output, yet it requires more money spent on electrical upgrades, etc..anyway,

Did you double check your sub wiring to make sure they are in phase with each other? Maybe the Kickers require a completely different box design? Obviously the difference is in the subs if they are presenting the same load to the same amplifier....perhaps these possibilities are causing you to drive the amp to clipping to compensate?

 
In Kicker land, Competition is just the brand model name, no more, no less..just a Marketing ploy that worked on you and many other peeps. As far as 2 ohms, that is desirable, most ppl run who run 1 ohm do so simply due to the costs involved to get the same power at a more efficient 4ohms, therefore sacrificing sq and efficiency for cheaper power output, yet it requires more money spent on electrical upgrades, etc..anyway,
Did you double check your sub wiring to make sure they are in phase with each other? Maybe the Kickers require a completely different box design? Obviously the difference is in the subs if they are presenting the same load to the same amplifier....perhaps these possibilities are causing you to drive the amp to clipping to compensate?
The Kickers are in the same box as I linked with the MTX ones. They also sounded Identical to the MTX Audio subwoofers when I had them using the MTX amp. Now that I've changed the amp everything is different. If the subs weren't in phase they would sound "off" right? The bass is on key....to the most part.

MTX Audio: Lots of boom and kick

Kickers: Lots of boom and kick

Kickers w/ new amp: Less boom and huge huge kick

 
The Kickers are in the same box as I linked with the MTX ones. They also sounded Identical to the MTX Audio subwoofers when I had them using the MTX amp. Now that I've changed the amp everything is different. If the subs weren't in phase they would sound "off" right? The bass is on key....to the most part.
MTX Audio: Lots of boom and kick

Kickers: Lots of boom and kick

Kickers w/ new amp: Less boom and huge huge kick
just glancing at the specs, you need twice as much box ported and about 3 x as much box sealed for the Kickers...which are they, The Kicker 10CVX102 or the Kicker 10CVX104's?

 
just glancing at the specs, you need twice as much box ported and about 3 x as much box sealed for the Kickers...which are they, The Kicker 10CVX102 or the Kicker 10CVX104's?
The box that came with the MTX subwoofers is 1.8 cubic feet.

The Kicker CVX 10"s have a minimum of .8 cubic feet each, meaning 1.6 cubic feet for both.

The box is fine for them.

They are the DVC 2 Ohm version, and are wired parallel to get 2 Ohms, which is actually ~1.5 which is weird but oh well I don't know how to explain that.

 
u got both coils wired parallel on each sub and both subs parallel, that is a 1 ohm load.

I know KIcker recommends a minimum of .8 per sub, but the outside of that is 3 per sub..so sealed, say 6 cubes if you were underpowering them and 2 cubes if you are overpowering them. even at 1 ohm, you will not come close to overpowering them with that amp if you keep a clean signal.

 
u got both coils wired parallel on each sub and both subs parallel, that is a 1 ohm load.I know KIcker recommends a minimum of .8 per sub, but the outside of that is 3 per sub..so sealed, say 6 cubes if you were underpowering them and 2 cubes if you are overpowering them. even at 1 ohm, you will not come close to overpowering them with that amp if you keep a clean signal.
Ah, but I have two subwoofers, each having 2 voice coils, with 2 Ohms per voice coil.....

So all together it comes out to 2 Ohms.

As for the volume, I'm just going to be using the minimum because I can't fit much in a single cab truck. Plus the subwoofers aren't exactly shallow and are already tough to fit in there.

 
Ah, but I have two subwoofers, each having 2 voice coils, with 2 Ohms per voice coil.....
So all together it comes out to 2 Ohms.

As for the volume, I'm just going to be using the minimum because I can't fit much in a single cab truck. Plus the subwoofers aren't exactly shallow and are already tough to fit in there.
my bad, so what you are saying is you have them series/parallel wired to 2 ohms, correct?....with the room available, you would probably be better off with a quality 10 ported on 1200 watts.

 
my bad, so what you are saying is you have them series/parallel wired to 2 ohms, correct?....with the room available, you would probably be better off with a quality 10 ported on 1200 watts.
I really cannot emphasize enough how little room there is in a Single Cab truck. The sealed box I have now is perfect because it is molded to my truck. There's just no room for a ported box in my truck.

 
I would suggest buying a matching MTX 10 to the one you have, or going with 2 DVC 4 ohms wired to 4ohms on that amp. Just because Kicker says they will work in .8 cubes does not mean they will sound very good with any decent power, I have never heard one sound good sealed at all. you start throwing power to them in that small a space sealed, and you might burn a coil from too much compression, even worse if you clip them trying to get more volume.....or too big a box with too much power will make them exceed xmax and bottom themselves.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...
Old Thread: Please note, there have been no replies in this thread for over 3 years!
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Similar threads

You can't really set it to a specific wattage. What head unit do you have? Find out the pre-amp RCA voltage. Most amp gain knobs are based off of...
7
1K
You have a lot of great points stated here. I like it.. Nothing wrong with a little head room on any amplifier to run at lower gain settings to...
20
3K
Yeah but accubass only restores the bass roll off. It doesn't take an incomplete signal range and make it a full range signal.
13
1K
Shallow mount subs like those recommended are a favorite of truck owners. Typically the space under the seat is wide but “shallow” from bottom of...
3
1K
To do this magic, should the microphone always be kept in the driver's seat or on the dashboard?...since that is where it must go in phase with...
0
50

About this thread

SundownSydrome

10+ year member
Member
Thread starter
SundownSydrome
Joined
Location
United States
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
24
Views
3,033
Last reply date
Last reply from
SundownSydrome
Screenshot 2024-03-07 184329.png

Doxquzme

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
IMG_3075.jpeg

Daniel Lee

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top