What hurts a subwoofer?

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Only Things That Will Hurt A Sub:

-Over Powering It To Exceed Its Thermal Limits

-Over Exurting The Suspension To Break the Coil From the Suspension Or Snap th Tensile Leads of Tear the Suspension

-Physically (or chemically in some cases) Damaging The Driver

-Time

no other way to hurt it. You can send it a clipped signal all day long, doesnt mean its going to blow. Yo ucan play a 16kHz tone all day long, not going to hurt it.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

His example had nothing to do with what i said. I was talking more about sub used in a HT setup.
For example, when I hooked up my mag to a home theater amp there was no crossover and the sub was playing a large range of frequencies. Subs aren't designed to play over 100hz and after playing them like that for long periods of time you can damage the sub. Subwoofers are not designed to have their coils sit at rest playing high frequencies, so don’t play it without a crossover.

No dierespect to Nick, but not likely. The only time that this might become a problem is if the amp is tremendous and the signal sent to is is a zero dB sinewave of a pretty high freq. Heat could build up in the coil and theoretically fry it. However, if there are any lower freqs involved, ie music, the sub will move and dissapate the heat. Bottom line is that unless you are playing high level high frequency test tones for a long time, it isn't going to be an issue. Pro audio woofers play a wide range of freqs all the time with clipped amps and no ill effects. The only real reason you need a crossover in a car system is to keep the subwoofer from being localized in the rear. Same goes for your home theater system if the sub isn't up front.

 

[VereChronicus 10+ year member]

That only tells people you live in a neighborhood where your neighbors steal gas from your vehicle at night. You can basically tell where people live in your city, just by watching them at the pump! New SUV owners don't put 2 gallons of gas in their ride unless they "gotz it all in dey mama name".

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

It still falls under exceeding the physical capabilities of the sub, but extreme temperature or humidity can alter the physical strength of the sub (glue, rubber surrounds, etc.)

Good link, also, about square waves cooking a subwoofer. I admit i was under the impression that a clipping amp could blow a sub even if the sub could handle much more power than the amp was rated at.

Does this mean that the max. rating of an amp includes how much power it can make when it's exceeding it's rated distortion ratings? eg.: an amp rated 100rms, 200max makes 100w when the gains are set correctly, and can make 200w when the gains are jacked completely up? If it is, the 'max' rating might finally be making sense to me.

 

[Showrides]

No dierespect to Nick, but not likely. The only time that this might become a problem is if the amp is tremendous and the signal sent to is is a zero dB sinewave of a pretty high freq. Heat could build up in the coil and theoretically fry it. However, if there are any lower freqs involved, ie music, the sub will move and dissapate the heat. Bottom line is that unless you are playing high level high frequency test tones for a long time, it isn't going to be an issue. Pro audio woofers play a wide range of freqs all the time with clipped amps and no ill effects. The only real reason you need a crossover in a car system is to keep the subwoofer from being localized in the rear. Same goes for your home theater system if the sub isn't up front.

That is probably what he meant by they could break over time. Also, he is the one responsible for the sub if it breaks, so he is going to make sure to advise against anything that could possible he harmful

 

[SixthFloorFreak 10+ year member]

Noobs are the #1 killer of subs today. Noobs must be edumacated in order to efficiently use a woofer in proper application. Failure to do so can result in a sub(s) passing away before it's time.
Square waveing a sub harcore or going dc from a crappy amp that is overdriven are the killers I have seen. That is why I hold amps powersupplies in high reguard and todays amps, most of them just cannot cut it when pushed to or beyond there limits

a properly functioning amp will never produce DC, even when clipping. when you look at a square wave on an o-scope, the peaks look to be DC, but they are actually high-frequency AC, which is why clipping can be murder on tweeters

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

send a clipped signal to your sub for a long time, and tell me how it turns out.

It will turn out perfectly fine if the subwoofer can thermally and mechanically handle the power //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Clipping, in and of itself, is not the damaging factor with regard to driver failure.

 

[SixthFloorFreak 10+ year member]

It will turn out perfectly fine if the subwoofer can thermally and mechanically handle the power //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
Clipping, in and of itself, is not the damaging factor with regard to driver failure.

squeak FTW!!

couldn't have said it better myself

http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb3/showpost.php?p=755599&postcount=66

some good reading there ^ from the likes of Manville Smith and Dan Wiggins among others

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

It will turn out perfectly fine if the subwoofer can thermally and mechanically handle the power //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
.

most cant. coming from an installer veiw. i see way to many fried subs come in.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

most cant. coming from an installer veiw. i see way to many fried subs come in.

Stereo dependent.

Ofcourse if you have a true 1kw amplifier on a 1kw subwoofer, at full clipping the amplifier is going to be pushing ~2kw. Obviously, the subwoofer will end up damaged. But, the thing that needs to be understood is that it was not the clipping that damaged the subwoofer, it was the power. There is a huge difference between saying the clipping caused the damage, and the increased power caused by the clipping caused the damage. It's not simply semantics. There is a world of difference in those two statements.

Stick a 100w amplifier at full clipping (200w of power) on a true 500w subwoofer and that thing will play all day long, every day, without a problem.

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Stick a 100w amplifier at full clipping (200w of power) on a true 500w subwoofer and that thing will play all day long, every day, without a problem.

Ewww who on earth would do that.

I can imagine the wet farts being produced //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Exceeding Thermal and mechanical limits. That is pretty much it. Plenty of ways to achieve them, but it only boils down to those two reasons.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

Stereo dependent.
Ofcourse if you have a true 1kw amplifier on a 1kw subwoofer, at full clipping the amplifier is going to be pushing ~2kw. Obviously, the subwoofer will end up damaged. But, the thing that needs to be understood is that it was not the clipping that damaged the subwoofer, it was the power. There is a huge difference between saying the clipping caused the damage, and the increased power caused by the clipping caused the damage. It's not simply semantics. There is a world of difference in those two statements.

Stick a 100w amplifier at full clipping (200w of power) on a true 500w subwoofer and that thing will play all day long, every day, without a problem.

good to know...

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

Ecko hurts subwoofers.

 

[BassAce 10+ year member]

Ofcourse if you have a true 1kw amplifier on a 1kw subwoofer, at full clipping the amplifier is going to be pushing ~2kw. Obviously, the subwoofer will end up damaged. But, the thing that needs to be understood is that it was not the clipping that damaged the subwoofer, it was the power. There is a huge difference between saying the clipping caused the damage, and the increased power caused by the clipping caused the damage. It's not simply semantics. There is a world of difference in those two statements.

Stick a 100w amplifier at full clipping (200w of power) on a true 500w subwoofer and that thing will play all day long, every day, without a problem.

I have a question about how a amplifier running into full clipping will be pushing ~double power.

I wish I had an oscilloscope scope on me but, once an amplifier clips doesn't the amplitude of that wave stay the same if you keep on turning the volume up. For example using ramdom figures, if an amplifier has 1/8 of the sine wave clipped and the amplitude voltage (amplitude being peak to reference) is 40V, once you turn the gain up on the amplifier would it still be at the 40V I would guess that the more you turn the gain up the voltage should still be at 40V, if the voltage did not stay the same and it increased the amp will still have the same 1/8 clipped.

In order for the amplifier for the amplifier to put out more power, the amplitude must be increased such as your 2000w example, the only way else that 1000w amp can put out more power if it puts out more current. I hope you understand my question. Basically the question I'm asking, if an amplifier runs into clipping how does it increase its power, I sorta considered when the amp is clipping it is sorta at it's zenith meaning thats how much it can put out and that's it.

 

[smd4life 5,000+ posts]

continuous wangage...