shizzzon

a DMM wont tell u nothing of importance on this amp. The only way to set it up without an o-scope is to do it by ear which is hard to do with a subwoofer. But set all that up as stated above and at volume 30, play a test tone. Start turning the gain from as low as possible to as high as possible, yes ALL THE WAY UP. Do it slow so you can attempt to hear clipping. Clipping is an increase of sudden power and sounds a little different than normal. This is what u need to know what clipping is when trying to tune by ear alone. We know that max gain is clipped, that's why i want you to slowly turn it up til u hit max so u know what it sounds like. The gain "should be set somewhere in the 70-90% range but don't rely on that percentage alone as a give up, fallback option. Almost forgot, if u max out the gain and you still cant hear a difference, turn gain back down, turn volume up on HU, lets say no higher than 34 then start turning gain up again slowly. IF you still can't hear clipping then pause test tone, take a breath, close your eyes for a few seconds and try again, hehe.

when you add options to the BL, especially cooling, it can handle up to but no higher than 2000w of output clip-free. I'll even tell you for full potential that the amp won't get the sub to max potential so you know what to do? build a larger enclosure so you can increase the efficiency. IT lowers power handling mechanically but is good because if you are trying to reach limits here that's one way to do it. But you gotta know what to look for when going outside of company recommendations because if you havent done it before or not know what to look for then you aren't going to be warrantied if something gets damaged!

ok i just got done reading over your head unit. IF you have SQ turned on your head unit, your 3 band EQ, turn it off. Set your bass to 0 Db. Set your subwoofer level to +6Db. Now, you have 2v preouts so the gain on this amp is going to be set pretty high but does not need to be set to max. Your volume control generally should max out clean-wise around Volume 30.

i'm gonna post this as i want this set in concrete instead of having people tell their side of the story everytime says this because i am curious as well if i am wrong about this- I have never used Fi products but have heard a LOT of people say the Q lacks low end and others say it doesnt. Now, i dont know the specs of people's boxes who said it lacks low end but let me chime in on what i believe and someone back me up if i'm right about this. Using a Q in a sealed box, any sub in a sealed box for that matter, the larger the box, the deeper it will play and the more efficient the box in that low end area but may lower power handling if you exceed the maximum requirement size for a sealed box. So, if Fi recommends no higher than 2.6, then use that size for awesome low end response as there will be. Now, for those who say low end is lacking in the Q, this is where i need this confirmed- From graphs i've seen and specs, it is my belief that unless you tune the Q lower than the average sub, that it may actually sound less loud in the low end as another sub you may compare to. Let's compare the Q to the BL for example. If you wanted both subs to do best in the 30-40hz range, you may port the BL at let's say 32hz for it to probably peak around 35hz. The Q, (my belief) takes longer to peak as it gradually increases it's output past tuning slower. So, if you tune the Q to 32hz, it may not peak til around 40hz or even higher... Anyone confirm this, that would be the end all lack low end responses from the Q. Not only that, but if you look at recommendations for both a Q15 and BL15, the maximum recommended tuning frequency for a BL is 37hz but for a Q is only 33hz... again, that's what i believe is going on with the Q but if i'm wrong, then let me know why.

what head unit do you have? make and model?

you say 2.5W x 14L That's dimensions for a circle port, not vent\slot. Even if you mean 2.5w and high with 14L, you still lookin at no more than 0.08 cubes of displacement which is WAY TOO SMALL port area. Reply with what port size you were referring to again so i can understand what you are asking. God!, just joined and already confusing everybody.... hehe

the reason i bought mine when i did was because i was blowing my rear speakers every 4 months. After the 3rd pair got damaged i bought one. Havent had anything get damaged in years since.

u have an o-scope, you can set your gain perfectly, the way it should be. To get maximum potential, just crank everything up to max and leave SSF down but don't do that if you like your equipment, To get maximum CLEAN potential, then get an o-scope. Anything beyond that, not wise, not cheap, and not warranted. the one i bought a long time ago was on Parts Express. It was a Velleman. Works perfectly for this scenario.

do NOT do that and leave it like that! You are doubling impedance rise which is typical. DCR is 0.7 ohms, your measurement of 33.2v and 21 amps = 631w @ 1.58 ohms This may be a signaling issue with the gain matching but also it depends on how the graph looks on an o-scope. If the wave is not filling the screen from top to bottom then you are not getting full potential, but also do not clip or that is bad as well. You will ALWAYS have impedance rise on every frequency and this rise will be different from one note to another. This is why people can claim to run thousands of watts to a single sub.... because they are NOT. They are using amps that have the "potential" to but are not due to rise. Now, i'm sure this amp can do what it's rated but to get that, it's very hard. When wiring an amp and sub together safely, that means choosing a sub that can safely be wired to an amp without ever going below it's stable rating, you will usually never see it's maximum rated wattage. Dual 2 ohms subs in parallel are usually either 0.7, 0.75, 0.9 ohms. Even at 0.7, rise will be above 1 ohm so no trouble in safety there but will be above 1 ohm, not 1 ohm so output will be less than rated spec. That's just how it is. Now, you could run 2 dual 2 ohms, which depending on RE per coil, wired in parallel could be 0.35, 0.375, 0.45. Since rise can be as low as less than double what it is at DCR, you can see that even 0.45 DCR would not be practical for daily! You have to wire safely but in doing so will keep the rise above it's lowest stable resistance resulting in not full output according to specs. This is typical for all amps except for some newer ones who use crown or crown-like technology where resistance is more forgiving to retain same output power and power supply is regulated.

Well, now that we know what you have, if you ever design a speaker box, you better not complain about not having the right tools.

you're right but i've always wondered just how much power is going to these subs that are running 30,000w worth of amps per sub, u know? IF you need that much power, either impedance rise is off the chart, WAY to much power compression or the sub can actually handle it for brief periods but i never really buy the last theory, hehe. I've talked to DJ before about ways to get more power into their subs without excessively heating up the coil or tinsel leads. We've never tried it but is a good theory and i've yet to see others do it as well so that last theory about subs actually being able to take that much power is somewhat unrealistic. That's a LOT of current.

competition and daily are 2 different things. You can probably run 4Kw to Fi Qs for burps as an example but not for daily. It's all in the install.

i'm workin on a design that gives him 12 cubes NET with ~140sqin of port.

Ok, you got yourself a deal! Those dimensions are doable. I might not be able to get you dimensions today so i'll go ahead and tell you that just in case that happens but those max internal dimensions, that is 13.88 cubes gross, minus 0.5 for sub leaving 13.38 gross. I can work with a 1.38cuft displacement for port. Port area will be around 11.75-12sqin per cube but should get you what you want. I will also tell you that this will be tuned to 37hz so hoping all is well with output.

you gonna need to go over that again because there is no way you only need 15.5" depth for that size port to get a 32hz tune. That's 195sq in of port.

what 18s are you researchin that works in 8.5 cubes ported at 26hz?

anybody know what Havoc 18s sound like in 5.25 ported? It's under recommendation but that's all i can come up with for right now unless the port is severely shrunken which i'm afraid will lead to too much turbulence.

that was the last install. The HU i got now is different. I had a temporary amp setup on it and it was a lot better, the HU, not the amp. It must have been my HU last time not giving out enough preout.

I've been doin a little research so stop me if i'm wrong. I need an EQ, large band, so that when i setup my amps, i can get the amplitude on as many frequencies as possible to their max potential without clipping because the output power on all frequencies is not the same... Ok, so, i found out that graphic vs parametric... parametric eq is better for this because of it's larger bandwidth. So, this is the only thing i have came up with, let me know what u think if it'll work for me or anything else you can think of- Audiocontrol DQS - it has 30band but do not know if it's graphic or parametric... Audiocontrol DQXS - it has, hehe, 142! I dont think it matters what type of eq this is, hehe. I know the DQXS will work but that's my fallback option due to how expensive it is.

if you have been powering that BTL for more than 1-2 weeks, then you are clipping your amp. Now, it's still possible that you may be killing the BTL as well, i'm not there so i dont know but usually brand new subs will\may have excess glue on them that will burn off but doesnt take long if there is any...

well it depends, Kicker wants you to place each 10 in a 2.25-4.5 cuft box ported with no more than 1500w per. A lot of space for 2 10s since that is just for each chamber! 1 15 ran in 3-5 cubes. Frequency response for BTL is greater in the low end than the solo X 10 is. The soloX 10 cannot play below 24hz and is not optimized in a ported enclosure to be loud below 30hz. the BTL was though...

2 ported would be louder than 3 sealed. To get the higher bass loud again without tuning higher, try building a smaller box. Build one around AA's lowest recommendations so you have more potential to raise the output a little in the higher frequencies. Although by doing this, the low end does not become as efficient. So, in a way, it is like tuning higher... IF you went sealed, yes the low end would be great and gradually get louder, good ol typical sealed sound. In terms of higher frequencies, 50hz+, if you desire to keep tuning below 30hz, sealed may be the best option for you. Your low end won't be as powerful as a ported design tuned below 30hz but the higher frequencies should excel compare to ported tuned under 30hz.

go on parts express and buy you a Velleman o-scope. Whenever you have time, buy one. Once you have it, there's no goin back,

that vid is when they built them here. I know the HDC3 is made in china but according to DJ, they are suppose to be stronger than the originals or he would have never outsourced... That was his thing, never to go beyond America due to durability but evidently there is something there that doesnt affect his standards and i have yet to hear of a problem with one of those HDC3s. DJ was tellin me the other day that he has competitors running 6Kw per HDC3 in the lanes now. Sounds like a winner to me.

but Nate doesnt know how to make an alt for my car, Iraggi does. I agree to have him install the alt anyway so it's kinda hard not to ever see it if i show up in person