jlw*22

What are friends for right.

I wasn't talking about you. I was talking to Stu. You have experience, he obviously does not per the questions he asked as evidence. I thought this forum was to help people and protect people from making avoidable errors that may damage the equipment in question. Either way, I don't want to give people advice that can end in a bad way for them. Best of luck at any rate.

I'm not sure thats a good idea. I'm guessing that you don't know the difference between the clean bass and the distorted bass. Some people actually like the type of output they have in heavy distortion. Problem is this can be death to the voicecoil. That is why amplifiers come with gain instructions that tell you to use tones (0db tones at that). The rms voltage is basis for preventing destruction and getting clean output for your long life of close to real sonic reproduction. You can set it then check with real music cranked and you will see the voltage actually will go higher than your rms setting in some cases. Thats where them peak numbers come from, the burst impacts. Either way you go, I wish you luck.

That probably puts you at a high thermal compression. Is a bigger ported box an option for you?

Can't do the photo I get a message that I can't use the link because the admin does not allow links to it. So thats out and I have spent too much time f****** with it. I can figure somthing out as I think I will just build this enclosure myself if I even get to buy this driver. Thanks to everyone jw

Well Quentin, things aren't looking so good for squeezing that XCON 15 in my Malibu. I have measured and measured and it would appear that the opening to my trunk is too d**n small for 3.5 cube box ( I calculated 5.3 cubes external : 16.75 x 32 x 17 ported and tuned at roughly 30hz with external flare, double baffle and bracing is added). Inside the trunk there is plenty of room but they made the lid so narrow it appears I have no way to squeeze it in. Will it play in a small sealed box well enough or should I just port a 12. Remember that I am looking for them deep throaty notes to really shine (similiar to them old round solo-barics, just louder. Or is their a better suited 15 that can squeeze down into a smaller ported enclosure. I'm gonna get cardboard and start making mock enclosures to see just what the largest box could be. I thought about running it from the back seat and sliding it back but that d**n door is just as bad as the trunk lid. It would appear that GM is not Woofer Friendly. I await any suggestions you may have. Crutchfield is now selling FOCAL! Is Focal falling from grace? This chit ain't right man.

Thats right. All positives together and all negatives together. If you want 500 watts go for 22.36 volts. Be sure to listen after setting it up. If you start your volume at about half way and slowly turn up the volume you should hear consistent rise from the woofer without a hitch. If you don't you are in thermal compression or the amp is not capable for any number of reasons. In any case there is only so much that sub can do. If it isn't giving you the kind of output you seek, be ready to spend some change. Good luck.

This one truly is a system issue as far as what to go with and where to x-over at. Can't say there is a right answer. Certainly possible that with the equipment already installed, one could do better with its abilities.

Thanks Boss.

Funny that your buddy the moderator is disagreeing with you as well.

That doesn't change the fact that you are wrong. If you were right then why are so many manufacturer's and installation companies warning of the damage a speaker getting clipped power will receive. Im not alone in this as I guess you are unwilling to read the website I have posted. I have built amps before in classes. Not a big deal. Having the tools to test it and re-design is. I'm not poking so much at you, but I think you are not understanding the way a clip signal portrays a DC signal. I learned this stuff from a Engineer whom just happens to build radio stations on the side. He has 3 degrees from electrical studies. If he's wrong then so is 99% of the people that they graduate.

That explains why you would think it was right. Read the one I posted a link to. The fact that you do not understand what a DC wave would look like on an o-scope shows you have no knowledge of it. The DC signal is anything horizontal on the screen. That means clipping (where the peaks are cut) is DC. Read an O-scope manual.

Did you?

Read this ( http://sound.westhost.com/clipping.htm ) ,it goes into detail on both clipping and distortion and how they both send DC type signal to a driver.

I learned that in Industrial Electric Class so its not some noob statement. I have seen it on O-scopes and it does emulate DC. That is fact and cannot be disproved my man. Check an O-scope on that yourself and it will show it like a dc line. No its not a solid line but the coil will react to those waves like it is for the amount of the clipped signal. If you want to see the real bad stuff take an amp set the gain to max and through a line driver that will smash its peak voltage and it will have longer flat lines. Then to show how the woofers reacts. stick a big ole battery on it and hold the leads to it for awhile and you will see the cone go one direction and stay there. Same type of signal when it is clipped. If I had a scope I would do a youtube vid for ya'll. In short stay away from clipping. It sounds like poo and may (if you are clipping hard) damage the coil.

You could get away with lowering the SDC but the HDC has too high of a resonant frequency for them super lows. When you tune 'em down that low that will get F'd up.

First remove woofers. Second listen for rattles. LOL Deadening is expensive, but needed. I don't have any myself and wish too but I figure with this POS of a car I have, might as well wait until I get a better car. Good Luck.

I'd like to post pics but the damn thing won't let me. Its asking me for a URL. I don't have a clue wtf my URL would be. Most places just ask you to upload the image and it sends it to the IP you're communicating with. This ones a new one for me.

the difference between the 400 watts and the 500 watts isn't great so the output should not be hindered much. If when you crank it up it gets less output then something is miswired or the amp itself is not set to the proper gain. When you play it and it sounds good check the voltage when its hooked up to the amp at the boxes connection. Then do the same when you have your head unit cranked and it is getting quieter. If the voltages do not change, you may be clipping. If need be turn it up in small incriments to check over and over. This is the only explanation that I see as viable. This isn't going to be a problem for you if it is clipping as you can go ahead and parallel wire that woofer according to the model amp you say you have. Check your amps installation guide to double check that it is 1 ohm stable. It should be according to the model # you gave us. To get 1 ohm simply put the two positve terminals of the sub together with a short wire and put the amps positive in one of the terminals. Mock this on the negatives ( all negatives together). If you do this be cautious and set the voltage to 22.36 volts at 50 hz. Do this when the headunits sub volume control is max and all your bass settings must be at the max of what you will listen too. If you change the bass settings you must reset your gains accordingly. Now be sure again to put the volume of your head unit to 3/4 max and remove the speaker wire from the amp to set your gain.

You are setting the voltage with the sub disconnected from the amp aren't you?

I'm thinking he's got the coils wired out of phase with eachother or a coil is toast.

Did you check your subs terminals to be sure you are still wiring the sub right. Amps positive to subs positive-then from that coils' negative to the next coils positive and then from that coils negative to the amps negative.

This is a good question and one thats probably best described as a reference to the difference between AC and DC current. In AC you have a signal that oscillates from positive to zero then to negative then back to zero in what would appear as triangular waves. These waves should always end in points and quickly return to zero. Now when the amplifier clips it produces a wave shaped with flat tops to those waves. This would emulate a DC current as the charge will stay either positive or negative too long to have these points as AC does. When this happens, your speaker is being either pushed or pulled longer than the input signal is wanting. It actually wants to move your speaker further, instead it is being held out or in at that same position roughly. The reason this is happening is because you have reached the maximum voltage of the amplifiers capabilities and it essentially chops the peaks of the waves. This is bad as a speaker is not designed to use a DC current and can suffer from excess heat and/or mechanical damage from over excursion. If anyone has an O-scope, maybe they would be kind to show you both proper and improper waves to better show this relationship. Hope this helps you understand the way your amp can be abused. Also know that even though an amp is rated at a certain wattage doesn't mean it will be clipping when you turn it up a little past that rating. The ratings are based most generally on certain noise levels and or Total Harmonic Distortion. Some amps have lightening strike output ratings though. Some amps have enormous head room if you are willing to run at higher distortion levels. This is of course never recommended except for when you are doing a DB drag competition as you risk damaging the voice coil for the same reason. It is better, if you are uncertain of your amp, to keep its gain set to a known voltage for rated power or to buy an amp that is capable of more power than your application needs thus preventing both distortion and for sure clipping. Best of luck with your audio endeavors.

Thats quite a drive for an unemployed guy. I suppose in time it might be possible. I hope instead, if it comes to such extremes, that I have a SUV to do it up. That would lighten the restrictions. I'm sure the 12 is nutz. Not discounting it. Just saying the 15 should have a considerable advantage. A single sub is all I want. Cost must be controlled.