Beandip

Since the amp is not truly seeing "X" ohms...i believe so. Since the impedance changes directly effects power output, with this variable you cant say 40 volts = 800 watts @ 2 ohms since you dont know exactly what impedance you are running unless you measure it. But i would like to get the audio guru's opinion on this.

.5 is still enough voltage to get full power out of that amp. If anything mess with the eq on the hu. Not saying crank the settings but adjust them +- 2 or whatever. On the polarity you just need to visibly check.

just tested each. Only one has voltage running through it. Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!!!!! that is your problem! Also you need to have at least 2 speakers wired to the LOC, do that and make sure you have voltage running though both RCA cables and i bet your problem is fixed.

Have you made sure that both channels of the RCA cable have voltage running though them?

while that is low (similar output to my pioneer i am running now) that should be enough to make that sub move. Have you tried turning up the gain? dont be afraid of it. also, try this. play your song again at volume 20 or whatever, unplug one RCA cable, does the sub still play? if so, plug it back in and take the other one out. if it stops playing from the sub you may have a bad RCA cable. I remember when i used one of those 5 years back (had stock HU) you needed to tap into 2 speakers, one for each channel on the RCA.

What kind of voltage are you getting out of those RCA cables??? Grab a digital multimeter and find out. My bet is the Line output converter.... That amp input sensitivity is 200MV to 6 volts. so lets say the power from the RCA cables are only 250MV...well with the current gain setting of course you are not getting any output. Just because the gain is maxed, doesnt mean its wrong. as long as the gain is set to the input voltage of your amp you will be fine. also is there any adjustments on the line output converter?

First thing i noticed was how massive that coil was. x2 on paying an arm and a leg.

Man it is tough finding good songs besides rap..Well there is always rock! Only can think of this one for now. i will post some more later, techno, rock. very fast, hard hitting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HurcA3NFKcg

Minor yes...but it shows how much you care about the customer.

I'd stay away from any sony product. If you set the gain correctly it wont hurt a bit having an amp that can put more power down than the sub can handle, its actually a good thing (search for "headroom"). and x3 for sundown!

Get well soon!

I dont think that is a shadow, that positive input terminal does have a shade of brown. that capacitor casts a shadow for part of that connector but it still clearly has a brown burnt shade to it in multiple pics comparing it to the negative terminal.

Well guys, a couple of days ago i went ahead and ordered myself a SAZ-1500D (thanks Jacob!!) even though i am running it at 1.4 ohms this amp performs! i am kinda thinking of reconing the sub so i can wire it up to 1 ohm nominal and take almost full advantage of the amp. of course i will have to add the BP option though. but for now i will just beat the hell out of my Q. Thanks for everyone's input. i always had an idea that the impedance was causing it but until i upgraded the electrical 100% i wasnt so sure. hell, now with this amp there is a less of a draw on my electrical too! so far the new amp only gets to 110ºF...and that is with it being 99ºF outside. so i know i am barely making this amp work but it wouldnt hurt though also with the way it is now, i am more than happy and really not in a rush to recone it just yet, sure the Q can handle a bit more power, but for now i really dont need a few extra hundred watts. anyways, enough talk, pics!!! Got the amp on the 20th...yeah kinda delayed on this update, i was having too much fun with the amp. Flipped the "Sundown" aluminum strip so it wont be upside down. kinda an overview shot, i am not quite sure if i like those speaker wires being like that....i may hide them but for now its good...I've seen worse lol. Ah, sorry about the crappy pics. i didnt feel like using my good camera, kinda lazy to upload to pc, then to photobucket lol. It matches much better than my old amp. I will try to get a better pic sometime later but you guys get the idea. Got the speaker wires covered in braided sleeving and capped off with heat shrink on the ends. also for fun i decided to see what type of power my sub is getting @ what frequency. had fun doing this too. Its really interesting on the results. ohms law ftw! Volume----Frequency-----AC voltage-----AC amperage------Ohms----------Watts 31---------------20--------------49.9----------------14.3------------3.489----------713.57 31---------------25--------------48.9----------------12.5------------3.912----------611.25 31---------------30--------------50.1----------------8.7--------------5.758---------435.87 31---------------35--------------50.8----------------4.8------------10.53-----------243.84 31---------------40--------------51.3----------------7.1--------------7.225---------364.23 31---------------45--------------51.2----------------14.1------------3.631---------721.92 31---------------50--------------50.6----------------16.4------------3.085---------829.84 31---------------55--------------49.5----------------17.6------------2.812---------871.2 31---------------60--------------48.1----------------17.7------------2.717---------851.37 31---------------65--------------49.5----------------16.7------------2.964---------826.65 31---------------70--------------42.2----------------15.2------------2.776---------641.44 31---------------75--------------36.4----------------12.8------------2.843---------465.92 31---------------80--------------31.1----------------10.7------------2.906---------332.77 Anyways, thanks for everyone's input! now off to search and learn more about box design. that is one area i am really lacking.

Looks great! i wouldnt mind having getting a power supply or two for my own testing.

Not a fan of kicker at all...not really going to go into it but i dont care much about their products...not going to hate on someone getting/using kicker, just not going to buy it myself. as far as cost...all i care about is quality. i could care less how much it costs (within reason). its the same principle on my truck, do it right or dont do it at all...its always the little things that makes the difference. but between the RF and sundown, i think the sundown amp would match better in my truck than the RF..though either amp would do the job fine.

True, headroom is always nice. The way i see it now, with the current amp putting out lets say at least 800 watts for argument sake, i am more than happy....now if i was truly running 1KW....i might like that lol. like i said, most of the time, 90% i am running it at 1/4 volume or less...every now and then i like to turn it up but that might change if i get a new amp. Still i will probably try out the 1500D. i still have to decide and i am in no rush but when i do i will bump this thread with my findings. Thanks to all those that helped. Guess the only thing to do now is to decide, but most importantly before that...research

Yeah i would really like to get sundown but then i have to get an amp basically twice as much as i need just to get the power i want at 2 ohms. or will the SAZ-1500D be enough? i know 800 RMS is plenty for me but i would like to use the sub to its capable power. if the sub is causing the problem having a DC resistance of 1.4 ohms, then technically i should get more power out of the SAZ-1500D than originally thought because i am not quite running 1 ohm, or two...but more towards 1 ohm so if 1500 RMS is at 1 ohm and 800 RMS at 2 ohm, i guess its safe to say i will get at least 900-1100 watts running at 1.4 ohms correct? if so then the 1500D may be my new amp if the sub is causing the problem. i kinda hope so because i dont want to have a faulty amp and have to send it in..wait...blah blah you know. i would rather either sell it or keep it as a spare. so, i will try to see if i can borrow a buddy's spare sub and see if i can get my amp warmer than it normally should. i will report back whenever i get the chance. but if you have any other comments on what may be the issue i am all ears.

No i do not. though i do have a friend with a 10" kicker comp. its 4 ohms so that should not present a problem. i can give it a 20 minute beating and see if it overheats. i may just send the amp in later. who knows how long that will take but i want to eliminate most of the possibilities before i go ahead and send it back....i do have a feeling the amp is the problem but the Fi sub ohm is also worrying me making me think its the sub causing it. just want to add, the sub plays beautifully up until the point where it does overheat, whether its max volume or low volume. Kinda weird, all the electrical is up to par yet a problem exists leaving me stumped...usually in those cases its faulty equipment arguing against my logic.

:edit: ^ well yes the amp is hot of course from the temp outside when sitting in the sun. in this case my truck was in my garage when i left for the trip. even if i turn on the a/c on my truck, blowing out 40ºF air, it is still not enough to cool the amp...i have to wait until it naturally cools itself off. even if i push the passenger seat forward and roll the passenger side window down it will not prevent it from overheating even with the added airflow from going 70 mph down the highway. kinda sucks since i can only enjoy the sub for 20-30 minutes in this heat before it gets too hot. in the winter time i really dont have much of a problem since the ambient air temps are down but i can still make it overheat listening to about 50% output volume (based on excursion). Thanks, i honestly hate it when vague questions are posted asking for help when so much information is left out it is almost impossible to tell what is going on. well the problem its having is once it reaches 155-160ºF the amp internally limits itself to 50% power, so me listening at a normal volume (just enough bass to fill the music in..hell you could build a house with a deck of cards on the sub.) the sub is basically absent and i have to either turn up the RCA output on the HU or wait until it cools down. lately i went on an hour trip and it was 105ºF outside and the amp, listening at a very low volume got too hot and ended up limiting itself. well before then i was jamming to a song but after the song i turned it down then 5 minutes later the heat built up until it limited itself. kinda pissed me off since the amp was putting off less power than a walmart special amp whenever i turned it down, i am talking about maybe a mm of excursion lol. but i may be in the market for a new amp because of this....i debating on what amp to get if i do get another and sell this one if i know its not defective. i called alpine and they said they can look at it and if it is a manufacture defect they will replace it even though its 2 years old. first i want to know if the amp could be the problem or is it the sub since my DMM reads 1.4 ohms so is that the load the amp is seeing causing it to overheat. if that were the case wouldnt a lot of people who use Fi subs have a similar problem? of course that could vary based on amp manufacturer.

First i want to say hello, first time posting here (hope its in the right section) and after hours and hours of searching and learning i figured i would ask you guys. Well my old system ended up taking a crap on me, the 7 year old crossfire cfa-402 amp i had finally died (still kept the amp) so i upgraded to a Alpine mrp-m1000 amp to give me some room to upgrade, about 4 weeks later my sub died due to my stupidity of not keeping my finger off the volume knob (mtx 5500 15"). but hey i bought it 3 years ago before i knew anything about car audio and it was only $164 and i know i can get alot better from Fi. So now I'm without bass and I'm looking to upgrade to Fi since i have been hearing NOTHING but good things from them . Right now im torn between the 15" SSD +bp and flatwound coil, or the 15" Q with the bp option. even though my amp only puts out 1000 watts rms @ 2 ohms i want the sub to have a little more power handling than the amp can put out. i have made sealed boxes before but never attempted a ported so im going to keep it sealed for this new setup (also prefer sealed myself). i know the Q prefers 2-2.6 cubic feet and thats exactly in the range of my old box (2.4 cubes before sub displacement) but the SSD is sorta N/A on sealed enclosures so im not sure if that would work or not or whats recommended for those. For the SSD the price is just right but since it doesnt define the encosure size im kinda wanting the Q instead for just a little more $$. So I'm really leaning towards the Q but just wondering if the amp can power it just fine? i have read on here people are powering the Q with just 600 watts rms so i believe i am good on the amp as long as i dont clip it and the electrical is up to par, but any opinions on that amp? good or bad. I am also deciding if i should just get the Q without the bp option, 1000 watts daily is way more than enough for me but i wouldn't mind having the extra power handling. Just want some opinions on what should i do, too many decisions . I would get the SSD though only if i knew what enclosure size to use. Here is a pic of my setup i have now, minus the sub Thanks for taking your time reading this -Jonathan When i get the new sub in i will hide those power wires for an ultra stealth setup.

As promised I have pics of everything installed. Black amp, sub, box/false floor...its a match also a quick video of it in action. for now the gains are set good enough, its almost using the sub's full potential but i want to set the gains with an o-scope before i push it anymore. I need to buy a Velleman Oscilloscope sometime. Camera cant pickup the lows though. again, thanks everyone for your input. Overall I'm one happy customer

Wooo! i got the sub in today and all i can say is WOW! this sub blows my old mtx sub out of the water and into the trash can. The bass is soo clean and crisp its just amazing! with my old mtx sub you could hear where the bass was coming from. Now with the Fi Q all i hear is bass all around me but you cant quite pinpoint where its coming from. Right now i have the gains set a little below than what the sub is capable of so it ensures me i wont make the same mistake again with this sub and if i were to play a song that is a little louder than others it wouldnt overdrive the sub. even though the gains are set a little lower than what the sub can take, its still much louder than my old mtx so either way im happy After hearing this i dont think i will ever buy anything else but Fi before the package came in i decided to redo my setup. Ok, here is my old setup on my system (sub died). Notice the ugly power wires just standing out wanting attention. also the RCA cables just coming from the middle of the box....well today i fixed that. Now you see i COMPLETELY hidden the wires from view. I finally have that ultra stealth setup i was looking for. close up pic with the side cover off. i used leftover carpet from the false floor/box and covered the wire so it blends in. I used 3M super 90 i had left over to glue strips of carpet on the wires and as you can see the wires blend in very well. Those power wires makes me think of tarantula legs Amp cover on. RCA cables hidden. overview of the whole amp. ahhh thats much better than seeing those power cables So what do you guys think? Oh and pics later of the Fi Q installed

Thanks everyone, Im really looking forward on how the Q will sound. I guess i will get it without the bp option......ordering now Also im 90% sure i will need to do the big 3, even with the old mtx sub my voltage dropped some on the low notes so im sure with the Q it may just overpower that weak 105 amp stock alternator so i probably need to get a bigger alt too. if thats the case i will just keep the volume down until i overhaul the stock wiring.

Thanks for the input everyone, the reason why i was thinking of getting the bp option was to make sure i wont kill the sub due to thermal failure, just insurance i guess. my old mtx sub was only rated at 300 watts rms and i had it on that alpine amp wired to 4 ohms (600 RMS). if i turned it up to a certain point i could hear what i thought the voice coil bottoming out on the sub. im not 100% sure but what was weird was the sub excursion reduced by half during the popping noises( this lead to the coil being unraveled ), i thought i was clipping the signal but later i put my friends old kicker cvr 10" in a crappy prefab ported box tuned to who knows what, the popping noises did occur again when i cranked the system up, i did have the LPF on a bit high (100 hz) but when the popping was occurring the sub was no where near its xmax so that lead me to believe it was clipping. during that time i had a analog multimeter (i prefer analog over digital when measuring voltage on a sub due to the fast changes in voltage) and it stayed the same. i guess it could be a feedback issue, i found another member having the same problem as me but it was believed that the LPF was too high and the HPF was too low or something causing a feedback issue, yet again not 100% sure. right now i have an old VR3 extreme 15" sub that was given to me for free (piece o crap sub lol) and i wired it to 2 ohm, and no popping noises so i believe the amp even though can power up to 4 ohm just doesn't like 4 ohm IF pushed to the limit. sorry if i confused you guys on that post, kinda typing on the fly here. but during that "test" grounds are good, power is solid, power doesn't dip below 13 volts and i ALWAYS crimp and solder my connections so i know those are solid. It may be just because i was way overpowering the sub causing it to pop? either way its not doing it now while wired to 2 ohms so like i said the amp may not be completely stable at 4 ohms? but back on topic, i guess i will go with the Q dual 1 ohm then, not sure how much shipping goes for on those subs but im sure that Q will be worth the money. IMO the Q would be overkill for me, im the kind of guy who bumps responsibly where other people don't have to listen to my bass only but me. I dont listen to it max volume all day, just a respectable volume where it wont kill my ears. so with the 15" Q the final box volume would be 2.21 . Again thanks for the advice! but sorry for the book i wrote .....better to have too much info than not enough.