The smell of bass?

[fuzzyping 0]

A couple of times this week I noticed, at first smell, what seemed to be the odor of cigarette smoke in my 4Runner. Although I just bought this vehicle a few months ago, neither I nor the previous owners are smokers. When I arrived at work this morning I detected the odor again. It occurred to me that I'd been playing NiN particularly loud this morning, so I checked the amps and sub. Both of the amps were very warm but not too hot to touch. The smell definitely seemed to originate from the RL-i8 in the T-Box.

Considering that the gain on my SAE-1500D prototype isn't even half-way (gain goes to 8v, my HU output is 4v), I hadn't expected to approach the point of clipping, let alone smoking subs. Can someone educate me on the science of what I'm experiencing, as well as any cautions I should follow?

Thanks,

-J.

[Godsmack 361]

Exess glue burn off/spider break in.

J

[///M5 2,833]

My hands smelled like bass yesterday and my thumb is a little raw from lipping 'em but life goes on.

As J says you are probably now nearly rid of the excess glue, however if it continues to do this beware as you may be thermally exceeding your subs cooling potential which can surely cause permanent damage. Just be aware of it.

[fuzzyping 0]

Thanks!

[Godsmack 361]

Good point Sean, forgot about that!!!!!

J

[fuzzyping 0]

Update:

I noticed the smell again yesterday morning, this time very strong. I went around to the back and inspected the sub, all seemed fine. Then I noticed a small wafting of smoke coming out of the SAE-1500D prototype. Yikes! I quickly uninstalled the amp and set it aside. Once it cooled off, I was able to open the case and get some pictures of the innards for Jacob. There was no fire, but one of the filters(?) was definitely overheating and causing damage to nearby components. The baseplate had a nice white ring at that spot.

I knowingly purchased this prototype with no warranty. I'm sure there are more than a handful of manufacturers that would have left me hanging high-n-dry, but Sundown Audio is definitely not one of them. Jacob is very interested in finding out what might have happened, so he offered to let me ship back the prototype in exchange for a replacement SAE-1000D. I'm very happy with this arrangement, since the 1500D prototype, as described in the sale posting, was overrated and basically put out the same as a 1000D.

We've all heard great stories about the great products and service Jacob provides. This is just one more for the stack.

[dopey 0]

The smell of bass?

...or the pungent odor of ignorance?

You decide.

Edited August 29, 2007 by dopey

[Audio Junkies 3]

The smell of bass...

[fuzzyping 0]

The smell of bass?

...or the pungent odor of ignorance?

You decide.

Would you care to elaborate? I think I know where you're going with this, but I'll let you stick your foot in your mouth first.

[dopey 0]

The smell of bass?

...or the pungent odor of ignorance?

You decide.

Would you care to elaborate? I think I know where you're going with this, but I'll let you stick your foot in your mouth first.

It smelled, you didn't stop, it smoked.

What are YOU having trouble understanding?

I'll let you reply to this, then I'll explain how setting your "gains" to only halfway doesn't mean that you can't clip the signal. Or toast a mosfet, for that matter.

[ANeonRider 3]

dopey, i suggest you back off.

[Supa_c 1]

How about a nice bowl of shut it stew ?

[dopey 0]

How about one of YOU tell him he screwed up, cause I guess he doesn't like hearing it from me.

On the positive side...Jake Sundownz...is a SUPERGREAT guy!!! I will be doing all the business I can with him.

[ANeonRider 3]

He never screwed up... he probably set it by ear, which is what you recommend right?

I trust his judgement in gain setting as he sees fit, sometimes things like this happen, and Jacob will find out what failed I'm sure.

[almond 0]

could have been something wrong with the prototype. you never know. if it were something burning on the sub i would have told him it's telling you to cool it down, but comeing from a proto amp is another story. you sure have a high and mighty attitude going on and if you haven't noticed you pissing off alot of the mods and the other members. it hought i would tell you since you seem to have not noticed.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

The smell of bass?

...or the pungent odor of ignorance?

You decide.

Would you care to elaborate? I think I know where you're going with this, but I'll let you stick your foot in your mouth first.

It smelled, you didn't stop, it smoked.

What are YOU having trouble understanding?

I'll let you reply to this, then I'll explain how setting your "gains" to only halfway doesn't mean that you can't clip the signal. Or toast a mosfet, for that matter.

Gain adjustment has nothing to do with a smoked mosfet. A clipped output signal will not toast a mosfet. It will toast a driver which could short and toast the mosfet, but yeah. . .

Dopey, for real, you really need to take a chill pill and sit back and learn for a bit.

[dopey 0]

He never screwed up... he probably set it by ear, which is what you recommend right?

I trust his judgement in gain setting as he sees fit, sometimes things like this happen, and Jacob will find out what failed I'm sure.

JimJ recommends it too... http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...st&p=284934

NIN has some of the most distorted bass heavy songs around, jamming your stereo until it stinks and then jamming it some more isn't the best way to extend the longevity of the components (amp OR sub).

And he found out the hard way, good thing Jake is such a great guy...it probably wont cost him anything.

I'm out, if you wanna complain, PM me.

[ANeonRider 3]

That is crossover frequency you kook.

[fuzzyping 0]

JimJ recommends it too... http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...st&p=284934

NIN has some of the most distorted bass heavy songs around, jamming your stereo until it stinks and then jamming it some more isn't the best way to extend the longevity of the components (amp OR sub).

And he found out the hard way, good thing Jake is such a great guy...it probably wont cost him anything.

I'm out, if you wanna complain, PM me.

I never "jammed it" it after smelling anything. I smelled it a total of 3 times over 2 weeks of frequent use. As soon as I would notice the smell, I shut off the system immediately and would then inspect it upon arriving at my destination. My only thought was that it was something wrong with the sub; all of the amplifiers were warm (not hot) to the touch, and the smell seemed to be originating from the enclosure.

For the record, I knew someone would be a wise-ass and blame me for this. Jacob was smart enough to realize this is probably a case of a bad prototype, but I also asked him to notify me immediately if he suspected it was due to misuse. I obviously want to know if I'm doing something to exceed the capabilities of his equipment. The following conditions are true:

• The gain knob on the amp was never turned past ~3V input. The output on my HU is 4V. The maximum sensitivity on the prototype is 8V. Is it possible I had the gain turned too high? Anything is possible. Is it likely? No.
  
• There is good power/ground to the amp.
  
• There is a good operating environment. Yes, it is in a car with exposure to extended sun during daylight hours. It is also mounted offset from the enclosure with space underneath, as well as completely open space above (cargo area of my 4Runner). There is plenty of airflow and cooling when the amp is under any sort of load.
  
• I have a SAX-100.2 that was subjected to the exact same conditions, except impedance (8 vs 2). Yes, that makes a big difference, but I wonder if it does based on your theory of excessive gain.
  

I'm starting to see why so many veterans here think your nickname is apropos.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Dopey please chill out. I know Jason personally, yes he has been out of the car audio game for a little while, but he is not new to this. I have been inside his truck and I know he is not about to push any of his equipment to the limit, especially in an SQ install. Heck he was running his 100.2 @ 8ohms. I trust him not to blow anything up, and like mentioned before, this was a prototype amp and it has not been tested on the open market. To add to that it was not even going to make it to market, Jacob is rebuilding and redesigning that model.

[JimJ 11]

He never screwed up... he probably set it by ear, which is what you recommend right?

I trust his judgement in gain setting as he sees fit, sometimes things like this happen, and Jacob will find out what failed I'm sure.

JimJ recommends it too... http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...st&p=284934

NIN has some of the most distorted bass heavy songs around, jamming your stereo until it stinks and then jamming it some more isn't the best way to extend the longevity of the components (amp OR sub).

And he found out the hard way, good thing Jake is such a great guy...it probably wont cost him anything.

I'm out, if you wanna complain, PM me.

I'm....just...speechless.

Really speechless.

Next time you get the idea to post, don't.

Oh, never quote me again. I don't want my name associated with your idiocy anymore than it already is...

[fuzzyping 0]

I'm....just...speechless.

Really speechless.

Next time you get the idea to post, don't.

Oh, never quote me again. I don't want my name associated with your idiocy anymore than it already is...

LOL. I thought you were talking about me until I got to the last sentence.

[///M5 2,833]

Actually everyone would be better off when the re-read this thread to ignore anything that the Dopey guy said.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Well Jason knows what Jacob is cooking.

[crunch1 0]

a lil late on this thread but heheeehe ummm ya. all I can say is giving advice is one thing but flaming someone for a manufacturing defect is ummm well ya know.