New amp gets hot, goes into protect

[EddieC 17]

Over the last month I've been prepping my car to power the Ethos I have on order. So far I've replaced the front battery with an Optima Yellow Top Group 34/78, done the Big 3 in 1/0 ofc, installed a 220 amp HO alt and made a positive and negative run of 1/0 to the rear (positive fused within 18 inches of post with 250 amp anl fuses). For now the rear battery is not installed. I have the negative taped off and the positive run stops at the rear fuse holder. Over the weekend I decided to hook up the amp that I plan on using for the front stage to power my entire system I'm currently running. It's a Hifonics (I know some of you are cringing right now) X14 Brutus X1200.4. Power is supposedly 150x4@4, 300x4@2 and 600x2@4 ohms bridged. I contacted the company to make sure that it could be run in 3 channel mode, to which I was told yes... to use Channels 1 and 2 for the fronts and bridge the rears on 3 and 4.

Hooked everything up, powered on and was pleasantly surprised at the power it was pushing to the subs (SSA DCON D4s wired to a 4 ohm final load). I did not set the gains with any type of meter, just the normal up 3/4 on the volume and increase to distortion then back off until there was none. Sounded beautiful for the first 30 to 45 minutes and then it quit and went into protect mode. The amp was VERY hot to the touch so I let it cool for a few and even backed the gains down some. Restarted the car after approximately 15 minutes and played for a while before going into protect again. Backed the gains off even more and so far (knock on wood) it hasn't cut off, but the longest I've been in the vehicle was this morning for an hour drive to work. And when I arrived it was pretty darned hot again.

My first thought was bad ground, and it may still be.... but I'm not so sure. The amp is sitting under the passenger seat. Maybe the fact that it's laying down and is an A/B doesn't help. I used a point where the seat attaches to the body as my ground. Sanded the paint to bare metal, used a copper terminal ring and even dremeled the threads with a wire brush and used dielectric grease. I also replaced the 80 amp in line fuse with a 120 amp anl. The one thing I haven't done yet is replace the speaker wires. I currently have 14 gauge speaker wire on everything. My previous amp was only pushing 300 to the subs so could it be the wire being too small for the power being delivered causing this?

Thanks in advance guys.

[nadcicle 77]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that.

 

If you have a multimeter can you try hooking it up to the inputs of the amplifier and measure the voltage drain on heavy bass hits to make sure your voltage isn't the culprit here.

 

I have my idea as to what it could be with it being an A/B amp. I had an old JVC that did the exact same in 3 channel mode. It simply just wasn't a good enough amp for that particular job of driving the sub the way I wanted and it made me keep putting the gain for the sub channel well in to clipping to get it loud enough for my liking. 

[altoncustomtech 773]

It sounds to me like the subs may not be wired correctly.  Double check the series/parallel wiring of your subs to verify for certain you have them wired for 4 ohms.  

 

Hook your voltmeter/DMM up to the power terminals on the amp and watch the voltage.  If you have a bad connection/ground you'll see the voltage drop.

 

I had a Hifonics ZXi6006 several years ago running the components in my van and it ran pretty hot all the time.  Class A/B amps just aren't very efficient and a lot of the power they draw from the electrical system (a little better than 50% efficient in most cases) is simply lost as heat.

 

That's just my .02

[Julian 641]

Bad connection, voltage drop, and as Alton said wired incorrectly and the fact that class a/b runs hot.

[EddieC 17]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that.

 

If you have a multimeter can you try hooking it up to the inputs of the amplifier and measure the voltage drain on heavy bass hits to make sure your voltage isn't the culprit here.

 

I have my idea as to what it could be with it being an A/B amp. I had an old JVC that did the exact same in 3 channel mode. It simply just wasn't a good enough amp for that particular job of driving the sub the way I wanted and it made me keep putting the gain for the sub channel well in to clipping to get it loud enough for my liking.

 I don't have a multimeter, but my dad has one of the old style analog ones. Maybe his 76 year old ears can stand it for a minute to help me read that thing. ;-) But as for the sub clipping, I really don't think I was pushing it that far (I could be wrong). But like I said, I even backed the gains down after it shut off.... twice. I know those front speakers are nowhere near the point of distortion now, and the sub gains were set to match the output. I will say though that I can't wait to get that Ethos now that I see what I've been missing out on sub-wise.

 

It sounds to me like the subs may not be wired correctly.  Double check the series/parallel wiring of your subs to verify for certain you have them wired for 4 ohms.  

 

Hook your voltmeter/DMM up to the power terminals on the amp and watch the voltage.  If you have a bad connection/ground you'll see the voltage drop.

 

I had a Hifonics ZXi6006 several years ago running the components in my van and it ran pretty hot all the time.  Class A/B amps just aren't very efficient and a lot of the power they draw from the electrical system (a little better than 50% efficient in most cases) is simply lost as heat.

 

That's just my .02

 Pretty sure the subs are right. I triple checked everything when I first installed it. I think I'm going to pull them anyways to check the coils to make sure they are still reading as they should. I've read that a speaker with a damaged vc can cause this, so I need to eliminate that as a suspect.

 

Bad connection, voltage drop, and as Alton said wired incorrectly and the fact that class a/b runs hot.

I'll be checking everything with a meter this afternoon. I've disconnected, inspected and reconnected all the power/ground and speaker wires to the amp. I may have found a better ground location, so I'm going to try that as well.

So the 14 gauge wire couldn't be the issue then? I was kind of hoping it would be as simple as that. I can see where the heat could build up if the power it's trying to deliver is being starved for current.

[garychurch84 127]

Also is the amp vented on the bottom? If so did you allow space between the amp and mounting surface for air flow?

[EddieC 17]

Also is the amp vented on the bottom? If so did you allow space between the amp and mounting surface for air flow?

Yes it is vented on the bottom, and that could be part of the problem. I'm going to rig up some mounts to give it about an inch of clearance beneath. I did place a small sheet of thin wood beneath it but that didn't seem to give much clearance at all.

[jcarter1885 995]

No the 14 guage wire wont cause problems.

[EddieC 17]

No the 14 guage wire wont cause problems.

Sigh.... never can be something simple. Still going to stop and grab some 12 gauge on the way home for good measure. I'm sure the subs would benefit somewhat from it.

[jcarter1885 995]

Those subs wont benefit at all from 12 gauge wire, dont waste the time and money. Now on the other hand the Ethos will need bigger than the 14 gauge wire, 10 should suffice.

Edited October 13, 2014 by jay-cee

[EddieC 17]

Well I just ran out of daylight and don't have a shop to work in so I'm calling it a day.Only thing I had the chance to do was check the voltage, which I had been curious about since installing the alt. Idle voltage was 14.2 with no drop whatsoever at the battery when the stereo was at full volume. At the amp I read 14.2 until the heavy bass hit. At that point voltage dropped to 13.8 and quickly recovered once the heavy bass hit finished. What if anything does this tell me? Amp still gets hot, but hasn't gone back into protect yet. Maybe it's just going to run hot as long as I'm trying to push 600 watts to these subs. It's never going to see all that once the Ethos and sub amp are installed. I did raise the amp about an inch to allow some air flow beneath. Also ran 12 gauge wire to the subs just in case (sorry jay-cee....didn't see your post until after I bought it).

[altoncustomtech 773]

The Voltage only dropping about a half a volt tells you that your connections are good.  There's no resistance in them for the voltage to drop across when the current flows.

 

 

 

You might have it kicked at this point, you might not.  You'll have to keep playing it and pushing it to see if it gets hot enough again to shut down or not.

[jcarter1885 995]

Gain setting too high, in turn causing the amp to produce more heat then power. In turn causing the amp to thermally protect, being under the seat with no air flow could play a role as well.

[pmureika 31]

Add a aftermarket cooling fan to blow air across it.

 

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_39030_Xscorpion-TF5.html

Edited October 14, 2014 by pmureika

[Fi 4 life 0]

I would add 2 fans, one to push air and one to pull air.

[EddieC 17]

The Voltage only dropping about a half a volt tells you that your connections are good.  There's no resistance in them for the voltage to drop across when the current flows.

 

 

 

You might have it kicked at this point, you might not.  You'll have to keep playing it and pushing it to see if it gets hot enough again to shut down or not.

 Thanks man. A wreck on the highway this morning added an extra 30 minutes to my drive. An hour and a half without going into protect. Still nice and hot, but I'm pretty sure pushing that 600 watts out of the bridged channel has a lot to do with it. It's never going to see more than 100-150 per channel once it gets devoted to the front stage.

 

Gain setting too high, in turn causing the amp to produce more heat then power. In turn causing the amp to thermally protect, being under the seat with no air flow could play a role as well.

 I did add about an inch of lift off the floor yesterday. That should help some. Like I said, it made it an hour and a half this morning so hopefully I have a pretty decent balance on it for now.

 

Add a aftermarket cooling fan to blow air across it.

I was actually thinking about that yesterday. Is it safe to use a pc fan it? I can get all those I want from the IT dept at work from old computers.

I'm actually thinking at this point maybe I should quit waiting for the Ethos to install a sub amp and go ahead with a temp install to the DCONs while I'm waiting. I'm pretty set on a Soundqubed 2200 for the amp. I know I could run the DCONs at 4 ohms and get 500 to them. OR....since it has an input sensitivity range up to 8 volts would it be safe to wire down to 1 ohm and run with the gains low? I have 4 volt preouts. Is there enough difference between 4 and 8 volts to keep the power down to 7-800 watts?

[pmureika 31]

 

The Voltage only dropping about a half a volt tells you that your connections are good.  There's no resistance in them for the voltage to drop across when the current flows.

 

 

 

You might have it kicked at this point, you might not.  You'll have to keep playing it and pushing it to see if it gets hot enough again to shut down or not.

 Thanks man. A wreck on the highway this morning added an extra 30 minutes to my drive. An hour and a half without going into protect. Still nice and hot, but I'm pretty sure pushing that 600 watts out of the bridged channel has a lot to do with it. It's never going to see more than 100-150 per channel once it gets devoted to the front stage.

 

Gain setting too high, in turn causing the amp to produce more heat then power. In turn causing the amp to thermally protect, being under the seat with no air flow could play a role as well.

 I did add about an inch of lift off the floor yesterday. That should help some. Like I said, it made it an hour and a half this morning so hopefully I have a pretty decent balance on it for now.

 

Add a aftermarket cooling fan to blow air across it.

I was actually thinking about that yesterday. Is it safe to use a pc fan it? I can get all those I want from the IT dept at work from old computers.

I'm actually thinking at this point maybe I should quit waiting for the Ethos to install a sub amp and go ahead with a temp install to the DCONs while I'm waiting. I'm pretty set on a Soundqubed 2200 for the amp. I know I could run the DCONs at 4 ohms and get 500 to them. OR....since it has an input sensitivity range up to 8 volts would it be safe to wire down to 1 ohm and run with the gains low? I have 4 volt preouts. Is there enough difference between 4 and 8 volts to keep the power down to 7-800 watts?

 

Sure anything to move air across the amp.

[altoncustomtech 773]

 

I'm actually thinking at this point maybe I should quit waiting for the Ethos to install a sub amp and go ahead with a temp install to the DCONs while I'm waiting. I'm pretty set on a Soundqubed 2200 for the amp. I know I could run the DCONs at 4 ohms and get 500 to them. OR....since it has an input sensitivity range up to 8 volts would it be safe to wire down to 1 ohm and run with the gains low? I have 4 volt preouts. Is there enough difference between 4 and 8 volts to keep the power down to 7-800 watts?

 

 

Gains are there for that purpose.  You could connect a 1,000,000 watt amp up to a 100 watt speaker and as long as you set the gains correctly it wouldn't blow it.  Your HU, even if it CAN output a full 4V through the pre-outs, wouldn't output that much voltage unless the volume was turned all the way up.  It doesn't output 4V all the time.  That's why it's suggested to set gains with the volume at about 3/4 of the way up.  That way you can always turn it down for music that has a higher than normal recording level and turn it up a little more for the music that has a below average recording level.

 

The one thing you've not mentioned that I would love to hear about is what you think of the DCON's.

[pmureika 31]

X2^^^^^

[pmureika 31]

Over the last month I've been prepping my car to power the Ethos I have on order. So far I've replaced the front battery with an Optima Yellow Top Group 34/78, done the Big 3 in 1/0 ofc, installed a 220 amp HO alt and made a positive and negative run of 1/0 to the rear (positive fused within 18 inches of post with 250 amp anl fuses). For now the rear battery is not installed. I have the negative taped off and the positive run stops at the rear fuse holder. Over the weekend I decided to hook up the amp that I plan on using for the front stage to power my entire system I'm currently running. It's a Hifonics (I know some of you are cringing right now) X14 Brutus X1200.4. Power is supposedly 150x4@4, 300x4@2 and 600x2@4 ohms bridged. I contacted the company to make sure that it could be run in 3 channel mode, to which I was told yes... to use Channels 1 and 2 for the fronts and bridge the rears on 3 and 4.

Hooked everything up, powered on and was pleasantly surprised at the power it was pushing to the subs (SSA DCON D4s wired to a 4 ohm final load). I did not set the gains with any type of meter, just the normal up 3/4 on the volume and increase to distortion then back off until there was none. Sounded beautiful for the first 30 to 45 minutes and then it quit and went into protect mode. The amp was VERY hot to the touch so I let it cool for a few and even backed the gains down some. Restarted the car after approximately 15 minutes and played for a while before going into protect again. Backed the gains off even more and so far (knock on wood) it hasn't cut off, but the longest I've been in the vehicle was this morning for an hour drive to work. And when I arrived it was pretty darned hot again.

My first thought was bad ground, and it may still be.... but I'm not so sure. The amp is sitting under the passenger seat. Maybe the fact that it's laying down and is an A/B doesn't help. I used a point where the seat attaches to the body as my ground. Sanded the paint to bare metal, used a copper terminal ring and even dremeled the threads with a wire brush and used dielectric grease. I also replaced the 80 amp in line fuse with a 120 amp anl. The one thing I haven't done yet is replace the speaker wires. I currently have 14 gauge speaker wire on everything. My previous amp was only pushing 300 to the subs so could it be the wire being too small for the power being delivered causing this?

Thanks in advance guys.

What size are the dcons and are you going to sell them?

[EddieC 17]

I'm actually thinking at this point maybe I should quit waiting for the Ethos to install a sub amp and go ahead with a temp install to the DCONs while I'm waiting. I'm pretty set on a Soundqubed 2200 for the amp. I know I could run the DCONs at 4 ohms and get 500 to them. OR....since it has an input sensitivity range up to 8 volts would it be safe to wire down to 1 ohm and run with the gains low? I have 4 volt preouts. Is there enough difference between 4 and 8 volts to keep the power down to 7-800 watts?

 

Gains are there for that purpose.  You could connect a 1,000,000 watt amp up to a 100 watt speaker and as long as you set the gains correctly it wouldn't blow it.  Your HU, even if it CAN output a full 4V through the pre-outs, wouldn't output that much voltage unless the volume was turned all the way up.  It doesn't output 4V all the time.  That's why it's suggested to set gains with the volume at about 3/4 of the way up.  That way you can always turn it down for music that has a higher than normal recording level and turn it up a little more for the music that has a below average recording level.

 

The one thing you've not mentioned that I would love to hear about is what you think of the DCON's.

 That's what I figured, it's just that I'm going to a level of power that I've always wanted but could never afford. I don't want to do anything to screw this up. I've done every last bit of the work myself so far with the help of people like you guys.... and I can't thank you enough. Shops charge big money for installs, money that I'd much rather put into equipment than someone else's pocket.

As for the DCONs....they're 12s and I have loved every minute with them. So glad I researched long and hard before my purchase. I was about to do the old local shop Alpine subs until I read about everyone praising the DCON's SQ and how efficient they were. The one thing I hate is that I screwed up and ordered D4s instead of S4s. But in the end maybe that happened for a reason, as my alt was only 80 amps and I was forced to run at 4 ohms with the amp I had. Probably saved my electrical in the long run. The one thing I noticed once I put them in was how loud and low they got. I've always ran sealed subs in the past and was blown away by the output these had at 4 ohms vs the subs I was running sealed at 2 ohms. I can honestly say that this has been the most musical sub I've had to date, and I'll always recommend the DCONs to anyone needing a low powered sub with great SQ.

 

Over the last month I've been prepping my car to power the Ethos I have on order. So far I've replaced the front battery with an Optima Yellow Top Group 34/78, done the Big 3 in 1/0 ofc, installed a 220 amp HO alt and made a positive and negative run of 1/0 to the rear (positive fused within 18 inches of post with 250 amp anl fuses). For now the rear battery is not installed. I have the negative taped off and the positive run stops at the rear fuse holder. Over the weekend I decided to hook up the amp that I plan on using for the front stage to power my entire system I'm currently running. It's a Hifonics (I know some of you are cringing right now) X14 Brutus X1200.4. Power is supposedly 150x4@4, 300x4@2 and 600x2@4 ohms bridged. I contacted the company to make sure that it could be run in 3 channel mode, to which I was told yes... to use Channels 1 and 2 for the fronts and bridge the rears on 3 and 4.

Hooked everything up, powered on and was pleasantly surprised at the power it was pushing to the subs (SSA DCON D4s wired to a 4 ohm final load). I did not set the gains with any type of meter, just the normal up 3/4 on the volume and increase to distortion then back off until there was none. Sounded beautiful for the first 30 to 45 minutes and then it quit and went into protect mode. The amp was VERY hot to the touch so I let it cool for a few and even backed the gains down some. Restarted the car after approximately 15 minutes and played for a while before going into protect again. Backed the gains off even more and so far (knock on wood) it hasn't cut off, but the longest I've been in the vehicle was this morning for an hour drive to work. And when I arrived it was pretty darned hot again.

My first thought was bad ground, and it may still be.... but I'm not so sure. The amp is sitting under the passenger seat. Maybe the fact that it's laying down and is an A/B doesn't help. I used a point where the seat attaches to the body as my ground. Sanded the paint to bare metal, used a copper terminal ring and even dremeled the threads with a wire brush and used dielectric grease. I also replaced the 80 amp in line fuse with a 120 amp anl. The one thing I haven't done yet is replace the speaker wires. I currently have 14 gauge speaker wire on everything. My previous amp was only pushing 300 to the subs so could it be the wire being too small for the power being delivered causing this?

Thanks in advance guys.

What size are the dcons and are you going to sell them?

12s but I think I'm going to give them to my son for his Mazda 6. He's been hinting about it ever since he found out what I'm doing. Couldn't really afford a lot for his graduation last year so hopefully those and my old Kenwood 5 channel amp will help make up for it.

[pmureika 31]

 

 

I'm actually thinking at this point maybe I should quit waiting for the Ethos to install a sub amp and go ahead with a temp install to the DCONs while I'm waiting. I'm pretty set on a Soundqubed 2200 for the amp. I know I could run the DCONs at 4 ohms and get 500 to them. OR....since it has an input sensitivity range up to 8 volts would it be safe to wire down to 1 ohm and run with the gains low? I have 4 volt preouts. Is there enough difference between 4 and 8 volts to keep the power down to 7-800 watts?

 

Gains are there for that purpose.  You could connect a 1,000,000 watt amp up to a 100 watt speaker and as long as you set the gains correctly it wouldn't blow it.  Your HU, even if it CAN output a full 4V through the pre-outs, wouldn't output that much voltage unless the volume was turned all the way up.  It doesn't output 4V all the time.  That's why it's suggested to set gains with the volume at about 3/4 of the way up.  That way you can always turn it down for music that has a higher than normal recording level and turn it up a little more for the music that has a below average recording level.

 

The one thing you've not mentioned that I would love to hear about is what you think of the DCON's.

 

 That's what I figured, it's just that I'm going to a level of power that I've always wanted but could never afford. I don't want to do anything to screw this up. I've done every last bit of the work myself so far with the help of people like you guys.... and I can't thank you enough. Shops charge big money for installs, money that I'd much rather put into equipment than someone else's pocket.

As for the DCONs....they're 12s and I have loved every minute with them. So glad I researched long and hard before my purchase. I was about to do the old local shop Alpine subs until I read about everyone praising the DCON's SQ and how efficient they were. The one thing I hate is that I screwed up and ordered D4s instead of S4s. But in the end maybe that happened for a reason, as my alt was only 80 amps and I was forced to run at 4 ohms with the amp I had. Probably saved my electrical in the long run. The one thing I noticed once I put them in was how loud and low they got. I've always ran sealed subs in the past and was blown away by the output these had at 4 ohms vs the subs I was running sealed at 2 ohms. I can honestly say that this has been the most musical sub I've had to date, and I'll always recommend the DCONs to anyone needing a low powered sub with great SQ.

 

 

Over the last month I've been prepping my car to power the Ethos I have on order. So far I've replaced the front battery with an Optima Yellow Top Group 34/78, done the Big 3 in 1/0 ofc, installed a 220 amp HO alt and made a positive and negative run of 1/0 to the rear (positive fused within 18 inches of post with 250 amp anl fuses). For now the rear battery is not installed. I have the negative taped off and the positive run stops at the rear fuse holder. Over the weekend I decided to hook up the amp that I plan on using for the front stage to power my entire system I'm currently running. It's a Hifonics (I know some of you are cringing right now) X14 Brutus X1200.4. Power is supposedly 150x4@4, 300x4@2 and 600x2@4 ohms bridged. I contacted the company to make sure that it could be run in 3 channel mode, to which I was told yes... to use Channels 1 and 2 for the fronts and bridge the rears on 3 and 4.

Hooked everything up, powered on and was pleasantly surprised at the power it was pushing to the subs (SSA DCON D4s wired to a 4 ohm final load). I did not set the gains with any type of meter, just the normal up 3/4 on the volume and increase to distortion then back off until there was none. Sounded beautiful for the first 30 to 45 minutes and then it quit and went into protect mode. The amp was VERY hot to the touch so I let it cool for a few and even backed the gains down some. Restarted the car after approximately 15 minutes and played for a while before going into protect again. Backed the gains off even more and so far (knock on wood) it hasn't cut off, but the longest I've been in the vehicle was this morning for an hour drive to work. And when I arrived it was pretty darned hot again.

My first thought was bad ground, and it may still be.... but I'm not so sure. The amp is sitting under the passenger seat. Maybe the fact that it's laying down and is an A/B doesn't help. I used a point where the seat attaches to the body as my ground. Sanded the paint to bare metal, used a copper terminal ring and even dremeled the threads with a wire brush and used dielectric grease. I also replaced the 80 amp in line fuse with a 120 amp anl. The one thing I haven't done yet is replace the speaker wires. I currently have 14 gauge speaker wire on everything. My previous amp was only pushing 300 to the subs so could it be the wire being too small for the power being delivered causing this?

Thanks in advance guys.

What size are the dcons and are you going to sell them?

 

12s but I think I'm going to give them to my son for his Mazda 6. He's been hinting about it ever since he found out what I'm doing. Couldn't really afford a lot for his graduation last year so hopefully those and my old Kenwood 5 channel amp will help make up for it.

 

Just asking in case you want to sell them.

[nem 2,019]

 

 

I'm actually thinking at this point maybe I should quit waiting for the Ethos to install a sub amp and go ahead with a temp install to the DCONs while I'm waiting. I'm pretty set on a Soundqubed 2200 for the amp. I know I could run the DCONs at 4 ohms and get 500 to them. OR....since it has an input sensitivity range up to 8 volts would it be safe to wire down to 1 ohm and run with the gains low? I have 4 volt preouts. Is there enough difference between 4 and 8 volts to keep the power down to 7-800 watts?

 

Gains are there for that purpose.  You could connect a 1,000,000 watt amp up to a 100 watt speaker and as long as you set the gains correctly it wouldn't blow it.  Your HU, even if it CAN output a full 4V through the pre-outs, wouldn't output that much voltage unless the volume was turned all the way up.  It doesn't output 4V all the time.  That's why it's suggested to set gains with the volume at about 3/4 of the way up.  That way you can always turn it down for music that has a higher than normal recording level and turn it up a little more for the music that has a below average recording level.

 

The one thing you've not mentioned that I would love to hear about is what you think of the DCON's.

 

 That's what I figured, it's just that I'm going to a level of power that I've always wanted but could never afford. I don't want to do anything to screw this up. I've done every last bit of the work myself so far with the help of people like you guys.... and I can't thank you enough. Shops charge big money for installs, money that I'd much rather put into equipment than someone else's pocket.

As for the DCONs....they're 12s and I have loved every minute with them. So glad I researched long and hard before my purchase. I was about to do the old local shop Alpine subs until I read about everyone praising the DCON's SQ and how efficient they were. The one thing I hate is that I screwed up and ordered D4s instead of S4s. But in the end maybe that happened for a reason, as my alt was only 80 amps and I was forced to run at 4 ohms with the amp I had. Probably saved my electrical in the long run. The one thing I noticed once I put them in was how loud and low they got. I've always ran sealed subs in the past and was blown away by the output these had at 4 ohms vs the subs I was running sealed at 2 ohms. I can honestly say that this has been the most musical sub I've had to date, and I'll always recommend the DCONs to anyone needing a low powered sub with great SQ.

 

 

Over the last month I've been prepping my car to power the Ethos I have on order. So far I've replaced the front battery with an Optima Yellow Top Group 34/78, done the Big 3 in 1/0 ofc, installed a 220 amp HO alt and made a positive and negative run of 1/0 to the rear (positive fused within 18 inches of post with 250 amp anl fuses). For now the rear battery is not installed. I have the negative taped off and the positive run stops at the rear fuse holder. Over the weekend I decided to hook up the amp that I plan on using for the front stage to power my entire system I'm currently running. It's a Hifonics (I know some of you are cringing right now) X14 Brutus X1200.4. Power is supposedly 150x4@4, 300x4@2 and 600x2@4 ohms bridged. I contacted the company to make sure that it could be run in 3 channel mode, to which I was told yes... to use Channels 1 and 2 for the fronts and bridge the rears on 3 and 4.

Hooked everything up, powered on and was pleasantly surprised at the power it was pushing to the subs (SSA DCON D4s wired to a 4 ohm final load). I did not set the gains with any type of meter, just the normal up 3/4 on the volume and increase to distortion then back off until there was none. Sounded beautiful for the first 30 to 45 minutes and then it quit and went into protect mode. The amp was VERY hot to the touch so I let it cool for a few and even backed the gains down some. Restarted the car after approximately 15 minutes and played for a while before going into protect again. Backed the gains off even more and so far (knock on wood) it hasn't cut off, but the longest I've been in the vehicle was this morning for an hour drive to work. And when I arrived it was pretty darned hot again.

My first thought was bad ground, and it may still be.... but I'm not so sure. The amp is sitting under the passenger seat. Maybe the fact that it's laying down and is an A/B doesn't help. I used a point where the seat attaches to the body as my ground. Sanded the paint to bare metal, used a copper terminal ring and even dremeled the threads with a wire brush and used dielectric grease. I also replaced the 80 amp in line fuse with a 120 amp anl. The one thing I haven't done yet is replace the speaker wires. I currently have 14 gauge speaker wire on everything. My previous amp was only pushing 300 to the subs so could it be the wire being too small for the power being delivered causing this?

Thanks in advance guys.

What size are the dcons and are you going to sell them?

 

12s but I think I'm going to give them to my son for his Mazda 6. He's been hinting about it ever since he found out what I'm doing. Couldn't really afford a lot for his graduation last year so hopefully those and my old Kenwood 5 channel amp will help make up for it.

 

 

That is a sweet gift!

[EddieC 17]

Just asking in case you want to sell them.

  Gotcha. I doubt I'd ever let these go to be honest.

 

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That is a sweet gift!

Thanks Neil. I know I'd be happy if I were him!