SQL50 Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I've had this question for a long time. I can't seem to find the exact answer that I'm looking for, for the situation. In general, If you have clean power/signal going to your sub/s and your overpowering it, will it cause distortion and/or clipping? Like.. Is there a certain point that you cross when you overpower a sub, will its sq start breaking down or start to distort? Kind of a confusing question, I know that a subs quality has something to do with it, but just in general, will it? Here's an example that anyone can relate to help understand a little better. A Rockford T1500bdcp powering two sundown audio ev2 12's, with everything done right, wiring, box, electrical, just everything perfect to the T.. If you was to o scope it while you was setting gains on the amp, when you reach that threshold of clearly overpowering the subs, will the o scope show you any kind of distortion etc? Basically meaning will the o scope show you when you have too much power on them? It's probably clear as mud, but any feedback and info is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kotoma Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Even tho the signal is clean, no clipping and no distortion. All subwoofers has its limits, if you have everything in perfect harmony except the subwoofers which is overpowered it will sound distorted and awful when trying to play louder than the subwoofers are rated for. 2 x DD Redline 818 2 x DD m2b 1 x Gladen SQX 165 Component set Sony DSX-S3000BTX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SQL50 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Is the distortion detectable on an o scope when the sub reaches it's limit? The T1500 and the e 12s was just an example.. Lets say that I have something that's proven that can take more power than rated.. Like a pair of sa 12's.. How do people set their gains etc and keep a clean signal when they overpower their sa 12's with an amp similar to that? I'm just trying to figure out how to get the most out of my system. But thanks for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RooTxBeeR Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 As long as you are not overpowering the amplifier the amplifier you will have a clean signal. As long as the signal, which is the only thing that can be distorted, is clean. Your sub will be fine. The thing you have to worry about with overpowering is thermal limits of the sub. The over power gives it more heat that it can't dissapate. On 11/20/2012 at 8:54 PM, AMI CUSTOMS said: Turned mine up today at a light, guy next to me his steering wheel started moving and he looked over at me like I was a magician lol. On 5/9/2012 at 8:45 PM, skittlesRgood said: fuck the plating. look at what the main metal used is. you could buy unicorn blood plated terminals but if its just covering up dog shit, whats the point On 4/10/2013 at 12:26 PM, mrd6 said: I'll admit, half way through sanding that fiberglass in the rain and cold while I was all itchy I was definitely starting to question why i was doing this haha Soon To Be '04 Ford Escape US Alternator 280A Hairpin D4800 Under the Hood (6) XP3000's in Rear 1/0 SHCA & XS Power 4 runs to back TORK2 kit from Tony @ CE Auto Supply Pioneer DEH-80PRS DD AW6.5 (2) per door *Tweeter Unkown* DD SS4a & C3d (2) SCV4000 @ .5Ohm (2) 15" Sundown Zv5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SQL50 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Ok it's becoming clear now. & thanks. Some subs like the sundown sa can thermally be pushed past their rated rms value. So when setting my gains, how would I achieve this on a larger amp like the t1500? Do you just experiment with it and feel of the sub to make sure it doesn't get too hot? How would you be able to tell if your throwing a little too much at it, before damaging it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zayres29 Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 you can smell it Btw that was the first person. Ever banned by me while dropping a deuce. Feel privileged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nubcakeninja Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 yea, as i understand it, the sub can only take so much power and then rest of the power it cant take just turns to heat, thus there being a smell of burning coils. the coils cant take as much power ur giving them so the power has to go somewhere. thats how i understood it at least when i was researching this stuff 1995 Blazer lt 4dr 2 t1d412s 1 t2500.1bd 4 polk audio door speakers 2 dash speakers(coming soon) 1 amp to run my mids and highs(coming soon) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROLEXrifleman Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Over powering a sub with clean signal does not make it clip or distort. If you can insure that the signal truly is clean you will have failure of the driver at some point. You can have two types of failure, thermal or mechanical. A mechanical failure will occurs when one of the drivers physical parts fails and teh thermal failure will occur when heat in the voice coil becomes to great and you get a "burnt" coil. Rolex you sicken me. Just let me finish my pie ~ Juice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskanzx5 Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Over powering a sub can push is mechanical limits to. That's why people trend to suggest a smaller box to help control the the movement of the speaker. t1500bdcp 2 t2d4 15" 1 t600.4 1 t400.2 1 set p1 tweets singer alt, tons of wiring, smd vm-1, 80prs, back seat delete, still in the works, aiming for a 145-147 with the ability to play 25hz up to 50hz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammiethebasshead Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 when over powering a sub even with clean signal you just have to kinda test it out and see what the limit of the sub is or ask around to see if anyone else knows what the limit is. a good idea is not to go much more than rated if you don't know what the limits are. I would say 100-200 is about all I would go over rated on a good brand sub and see how it does then go from there. once you get a speaker moving so hard that its possible to make tinsels slap, you are already kissing "SQ" goodbye. Don't get me wrong, as I smoke Marlboro Reds, but if I saw one more kid with that smug-ass look (Look at me I'm smoking indoors) on their face, I was going to shove that thing so far up someone's ass that they'd look like a hillbilly trying to understand quantitative prediction theorem. You know why people are ass holes online but not in person? Because getting punched in the mouth hurts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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