clipping or going under box tuning?

[TheLeeStrikes]

So i have 2 soundqubed hds312 on a not so good amp is a shark 2500.1d im still saving money for a Q1-2200 so dont hate plus i got it for free. today coming back from work i was listening to the system full volume and after a while i started smelling the smell we all hate but what was weird is that the subwoofers werent even warm they were cold and in past experiences once you are clipping the subs usually get pretty hot from the dust cap. the amp gain is not even half ways. voltage stays above 13 volts almost at all time. subsonic is set to about 29 not sure what to look into now. i dont think this amp is overpowering the subs.

[4bannger]

I've gotten this smell before and ever smelt it in others cars while getting little demos. They have all said it was the subs warming up. But I'll never play through the small once I get it I turn it down.

[SIDE SHOW]

could be excess glue burning off the coils.......... could be the shark amp cooking itself.... could also be a fuse holder ect..... if you have an electrical smell in your car, i'd prob suggest you find out what it is and get it sorted befor it costs you a lot of money

[Guest]

new SQ's will smell a little. wouldn't rule out clipping though, it can always happen.

[MrBigs63']

You say that the gain is set at halfway. By this that means to me that you did not use an oscope or dd-1 to set your gains, so it is very possible that you are clipping. By also saying that your subsonic filter is set at about 29 you are telling me that you did not use a proper instrument to measure this. One of the first things I would do is try to find someone near you that can set these two things properly, then you can go from there. It is extremely hard to diagnose a problem like you are having without knowing for sure that these things are set correclty. When you say listening at full volume, assuming that you did not check when your head unit clips with a DD-1, your headunit was most likely sending a clipped signal to the amp.

[Ahmed Johnson]

That shark amp can do about 1000 watts clean and like kranny said it could be glue smell. I'm gonna go with the amp however. I remember when that amp had the hearts of people in other forums. I think it was like 125 bucks brand new.

[TheLeeStrikes]

Yeah i don't have a dd-1 or a scope im still saving money for all of that thats why i try to keep all gains and volume on HU as low as i can and im pretty sure there is no one near where i live with that equipment ( i live in Las Cruces New Mexico) like i said gain is not even half ways which i think its not to high to clip but im not sure and for the HU highest i go is 23 out of 35 and its an alpine deck and it seems that all alpine HU's tend to clip at around 26, if im clipping i don't get why my subs don't get even warm and the amp gets warm but not to the point where you could smell it. i also thought it could be new subs smell but is it suppose to smell like a burnt coil? just confuse at this point just trying not to blow shit up before i can get everything i need. and also how exactly do you set up a subsonic filter box is tuned to around 35 hurtz i have it set up at around 29

[TheLeeStrikes]

bump

[FCS530]

It actually takes a while for dust caps to get warm. Clipping will get the coils hot really fast and you will smell it long before you can feel it. I think that dust caps usually get warm from overpowering a sub with a clean signal. It happens much slower and has time to heat the entire cone up to the cap. Basically overpowering the subs cooling capabilities.

[FCS530]

And those hdc3 12s can handle WAY more power. My brother has 1 on a 2200.1!