DC xl getting hot and smelly on only 1500w?

[fmedina]

So I've been having the same problem with my previous Skar evl 15 with the sub getting hot and stinky. My original thought was that it was overpowered with my sae1500.1. But I was kinda doubting it because that sub should have handled the extra 3-400 watts. But anyways I went and picked up a DC xl 15 to give a try (it fuckin sounds great btw, my first DC!) Now this one gets really hot and smelly too after playing some music with heavy bass full tilt for a few minutes. So I'm not a total idiot and do know about clipping and how bad it is. But I must be clipping pretty bad lol what I don't understand is how? Why? I set my gains with the dd1. Found the hu (80prs) is clean at 62/62. 4ch amp set with the -5db track and mono amp with the -10db track. Before, I had the 4ch set at 0db and mono at -5db and I could still smell the Skar evl. Same problem with the xl 15. The magnet gets super hot to the touch. Bass boost at 0 boost. On the hu, sub is at 0 and eq isn't crazy. However I have the crossovers open on both amps and control them from the hu. Except for the subsonic filter. I have that around 25-30ish. Could the crossovers be the problem? I wouldn't think it would cause any issues but that's why I'm here! 

[WalledSonic]

Your crossovers are fine.  

Clipping heat soaks the coil very quickly.  You have to consider the area under the curve for a sine wave and then for a square wave and realize there is a LOT more current flowing through your coils when you go into clipping.  In general, you're better off with an oversized amp sending a strong clean signal than you are with an underpowered amp thats pushed to its limits.  Also, you need a clipping indicator if you dont have one yet.

 

 

[fmedina]

So I kinda discovered that it's worst when playing some decaf. When hitting the lows for a couple minutes with the bass knob about 1/4 of the way up I can start smelling something funny coming from the sub. I checked my mids just to make sure they're not heating up also and they're not. Not even warm. Wtf 

[fmedina]

3 hours ago, WalledSonic said:

Your crossovers are fine.  

Clipping heat soaks the coil very quickly.  You have to consider the area under the curve for a sine wave and then for a square wave and realize there is a LOT more current flowing through your coils when you go into clipping.  In general, you're better off with an oversized amp sending a strong clean signal than you are with an underpowered amp thats pushed to its limits.  Also, you need a clipping indicator if you dont have one yet.

 

 

Thanks for the reply brotha. I'ma have to pick up a clip indicator. Any recommendations?

[Jonathan Mills]

I agree with Walled Sonic here you are almost certainly clipping the heck outta your system. The sae 1500 is a great amp but will only put out 1500 clean watts and the dc xl 15 will handle 2200rms and from my experience with dc those numbers are pretty conservative.  You need to be able to either get a knob with the clipping indicator or find a way to look at the sign wave when its turned up. I recently purchased one of these dvmm with an oscilloscope function. It is not a nice meter by any means but it does have an oscope function for like 60 bucks. I have learned a lot with this meter and would recommend it.

Inexpensive Oscope

[WalledSonic]

Are you playing at tuning frequency for a whole song? The cone doesnt move at tuning frequency.  For instance, im tuned to 26Hz so if i play a rebassed track primarily at 26Hz, my subs get stinky by the end of the track since the cone barely moves at port resonance. Something else to keep in mind. 

[fmedina]

1 hour ago, WalledSonic said:

Are you playing at tuning frequency for a whole song? The cone doesnt move at tuning frequency.  For instance, im tuned to 26Hz so if i play a rebassed track primarily at 26Hz, my subs get stinky by the end of the track since the cone barely moves at port resonance. Something else to keep in mind. 

My box is tuned around 33hz. But if I try playing some songs in the mid to high 20s or so for a short period of time that's when they start smelling. 

Let me ask this. How would you set gains with a bass knob? I set the amp with the dd1 having the bass knob half way. I remember Steve doing it like this in one of his videos back in the day. I'ma mess around with tuning my system once I find some time. 

[WalledSonic]

A clipping indicator will help you tremendously. Just having a different quality song will result in a different threshold to clipping the amp. Most amp companies sell them, Sundown, DC, Crescendo etc. Make sure you have the correct connection, as im not sure the SAE-1500 has that capability. Check with Sundown to be sure. You can also get an SMD OM-1, but theyre out of stock at the moment.

 

[Skullz]

Highly likely your music is clipped and getting your sub hot and stinky, try something you know that is clean and unclipped.

Use Windows Media Player's o-scope on some of the songs you have to make sure nothing is clipped.

[alex912005]

You can use Audacity to check songs for clipping. It works with mp3, wav, flac etc. and it's free.