btrango Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Ok So here is what i have: Stock 140amp alt, Big 3 with 1/0, NGT Extreme under the hood one positive run to the rear going to a Shuriken bt-60. A 4 channel and my Sae 1200d at 1ohm wired up to the battery. I made sure all my grounds were good in the rear where i grounded the battery and the ground in front is in the factory location. Ok so i bought a stinger volt meter and recieved it today so being at school i didnt have anywhere to install it so i just squeezed it between the terminals on the back battery. My voltage at idle is 13.8 and 12.9 with the car off. I played some decaf at 27/35 on my deck i never turn it past 28. So i hoped out to look at my readings and holy shit! it was going down into the low twelves! I know the first thing you guys will say is gain, yea i checked that i have had it at 5/8 with the bass boost off for the past month and no funny smells and the subs dont sound anywhere close to clipping. So i turned the gain down to 1/4 and it is still dropping to the low 13's high twelves. So either i have been clipping the shit out of my subs for the past month or there is something else going on. P.S. Im getting a dmm tomorrow so i can properly set my gains. It would be great to get some input. Thanks in advance. Kenwood kdc-x794 Boston Acoustics S60 components, S65 Coaxials Jl J2-320.4 Sundown Audio Sae1200d 2 Sundown SA-12's D4 Car Quest NGT Extreme Upfront Shuriken BT-60 inback Big3 All Knu Konceptz wire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finkster Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 I wouldnt expect your voltage at idle while blasting to be anywhere near 13.8. Try having a friend rev it up while playing it loud and check to see if its the same. On some heavy bass notes you could be pulling more than the alt can handle (well thats a bit obvious). Dipping in the 12s isnt worst case scenario, I've seen worse. Just make sure it doesn't go below that. Anything below that and your amp will start getting pissed, not to mention your alt is already being worked hard. And voltage drop has nothing to do with clipping. Correlation does not always mean causation DAT 4125------>RE XXX comps active Eclipse cd7000 I serve drunks for a living Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btrango Posted September 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 I wouldnt expect your voltage at idle while blasting to be anywhere near 13.8. Try having a friend rev it up while playing it loud and check to see if its the same. On some heavy bass notes you could be pulling more than the alt can handle (well thats a bit obvious). Dipping in the 12s isnt worst case scenario, I've seen worse. Just make sure it doesn't go below that. Anything below that and your amp will start getting pissed, not to mention your alt is already being worked hard. And voltage drop has nothing to do with clipping. Correlation does not always mean causation Thank you for the info sir! So what exactly does it mean when i turn my gain down and the voltage does not dip as much? Is that just the amp putting out less power through the speaker terminals there for not needing as much input power? Kenwood kdc-x794 Boston Acoustics S60 components, S65 Coaxials Jl J2-320.4 Sundown Audio Sae1200d 2 Sundown SA-12's D4 Car Quest NGT Extreme Upfront Shuriken BT-60 inback Big3 All Knu Konceptz wire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Fizzy Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 Thank you for the info sir! So what exactly does it mean when i turn my gain down and the voltage does not dip as much? Is that just the amp putting out less power through the speaker terminals there for not needing as much input power? exactly. but um, did i just read that voltage drop has nothing to do with clipping? cuz im pretty sure when your voltage drops, your amp ends up sending a clipped signal to your subs. sooooo... under construction I hate People with crappy primered cars rolling on hubcaps that are louder then me. u hate c-fizzy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEvil Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 yes. MickyMcD - "Capable of making some serious trouser flapping volumes at where's-my-testicles frequencies, the Servo-Drives used to be fairly jaw dropping..." Any time you have have a power wire next to your frame put some rubber hosing (or cut up an innertube) around it. The wire is bound to wiggle (due to driving or flex) and the casing will eventually wear through. Hammerdown... 1% no links to outside websites, business related FB/YT pages allowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finkster Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 The higher you turn the gain knob, the faster it will get loud. It will only go so loud (cleanly) regardless of how far you turn it. Eventually you will get to a point where the amp starts to clip because you are trying to tell it to produce something it cant, but it still tries (and fails as far as clean power is concerned). Even if you had 4 300 amp alternators and 6 batteries, turning up your gain past the amp's abilities to match the gain will result in clipping. Clipping doesnt mean low voltage, it means that the ouput does not match the input. DAT 4125------>RE XXX comps active Eclipse cd7000 I serve drunks for a living Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Fizzy Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 yes i know that, but if you have your amp set at a safe level(clip free), and your voltage drops, it could drop past that point of clip-free playing, thus causing clipping. see what im sayin? under construction I hate People with crappy primered cars rolling on hubcaps that are louder then me. u hate c-fizzy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btrango Posted September 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 yes. So what is the remedy to this problem? should I get my out puts right and then go from there. And my sub amp stays fairly cool, and isnt the amp getting hot usually a tell tale sign of clipping? Kenwood kdc-x794 Boston Acoustics S60 components, S65 Coaxials Jl J2-320.4 Sundown Audio Sae1200d 2 Sundown SA-12's D4 Car Quest NGT Extreme Upfront Shuriken BT-60 inback Big3 All Knu Konceptz wire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEvil Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 cant rely on temperature to tell of clipping. the only real way to test is with an o-scope. Every amp will behave differently. For some they might clip with small voltage drop while others will not. Some will never clip due to voltage drop. The only way to test how your amp acts is to scope it. MickyMcD - "Capable of making some serious trouser flapping volumes at where's-my-testicles frequencies, the Servo-Drives used to be fairly jaw dropping..." Any time you have have a power wire next to your frame put some rubber hosing (or cut up an innertube) around it. The wire is bound to wiggle (due to driving or flex) and the casing will eventually wear through. Hammerdown... 1% no links to outside websites, business related FB/YT pages allowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finkster Posted September 17, 2010 Report Share Posted September 17, 2010 yes i know that, but if you have your amp set at a safe level(clip free), and your voltage drops, it could drop past that point of clip-free playing, thus causing clipping. see what im sayin? well yea...eventually. What do you think happens when you turn the car off and start playing music? Is that clipping? As stated the only way to be sure is an oscope. There is a correlation between low voltage and clipping but it is not always the case. But yes eventually there will come a point where the amp doesnt like it. The problem with low voltage at high levels is that current draw increases drastically and wreaks havoc on your power supply. So low voltage with high current draw can very well cause clipping, but low voltage itself does not mean clipping. That was my point. OP, just be careful and set your gains correctly tomorrow as planned. If there;s still drastic drop, dont hammer as long and more power is always nice. DAT 4125------>RE XXX comps active Eclipse cd7000 I serve drunks for a living Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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