IM having a problem with my subs. Theyre 2 10w6v2's in a sealed box powered by a jl 1000/1v2 ran of a pioneer f90bt. When i turn the headunit up to almost max volume (around 57/58 out of 62) the subs make a popping noise on sharp base notes, like kick drums. At first i thought my box wasnt completely sealed, as i cut less than satisfactory holes for the woofers and the noise was either air blowing out when they hit hard and the internal pressure was high, or them not being sealed was allowing them to bottom out. The more i think about it, they shouldnt be bottoming out, considering theyre only seeing 500w each and theyre rated at 600 rms. Then i thought the amp was clipping, but i doubt that as well bc the gain on the amp was only turned up half way. So i believe I have come to the conclusion that the headunit it clipping the signal. I usually run it at close to max power, as i havent gotten my components and 4 channel installed yet, to keep up with the subs. The reason i believe its a bad signal is because the popping noise was still present when i turned the subs down to -16 on the headunit and turned it up to full volume. I have just never heard what exactly clipping sounds like so i cant be sure. Does anyone have any advice?
matt1212
Over Excursion? Of course its not going to do it at full volume with the subs turned down because they arent being asked to work as hard.
Aside from it sounding worse, by ear the best way I can hear clipping is to listen to the sub at maybe a 25-40Hz tone. Turn it up and you should hear a metallic sound as it clips, and just a deep tone under that. This is from the harmonics of the square wave. Should be able to check voltage on sub at the time and it should be somewhat close to what the amp is rated for it depends on the actual ohms/impedance the amp is seeing so you can't go entirely by that. It will go louder and get more voltage beyond that while clipping as a DMM shows RMS AC voltage not peak like a scope.
Usually popping and other strange noises at max volume are the box vibrating or the sub xmax'ing, maybe a speaker wire grounding though the amp usually does not like that and will do it at low output. Where the gain is set matters not, the voltage output is better but not a perfect way to determine output. The gain only sets it to the input. I've had cheap HU distort the RCA output, also had them do it worse when running speakers off the HU. My test HU does that sometimes it feeds back, I have to fade the speakers off to get a clear signal from the amp, I don't know if it has to do with being on a power supply or something but it is a cheap HU so I would expect things like that. If you have a smaller amp put it on at low gain and full range speakers, play the HU at max and listen carefully to the music at normal level to determine HU clipping. If present turn down until you can't hear distortion, turn down maybe 5% lower and use that as a max.
If the sub is hitting xmax, that can destroy it in a short time. You might also have a mechanical failure in the sub, like a spider came loose or tinsel is hitting, dust cap loose, etc. Listening to low tones 10Hz and up are a good way to find noises like that.
Usually popping and other strange noises at max volume are the box vibrating or the sub xmax'ing, maybe a speaker wire grounding though the amp usually does not like that and will do it at low output. Where the gain is set matters not, the voltage output is better but not a perfect way to determine output. The gain only sets it to the input. I've had cheap HU distort the RCA output, also had them do it worse when running speakers off the HU. My test HU does that sometimes it feeds back, I have to fade the speakers off to get a clear signal from the amp, I don't know if it has to do with being on a power supply or something but it is a cheap HU so I would expect things like that. If you have a smaller amp put it on at low gain and full range speakers, play the HU at max and listen carefully to the music at normal level to determine HU clipping. If present turn down until you can't hear distortion, turn down maybe 5% lower and use that as a max.
If the sub is hitting xmax, that can destroy it in a short time. You might also have a mechanical failure in the sub, like a spider came loose or tinsel is hitting, dust cap loose, etc. Listening to low tones 10Hz and up are a good way to find noises like that.
I've got 2 10w3's through a 500/1 and I had this issue when volume was up... I came to the determination that it was overexcursion/bottoming out the subs. They're wired on a 4ohm load and the popping would only happen when the sub would go to its absolute lowest point. I backed off the power a little and havent had a problem since.
I had that sort of noise happen with another cheap power acoustik sub. The lower spider had some loose from the voice coil former and was creating a popcorn noise you were describing. I would take them out of the box and play them individually free air to hear any mechanical noise then go from there.
Silicone on the seal for the sub {s} is a good idea too !
A cigarette or candle moved slowly around the box will let you see if any air is escaping [ While the subwoofer is playing ].
A cigarette or candle moved slowly around the box will let you see if any air is escaping [ While the subwoofer is playing ].
yep...
if my gains on my tweets were up to 2/3rds they would make my ears bleed... not a good thing
It may just be a bad connection somewhere as well. I had a couple basically new alpine type-R 10s in my car to test them because they took a flying leap out of their old box when my brothers roomie rolled his jeep, and they were making the same sound, turns out a spade on the terminal cup was loose.
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