Car Audio Car audio related questions and helpful hints for building the best sound system for your car or getting the most out of what you have.

are my subs clipping?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 06-02-2001, 05:07 PM
  #1  
Member
Thread Starter
 
matthew's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Sumas, Washington near Canadian border
Posts: 409
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
are my subs clipping?

I finally got around to tuning my amp today. So I started my car and turned it up so that I could mess with the gain and such. Anyways my subs were right next to me and I noticed that they kept making a funny noise. So I took the grills off and watched them. The bass was kindof high with lots of fast notes. And everytime one of those would hit, it looked like my sub would go fully out and them make a muted popping noise( hard to describe). So I turned it down and bunch and it didn't do that any more. I think its clipping because it makes the same sound my 6x9s do, and I am sure they clip a little. I know Jim listens to country so maybe he can relate. The song was "but for the grace of God" by Keith Urban. I couldn't hear this noise when I'm sitting in the drivers seat, but once I got near my sub I could hear it. Is there anything I should do to stop this? the subs are in the sig and I'm giving them 300 watts a piece. And there rms is 350.
------------------
yellow 86 Camaro
LG4 700R4
Pioneer head unit
Kenwood speakers
Infinity Beta Digital 300 amp
2 Infinity Perfect 12s

Now KYB equipped!!

[This message has been edited by matthew (edited June 02, 2001).]
Old 06-02-2001, 06:16 PM
  #2  
Member
 
pred1tor83's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: San Antonio, TX, USA
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
subs and six-by-nines dont clip, for that matter no speakers clip, only amps i think you should test your system w/ one of your friends amps
Old 06-02-2001, 06:58 PM
  #3  
Member
 
92 z28's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: ny
Posts: 421
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
i agree with "pred1tor83"
chances are your amp is trying to push to much, or clipping.
Old 06-02-2001, 07:25 PM
  #4  
Supreme Member

 
AJ_92RS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: USA
Posts: 4,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: yy wife, crazy.
Engine: 350, Vortecs, 650DP
Transmission: TH-350
Axle/Gears: 8.5", 3.42
Yea. Usually an amp clips from not having enough voltage running to it, or if the resistance is too low. How do you have your subs run to the amp? I heard the same noise outta my system. When I checked to see what was going on, I noticed that the 2 little wires that go from the terminals to the voice coil were touching. My subs are 8 ohm ran in parallel to my amp, bridged. That brings it to 4 ohms bridged, which is a safe haven. Well when those 2 wires touched, it was a straight path for the amp, which was causing it to clip. Check all your connections and check the voltage at the battery with the car running by using some type of volt meter. It should read just over 14 volts. If not then your altenator is not up to par. Repair or replace it with a higher amp output while your at it anyway. Just my 2¢.

------------------
92 RS w/t-tops 305 TBI Auto.
170K miles and don't burn a drop o'oil
-K&N Truck filter #1500 w, open ele.
air cleaner
-Dynomax 2 1/2" cat-back
-B&M TransPak
-Jet Stage2 Chip
-180* T-Stat w/ 185* Fan Switch
-JVC CD--Alpine speakers & 4ch. amp
Rockford 2ch. to 2 MTX 12" subs
Old 06-02-2001, 09:26 PM
  #5  
Member
Thread Starter
 
matthew's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Sumas, Washington near Canadian border
Posts: 409
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
yea, I meant to say my amp is clipping, but I was thinking about something else when I was typing it. Anyways, is there anyway to add resistance to an amp. My amp is 300x2 @ 4ohms. If I bridge it, I can get 1000x1 @ 4 ohms. My subs are 4 ohms each, so If I bridge them now the amp would see a 2 ohm load and put our 1000 watts per channel. If I could add resistance to the line and wire my subs in parrallel I could give them 500 watts a piece which would sound awesome! Any ideas?
Old 06-02-2001, 11:50 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
Belker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Morgantown, WV
Posts: 678
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The idea of sing some type of resistance wired in parallel to your subs to get a lower amp load so that it will put out more power has been thought of by many, many people. IT DOESN'T WORK! What happens is that the sub will get half the power and make sound (which is what you want) and the "resistance" will get the other half of the power and make HEAT. Heat is gonna do you very little good.

You're two choices are: Run the amp stereo @ 4 ohms per channel, OR Bridge the amp to mono and wire the subs in parallel for a 2 ohm load. If the amp is STABLE 2 OHM BRIDGED MONO then this is the way to go. The problem is that most amps are only stable at 2 ohm for stereo and require 4 ohm for bridged mono.

If you want to run 2 ohm stereo or 4 ohm bridged mono then you're gonna have to get 2 more subs for a total of four.

I know this sucks but we all have to deal with this (if this makes you feel any better).
Old 06-03-2001, 10:12 AM
  #7  
Supreme Member

 
AJ_92RS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: USA
Posts: 4,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Car: yy wife, crazy.
Engine: 350, Vortecs, 650DP
Transmission: TH-350
Axle/Gears: 8.5", 3.42
If you run the subs you have now in series then the amp will see an 8ohm load. This would give you 600w into one channel. Plus your amp won't clip. It's not much different than running the subs in stereo instead of mono, but this way the subs would get the same signal from the amp for both channnels. That will eliminate all possible signal differences between channels. That and the amp will run cooler than a 4ohm load bridged. That will help prolong the amp's life and clarity. I did it for a while on the amp I have now and it sounded fine. It's gotta sound better than an amp that's clipping.

From what you have said, you would gain 400 watts by running 4ohms on the amp bridged, right? Well ask any competitor and they'll tell you that you have to double your wattage to hear a noticable difference in volume. That will give you a gain of 3db, which is what it takes for the human ear to tell a difference between volume.

Try running them in series and see if that helps. It's worth a shot.
Old 06-03-2001, 05:22 PM
  #8  
TGO Supporter

iTrader: (2)
 
Jim85IROC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Readsboro, VT
Posts: 13,574
Received 9 Likes on 8 Posts
Car: 85 IROC-Z / 88 GTA
Engine: 403 LSx (Pending) / 355 Tuned Port
Transmission: T56 Magnum (Pending) / T5
Axle/Gears: 3.42 / ?
If you're hearing a "pop" that usually indicates that you're reaching the mechanical limits of the speaker, which can be caused by a host of different things, like putting them on a plate instead of in a box, a poorly built box with lots of holes, too much amplifier power, or running an amp into severe clipping.

------------------
The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
RS Reaper
Electronics
4
10-17-2018 07:52 PM
Night rider327
Interior Parts for Sale
2
02-25-2016 09:50 AM
Cam-aro
Camaros Wanted
2
11-12-2015 03:35 PM
meeklay812
Camaros for Sale
1
10-01-2015 03:46 PM
J. Chris Davis
Interior Parts Wanted
2
09-28-2015 11:55 AM



Quick Reply: are my subs clipping?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:57 PM.