hey guys

im looking to get a jl audio 12w3v2-D2 subwoofer, but currently my amp only pushes 160 RMS. the sub is rated at 300 RMS.

here is a picture from JL's website themselves:


however, i googled underpowering a subwoofer and i came to this site: http://www.carstereo.com/rayfes/amp.cfm

and it says that: Underpowering a speaker in this way can be more dangerous than overpowering it!

will i be okay running 160W RMS to the sub until i can get a bigger / better one?

thanks

 

what they are saying is that when you have an amp that doesnt put out the recommended wattage, you are more likely to turn it up cuz you cant hear it well. When you turn it up you are maxing out the amp causing distortion and distortion is what kills speakers.
you can use the amp for the time being, just dont turn it up really high.

 

so turn the gains down a little?

 

yep. you never really want gains up at all, depending on the components and how they sound for maximum volume.

 

if you have your gains too high it will blow your subwoofer due to clipping

 

is there any way i can "hear" clipping? what would you guys recommend? i only have 160W to deal with now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekcivic9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there any way i can "hear" clipping? what would you guys recommend? i only have 160W to deal with now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

get a bigger amp if you plan on running that sub.

 

well i cant pass up the deal now if i dont crank my gains all the way up i should be ok right?

 

yes you'll be fine, just dont turn your gains up and try not to turn the volume to max.

 

ok. probably a pretty stupid question, but i found out this sub is rated at 2 ohms. my amp puts out 160W @ 4 ohms, i take it that this isnt going to fly...

 

actually, it'll work better. The sub will pull 320watts from the amp cuz its pulling a 2ohm load. You should have no problem now with the amp and sub together.

 

wait, is it dual 2ohm or dual 4ohm. If you said its rated at 2ohm im thinkin dual 2ohm now. If the amp is a mono, run it in series so it puts out the 160 watts at 4 ohms. IF its a two channel, run it normal to each voice coil to get 320 watts at 2ohms.

im assuming the amp is not 1ohm stable, if it was, and it is mono, you can run it parallel no problem and get the 320 watts.

 

so it all depends how its wired in the voice coils?

my amp isnt mono, and its bridged to put out 160 if i can get 320 @ 2, i will be more than happy, but something tells me that this isnt the case?

i appreciate your help 96civicHatch

 

here's the link to the 12W3V2-D2 maunal.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/8681.pdf

If your amp isnt 1 ohm stable you MUST wire your voice coils in series. That will make the amp only sees 4 ohms. What kind of amp do you have?

 

What amp is it ? If it is a 2 ch. amp it is unlikely that it is stable below 4 ohms when bridged, and although if you wire a DVC 4 ohm sub in parallel to a 2 ohm load and wire it to the amp it will work but the amp will overheat and can be damaged, it can also damage the sub, if you get the DVC 2 ohm you can wire it in series for a 4 ohm load, you will only get 160W out of the amp, but it will not overheat, and as long as you don't push the amp too hard you should have no problem. 94

 

get a cheaper sub, run a better amp it will be alot better than the 160rms goin into a w3v2. it really matters on your amp more than sub. if your under powering a woofer and turn it up youll end up blowing it b/c it cannot pull anymore power from the amp....my 2cents

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekcivic9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey guys

im looking to get a jl audio 12w3v2-D2 subwoofer, but currently my amp only pushes 160 RMS. the sub is rated at 300 RMS.


will i be okay running 160W RMS to the sub until i can get a bigger / better one?

thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>
I just got one of those subs. Exact same one! Mine will only br getting about 150 - 200 continuous watts. You will be fine. Just don't think you can bang on down the road.

 

oh. no, the bass is there for me. not the people around me.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 96civicHATCH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> When you turn it up you are maxing out the amp causing distortion and distortion is what kills speakers. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Wrong

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Eugenics &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you have your gains too high it will blow your subwoofer due to clipping</TD></TR></TABLE>
Correct

An amplifier would put out approx 2x the rated power when clipped. Also since this is direct current the speaker only moves in one direction, thus preventing cooling of the voice coil.

 

Ok, thanks for the correction nsxxtreme. Im that much smarter now.

But I know distortion is bad. What besides sounding like crap does distortion do? I heard from other people that its bad for the speakers, so i thought it would blow them.

Also, if im getting this right, clipping is basically the speaker not handling the power given to it from the amp. Right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What amp is it ? If it is a 2 ch. amp it is unlikely that it is stable below 4 ohms when bridged, and although if you wire a DVC 4 ohm sub in parallel to a 2 ohm load and wire it to the amp it will work but the amp will overheat and can be damaged, it can also damage the sub, if you get the DVC 2 ohm you can wire it in series for a 4 ohm load, you will only get 160W out of the amp, but it will not overheat, and as long as you don't push the amp too hard you should have no problem. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>



so if i wire it like the one in the middle? i should be okay if i bridge my amp for 160 @ 4 ohms?

thanks everybody who has replied! i appreciate it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 96civicHATCH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But I know distortion is bad. What besides sounding like crap does distortion do?</TD></TR></TABLE>There are many forms of distortion but they will not directly be the cause of a blow speaker.

There are two forms of speaker failure.
Mechanical and electrical.
Supplying a 20Hz wave to a tweeter would be a mechanical failure.

An electrical failure would be applying to much power to the speaker.
You have 2 power rails in an amplifier most are around +20v -20v.

Everyone knows what a sinewave is correct?
You send a sinewave into the input of the amplifier this is a small voltage maybe a few hundred millivolts. The amplifier takes the input and multiplies it by a number called the Gain. So lets say we take .002v multiply it by 5000 =10V we haven't hit the rail yet so we are ok. Now we turn the gain up to 10000 now .002*10000=20V We have hit the rail voltage and the amplifier cant put out anymore. So what happens if we turn the gain to 15000? We still get 20v on the output and this is what is called a clipped signal. The amplifier has exceeded its rails. This is now a DC voltage. The power spike the speaker will see is about 2x the rated output of the amplifier.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekcivic9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
so if i wire it like the one in the middle? i should be okay if i bridge my amp for 160 @ 4 ohms?

thanks everybody who has replied! i appreciate it. </TD></TR></TABLE>
You could also wire it like the last one and be ok!

 

Great info, thanks. Kind of motivates me to take an electronics class next semester.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxxtreme &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You could also wire it like the last one and be ok! </TD></TR></TABLE>Ditto that. 94