wtk. underpowered sub

[ravstaar]

how do you know when your sub is underpowered???what are the signs of this???can this be damaging to sub or amp??and how so??? enlighten me please folks...............

[- Rovin's car audio -]

take a read : ... http://www.glasswolf.net/papers/speakerpwr.html

[3stagevtec]

there is no such thing as 'under powering' a subwoofer imo..

sending a too little power to a subwoofer will simply make it play soft, like when you have the volume turned down.. and i can't see that damaging a woofer..

[silent_riot]

It shouldn't, but people tend to want more than what their system is designed for...especially smaller systems.

Driving an amp (small or large) into clipping, then tends to overheat the coils on the sub causing damage.

[MONGO]

"please keep in mind that just because a speaker may say it's rated for 2000 watts RMS, that by no means implies that you actually need that much power to get full output from the speaker. In fact you may need as little as 300 watts RMS to achieve peak excursion in the right enclosure"

FROM: http://www.glasswolf.net/papers/speakerpwr.html

i didn't know that

[ravstaar]

tanx 4 de info guys!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brian Steele]

Driving an amp (small or large) into clipping, then tends to overheat the coils on the sub causing damage.

I'd like to see actual empirical evidence of that happening.

My second car audio subwoofer system was a pair of JBL 1200GTis (rated 600W RMS, 1000W peak) driven by a 60Wx2 JVC amp. Yes, 1/10th the rated RMS power-handling for the speakers. It used to be overdriven to the point that I had to resolder the output transistors to the amp's circuit board on several occasions because solder joints deteriorated due to excessive heat. The JBLs survived intact.

In any case, no good audio amplifier passes DC unless there's something seriously wrong with the output stage and there's no protection (and yes, that's happened to me too, LOL, and the results are not pretty).

[nareshseep]

^^ So what about if you tried clipping with a 500rms amp, what would have been the outcome?

[Brian Steele]

^^ So what about if you tried clipping with a 500rms amp, what would have been the outcome?

The guy I sold them too drove them with that I believe. SPL contest using continuous tones. The dustcaps blew off (dry-rot most likely) during one try, but the coils survived.

It really depends on what frequency you're driving them at, as well as the power level.

At lower frequencies (particularly below Fb), you run the risk of overexcursion and mechanical damage. At higher frequencies, the coil is moving a lot less and it's possible that heat might build up because it's not removed fast enough from the coil. But again, I've never seen anyone lose a sub simply because it was being driven with distorted signal at or below the rated RMS level. Hence my request for empirical evidence of same. And that's with music, not test tones .

There's simply too much crap floating around the 'net as good audio advice, hence my skepticism .