Help with subwoofers

A

arter

Active Member
41
11
NY Long Island
Vehicle Model
Civic LX
Body Style
Coupe
So I've been having problems with my subroofers recently, the amps have been heating up and the subs wouldn't be as loud as it's supposed to be, just the subs nothing else. So I went back to the shop and got new amps. Then again shortly after, it's still heating up and just the bass wouldnt be as loud. And they said that getting a new head unit would fix my problem, but I really want to keep my iMid display. i want to talk about it with you guys first because really I have no idea how this works.

Sidenote- I think my first amp (Logic) sounded alot cleaner than the kenwood amp.

Here are my specifications.

I'm still using factory radio.

First Amp
http://www.logicsoundlab.com/DBX1602.html

New Amp
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/eXcelon/Amplifiers/X500-1

Subs x 2 12"
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/eXcelon/Subwoofers/KFC-XW12

The amp is hooked up to a 2 ch Hi\Low converter. The converter is hooked up to the factory subroofers, not the head unit.

Wirings
Power/Ground wiring = 8G
Amp to Subs wiring = 16G
Amp to converter wiring = 18 G

PICTURES IMAG0023.jpg


IMAG0025.jpg


IMAG0029.jpg


IMAG0027.jpg



IMAG0028.jpg
 
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Wirings
Power/Ground wiring = 8G
Amp to Subs wiring = 16G
Amp to converter wiring = 18 G
Click to expand...

1000 watt amp should not be on 8 gauge wiring. It should be 4 gauge wiring at the least. 8 gauge is like for 100-200 watt maybe. An audio shop put that in?
 
webby said:
1000 watt amp should not be on 8 gauge wiring. It should be 4 gauge wiring at the least. 8 gauge is like for 100-200 watt maybe. An audio shop put that in?
Click to expand...

Yepp a shop did it, so I supposed it wouldnt have worked for the Logic Amps as well? its 1600watts, 400 rms. Would that be the cause for the heating?
 
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And plus they were always telling me to get a head unit, that it will fix the problem.
 
At 80% efficiency (which that kenwood amp claims), you can run 15ft of 4 gauge wire. 4 gauge is rated to a max of 1445 watts at 80% efficiency (15ft of wire).

At 80% efficiency, 15ft of 8 gauge wire will support 573watts. That's nowhere near what that amp puts out.

This may be of help =
http://www.bcae1.com/wire.htm

A new head unit is not going to change things. You need thicker wire.
 
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they look like 4gauge wire to me in the pic ....and webby is correct a new head unit isnt gonna do anything with the problem your having.
 
I see its a class D mono block 1 channel amp and thats what might be the problem i see both subs are connected to that one channel which it should be at 2ohms now but not sure if thats the correct wiring for the 2 subs into that channel because if its heating up too much it means the wiring could be wrong and the gain is up waaay too much:thumbsdown:
 
webby, those figures are for RMS. His amp puts out 500 watts rms at 2 ohms and 300 at 4 ohms. While you are at the limits of 8 gauge wire it should still work (that does look like 8 guage to me in the pics). Your amp will get hot but it should be fine so long as its not shutting off and going into protection mode. As far as loud, first what kind of box is it in? Sealed, vented, bandpass? Second our civics have pretty good sound deadening between the trunk and cabin. To get any kind of loud with mine I had to fold my seats down. Also if your amp is overheating and going into protection mode its possible the line output converter (LOC or hi/lo converter) is turned up to high and delivering too much voltage to the inputs of the amp. Other than that I can't see where you would be having issues. Your subs are 4 ohms so even bridged onto one channel that's a 2 ohm load which is what your amp is stable at. Maybe your gain is low (shops will do that to keep you from blowing subs). Also on the stock deck you will feel a lack of low bass (the lower it goes the quiter it is) as the stock sound system attenuates lower frequencies to protect the stock speakers. Will an aftermarket deck make them louder, no. But it will get rid of any attenuation.
 
Also more on boxes. You will get a lot louder in a vented box than a sealed and facing the subs towards the rear of the car will make it louder in the cabin (less cancellation) I also noticed mine got a lot louder when I unplugged the rear speakers. With the rear of the speakers firing into the trunk it causes a lot of cancellation.
 
It would work fine for a good 5-10 mins like I would feel the bump, but then it just cuts out and it seems like the volume of the subs alone just goes down a lot, it wouldn't be much louder than my factory subs but it still works. And here's a picture of the box.
 
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When I added my second alpine mono amp to run 1 amp per sub 300 rms at 4 ohms,he ran another 8 gauge power wire.i have a 4 gauge running my Polk pa660 4 channel at 4ohms and the other Alpine mono amp at 300 rms at 4 ohms,my amps just get warm,never over heat and sound real good now.no light flicker at all.you need to run a much thicker gauge for your set-up.
 
Oh by the way, my subs are 10s in a sealed.68 cubic foot each half box, I listen to rock,metal,hair bands,country,so it suits me fine.the bass hits real hard,just not the rap loud
 


the pic on the right is how your wired now which i think might be to much for your subs since they are single voice coil ...i think your subs are letting you know that they cant handle that low of independence .
1&2 ohm setups are usually for DVC subs so the left pic might be the way to go for your subs hope that helps.
 
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unless this chart is wrong, it says for 2 single voice coil subs at 4Ω running in parallel.... it'd be 2Ω... not 1Ω as your drawing states?

coil.png
 
havent had my morning JOE yet my brain is a little slow still lol
 
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