Clipping with smaller speakers...WTH

[vonivo]

I'll list my current setup under here and its exactly the same setup i had but with a different (a little bigger) box and 2 old style 12in Alpine Type R's (different excursion shape n maby material also)and i had a 1f cap. It was in a blazer and man i could crank thr heck out of that system and the amp would never even get close to cliping.

The current setup though with the 2 10in type r's when i crank it up a little far im getting the amp clipping where you can actually see the orange light on top of the amp fade (more of a quick) on and off while the speakers clip. Any idea'son why when going to 10s vs 12s and running the same power into them at 1ohm (the amp is rated for it) it would clip ???

is the amp just getting old? i know most people say caps are junk but would it help my system out with this problem a bit? If the prob is my amp what is recommended for a replacement around the same or higher power without breaking the bank? (current amp is 1200rms into 1 at 1 ohm)

the amp http://www.jbl.com/car/product...uct=Y

owners manual in adobe http://manuals.harman.com/JBL/...m.pdf

the subs http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-e...tab=F

the fuse with 4gauge wire http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...20272

line level converter http://www.sonicelectronix.com....html

It is setup properly the gain and crossover and the bass boost is all the way down...that just add distortion anyways




Modified by vonivo at 5:29 AM 3/24/2009

[AppleBonker]

I highly doubt it has anything to do with the speakers. My guess is from the line-level converter/stock stereo. If you run the same amp/power/sub/etc combo changing only the head unit (from 2V preamp outs to 4V preamp outs), the subs will be louder on 4V than 2, meaning the gain will not need to be as high.

So, in your case, if the line-level is putting out a higher voltage from this stock system than the blazer did, you will see the same results. With the gain remaining unchanged, the amp could be clipping in the Altima where it wasn't in the blazer.

Also, I wouldn't expect your current setup to be quite as loud. Not only did you step down the cone size, but I'm assuming the subs are in the trunk (but were in the back of the blazer - which is obviously not a trunk).

I think I would just turn the gain down a bit. While the JBL site doesn't seem to have the amp rated for 1 ohm, the amp guts at realmofexcursion and a few other places say it's ok, so I guess that's not the problem. I don't think a new amp would help out much. You're already pushing 600 to those subs (rated for 500). I know they can handle a decent beating (pretty sure I've seen people run 750 watts RMS) to them daily, but you shouldn't need to upgrade. The cap wont do anything for you, so I wouldn't bother with it.

[vonivo]

isn't there adjusters on the trunk loc? couldent i just turn them up to boost the signal going to the amp? and yea in the blazer i had a alpine head unit with rca line outputs


Modified by vonivo at 2:33 PM 3/24/2009

[AppleBonker]

isn't there adjusters on the trunk loc? couldent i just turn them up to boost the signal going to the amp? and yea in the blazer i had a alpine head unit with rca line outputs

I'm saying the line level converter may be putting out a higher voltage than the Alpine was (turning it up would make it worse). I've never used a LLC before, so I'm not sure what the output voltage is. I would guess that your previous Alpine probably had 2V preamp outs (which is on the lower end). If anything, try turning the gain on the LLC down or turn down the gain on the amp. Either should work to prevent clipping.