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overpowering a sub(but just by a little) (1 Viewer)

KeithMoechnig

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Jun 25, 2005
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123
I will be building a titanic MK3 15" subwoofer really soon and hope to get a Crown XLS 402 to amplify it. Would a 4-ohm bridge(1140 watt) be enough to damage the titanic(1100 watt max)? I have a sony STr-DE-995 and listen to movies at a volume level around 45-50 on it(really quiet according to my brother).
I really don't want to blow a suband don't know too much about this topic, that's why I'm asking.
If that would be enough to blow a sub, could I put a 2-ohm resistor(making the titanic a 6-ohm driver) and bridge it then?
 

stephanX

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
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116
that coulf fry it to bits id bet. you cant really go by max power, because its double rms, and if you constantly feed a sub max with bass heavy music it will fry. But by the same toke, you can usually give a sub more than RMS, because rms is how much power the sub will take wit ha pure sine wave (hardest thing you can do to a sub)

I once heard a rule, from a car audio guy, to get an amp that has 125% of the subs rms, that way you can push the sub to its limits without fear of clipping, and you can push the sub past its thermal limits for short periods of time if you so desire. It also means you wont get clipped transients at high volumes.
 

Jordan_Brulotte

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
104
Depending on the enclosure type you may hit the mechanical limits of the driver before reaching the thermal limits.

The tempest based sub I am running has a 360W amp into 4ohms and there is no way I can use close to all that power before it would bottom out the driver. However, my sub is ~10 cubic feet ported so the mechanical limits are reached much faster than say a sealed enclosure.

I say get 4 titanics instead! :D
 

JustinSC

Grip
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
17
Could you explain a little more why you would blow your sub? Most of the time you won't be running at a volume level where you would be acheiving 1000+ watts. If you set your gain well and don't play at excessive levels I don't think you would blow the sub?
 

Mark Hayenga

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 11, 1999
Messages
607
Why so much power? Those 300w Outlaw monoblocks make fine sub amps.

But yes, 1100w can destroy a driver both thermally and mechanically. But odds are you'd just be wasting money since, in reality, you'd only be running the amp at a fraction of its power output. A kilowatt into a good, efficient sub is LOUD.
 

KeithMoechnig

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
123
My brother says it hurts a driver more to underpower it than overpower it and the titanic's power handling is 800watt rms and 1100watt max but I don't believe it's true(underowering that is). Would I hurt the driver with 400 watts? This is going in an 8 cubic foot box with 3 vents 15.59 inches long if that helps. Just out of curiousity, how loud(dB) would I have to be playing to blow this sub if I feed 1140 watts to it?
 

ColinM

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2001
Messages
2,050
Low-pass pink niose, about 116db @ 1100w, but that's using very simple math and should be taken with much salt and pepper. You never really know until you try, or let the CRAY work on it for a few seconds.

Really, you'll hardly ever use that much power. You'll get so SICK of demo's that you'll eventually start thinking about quality vs quantity.

Good to have more power than you need, but be responsible.
 

Chuck Bogie

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 14, 2003
Messages
397
It's better to have excess power, to avoid clipping, distortion, etc., and _not use it_. Guys, just because the volume level goes to 11 doesn't mean you have to crank it there.

I've got a friend who I've been trying to design a set of speaks for - His standard mode of operation is to turn _everything_ all the way up. To me, it sounds like crap. And he keeps complaining about defective speakers...
 

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