Rep Power: 334

hey wusup,

i gotta quick question. I have a kicker KX 800.4 amp. My subwoofer is a 10 W6v2 D6. (i know its not really a good sub for single use becase of the D6? )

My amp can put out:
100 x 4 channels Watts RMS @ 4 ohms
200 x 4 channels Watts RMS @ 2 ohms
400 x 2 channels watts (in bridged mode) @ 4 ohms.

My question is how much power is my sub wired to 3 ohms getting? is it safe to operate the sub/amp this way? I believe the sub wants 300 watts RMS. so whats up?

 
Rep Power: 0

I'd assume you have to have it in parallel giving you 3 ohms. Then have one half the amp bridged to it. This 3 ohms is slightly lower than the 4 ohms recommended but you should be ok. The amp will try to put out slightly more power than its rated for, so it will probably try to output about 500 watts or so to the sub @ 3 ohms when bridged. I really think it would be ok, but just in case the odd chance the amp starts overheating you will know why.

I'd suggest you bridge both halves of the amp and run one half to each coil. That way you'll be gettin about 325 watts per coil and things will be totally safe. Thats probably the best solution. The amp will run more safely and you will get more overall power to the sub. The only thing is this will require 2 sets of wires going into the box.

 
Rep Power: 0

I agree with Regularjoe. Also, I wouldn't bridge just one side unless your amp is 1 ohm stable. You'd be getting less power that way anyhow versus bridging each side.

 
Rep Power: 0

Its a D6, so thats dual 6 ohm coils.

Wired in parallel thats 3 ohms. He can bridge one half the amp and run it that way for about 500 watts. Thats pushing the amp since its only rated to do 400 watts at 4 ohms. Still I doubt he'd have problems.

If he runs two sets of wires into the box, and bridges each half of the amp to a coil thats a safer solution. This way the amp thinks it is powering two 6 ohm subs, and each bridged half of the amp will put out about 325 watts or so. So the speaker will get about 650 watts total ...

 
Rep Power: 0

what if both sides of the amp aren't putting out identical power (like the gains are slightly off or the signal is delayed slightly due to internal circutry? Isn't it a bad idea to run the coils from a different signal? Isn't there a possiblity that the coils will be fighting against eachother?

 
Rep Power: 267

From what I've read here and other sites, it is a bad idea to run each voice coil on a different channel. if the gains are not exactly the same, the voice coils can slam into each other resulting in a blown speaker.

Personally, I think you would be safe running the channels bridged at 3 ohms. I ran (2) 12w6 subs on an old Kenwood amp stable at 2ohms mono and didn't have one problem.

 
Rep Power: 334

thanks guys. I have run the setup once before for awhile. I never seemed to encounter any overheating problems. THe gains are set pretty low to that one sub. Any higher and it seems the sub will start to clip.

I am planning to run one sub and only one sub using the bridge.

The spare 2 channels will be used to power some components. Which should be getting 200 watts RMS @ 2 ohms each?

This is where my 2nd problem comes into play. I plan on getting a pair of MB QUART PCE 216 On the spec sheet they seem to want 60 - 130 watts RMS @ 4 ohms.

SO with the amp running at 200 watts @ 2 ohms to each speaker, how much power is the speaker actualy going to get?

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes, you want the gains to be as close as possible. Its not going to do anything if they aren't perfectly the same though.

A speaker is basically some material (speaker cone) hooked to an electromagnet (coils). When power is applied to the coils, a magnetic field is created, and the cone material moves in or out. Do that very very fast and you have sound waves creating music.

On a DVC sub you just have 2 magnets. When done right they work together. If one is backward they cancel one another and the cone won't move. The coils aren't going to go smashing into one another or anything like that. Physically impossible, there is only one piece that moves, and that is the cone.

If anyone has blown a speaker due to a situation like this I'd like to see it .... cause I don't see how its possible .... given you power the speaker within it's limits to begin with.

 
Rep Power: 0

The ohm ratings on speakers is what they are, can't be changed.

The ohm ratings on amps are a capability of what it can do based on the speaker that is hooked up.

The MB Quarts are 4 ohms (can't be changed), so the amp will run at 4 ohms and put out 100 watts rms per component.

To get 200 rms per speaker you need components that are 2 ohms ..... I don't know of any.

 
Rep Power: 334

So i guess getting them to run at 100 watts RMS isnt that bad anyway right? I mean 100 is 40 above 60 and only 30 below their recommended max.

 
Rep Power: 0

Simply having an amp instead of HU power is going to make a tremendous difference in sound quality and clarity at anything close to high volumes.

But yes, 100rms for highs is going to be fine .....

 
Rep Power: 0

Unless each stage of your amplifier has perfectly matched transistors, you do not want to run the coils on independent channels. There are slight variations in phase and power output on each channel of an amplifier due to manufacturing variations in transistors. Even expensive amplifiers suffer from this to a degree. Running a DVC speaker with nonidentical signals applied to each coil could be deadly to the speaker over time.

 
Rep Power: 0

How so?

I still don't see how it is going to be an issue when powered within its limits. Honestly how different can it be. At most one coil would get 310 watts while the other got 330 or something. Even that isn't going to do squat. You couldn't even hear that kind of a difference.

Seriously I want real concrete reasons with detailed explanations how this is going to hurt a sub.

The only way it could be an issue is if the sub is rated for 500 watts, meaning 250 per coil, and you try to push 450 through one coil and 50 through the other. Then the one coil is simply getting too much power and will burn up.

I'd love to hear Ludlams and Whiterabbits take on this .....

 
Rep Power: 0

wow, thats hot i need to do it too

 
Rep Power: 0

It's not really likely, except in theory, that a DVC sub would be damaged with each coil on an independent channel. JL Audio even acknowledges independent wiring for hooking up their DVC subs (http://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/dvc/dvcAdvantage.html).

They also acknowledge, for reasons similar to the ones I mentioned, that the use of independent channels is not necessarily ideal (http://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/dvc/diffsignals.html).

The simlified physics are that if you apply two independent signals to the speaker, one to each coil, and those signals are out of phase, they will exert "pull" and "push" forces on the cone that may oppose each other. At best, this will make your sub sound bad. At worst, it will cause mechanical damage.

If you are looking for a detailed explanation, find a physics book and read up on electromagnetics.

 
Rep Power: 0

you can run a 4 channel amp all to one sub, you can use two of the channels to bridge and forget the other two but theres no way you can bridge all 4 channel's to one sub.