hello, for some reason, my subs keep getting burned. I have a Pioneer AVIC D1, JL 1000/1 pushing a JL12W7, 2or4? guage wires, 10farad cap...Over the past 6months ever since i got my system hoooked up, this is probobably the 3rd sub i? smoked. At first, i was told by the shop that my sub was ready to give out, and then i had it repaired by JL. The second time i was told is that the Amp was bad, again repaired by JL. So now i have a new amp and sub, while at the shop , getting it installed, i started smelling smoke. this shouldnt be my fault, i only had this shop touched my car, they should of caught this at first. i dont want to have to keep going through this again, im tired of this happening. any ideas?

1. can this be the box size(was told that this was the right size)
2. bad wiring somewhere?

 

go to a different shop....

what do you mean they got smoked? they're burning up the voice coil? get rid of your cap too, or make sure that it is very close to your amp. JL amps tend to not like capacitors if they are too far away.

 

smoked = blown..... yes, the cap is mounted against the backseat right next to the amp.... i choose this shop because this is the only shop in town thats JL authorized. and theyre prices are competitve. . compared to 2 other shops that offers nothing like JL.

 

perhaps it's the frequencies that the sub is playing. i almost have the same setup. avic n1, jl 1000/1, one infinity perfect 10.1 for now, getting another one in a little bit here. i turned the low pass freq dial to 40hz and i'm at 10db boost. freq levels out of the avic are equally low for the sub out. no problems so far but then again, it's only been a few days.

 

where in ca are you?

could just be bad coincidences. those two are paired up for eachother. go to JL's website and check the amp settings against what they say for the woofer see if the shop set it up right. check your connections to see if it's grounding anywhere or if there's a problem with the lead wire.

 

im from merced, .... keep yall posted....

 

the shop is still waiting for JL to call back and this can take days.... however, im thinking about picking up my car for the weekend. is Bestbuy a good option, i just wnt them to double check the wires and all thta stuff?

 

Subs only "smoke" for one reason..... heat. It's RARE to overpower a sub, usually distortion is the cause. A sub can take CLEAN wattage in excess of double it's recommended rating with a little forced cooling, but if it is distorting it will "smoke" with only half the recommended power.

Distortion act's almost like a dead short.... it creates instant and searing heat. Distortion can come from improper signal tuning or improper box dimensions. If the signal is too boosted at a certain frequency (usually very low frequencies that are inaudible such as 25 hz) then you will have to make double the power at that frequency for every 6db of boost added to that frequency when the head unit and amp are tuned. Clean power with a flat curve is achieved by NEGATIVE boost to balance, not POSITIVE boost. Every time you go +db on your adjustments, you create distortion and double the power requirements to stay clean. From the zero mark, you always go negative. If the the sub doesn't have enough low end around 40 hz, then CUT your high end to balance it rather than boosting the low end..... WHY? Because like I just said.... You have to make double the power when you boost+ to control distortion.

As a former owner of car audio stores i know most customers go outside and get in their car and the first thing they do is push the damn bass adjustment

Smart tuning can override a bad box, but since you are smoking subs right and left i HIGHLY recommend you use a small sealed enclosure for power handling to help avoid this in the future. I also recommend a subsonic filter for the amp outputs.

Good luck.

 

just got a call fromthe shop, and they were told by JL that :

1. the amp is too strong for my single 12w7 (how can this be?, isnt the1000/1 made for the 12w7?) .. anywayz they said the 500/1 is perfect .........

2. i was also told that it can be the box.... theyre still waiting for JL to fax them a picture of a certain type of box...

as of right now i have a custom made sealed ported box for this car..

 

Here is the suggested power that each sub should be getting. Straight from the JL Audio site.



The PERFECT sub for the 1000/1 is the 13w7. The only problem is it cost a GRIP!! Approx 500 bucks.

The 12w7, from the chart, looks like it can handle the 1000 watts rms however any more than that and it will have too much power. The amp does 1000 watts rms with 2000 watts peak. Go anywhere near your peak and your sub will be toast.

Best bet would be to buy another 12w7 and get a dual box. OR - take their advice and go with a 500/1.

 

just picked up my car and they told me that they will build me another box b/c the current one is a little too small. the gain is turned a quarter of the way down and it sounds like a 10', however, i do have an extra 12w7.. would the 1000/1 be able to handle 2 12w7? i need my trunk space so will 2 12w7 fit in the extra back space of a 2000 gs?

 

no, don't run both 12's off the 1000/1. you'll be underpowering them and you'll be back in the same situation that you're in right now.

 

no more JL for me.. i came across a rockford fosgate t2 12 inch 4ohm that looks just like the w7... its 1000rms and 2000wattts peak... so would my amp be able to take care of one of these? im willing to get rid of my w7 for anything thats just as good.. please let me know....

 

The 1000/1 should be able to power both 12w7. How high do you usually crank the volume? It's pretty rare that the w7 blows its voice coil due to thermal overloading, unless you have 35345 watts to it. If you have to crank up the volume high just to get some loudness out of your sub, then the problem might just be the box because smaller box tends to have lower overall efficiency. You'll want to go bigger, but not too big. Actually..how many cubic feet is your box right now? If anything, 2 12W7 will be louder than a single 12w7, even on a single 1000/1. The 12w7 works well in a 2 cubic feet sealed box. If you need trunk space, it's best to get rid of your w7 and go for something else.

 

i dont know how big the box is, but was told each side is about an inch off.... however i do think about getting rid of the w7 afterall... im still looking into the rockford fosgate t212's, what do you think about this one?

also i found this pic on CL a while back ago and thought of doing something like this. does anyone know whose car is this?