RANT... Blown subs

Title says it all. I was on the way to a buddies house listening to some tunes and all of a sudden... nothing but mids and highs. When I got back home I tore out my interior to check all the wires. Nothing was loose or disconnected. Unscrewed the subs from the box an immediately smelled burnt electronics. Both my pioneer shallow mounts are toasted. IDK why. I drove 1800 miles in 2 days with them pounding, but not crazy, then a week and a half later they go to crap. Funny thing is... I wasn't listening to rap with crazy bass or anything like that. Just a Korn CD.
Anyone know a good brand for shallow mounts???

You probably have the gain set too high, bass turned up too high, or too big of an amp or too small of an amp. The most common problem I see is someone cranking the bass up to get more when in reality you are making it sound worse and putting more strain on the subs.

Boston has some shallow mounts but any shallow mount woofer is more limited in power than a reg. sub. How many watts RMS is your amp puttin out and at which OHM level? I have charts and settings that I use so this does not become a problem.

Not sure exactly what the setup is. I'll grab some pics and maybe one of you more knowledgable fellas can tell me what I got.

Only problems I have seen with subs is from mismatched amp-sub combos.

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Originally Posted by PitchBlackC3

Only problems I have seen with subs is from mismatched amp-sub combos.

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I agree.

No need in getting us pics, all we will be able to tell you from that is: those are subs, that's an amp. We need to know what amp (rms watts, 2-channel or mono), then we can tell you what subs you need. Shallow mounts are one of those "only option" type deals in my opinion. If you have room to run a normal sub then do it. You can get better sound and volume out of standard woofers.

Well. There's a Pheonix Gold 600 watt single channel running two pioneer premier 12's that were 350 rms/1400 max. I'm don't know how to set the amp so I obviously don't know if it was set right. Also, any easy way to estimate box volume?

We need to know the what voice coils are in the subs and what your amp puts out at 4,2,1 ohm if stable that low and being a Phoenix gold it most likely is. I'm pretty sure the subs have been cooking for awhile. Not being ported? means you wouldn't be able to smell them. The Pioneer shallows do not take power really well. RE audio makes a very nice shallow mount they sound great to my ear but also are quite expensive. www.the12volt.com is very helpful when figuring out wiring and sub boxes.

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Originally Posted by 99turbogmc

Well. There's a Pheonix Gold 600 watt single channel running two pioneer premier 12's that were 350 rms/1400 max. I'm don't know how to set the amp so I obviously don't know if it was set right. Also, any easy way to estimate box volume?

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You actually gotta use a multimeter to set the amp at the proper level.

So much stuff I don't know about electronics. Oddly enough, that was my second highest score on my ASVAB. Guess I need to go talk to one of the audio shops around here.
I think these ( http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...-SW3001S2%7CS4 )are the subs that I'm gonna go with. Unless someone can suggest better ones from arund $220 a piece.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_s...hp?page_id=245

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Originally Posted by RUFFNECK

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_s...hp?page_id=245

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Agreed, probably the best sounding shallow I have heard.

However, I installed a single JL Audio W1 ported with a TMA 300.1 in a regular cab and it was one of the loudest non-bed-cut trucks I have heard. He could still switch between the center console or seat back. I think the seat only had to go up a couple inches.

Good luck getting that TW5 for 220, but you only need one so spend the 440 you were going to spend on two subs and will still sound good.

I was looking at the TW5's, but 2 of them would be way out of my price range. I'm not looking for something that's crazy loud, the 2 premiers that I had were plenty lound for my liking. If I had a bigger budget and wanted to make myself go deaf I'd get the JL's, but that would also mean I'd have to modify my box or get a different one. The premiers were going on 4 years old so I'm just looking at it as if it was their time to go.
I like the setup in my truck. Both the amps are in the center console and the subs are behind the seat. I think I need a capacitor though because my headlights pulse with the base if I have the voulme up.

check out RE audio sl series!

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Originally Posted by 99turbogmc

I was looking at the TW5's, but 2 of them would be way out of my price range. I'm not looking for something that's crazy loud, the 2 premiers that I had were plenty lound for my liking. If I had a bigger budget and wanted to make myself go deaf I'd get the JL's, but that would also mean I'd have to modify my box or get a different one. The premiers were going on 4 years old so I'm just looking at it as if it was their time to go.
I like the setup in my truck. Both the amps are in the center console and the subs are behind the seat. I think I need a capacitor though because my headlights pulse with the base if I have the voulme up.

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Add some extra ground cables and upgrade the stock alt-to-battery cable. It comes 10 gauge stock, most go with 4-0 gauge. And if your happy with those subs then just get some new ones and I can send you the settings at which is the best for your subs so this is minimized.

big three and bigger alt next time yours goes bad...

JL has some bomb shallow mounts if you want to spend the cash

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Originally Posted by americanracing20

JL has some bomb shallow mounts if you want to spend the cash

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I ended up getting the Pioneer 3001S4's. They sound excellent for being shallows. I'm still tweakin the settings on the head unit though. I'm extremely happy with them.

Let me start by saying you all have good points, I have been competing in car audio for over a decade and in my opinion you can never have an amp with too much power. most subs are blown through clipping which is when an amp is maxed out and sends DC voltage to the subs. There are many things which will cause this (low voltage, over temperature, etc.) however a good quality amp will either limit output or shut down to prevent this. I would definately look into upgrading your amp to prevent this from resulting in your new sups being smoked also.

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Originally Posted by decibles

Let me start by saying you all have good points, I have been competing in car audio for over a decade and in my opinion you can never have an amp with too much power. most subs are blown through clipping which is when an amp is maxed out and sends DC voltage to the subs. There are many things which will cause this (low voltage, over temperature, etc.) however a good quality amp will either limit output or shut down to prevent this. I would definately look into upgrading your amp to prevent this from resulting in your new sups being smoked also.

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I don't know how I missed this thread. You make the point that I would have made. Clipping is the #1 cause of blown subs. That, or simply overpowering the hell out of them. I ran a Digital Designs 9512f on 2880 watts DAILY for 3 years. I would say that is a feat in itself. I had a 240 amp alternator and a Batcap 2000 for support. Eventually the sub's dustcap started separating and I was not aware of it as the sub was mounted inversely at the time. A simple dab of epoxy would have fixed it had I known.