No name blew 12" kicker Comp R, replacing with a MOFO-124X

[bldunn]

Hi guys,

I am new here of course. I am audio-stupid but look to you all to get audio-smart. I bought this amp with no name, that he said was 1,000 watts. The sticker on the back side of the amp shows "dx1500.1" so I assume it's 1500 watts. However, it only has 4 fuses that I see on the outside of the amp which are all 30 amp.

The sub I bought from the same guy with the amp was a 12" kicker comp r. And today, after only 2 days of even having this system the kicker is gone. It is frozen stiff as a board. I can still hear something coming out of it when I turn the music on but its more like a faint paper or metal rattle. No movement whatsoever to the sub. So I am waiting on my Power Akoustic MOFO-124X to come and want to ask, is dual 4 ohm what I should ideally run on this no name amp being that I have no idea what the impedance of the amp is? The kicker was set to 1ohm on the selector which was 1ohm or 4ohm. I had to buy a new box for that sub right after getting it from the guy I bought it from because the box he had it in, with stripped out screws and what not the box itself was rattling from air escaping around the sub.

My amp gain and bass boost were both set almost to nothing on the amp, at the time that it blew. But when I first installed it I kept jacking with the gain and think I had already damaged the sub that day I hooked it up and today it just finished it off. The song I was bumping when it happened was "I know" by Yo Gotti. And I think I had adjusted the bass on my stereo (factory toyota stereo) to 2, or 3. The smell I kept smelling when I think the coils were getting really hot smelled more like leather to me than anything else. It didn't smell like burned wires or metal or anything. Which is why when I first smelled it I chalked it up to outside air smell.

So how should I wire up this dual 4ohm sub I have coming? Should I wire it to 2ohm load on the amp? The amp is monoblock, with 2 outputs but I am guessing that it is internally bridged so it wont matter it I do what would be bridging between the 2, or hook straight it into 1 of 2 outputs, all same in the end, right? I really wanted to get the skar audio ZXVx3 I think it was, but couldn't let go of $359.99 to get that right now so opted for the cheaper MOFO-124X at 1500 watt RMS and 2700 PEAK. Good move?

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[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

You have a factory cd player? *** u ming the amp is somewhat legit you could very well get 1200 out of it with that amount of fusing.

Setting your gains takes at the least a multimeter or a good deal of experience with said equipment. Otherwise I'd take it to a reputable dealer. The power acoustic isn't very good. But I'd say it's better than the kicker comp.. kicker flat out *****.

Chances are it got to hot and froze up. Make sure you build the ideal box for the mofo and set the gains to where you don't hear any distortion or smells anything. If you do back the gains off a bit..

 

[bldunn]

You have a factory cd player? *** u ming the amp is somewhat legit you could very well get 1200 out of it with that amount of fusing.Setting your gains takes at the least a multimeter or a good deal of experience with said equipment. Otherwise I'd take it to a reputable dealer. The power acoustic isn't very good. But I'd say it's better than the kicker comp.. kicker flat out *****.

Chances are it got to hot and froze up. Make sure you build the ideal box for the mofo and set the gains to where you don't hear any distortion or smells anything. If you do back the gains off a bit..

Thanks for the input. I will take it to a shop here where I live to get it all setup correctly. A person on another forum was able to find out what brand it is. It's an elevation audio which apparently uses the same zenon board as a sundown saz1500. Supposedly able to go a bit above rated power. That kicker is just trash on this amp I am thinking. I will eventually get a real good high dollar 1500 rms sub. Kind of makes me feel better now that I know what kind of amp this is. Maybe that kid I bought it from truly didn't know what he had. Good chance the coils on the kicker were already damaged and I just didn't know it.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

yea chances are.. i remember elevation audio. very interesting stuff. I left the car audio scene before they got popular. sounds like you got a real 1500 none the less..

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for the input. I will take it to a shop here where I live to get it all setup correctly. A person on another forum was able to find out what brand it is. It's an elevation audio which apparently uses the same zenon board as a sundown saz1500. Supposedly able to go a bit above rated power. That kicker is just trash on this amp I am thinking. I will eventually get a real good high dollar 1500 rms sub. Kind of makes me feel better now that I know what kind of amp this is. Maybe that kid I bought it from truly didn't know what he had. Good chance the coils on the kicker were already damaged and I just didn't know it.

Get a multi-meter and actually check the sub's coils next time when you buy, however this really sounds like "user error, but you dont really realize what you could have done wrong" kind of situation.

- Sounds like either a bad signal from the head unit/line out convertor that lead to amp clipping. Bad signal could also come from a bad dirty music file.

- Could also be poor grounds and voltage drops because your system sounds completely stock in the electrical department and weak voltages cause clipping which kills subs

- improper wiring, wired out of phase etc..

- poor quality wire

- slight chance that the amp might be bad from the start but its pretty rare, I'd certainly address every other issue before going to this one.

PS: If you can, stop the order of that power acoustik mofo, do so, its junk. I'd also guarantee you'll be much louder with a proper head unit than a crappy stock head unit. People always seem to gain on each setup I've corrected whenever they got a proper 4 volt+ pre-out head unit.

 

[bldunn]

Get a multi-meter and actually check the sub's coils next time when you buy, however this really sounds like "user error, but you dont really realize what you could have done wrong" kind of situation.
- Sounds like either a bad signal from the head unit/line out convertor that lead to amp clipping. Bad signal could also come from a bad dirty music file.

- Could also be poor grounds and voltage drops because your system sounds completely stock in the electrical department and weak voltages cause clipping which kills subs

- improper wiring, wired out of phase etc..

- poor quality wire

- slight chance that the amp might be bad from the start but its pretty rare, I'd certainly address every other issue before going to this one.

PS: If you can, stop the order of that power acoustik mofo, do so, its junk. I'd also guarantee you'll be much louder with a proper head unit than a crappy stock head unit. People always seem to gain on each setup I've corrected whenever they got a proper 4 volt+ pre-out head unit.

Yeah, I will not be upgrading electrical systems anytime soon for the same of one amp and one sub. Thanks for the input, but like I said, at the moment I am onot a budget. I can buy a better sub later.

 

[ccapital83 10+ year member]

The first sub I tried before I entered spl and or basement brand subs was a Mofo124x. I still remember the first day I heard it I was so confused how it could be so loud it was louder than a pair of my friends kicker comp 12's. But as time went on and I continued trying more and more things I quickly realized how terrible the sq was. It's a good entry point it gets pretty loud and I never even came close to blowing it. Like others said try your best not to get a Mofo lol. I know its tempting at only $120 shipped but there is so so much better out there... some brands I say look into are, SSA & NVX there is tons more options than that, I just love those brands but this is a great forum to get ideas and learn!! I've seen and tried many subs thanks to recommendations here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif GL

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Yeah, I will not be upgrading electrical systems anytime soon for the same of one amp and one sub. Thanks for the input, but like I said, at the moment I am onot a budget. I can buy a better sub later.

then you wont be running that amp properly anytime soon. You are past the threshold of what your stock setup can handle power wise. There's other subs that can do the job way better at 120 dollars vs the mofo with its fake power ratings and weak motor along with poor quality control.

 

[bldunn]

then you wont be running that amp properly anytime soon. You are past the threshold of what your stock setup can handle power wise. There's other subs that can do the job way better at 120 dollars vs the mofo with its fake power ratings and weak motor along with poor quality control.

Then what do you suggest upgrading on my electrical system? The amp is fine, the trash kicker is what went with its poor power ratings.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Then what do you suggest upgrading on my electrical system? The amp is fine, the trash kicker is what went with its poor power ratings.

big 3 upgrade(google it) for sure and maybe a good AGM batt under the hood OR a small secondary AGM battery in the rear if your front one is good. If your alternator is 80 amps or less, you might need an alt upgrade, if its more, no worries.

 

[bldunn]

big 3 upgrade(google it) for sure and maybe a good AGM batt under the hood OR a small secondary AGM battery in the rear if your front one is good. If your alternator is 80 amps or less, you might need an alt upgrade, if its more, no worries.

Even if all the stock handled a 1200.1 PPI amp? I don't think the kid I bought it from knew what he had. He kept saying it was just 1000 watts. If its going to take more than a capacitor maybe then I will sell it and get something else. I'm going to a stereo shop in town when the sub comes to get my windows tinted and will see what they say.

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

Don't sell it's a great amp that can make decent power. Look into something like a sundown sa12 dual4 and run the amp at 2ohm. This will leave you the ability to upgrade by adding another sub and wiring to 1 ohm for more power later on. I have that amp and it worked well for me I ran it at .5ohm with strong electrical. Just make sure the gains are set correctly and you don't clip the sa to death.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Even if all the stock handled a 1200.1 PPI amp? I don't think the kid I bought it from knew what he had. He kept saying it was just 1000 watts. If its going to take more than a capacitor maybe then I will sell it and get something else. I'm going to a stereo shop in town when the sub comes to get my windows tinted and will see what they say.

If it can handle a ppi 1200.1 then all you need is the big 3 upgrade most likely but thats another issue. Main culprit for your sub blowing is most likely a dirty signal

Then what do you suggest upgrading on my electrical system? The amp is fine, the trash kicker is what went with its poor power ratings.

you can run a 200 watt rms sub on an 8000 watt rms amp if you know how to do proper settings. Just because an amp is 1500 doesnt mean you need to use 1500 all the time, Through proper gain and signal level attenuation settings you can limit what the sub sees to 200 watts and prevent it from ever blowing. This is an issue where you can blame the equipment, if the sub blew with the coil dark and seized, its 95% user error.

 

[bldunn]

If it can handle a ppi 1200.1 then all you need is the big 3 upgrade most likely but thats another issue. Main culprit for your sub blowing is most likely a dirty signal


you can run a 200 watt rms sub on an 8000 watt rms amp if you know how to do proper settings. Just because an amp is 1500 doesnt mean you need to use 1500 all the time, Through proper gain and signal level attenuation settings you can limit what the sub sees to 200 watts and prevent it from ever blowing. This is an issue where you can blame the equipment, if the sub blew with the coil dark and seized, its 95% user error.

Turned down all the way, moved maybe a hairs width clockwise on the amp. I think the sub was damaged when I bought it. Like I said I don't think the kid knew what he had. Anyway I will see what stereo shop says. Thanks.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Turned down all the way, moved maybe a hairs width clockwise on the amp. I think the sub was damaged when I bought it. Like I said I don't think the kid knew what he had. Anyway I will see what stereo shop says. Thanks.

Its not just amplifier gain, your head unit settings and LOC preout signal strength ALL is compounded to your signal and overall gain settings. The amp's pentiometer could be a lot more sensitive than your old PPI which usually arent that sensitive. Meaning you could very well be clipping even at 0 gain depending on your LOC and your head unit settings. This is what i was talking about about you not knowing what exactly could have went wrong with the install.