Overpowering components.

[stay_high 10+ year member]

I have a set of PPI A2.65c's that im running off of a Kicker zx550.2. The speakers are rated at 130 rms. The amp puts out 205 rms at 4 ohms, and 275 rms at 2 ohms. But these are 3 ohm speakers according to the box. So will they be getting between 275 rms and 205 rms? Or how does that work?

Also, i currently have the amp gain nearly all the way down. Will be setting it by ear tomoro. So obviously they are being overpowered. Im gona turn gain all the way down and play a song and set the HU volume on 35/50. I will then turn up the gain until i hear distortion. Will the speakers distort simply if they are receiving too much power? Or do they only distort if the amp is clipping? will the speakers blow/get damaged over time if they are recieving around 200 rms but i hear no distortion?

Also, which is better: Using the crossovers (HPF LPF) on the HU or the amp?

Thanks for the help.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_6749_Kicker-ZX550.2.html

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonicelectronix.com%2Fitem_24362_Precision-Power-PPI-A2.65C.html&ei=dm17UK-KKZHo8QSO84DgDA&usg=AFQjCNFoHQDckdTsgkwIpD92ikPvZ8y9dg&sig2=1bZ5NHkmhOJkMvx_y85w5w

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[gckless 5,000+ posts]

I have a set of PPI A2.65c's that im running off of a Kicker zx550.2. The speakers are rated at 130 rms. The amp puts out 205 rms at 4 ohms, and 275 rms at 2 ohms. But these are 3 ohm speakers according to the box. So will they be getting between 275 rms and 205 rms? Or how does that work?
Also, i currently have the amp gain nearly all the way down. Will be setting it by ear tomoro. So obviously they are being overpowered. Im gona turn gain all the way down and play a song and set the HU volume on 35/50. I will then turn up the gain until i hear distortion. Will the speakers distort simply if they are receiving too much power? Or do they only distort if the amp is clipping? will the speakers blow/get damaged over time if they are recieving around 200 rms but i hear no distortion?

Also, which is better: Using the crossovers (HPF LPF) on the HU or the amp?

Thanks for the help.

For RMS, yes, somwhere between 275 and 205. Do you have the ability to set by DMM or oscope? Have you set by ear before? Just watch some youtube vids, make sure you know what it sounds like. If you're using 35/50, you won't be clipping from the HU. Chances are very good, with that amount of headroom, you won't be clipping from the amp either.

Crossover depends on the HU/amp, but I generally go with HU, it's easier to get exact.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

it all really depends on how high you cross them and how steep the crossover slope is personally i would layer the head unit and amp crossovers one at 80hz and the other at 63hz. as far as turning it up till you hear distortion well you may damage your ears that way. read up on setting your amp with a dmm and then turn the amp down from there to match your bass. realistically you will prolly only need 50w to get as loud as you will want but having the extra power helps on the notes where the ohm load rises ad you need to have more power to keep the signal flat by using an eq. it also helps having head room for larger transients

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

it all really depends on how high you cross them and how steep the crossover slope is personally i would layer the head unit and amp crossovers one at 80hz and the other at 63hz. as far as turning it up till you hear distortion well you may damage your ears that way. read up on setting your amp with a dmm and then turn the amp down from there to match your bass. realistically you will prolly only need 50w to get as loud as you will want but having the extra power helps on the notes where the ohm load rises ad you need to have more power to keep the signal flat by using an eq. it also helps having head room for larger transients

The only reason i didnt want to use a dmm was because i thought that got the amp to play as loud as possible before it clips? But i figured the speakers would distort before the amp gets to the point of clipping so i thought it dmm would be pointless. But yea i actually got one laying around so ill have to learn how to use it =/

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

it all really depends on how high you cross them and how steep the crossover slope is personally i would layer the head unit and amp crossovers one at 80hz and the other at 63hz. as far as turning it up till you hear distortion well you may damage your ears that way. read up on setting your amp with a dmm and then turn the amp down from there to match your bass. realistically you will prolly only need 50w to get as loud as you will want but having the extra power helps on the notes where the ohm load rises ad you need to have more power to keep the signal flat by using an eq. it also helps having head room for larger transients

Oh and my HU HPF setting wont go anything under 100 hz. Ya stupid i know. I believe it goes like this: low-100hz mid-120hz high-150hz. So obviously ill set it at low then amp HPF at like 80 mabey?

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

Oh but i think ill need more than 50w to get as loud as i want. I want my mids and highs to be a good bit louder then my sub stage (2 12 inch aq sdc's on 1000 rms). I had a 50 rms clarion amp before and it just didnt do it. But will i really damage my ears by turning it up till i hear distortion? =o

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

So im aware this is my 4 th post in under 15 minutes lol. But im reading a guide on setting gains with a dmm on sonic electronics. Says to multiply the rms watts by the ohms. But im not sure how much rms the amp put out at 3 ohms? Should i just assume its like 235 or something? This seems like it needs to be exact.

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

it all really depends on how high you cross them and how steep the crossover slope is personally i would layer the head unit and amp crossovers one at 80hz and the other at 63hz. as far as turning it up till you hear distortion well you may damage your ears that way. read up on setting your amp with a dmm and then turn the amp down from there to match your bass. realistically you will prolly only need 50w to get as loud as you will want but having the extra power helps on the notes where the ohm load rises ad you need to have more power to keep the signal flat by using an eq. it also helps having head room for larger transients

Pretty sure this isn't the best advice. Use the crossover on your HU OR amp, not both. There was a good write-up on why around here somewhere a while back, unfortunately I don't have that link.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Pretty sure this isn't the best advice. Use the crossover on your HU OR amp, not both. There was a good write-up on why around here somewhere a while back, unfortunately I don't have that link.

This. You will add both slopes and they will fall flat

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

the dmm just helps you find the maximum point before clipping on the amp you prolly will not turn the amp up that high for daily anyway. and speakers dont distort from high power they can possibly bottom out or over excurt and they can burn the coils but higher power only amplifies what is already there

and stacking crossovers is a common practice for running high power to mids

80hz hpf with 12db slope with second 63hz hpf at 12db slope actually equals

80hz hp at 12db slope with a 63hz hp with a now 24db slope.

the increase in slope at 63hz helps keep the mids from bottoming out on low notes and high power

jacob of sundown actually has his system set up this way dont believe me jump into the thread for the mid level comps he just release he states it plainly

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

the dmm just helps you find the maximum point before clipping on the amp you prolly will not turn the amp up that high for daily anyway. and speakers dont distort from high power they can possibly bottom out or over excurt and they can burn the coils but higher power only amplifies what is already there
and stacking crossovers is a common practice for running high power to mids

80hz hpf with 12db slope with second 63hz hpf at 12db slope actually equals

80hz hp at 12db slope with a 63hz hp with a now 24db slope.

the increase in slope at 63hz helps keep the mids from bottoming out on low notes and high power

jacob of sundown actually has his system set up this way dont believe me jump into the thread for the mid level comps he just release he states it plainly

Ok, did some reading and you are correct. However, using two or more may cause your subwoofer to be out of phase and/or jack up time alignment, so you will need to adjust for that.

Sometimes I don't mind being wrong, forces me to learn things //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

alright im setting the gains on my mids/highs amp and sub amp tomoro then

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

If I were you I'd just set the gains on the mids amp for about 150W or less, or set it to full power and be careful with the volume knob. Then you shouldn't have to worry about blowing them. And while you can run crossovers on both HU and amp, if this is your first time diving into any of these realms, I would just pick one and run with it. You can always turn on one later if you feel the need, but running only one now will eliminate possible headaches.

 

[goingdef 10+ year member]

the dmm just helps you find the maximum point before clipping on the amp you prolly will not turn the amp up that high for daily anyway. and speakers dont distort from high power they can possibly bottom out or over excurt and they can burn the coils but higher power only amplifies what is already there
and stacking crossovers is a common practice for running high power to mids

80hz hpf with 12db slope with second 63hz hpf at 12db slope actually equals

80hz hp at 12db slope with a 63hz hp with a now 24db slope.

the increase in slope at 63hz helps keep the mids from bottoming out on low notes and high power

jacob of sundown actually has his system set up this way dont believe me jump into the thread for the mid level comps he just release he states it plainly

yep cascading filters is common and needed on high or overpowered setups I have mine set this way and run more then double rms to my mids/highs with no issue's other then modding the passive x-overs to have no protection circuit on the tweets.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

yep cascading filters is common and needed on high or overpowered setups I have mine set this way and run more then double rms to my mids/highs with no issue's other then modding the passive x-overs to have no protection circuit on the tweets.

Yea I have done this I just about every car I've ever built for my self and quite a few times for others. When you are pushing 350w per mid you have to be careful and stacking crossovers helps keep me from effin up.

And I still doubt you will be about to even fully use the 250w you have on tap. That would more than likely put the volume levels at the point of pain, though it is install dependent