New to home theater subwoofers need help please!

[admaster99]

Hi all I just recently purchased a Dayton HPSA1000 1000W plate amplifier which I installed in a custom ported box I built powering a PIONEER PREMIER TS-W3001D2 12" SUBWOOFER SUB 2-OHM. Which is a 1,000 watt rms car audio subwoofer I have this setup in my living room and it sounds great but at higher volumes the amplifier shuts off or cuts out. Example the receiver I have is a Pioneer vsx-516 I can usually turn it down to about 28 db before the speakers distort but with this in subwoofer it shuts off at about 37 db. It just seems like it should be able to go louder then what it does for 1,000 watts so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. This subwoofer I have is capable of running at 4 ohms or 1 ohm and the amplifier is suppose to run at 4 ohms. When i hook it up at 4 ohms I get nothing out of the subwoofer but when i hook it up at 1 ohm it sounds good until it cuts out I'm totally confused. Please help.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi all I just recently purchased a Dayton HPSA1000 1000W plate amplifier which I installed in a custom ported box I built powering a PIONEER PREMIER TS-W3001D2 12" SUBWOOFER SUB 2-OHM. Which is a 1,000 watt rms car audio subwoofer I have this setup in my living room and it sounds great but at higher volumes the amplifier shuts off or cuts out. Example the receiver I have is a Pioneer vsx-516 I can usually turn it down to about 28 db before the speakers distort but with this in subwoofer it shuts off at about 37 db. It just seems like it should be able to go louder then what it does for 1,000 watts so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. This subwoofer I have is capable of running at 4 ohms or 1 ohm and the amplifier is suppose to run at 4 ohms. When i hook it up at 4 ohms I get nothing out of the subwoofer but when i hook it up at 1 ohm it sounds good until it cuts out I'm totally confused. Please help.

This post is an incomprehensible jumble. What shuts off, the sub plate amp, the receiver or both? How to you have the receiver connected to the plate amp?

If the plate amp is specified to drive loads no lower than four ohms, then four ohms is what you have to use, otherwise you will blow up the plate amp.

 

[croseiv]

I wonder if your woofer is too difficult for your amp to drive? Presenting one ohm loads will cause the amp to overload if it can't drive one ohm loads. Like TLS Guy said, make sure you aren't exceeding your amps ohmage capability. It just doesn't have the juice to drive such a woofer. It also sounds like something isn't hooked up right at four ohms...

I think I'll name my next rock band Amp Overload!!!

 

[admaster99]

The plate amplifier driving the subwoofer shuts off at about mid volume. I have an rca capable running from the subwoofer output on the receiver to the rca hookups on the plate amplifier. How could I have the 4 ohm load wired wrong I have tried every possibility. It doesnt work in serious but it works in parallel which is how I have it hooked right now which yields a 1 ohm load. Do I need a new subwoofer and if so where can I get a 1,000 watt 4 ohm subwoofer for a decent price?

 

[no. 5]

doesnt work in serious but it works in parallel which is how I have it hooked right now which yields a 1 ohm load.

To quote Mythbusters; well there's yer' problem!

 

[TLS Guy]

The plate amplifier driving the subwoofer shuts off at about mid volume. I have an rca capable running from the subwoofer output on the receiver to the rca hookups on the plate amplifier. How could I have the 4 ohm load wired wrong I have tried every possibility. It doesnt work in serious but it works in parallel which is how I have it hooked right now which yields a 1 ohm load. Do I need a new subwoofer and if so where can I get a 1,000 watt 4 ohm subwoofer for a decent price?

There is only one explanation for this. One of the voice coils in your sub speaker is burnt out. Do you have a multimeter to test the continuity of the voice coils? My feeling is that at the moment you are showing your amp a 2ohm load. It must see a minimum of four ohms.

Now speakers are defined by their Thiel/Small parameters and they are all different. The upshot is that every woofer needs its unique cabinet volume and porting. So unless you replace with the same driver, you need a new cabinet size and porting.

Probably the best thing to do, is have a outfit like Orange County Speakers, put a new cone and voice coils in your woofer.

 

[annunaki]

A simple test would be to hook up each coil independently and see if the woofer operates (low volumes of course). Another simple test would be to check the DC resistance of each coil to ensure they are the same or very similar in impedance.

How are you hooking up your series connection?

Coil 1 - should go to coil 2 +

Coil 1 + should go to the amplifier's + terminal and then coil 2 - should go to the amplifier's - terminal.

If you are not hooking the sub up in a manner such as this, you are doing it incorrectly.