chevymeister

I don't know much about car audio, but the past few days i've been bummed out since I blew up my first sub!

Around a year and a half ago I purchased for 200CDN a JBL bp300.1 amplifier, 12" RF Punch2 and I bought a CDX GT240 sony xplod deck for 90. (Apparently I made a bad choice but not much I can do about it now :P)

Were these prices fair? Anyways...

Always listened to my music at the same volume for the year, but recently instead of classic rock/metal i've been listening to alot of techno and dubstep. Yesterday I was listening to dubstep (Just started listening to it) and the bass just disappeared. When I went home I examined everything and the amp had a green light. So I tapped a 9v on the harness on the sub enclosure and there was no pop. I figure this sub isn't even salvagable.

Now it leads me to my questions.

If I want to listen to something like dubstep, am I going to need to upgrade my amplifier? What type of subs should I look into getting now and I did enjoy the fosgate mucho, is my h/u fine? I also have stock speakers, would I notice a huge difference if I upgraded them? Thanks for your time

sheptard

iTrader: (2)

Did you check the resistance on the voice coils? maybe a wire just came loose.

I don't think that amp would put out enough power to blow up your sub unless it was clipping horribly.

I run 2 12" Type R's and mainly listen to trance/dubstep/dnb and they're just fine, no issues with them bottoming out. However most of your subs sound comes from the kind of box it's in. Most subs sound way better in a custom build enclosure instead of the prefabricated garbage you'd buy in a store.

the only reason you'd need to upgrade your amp is if you wanted your subs to be louder.

RomanticMoments

Gain could have been set too high on the amp, the deck could have been up too loud sending a clipped signal, a wire could have come loose, the sub could be in a poor enclosure. The other thing to consider is the electrical. If you are listening to dubstep, it's going to demand WAAAY more from the woofer/amp than rock or metal, and if your voltage is dropping too low as a result, it can shut the amp down

chevymeister

It wasn't a wire I don't think and my electrical is good. It must of been clipping cause square waves would have done the voice coil in. My amp only has LPF/Bass boost and input level, what would gain be considered? My volume was also at 21/50 or w/e and was louder than usual.

sheptard

iTrader: (2)

Gain is input level

chevymeister

I probably had it at 3 or 4 out of 10 O.o but my head unit was higher than usual.

sheptard

iTrader: (2)

I would still plug a multi meter into the speaker terminals and ensure that the sub is indeed blown and that it's not an issue with the amp. Did you double check all your wiring? I had an issue with my front channel amp where the power light was on, but there was no sound. Turns out the ground got disconnected.

For new gear, if you liked the RF stuff, get another one. You can get one like you had for $159.99 CAD @ Crutchfield or an alpine type S for $149.99. JL also has an 12W1v2 for $169.99 but it's just a single voice coil.

The Type S has slightly more excursion and seems to be a little more popular.

chevymeister

Yeah I did the multimeter thing, it's blown . It hurts, seeing as i'm a student busting my *** to pay for tuition. LOL. Hrm, so the alpines a better bang for the buck deal eh. I'm thinking about going all out this round instead of buying piece by piece. What type of amp should I get if I get 2 12" subs like that? Also most of my electrical stuff is stock so I imagine i'd have to upgrade some stuff.

sheptard

iTrader: (2)

Lol. Well if you're busting your *** to pay for tuition, you might be better off saving your pennies. $149 to get back up and running seems like a much better idea than dropping $800+ on a new ***** to the wall system.

You'd be wanting to grab some type R's as it's like having an earthquake in your trunk with those. They're about $200 each, so that's $400

You'll probably want a 800+W amp to go with that, preferably >1kW. If you're lucky you can get one used on the forums here for under $400.

You'll need some 1/0 gauge wire to feed the amp, That'll be about $100 for new wire, ANL fuse holder, lugs, solder, etc. Also some 8 gauge wire to feed the speakers.

Figure $80 in materials to build yourself a custom box to go with those type r's so they sound good. You'll need tools to cut and work with 3/4" MDF. $150-200 to have a stereo shop build you one.

If cash were tight, I'd just get a type S, build a custom ported box for it and unless you're completely insane l am, that should keep you happy for a while.

A good box will make a world of difference. I think I got at least 10dB out of going to a good solid box instead of the prefab I had before.

chevymeister

Thanks shep, once my tuition is out of the way i'll definitely consider that. Building an enclosure and materials like wiring wouldn't be much. Didn't know amps got that expensive though I imagine if I had that i'd need to pour in for a new ground wire/alternator and battery too haha.