"Airy" Sounding Subs
 

I had my Type R's wired to a 1 ohm load, running off of a Kicker ZX1000.1 amp. It worked fine and sounded great (although I know it's not stable at 1ohm).

I decided to rewire my subs to create a 4 ohm load, and now I'm running into a problem.

If I have my regular settings, the subs barely move. If I turn my gain and boost all the way up, the subs move a lot, but don't produce much sound. It is in phase with the music as it should be, but it just sounds "airy" and hollow. The mechanical movement of the subs themselves seem to make more sound than they're actually producing, if that makes sense.

I checked the polarity of everything and it is a 4ohm load as it should be.

Any ideas as to why this would happen? :dunno:

Other than only running 500rms now vs what ever it was making at 1ohm, I have no idea.... the "airy" thing sounds like a boost problem at a low frequency.... maybe playing with the settings at both deck and amp, you might get it tuned in... :dunno:

Well, I've run both at less than 500rms and they sounded good, just not as loud.

Like I said, it's almost like they're not producing sound at all. Just sort of moving really fast, the excursion is very far.

Wiring them back to a 1 ohm load, they sound normal again.

Is it certain you'll ruin an amp if you run it lower than it's built for? Or will it be a gradual thing? What's my risk running it at 1 ohm?

those zx amps are built like tanks. Running it at 1 ohm may cause it to go into protect. If you have a stable voltage than you may not be damaging the amp. Generally speaking though running a amp below its recommended ohm load can cause damage in the long run.

It hasn't gone into protect yet, and I've used it a few times at 1 ohm. For as long as maybe 15, 20 minutes at a time. I'm not sure if I have steady voltage, though. My headlights will dim when the bass hits.

Okay, just went and tested it. If I keep it gained down, I keep a steady 14 volts. But, I turned everything up and was dropping down to 11, and it wasn't more than a drop to 11 twice before the amp went into protect.

If I keep it gained down, will it be okay?

It's the added heat produced that kills the amp. As long as with gains down your staying at 14v and the amp is not getting overly hot. You should be O.K.

This problem sounds like a polarity issue. If you're using dual 2 ohm coils in series to get a 4ohm load there may be a wiring issue. Double check the wiring by drawing out your circuit on paper and comparing it to the owners manual for reference.

Hope this helps!

^^i agree, sounds like something is wired in reverse..if they're moving a lot and you're not hearing much then the sound is cancelling out.