why my 12'' sub blew up?

Question 1
why my 12'' sub blew up?...  I just bought a 12'' Alpine Type R sub woofer in a ported sub box and hocked it up to a alpine PDX-1.600 amp which is only 600 watts .I am running 4g power wire and ground to the amp,also the sub is hocked up + to + and - to -.Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong because can not afford to keep buying SUBS.By the way I have hocked up many different type of systems in many cars but this is the first time this ever has happen to me.

Answers
1)   if the sub is hooked up ++ -- i hope u took the amp negative to 1 coil and the positive to the opposite coil cause if not then u bridged the sub where u were pushin 600RMS to each coil and each coil is only 250RMS so both combined are only 500RMS, and thats about max wat u can push a type r, if u had it hooked up right then it was jus plainly too much for the sub or you had a bass boost up too high, bass boost on amps destroys subs, sorry you blew it man - tro

2)   Alpine Type R's could have either a pair of 2 ohm or 4 ohm voice coils. So if you have the 2 ohm version and it is wired in parallel like you described, the amp "sees" a 1 ohm load. And although the amp isn't rated for an impedance that low, it's a very strong amp and would probably be able to withstand it for some period of time before failing. Since it outputs 600 watts RMS into a 2 ohm load, the 1 ohm load would be much more, perhaps twice as much. The Alpine Type R has an RMS power range of 200-500 watts.



Even if your sub is the 4 ohm version, and the final impedance is 2 ohms, the amp outputs more power than the sub is rated to handle. Just a little too much on the input gain and/or bass boost could heat the voice coils up and perhaps damage them very quickly. - PimpMyRide

3)   a) You are putting too much power to the sub. You are putting 600 watts into a 250 watt voicecoil (assuming it is a single voicecoil speaker)



b) You are over driving the sub (ie too much bass boost, amp gain too high)



c) The box is the wrong size / port is wrong for the box



d) You are expecting too much from a single twelve. - Tom


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Question 2
what is the output for on my amp?...  

Answers
1)   What amp make/model number are you running? Once you give me this, I can find out exactly what your amp is capable of doing. - John

2)   rca output?



To connect to a second amp if needed. - N2Audio

3)   It is for Daisy Chaining amps. It allows you to connect another amp to the rca cables without having to have splitters. Most amps pass the full audio signal to the outputs, however som have crossovers built in so you can run from the bass amp to the mid/hi amp. - Tom


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Question 3
4way speakers 61/2 inch diameter?...  i have a 4way speaker 300 watts and 6 1/2 inch diameter 2pcs its driven by 1200 watts amp 2channel sound good. question is if i put a cross over in it it sound better? do i still need a cross over for a 4 way speaker?

Answers
1)   oh boy.



For one - 300w 6.5's don't exist. There are plenty of cheap speakers advertising ridiculous max power ratings, and being "4 ways" (rolleyes) it is a near certainty these are cheap speakers.

Even even a high power pair of 6.5 coaxials will be around 100w rms.

Second - the 1200w amp. Same deal. I'm sure 1200w is some random max power rating the marketing department chose. It is probably 300-500w rms, and 100-150w x 2 when running a pair 4 ohm speakers.



As for a crossover -- most every 2 channel amp built in the last 10 years has basic crossovers built in. Adding an external crossover is not likely to be any more advantageous than just using what the amp already has.

And yes, you should be using a high pass filter for 6.5" speakers. Somewhere between 50 and 80hz would be about right. - N2Audio

2)   no, you don't need a crossover unless you want to cut some of the bass out to make them sound a little cleaner.By the way, there is physically no way a 6.5" speaker can handle 300 watts. They probably handle about 50 wRMS. - Tom

3)   Need more information on the speakers to give a valid answer on this one. Especially most of the 4 way and up speakers are make from bottom of the barrel audio manufacturers.



CDT has a set of 3 way comps that are 230 watts rms, so yes it is possible, maybe with a 4 way set that is. - georgewillings


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Question 4
i have a 1998 grand am and i am wanting to hook up an amp to the factory radio?...  

Answers
1)   why would you want to hook it up to a factory radio? The radio prolly dosent even have amp output - Scooby

2)   why even bother if its a 98 grand am? - Broth m


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Question 5
Im looking for the best 50watt 6.5inch car audio speakers, any suggestions?...  Im looking for the best 6.5inch speakers to fit in my front doors, they just need to have great sound quality and able to play loud with only the regular 50watts that most receivers can put out. I already have a 12inch sub in my 1991 Pathfinder and am slowly upgrading my sound system. I have a sony head unit that is a few years old which is currently only powering two aftermarket 6x9 speakers.



Any suggestions? Thanks!

Answers
1)   If you are running your speakers off the front speaker outputs on your head unit (and not RCA outputs) then don't think that the front speakers would see 50W.. they'll see 18WRMS per speaker. 50 is a max power figure for the head unit internal amp. So I'd be more inclined to purchase a small 2 channel amplifier (say 50 or 75WRMS per channel) and you can hook any speakers you want up. Depending on your budget, you could go for Jaycar Response Kevlar splits or you could go for some Alpine Type R splits (quite bass-heavy though, if you ask me). Some JL Audio speakers are nice.... or you could stretch the budget further and insist on brands such as Focal, Dynaudio, Image Dynamics, etc.



Hope this helps :) - John

2)   most receivers put out around 15w rms.



I've been impressed with JBL's speakers on low power.

Boston Acoustics would be on my short list as well as MBquart. - N2Audio


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