To "sub" or not to "sub"?

concealer404

vc69 wrote: »

Selling point would be a 4 ohm rating.
Just about any pos will drive an 8 ohm load.
Takes a real amp to be stable at 4 ohms.

True story.

Luckily, the OP has a real amp that is stable at 4ohms.

heiney9

Who cares.

Bob, I was stating my opinion based on the fact you had some blown drivers. They Onk is a good amp and I'm sure it drives your 1C's fine to reasonable levels. All amps have the point where they clip............if that's what's causing your issue turn it down......if not untwist your panties and get working on those 1C upgrades,

H8

vijayl

reminded myself to read the signature from "obieone"

vc69

concealer404 wrote: »

True story.

Luckily, the OP has a real amp that is stable at 4ohms.

I understand that fact. I also get the impression he's a little misinformed as to the load the speaker he is driving presents to his amp and the point at which his amp may clip, as well as to what may cause a driver to blow.

bobt wrote: »

It was a simple question......why it went to amps i have no clue.

I know one thing, if you clip any amp - drivers will fail. You mentioned failed drivers.

Systems

vc69 wrote: »

I know one thing, if you clip any amp - drivers will fail. You mentioned failed drivers.

If he is running the amp into hard clipping for extended periods (not just on brief transients)then his tweeters are the drivers most at risk.They are what get most of the nasty hi frequency harmonic content resulting from clipping.


Bobt, on average where are the needles on your front panel power meters usually fluxuating around,mostly near the middle of the scale?the top?

bigaltx24

I can't imagine ever needing a sub with my 1Bs. These things have some of the tightest, cleanest bass I've ever heard, and I've owned K-Horns, and large Altecs. The Onkyo is a great amp and should drive 1C's to ear splitting levels without breaking a sweat. One thing no one has mentioned is DC offset. When amps age, capacitors and resistors drift out of spec, transistors break down and need replacing. This is a gradual process and can go completely unnoticed, but high DC offset values can damage speakers quicker than anything. There's a good thread on this here.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5634

kawizx9r

bigaltx24 wrote: »

I can't imagine ever needing a sub with my 1Bs. These things have some of the tightest, cleanest bass I've ever heard, and I've owned K-Horns, and large Altecs. The Onkyo is a great amp and should drive 1C's to ear splitting levels without breaking a sweat. One thing no one has mentioned is DC offset. When amps age, capacitors and resistors drift out of spec, transistors break down and need replacing. This is a gradual process and can go completely unnoticed, but high DC offset values can damage speakers quicker than anything. There's a good thread on this here.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5634

Great link there!

Keep thinking...why add/replace gear before investing a little more in what you have. Think the $ that would've gone to the SDA's should go into the caps to replace in my amp.

Btw, -1 on the sub for your SDA's. They have plenty of punch, did you do the cheap tweaks of applying mortite and damping the baskets?

-Freddy

Systems

bigaltx24 wrote: »

high DC offset values can damage speakers quicker than anything.

Good point and yes it certainly can,I had such an incident.It's worthwhile grabbing a multimeter and checking for abnormally high levels(>100mv) of DC at the amps output.The tweeters would be protected but the woofers would be at risk.

NJPOLKER

Bob,
If you missed this thread here is something that may help you get to where you want to be.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89778