EddieC

Last year I purchased a set of Image Dynamics CTX-65CS for my front stage. I was running them on an AQ200.2 amp. The right side tweeter kept blowing so ID upgraded me to the XS-28 tweets and the matching crossovers from the CSX set. Well, after 3 more attempts the tweets kept blowing. They said it must be something wrong with my amp, so I swapped the amp for my Kenwood KAC-7005PS. I bridged the channels to get 100 watts per side so that overpowering should not be an issue. Well, after the warranty ran out my last replacement came in. It lasted a week. I don't know what the problem could be unless the driver on that side was bad, sending the incorrect ohms to the tweets. That being said.....what could be the cause of this? Also, I'd like to know what would be something that would be a suitable replacement. I can use either the AQ200.2 or the KAC-7005PS for the front stage. Or is it possible to use the AQ for the mids and the KAC for the tweets? I'm running a 220 amp alt, Group 34 Optima Yellow Top under the hood and a Diehard P1 in the rear. Sub is a 12" DSS Ethos on a Q1-2200D @1 ohm. Is it possible to use all 3 amps safely on the electrical I have? I don't have a lot to put into this as the car has been fully built for shows now, with Seibon carbon fiber hood, spoiler, Clazzio seat covers, etc., etc. What would be the best course of action to take here? I'd like to know why the tweets keep blowing for one. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

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It's the passenger side.....over and over. The left one has never blown. I thought to begin with that the AQ200.2 may have been the issue, as it pushes 220 per channel which is way more than the power handling capability. The shop that installed them set the gains and I never pushed them beyond that point. When I was advised that something could be wrong with the amp, I switched it to the Kenwood. That one only pushes 100 per side, which is well below capacity as the tweets themselves are rated at 100 each. I need to change things up, but don't want to until I know what's causing this issue. If it was my gains or volume, shouldn't the other one have blown at some point as well? I've had these installed since November 2014. Now that they are out of warranty I'm going to pull the panel and investigate myself. I left them alone up until now since the warranty was only covered with the shop doing all the work. What, besides the wiring should I look for? Is it possible that the driver on that side has an incorrect ohm reading that is causing the problem?

New amps.

I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music. I would say yes go ahead but be cautious. Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Everyone always talked about setting the gains 3/4 of the way up to leave some head room. I figured this fell into that category. While listening to the old school music at a level of 52 yesterday, there was no distortion at all and sounded clear as a bell. Music sounded just as it should have at 45 with the disc used to set the gains. Amps stayed cool, with no clipping light coming from the sub amp. I'm just trying to be cautious guys. I've never had this much power and after that bad experience with the Hifonics amp overheating with gains barely up at all I'm just wanting to make sure I don't screw up anything I have going on because this is the loudest, cleanest system I've ever had. Taking this question further....does the volume of the music have any control at all of the power that is being put out or is the amp simply pushing x amount of power at the point where gains are set? I'm learning all these things as I go as in the past I always just had a shop throw something in and set everything up for me. I've done every single bit of this install except for having the shop install the front components and set the crossover and gains for them (due to my limited knowledge).

I finally have most of my equipment in and now that I'm actually pushing some power this is a question that I can't seem to find a straight answer by searching the net. Is it safe to turn the volume up past the gain limits you've set when listening to music that's recorded at lower volumes? I find that when listening to a lot of music, especially older music, the volume seems to be half of what is recorded these days. Is this part of the "head room" that I've heard everyone speak of? This may be a stupid question to some but after my experience with that POS Hifonics amp I want to make sure that I'm not just building heat rather than pushing power. I will say that this AQ200.2 is a beast and barely gets warm to the touch. The Q2200.1@ a 4 ohm load on these Dcons doesn't even warm up at all. Best power I've had to date, and loud as ****! Side note..... finally hearing these Dcons on full power has blown me away! I had them both running off 300RMS total for a year before changing to the Hifonics which was supposed to net me 600 to the subs (the 300 watts from the Kenwood was louder). On this Q2200.1 these things pound!

I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music.

Thanks for the heads up! 3 sets ordered.... just hope they arrive before Santa. BTW.... thanks for the amps. Installed them both last weekend and am totally blown away! I have friends who refuse to even get in the car to listen once they hear the doors open.

Please explain. I asked this for the following reason. I purchased a set of Image Dynamics components and had the shop set the gains. At first they were installed on the Hifonics POS and the tweets blew 15 minutes into the ride home. I replaced the amp with the AQ200.2 and had the replacement tweets installed and gains set by the shop. No problems since.... and I don't want to create any myself by pushing things past thermal capability. I noticed when playing older Elton John and Pink Floyd music that at HU gain set max volume of 45, it sounded more like it was set at 30. I simply wanted to know if it was ok to turn up the volume past 45 to be able to actually hear it or would I just be pushing the amp to clipping due to thermal overload. That's it. If I can't turn any of the older music up past where the gains are set, I have a lot of music that will never be played again.

Thanks.... and will do. Seems that most music recorded back in the analog days just doesn't have the volume of todays music. I guess that's why a lot of older music gets remastered when it's re-released digitally.

Thats a no brainer otherwise your battery would have a horrible ground. Thanks guys. I have found a perfect spot for grounding the battery. Just wanted to make sure I didn't need to ground the amps there as well. I have battery terminals with all the inputs for the amp wires. Man I can't wait to get this going. Think I'm gonna see how much these Dcons can handle until the Ethos gets here.

Well my car (2004 Scion xB) is finally getting paid off next week so it's time to prepare for the upgrades. I just ordered my 12" Ethos and am planning on most likely a SQ2200D to power it. To begin with the front stage will be run off a Hifonics X14 X1200.4. The X14 is supposedly rated at 150x4 @4 and 300x4 @2. So total wattage should be around 3k RMS. I'm getting a 220 amp ho alt from Js Ultimate alts. I know I'm going to need a battery upgrade. Will I need an extra battery for the rear? My guess is yes, so I need to know what size and what to do as far as fusing/isolating/regulating the batteries and amps. I have some 1/0 cable for big 3 upgrade and will probably need to pick up more for the amp run. There will be a run of 1/0 for the SQ and a run of 4 ga for the X14. Thanks in advance and if there's someone who has a build log with a familiar setup could you point me in the right direction?

Question.... you say the rear battery is your distribution block. Are all your amps grounded at the negative battery post? Or did you run those to the chassis? Can't really tell from the pic. Kinda hoping that it's as simple as grounding the battery, then running all the amp grounds to the negative post. I ordered a Q2200.1 for the sub and an AQ-200.2 for the fronts. Picked up a set of Image Dynamics CTX65CS locally on Black Friday for $190 and man, what a difference! Just wish the guy hadn't set the gains so high. I was only able to hear the tweets for around 15 minutes before they both blew. I told the guy the gains were too high, but he said to try it and see how it went. Now he knows and has ordered new tweets from the company to replace these. I'll be glad to get that AQ-200.2 in and get this Hifonics POS outta there.

My 2200 is on the truck for delivery and my 200.2 should hopefully arrive tomorrow. Just hate I missed out on the earbuds. I was too excited about getting the 2200 that I totally forgot to order a couple of sets for the boys. Oh well..... Thanks for the deals guys. Can't wait to get these in and bumpin'!

After 17 years with no bass I began searching Google for the best budget sq sub and the Dcon kept showing up in post after post. Purchased a couple and been here ever since. Those reviews were right.... AMAZING subs for the $. Plus those vids of Justin's Blazer with the Evils in it totally dropped my jaw. Can't get any better advertising than that! ;-)

Looks nice from here. Thanks Aaron.... SOUNDS great over here! Looks nice from here. Nice work man.... looks great!

My first attempt at building an enclosure (with help from a friend). 4 cubes tuned to 32 Hz.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment with my Dcons (a year and a half now). Best budget subs I've ever owned. Every person to sit in my car always asks the same question.... Just what are you running back there??!! Noone ever believes it's only 300 watts worth of bass that they're hearing. Dcons get LOUD on low wattage, perfect for someone wanting to add some quality bass without breaking the bank. Great to hear they're in stock now.... I waited a couple of months for mine. But it was well worth it!

Call IA and talk to Tricia. Tell her I told you to call and ask about any B stock available. It normally cones with full warranty. Called today..... no luck. She said to call back in a few weeks and check as they do get them occasionally. I have run across a 20.1v2 at a pretty good price, but I see that the specs for that version were only 1800@1 instead of 2400. Did the v2s produce more than rated, or are those numbers real?

I had originally planned on buying a Q2200.1D to power my Ethos. After reading a thread of clamp test numbers and seeing it puts out less that 1.6k after box rise and voltage drop I'm not so sure any more. I've been looking through ads on a local audio FB page and found a SKAR 2500 for less than I'd pay new for the SQ. I know SKAR isn't well liked because of the owner, but I'm not putting money in his pocket. Just looking for the best bang for the buck. Whatever amp I decide on, what should I look for/check? I've always been leery of buying used, but I could stand to save half the cost of a good amp.