I want to make sure I'm not going to burn up my coil on my SSD. I bought my sub 4+ years ago (I don't remember exactly), copper coil option only. Back then they were rated at 800rms.

 

I have it wired down to 1 ohm, so it should be receiving 1200 watts+ since I have read lots of times that Sundown amps usually do over rated power.

 

I set my gains using an SMD DD-1. I know these are frowned upon by a lot of people as a waste of money, but I didn't buy it and just borrowed it from someone who did. It helps to set gains so there's no distortion, so I'm assuming nothing is clipping. That's just my assumption though. I set up my headunit, sub amp and mains amp all with the DD-1. Max volume without distortion on a lot of Pioneer HUs seems to be 1-2 below MAX volume. Seemed a little unbelievable to me but it the DD-1 didn't detect distortion on 3 different Pioneer headunits until the volume was at 61.

 

When listening to music daily I'm usually driving the sub decently hard with the volume at around 54-56 depending on what I'm listening to, etc. I do have the remote bass knob hooked up, but it's usually always turned up all the way and is there more for killing bass quickly when I see police and such. The sub moves a lot but I don't think it's being pushed to far mechanically. I can tell when a speaker is hitting its limit, the sound is pretty obvious. I get clean bass without any audible distortion from it at high volumes.

 

Gain is probably a little less than half ? I'd have to look at it again. Now ever since I fixed my problem with my amp not turning on (due to an improper inline fuse on the run from the battery), the cone on the sub gets decently warm after driving 45 minutes or so on my daily drives and bumping the entire time. It's never been HOT where I had to pull my hand away or anything, nor have I smelled any burning coil.

 

I've become paranoid it's going to burn up though, but just wanted to ask if the SSD, older version, can actually handle the power I'm throwing at it without burning up.

 

I'm planning on getting a second SSD 18 soon. It's in the works and will be another D2, so I'll have to wire at 2 ohms. Trying to get a hold of two D1s will be a big hassle, so I'll just upgrade my amp eventually if they seem to underpowered. It would be 720 watts split between the two which is undesirable to say the least.

 

 

Edited April 24, 201312 yr by hatrix

If you set the gain properly you won't be giving it 1200+ rms. 

 

Throw that dd-1 in the trash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited April 24, 201312 yr by pmureika

Ain't my DD-1 man. I don't have it and neither does my friend any longer. I would still think the sub would be able to handle over rated power.... Fi subs are pretty resilient.

 

So what, get a DMM to reset my gains ?

 

I can't afford to be burning up the coil lol. I have a Sundown Z 18 I could throw in it's place, but it's quieter in the same box than the SSD, so I'd prefer not to.

Edited April 24, 201312 yr by hatrix

The gain sets how much power you are giving the sub.

Of course, I know that. But I'm just confirming, all I need to properly set the gains is a DMM correct ? I can find how to do it correctly myself.

 

The increase in output from my old amp is probably almost double to the ear. It was probably only seeing 200 watts before. It's just what I had. Now seeing over rated, it's louder than I ever thought an SSD could be.

 

That's why I'm trying to get a second one.

Edited April 24, 201312 yr by hatrix

Or your ears if you know when you hear the sub being stressed.

I've been dealing with speakers for a long time, so I'm pretty good at telling when a speaker is being pushed to hard.

 

However, that doesn't mean the coil won't burn up from heat it can't dissipate because of to much power. It's not mechanically beyond it's limit as far as xmax goes otherwise I'm sure I would've heard an audible thud and it would already be dead, stuck in place. It's been running on the SAX-1200D for a couple months now, but only recently did I fix the problem that came out of the damn blue with my inline fuse.

 

The inline fuse was only rated at 60 AMPS which I had forgotten. The fuse never blew... but the holder for the inline fuse seems to be shot or something, because wired without it everything's fine, otherwise I see no power at the end of the 4 gauge run.

Edited April 24, 201312 yr by hatrix

Thats the job of the subsonic filter on the amp.

As far as going beyond my tuning, yes. Doesn't mean you can't over excurt the sub above it's tuning frequency when it see's too much power and the volume is up to high... A SSF won't make a difference.

 

My SSF is set perfectly fine. Anything ~3-5hz below my tuning has significantly less excursion as it should, while still being audible.

Edited April 24, 201312 yr by hatrix

Sounds to me your on the right track.

Haha well thanks. I'm not ignorant at all when it comes to properly powering/wiring and running things. I just wanted to know if the SSD can handle the power.

 

I expect the dustcap to get warm with over rated. I know there's a problem if it's hot though, and I'm sure I'll smell the coil by then.

I have run two 15 ssd's on 1000rms each and they never got more than warm. Hit 148+ db on term lab.

That's good to hear. I should be hitting some high numbers once I get my second SSD, sell my SAX-1200D to upgrade, and finally get it metered

 

I've felt it around 4 times after my drive to class which takes 40-50 minutes. Always just warm. So I guess I shouldn't be so paranoid.

 

Damn do I wish I could just get a hold of two D1 SSDs.

It still has the original cone?

Yes everything is original on it. Never been reconed or anything.

The gains DO NOT set how much power is going to the sub.  You can fry that sub with that amp at any gain setting with the right H/U.

 

The gain setting only sets the voltage sensitivity of the amp.  It does nothing else.

 

You need to use your senses to tell if you are going to fry the sub...

If you reconed it it would probably be closer to 1000 rms