why do my subs smell like smoke

[mirra540ryder]

i got 2 polk 15's in a ported box 3-3.5 cubic foot per chamber.
rockford fosgate cap and punch 1000 amp putting about 430 watts to each sub rms


after alot of t-pain songs or young jeezy songs i smell a burnt up smell comming from the port whats happining? wrong box to much power? they distort with low bass under 35 hrtz but 40 hrtz is the sweet spot. the subs are facing up.

[PolkThug]

Sounds like "burn-in". :)

[mirra540ryder]

a guy at the local audio shop says im breaking them in but its been 3 weeks almost. are u sayin the same thing??

[PolkThug]

Are the 15s in separate chambers? If they are, does the smell come from both ports?

I run my 15's sealed.

[mirra540ryder]

its one big one with a port in the middle. i just put my third 15 in so i dont have to turn it up so loud. i think im ganna get a custom seald box for the three cuz they say its ment to be seald.

is 200 good for a 3 15 hole custom box with rino liner spray??

[MacLeod]

OK, first off - go slap the guy at the audio shop that said they were breaking in. In the 18 years Ive been buying and enjoying car audio gear I have NEVER smelled smoke coming from a speaker.

If youre smelling smoke after heavy bass workouts, its coming from your voice coil. The thing with that Punch amp is its pretty underrated and Id be willing to bet that 1000x1 is more like 1200x1 so youre driving your 400 watt subs with 600 watts each. That 400 watts rating is a thermal rating on how much the voice coil can dissipate. Normally 600 watts wouldnt be too much for those subs under normal MUSICAL conditions but since its rap the bass is one long constant note thru the whole song. Since its virtually constant the voice coil doest have enough time to dissipate the heat that is building up in it.

Secondly, 3.5 ft3 is too big a box for the 15's ported. They need 2.5. Since youre running them in a larger box, their power handling is diminished so that 600 watts is even more overwhelming.

On top of that, if theyre distorting that tells me youre pushing them too hard.

Turn down the gain on your amp til the distortion goes away and then do some listening. Id be willing to bet the smell goes away and theyll sound better too. They wont be as loud, but theyll sound better.

[Greg Peters]

Turn down the gain on your amp til the distortion goes away and then do some listening. Id be willing to bet the smell goes away and theyll sound better too. They wont be as loud, but theyll sound better.

...unless you've partially burnt the coils already- I hope not. Do as Mac suggested, to avoid additional smoke please...once the smoke comes out, you can't get it to go back in ;).

[mirra540ryder]

thanks guys i turned the gain down to about 3 of 10 and i never smell it unless its stupid low bass im ganna be going with a new box soon ill take pics its ganna be custom done at the shop:)

[mirra540ryder]

should i go with JBL mids and highs or rockford? they wanna sell me jbl but it cost alot more

[zingo]

The JBL are pricey, but JBL makes great car products. I have lost some faith in Rockford lately.

[MacLeod]

Id take JBL over RF for speakers.

[mopar paul]

Dont worry-if they arent on fire just keep it turned up! :)

[Deadof_knight]

Box is too big and if your smelling smoke your driving them too hard....... in that box ! probably reaches down low real nice but you have to have some reasoning!