Will playing a bass guitar through a guitar amp break the guitar amp? Does it depend on the size of the amp? How could possible damaged be avoided?
I don't know whether a picture of a "face-palm" would do most of these answers justice. An amplifier, using tubes or transistors, amplifies your input signal. A preamplifier boosts the miniscule signal (~0.04-0.06V) from instrument to amplifier, and usually adds some tone control. The speaker converts the amplified signal from electrical to audible signal (sound).A brief history of electric guitar/bass and amplifiers will tell you that, for the first few decades, the biggest difference came with bigger speaker diameters, and filter capacitors on input of "bass" models to roll off some high freq hiss, much like that passive tone knob on your bass. It wasnt until the 70s that bass amps began to imitate PA systems, with multi-band active EQ. Specially designed speakers, with longer pistons (+1 on the Excursion answer), and wider voice coils to compensate, followed. These were designed for PA, and adopted for bass. Every bass tech since the mid 70s has been, cute, if nothing else. I kid. You run the RISK of damaging a guitar speaker by running high-wattage, low frequency signal for any extended amount of time. How frequently you like to replace speakers is up to you. You run the RISK damaging your amplifier as a direct result of "blowing" a speaker if your speaker coil shorts out, and you continue to run the amp hard. Usually, when a speaker blows, the voice coil overheats, and causes a break in connection...Open contact: no sound. Occasionally, the contacts on the coil break, and short to the core, or across the voice coil...this can turn an 8ohm load into...let's say100ohm load. Output transformers hate jokes like that. But really, any blown speaker could do that...so, back to the question..Bass guitars don't break guitar amps for the sake of being basses. If you like overdriven tube sound, plug into a fender bassman, or an ampeg v2 or v4, or marshall jcm800...the older models will have the same tonestack whether guitar or bass. The big difference in overall tone will come from your choice of enclosure. The real reason a bass player might choose a 300-500w amp, to "keep up" with a 50-100w guitarist is that the higher wattage allows for the headroom to allow for clean, low frequency tones. If a bassist just cranks that amp up to 10, they'll find that their overdriven sound is much louder, all other considerations being equal.
Subwoofer Break-in Smell?
I just hooked up my brand new Pioneer Premier TS-W2501D4 subwoofer today to my Kenwood KAC-9104D amplifier. The subwoofer is a dual, 4-ohm voice coil hooked up in parallel to my amplifier. The subwoofer can handle 800w rms and 2500w peak. My amplifier outputs 900w rms, 1800w peak @ 2 Ohms, which is it's current load. I took my car out today with my girlfriend for a drive around while listening to my new subwoofer. We didn't have it pounding too hard since I haven't gotten a chance to fine-tune the gains so I just kept everything relatively low. I put the bass boost at 2 (since i have heard it distorts signal and ruins subwoofers), LPF at 100Hz, and input sensitivity at .8 After a little we notice there is an odd smell coming from the trunk of my car. It almost smelled like a burning rubber smell. It lasted for about a minute and then went away after i rolled down my back windows and aired out the car. After, everything was fine and there was no more smell. Could this have just been a break-in smell from the voice coils in the sub warming up for the first time since it is such a high-power sub? (And yes the smell was coming from the sub.) I remember somewhere seeing that some subs will do that when first run and it will then go away. Which seemed to have happened in my case. But I'm just wondering what it could have been...
How long does it take to break in a sub?
Dude, should be okay, my subwoofer aren't getting enough power either. Still loud, under power my woofer by at least 1000 watts clamped power, and 500 watts RMS. as long as your powering the woofer with 75 to 110 percent of power efficiency should be good. i only think that your box might be the problem, or since the woofer is new need time to break in. Often subwoofer usually takes couple hours playing to be break in, unless you using something that is high voltage woofer that may takes couple days up to a week of playing the woofer couple hours each day to be able to break it in. You should be good. By the way my amplifier is a MTX TE1501D amplifier, wired at one ohm load. Just a single 12 inch woofer is running up to it now, hahahaha.
How long does it take to break in new subwoofers?
Now for the REAL answer. It takes exactly 0 seconds to break in subs. There is no need to break in subs, they are ready out of the box. It's one of those myths that never seem to die. Here's why: The cone moves freely (vertically), the coils are wound to a tube and attached to the cone, the surround is plenty flexible, the frame and spider mesh will flex no matter what. There is nothing else about the speaker that requires to be broken in. Reason #2, NO reputable speaker manufacturer lists anywhere the need to break in subs in the manuals. I will say the T/S parameters do change over time (slightly) due to use, so re-tuning some settings may be required. Here are some more myths - http://www.audiopulse.com/know-how/subwoofer-driver-guide/myths-about-subwoofers See my site for more info http://spkrbox1.spaces.live.com
Will a sudden loud sound damage a speaker?
It sounds like you have had a large transient through your speaker and you are now worried that you may have damaged it.Think about music - all the drums, cymbals, and large sudden musical events are transients.So all sepakers encounter transients as an expected thing. The question is when is it too big.Two things damage speakers more than anything else - playing at extended high volume with lots of distortion can overheat and permanently damage the speaker elements but this is clearly not the case.The other thing is overdriving it to where some phsyical damage is done. Speakers make sound by moving a magnet against a magnetic field of a coil. The larger the motion, the louder the sound. If the motion is too large then you can break or tear cones and or rip the surrounds - the flexible rims at the outer edge of the cone.These can usually be heard afterwards as a significant loss of bass, and as a clacking, rubbing, buzzing or grating sound at loud or moderate levels as the now loose parts hit against each other.So play some loud music, a little louder than you usually do and speaker damage should be apparent.If you don't hear any, your speakers are probably OK.If your surrounds or cones are broken or torn, they can be fixed by speaker repair shops.
I had new speaker and amp installed and now car won't start! Can this be caused by bad installation?
Oh these are always fun. Though I can't give you a diagnosis over email, I can tell you it is 100% possible to kill a car with a stereo installation. Your amplifier needs a signal to turn on or it will stay on always and kill your battery. Stereo install guys turn on the car and stab a test light into random wires looking for one powered only when the car is turned on. Unfortunately they have been known to splice into a CAN data bus. The CAN network in charge of communication for your security and locking could be disabled keeping your key from being authorized. Or the CAN network for your chassis systems can be shut down that deals with communication for your engine, transmission, and typically traction control. A CAN network is typically a 5 volt system but it suplies power in micro amps as it is only used for communication and not supplying a load such as switching a relay, lighting a bulb, or spinning a motor. Splicing into these to supply the relay to turn on the amp effectively grounds the circuit and does not allow for the digital signal to propogate. Sometimes it easier and they just blew a fuse while poking around with a test light, or shorted a harness by running a screw through it while mounting components. Had a lowjack installer put a screw through a floorboard and into a fuel tank once, cause a check engine light due to an emissions test, luckily it didn't burn down the car first. I have fixed at least a dozen of these problems on Benz's in the shop after a car got towed in from the stereo shop.
Alpine type R sub woofer wiring with a JBL AMP?
I have two 12" Alpine SWR-1221D Subs. They are each dual voice coil with 150 RMS per coil making each sub 300 RMS. I have a JBL 1200.1 Amplifier which is 700 RMS 2-channel amplifier. I need to know what would be the best way to connect these subs to the amp. 1.Should I go parallel or serial connection for the voice coils? 2.Should i bridge the amp or let each channel handle each sub ? 3. if I should Bridge the amp and have both subs on a serial connection? The subs are in the same enclosure separated by a wall inside. Last question: 4. Will it give me deeper bass if i take the middle wall out and turn the sealed box into a ported box?
What does it mean to have a subwoofer broken in?
you opened a can of worms on this one.. i personally dont hook em up and play em at maximum volume.. i dont take it easy on em for 60-100 hours either.i ease the volume up a little at a time over an hour period.subs do break in and when the suspension starts to loosen up, it allows em to play lower. but this argument of break in will still be going long after you and i are gone.