I have blown 2 sets of infinity 5x7's I'm only using a 50x4 rms amp WTF is up with that??? I have 2 of the ford factory speakers hooked up on the same amp and they have out lasted the infinity's. JW if there is a better speaker or if I have the crossover frequncy to low or high. thanks for your answers.

 

How do you know the speakers are "blown"? What does that mean exactly? What brand of amp are you using? Is it some low end brand that produces loads of distortion? Those Infinitys won't be worth much below about 75-80hz. If you don't use a high pass filter to them, then they're trying to reproduce all frequencies, and, when you crank them up, will sound awful with lots of low bass TRYING to come through. That could eventually lead to problems. In spite of not being made with sound quality in mind, the stock speakers are usually better at the low frequencies than aftermarket.

 

Its a fosgate amp, hp filter on them, had the frequency set at around 300 hz IMO they should have been fine but I guess not. hell if they factory speakers can out last infinity then maybe infinity isn't as good as people say they lol, anyhow as far as them being blown I heard them pop and smoke was pouring out of the doors, typical smell of blown up electronics.

 

Definitely blown LoL.. Great explination... I know it gotta suck to have to take your doors apart every few weeks. Does it make a big difference with new speakers in the doors? Sound quality wise.

 

You do realize you "blow" a speaker from UNDERpowering it, NOT overpowering- right?

You *can* fry a voicecoil and damage a speaker with too much power, but the VAST majority of "blown" speakers are a result of clipping (audible or INaudbile) and likely a result of UNDERPOWERING.

Although, I would think 50 watts would be enough that it wouldn't be underpowering them.

sounds to me like the amp needs to be properly set and tuned with a multimeter and not just by ear. Also, verify that all cutoffs are matching appropriately, and if you are new to audio find someone with a REAL ear for audio to see if the level of volume you listen to music at is too high and is causing the speakers to clip...which over time will ruin the speaker.

*Oh, and next time they go to hell...do yourself a favor and stear clear of Infinity. It is the most over rated brand in car audio IMO...not a fan of their speakers or amps...they are very middle of the line and flat.

Try some polks and enjoy affordable, MUSICAL sound.

 

I thought the same on the watts I figured it was close enough but I guess not, I dont care much for their speakers at all now lol. I do like their 1211a amp though it's pretty good I guess my options are A get a bigger amp and tune it all again.
Or B try a lower watt speaker maybe,

invalid access....yes the new speakers make a difference as far as clarity.

I made a plate and put some 5 1/4s in the doors today they sound awsome! also retuned the amp, maybe i'll have some better luck with these

 

I've made this comment before, but maybe not here. Infinity is riding a wave of popularity right now, but truthfully, there is absolutely nothing about any of their stuff that sets them apart from dozens of other brands. It's funny how certain brands get bashed all the time, and other brands get all the kudos, usually by people with very little experience, either in listening to gear or working on it, or both. Besides that, they have a really cool name, and have been around forever, which means NOTHING when it comes to quality out the door. All mainstream companies are fighting for the masses, those millions of people who buy the average, middle-of-the-road stuff. Infinity is just one of many who manufacture their stuff with many objectives in mind, two of which are, make them as cheaply as possible, and add enough "fluff" to appear to be really ABOVE average. Don't take all that to mean they are BAD. That's not what I'm saying. They just are not as great as many people lead others to believe.

This doesn't explain, however, the problems mentioned here. There is something wrong somewhere. Speakers don't just "blow" for no reason, even average ones.

And, please, let's not get this "underpowering" BS started again.

 

I didn't take nothing persnal on it I agree as well, the only reason why I got them is cause my bro in law worked at circuit city and they get pretty good discounts, like the 1211a i got I paid him like 220 I think compared to 6?? somthing. I just swicthed brands and size of speaker so far they are rockin!

lol at the underpowering BS again I dont wanna start that lol.

just for future reference what speaker would you recomend? just in case for some reason these take a crap on me.

 

I'm NOT saying that's what caused the problem here, like I said with 50 watts that doesn't make sense. I was just pointing out a common misconception made in car audio especially... and if you honestly think underpowering doesn't blow speakers, hah, ahh well just remind me to never listen to anything you ever post about audio.

 

what you both are trying to say is that underpowerering does NOT directly fry voice coils... but the indirect result of turning the gain into clipping because its not loud enuff IS. distortion kills.


this is the EXACT reason I blew 2 12" RF HE2's with a wussy 500 watt rms amp I was a total n00b and went gain happy. altho I know better now and can actually sell my subs when I'm done with them

 

I have used their Kappa series speakers with mixed thoughts in the past. But their Reference Series Amps bought on sale are hard to beat for clean power and not looking like they belong in the Circus like many others in the range.

 

Simply underpowering a speaker has never in the history of time damaged a speaker. It's because of user abuse, either knowingly or not. Yes, this usually involves clipping the signal to a speaker, but the clipping does not damage a speaker. And underpowering does not damage the speaker. Under these conditions, the amp can produce MUCH more than its rated power. So the speaker is being damaged by TOO much power, not from being underpowered. If "underpowering" damaged speakers, we would do damage every time we turned down the volume. Underpowering is not the correct terminology to use to describe this.

 

But in a sense it's the underpowering that is the root cause of the problem in a lot of cases. Not from turning down the volume (i don't know why people keep bringing up that issue). But clipping means that the system is underpowered for the volume level that is being used....am I right?

 

No, clipping does not mean that. Clipping has nothing to do with a system being underpowered or not. Clipping occurs when an amp is driven beyond its design limits and is asked to provide more output to the speaker than it is capable of. It can happen with low powered amps, high powered amps. It's especially prevalent in car audio because few people know how to properly set up their amps(gain, etc.). Having your amp's gain set incorrectly can cause clipping at a lower volume level than it should if set correctly. People insist on buying amps and speakers that are closely rated in RMS ratings and then driving everything to the ragged edge. So, if you have an amp capable of 75 Watts RMS and speakers capable of handling 100 watts RMS, and you drive the amp into severe clipping, that amp can produce 150 watts or so at that point. The speaker can be damaged possibly, but not by being underpowered, by being overpowered. Use speakers capable of handling 200 watts RMS, clip that same amp forever, and the speakers will be fine. It's not the clipping, it's the power. Reliable RMS ratings from reputable manufacturers denote how much heat a speaker's voice coil can dissipate continuously, or how much power an amp can produce continuously. So, powering a speaker with anything below that RMS rating will never damage the speaker. Whoever started this whole thing is/was a dumbass.

The "root" of the problem, as you put it, is the user/users not having enough knowledge to use their equipment properly. Nothing else.

The reason I used the "turning down the volume" thing is because that's a perfect example. Turning down volume REDUCES power, so if simply "underpowering" was a danger to speakers, this would be the most likely of times for it to happen. It is intended as an easy to understand example of how ridiculous this whole concept is. Obviously, some people can't get it.

 

What he said^



You'd probably learn more by listening to 97f250 than reading pages of bull***** that floats around on most so-called "car audio" forums. He knows what he is talking about and I know I would probably never doubt a word he says.