Hooked up an alpine 500.1 amp to a alpine sws 12" sub. The sub is a 4ohm sub with 50-300 rms max. The amp is 500 watts rms at 1 and 2 ohms and 300 watts rms at 4ohms. Just curious if I'm missin something, it seems like they are a great match. I don't even have he gain or the bass up all the way and when I run it loud for awhile It starts to smell hot or like the sub is burning up. The amp isn't very hot either. The amp is new and he sub was used for a few months. Just wondering if this is normal or is the sub toast? Do I need to do anything on the amp to change it to 4 ohms or does it just sense which ohm to be at. It's a MRP-500. Any help would be great! Thanks!

 

is the sub a single voice coil or a dual voice coil? are you sure you have it hooked up correctly?

 

What he said^. Single or dual voice coil? Also what kind of box is it in? Is there proper air flow for the pole venting on the subs motor?

 

It's a dual voice coil, the box cubic ft match the minimum of the sub and it was hooked up in the box already I never even opened it, just the two wires from the amp...? How should it be hooked up?

 

hopefully its a dvc 4 ohm sub.

if so you want it wired in parallel

 

Pull the sub put and recheck the wiring. Is the box sealed or ported?

 

Yeah it's a 4ohm dvc, ill double check the wires, it's a sealed single truck box, I'm also going to put a little pillow stuffing in it as well.

 

Make sure to staple, glue, or do something to secure that stuffing away from the sub. Or you'll have more problems if it gets in the pole and gets on the coils. And also make sure there's enough room behind that sub before it hits the back of the box. If it overheats the coil will fry fast.

 

Well everything looks good, maybe the sub is junk or something...

 

So I figured out one thing, where the sub cone meets the plate where u screw the whole thing down was separated, the glue they used had come off and was causing almost a rattle sounds but Im gonna give it some hd glue and let it sit overnight to see if that will hold... Stupid alpine sub design!

 

Then the smell may have been the coil getting hot. When the surround gets out of alignment the coil will produce more heat from friction. your amp is 500 watts RMS at 2 ohm's which is 200 watts RMS more than your sub is rated for. Over driving that sub will cause heat and resistance which in turn can rise amplifier temps. Fix the surround of the sub and reduce gain on the amp and look for a sub that will handle the 500 RMS from the amp or wire it continuous series (8 ohm) instead to reduce amp output.

 

Sounds like the coil is getting a little warm. Brand new subs can smell overheated when they're not, it's a part of the break-in process. The enamel on the coil gets hot, soft, then re-solidifies when the coil gets cool again, and this can be under normal use. Having an amplifier capable of more continuous power than what you're sub is rated for does no harm as long as the amp is tuned correctly, this is called "head room", and is great so the amplifier is below its threshold for amplification, and doesn't get into the area where it amplifies audible noise. Just make sure your amplifier is tuned correctly and you'll be fine.