8 speakers just blew out?!

[CRAIGTHEMAN]

also yes jim the crossovers were blowen and also the tweaters themself were too

[TX.X-30 fan]

So what is the best guess here? wiring, Low voltage from alt.. any guesses?

[JimN]

Next step is finding the point where the head unit distorts and not going past that on the volume control and setting the input sensitivity on the amps so they won't distort. If this is done and the amps aren't too powerful for the speakers, it shouldn't launch any more tweeters and caps.

The point where the head unit doesn't distort should be found with the loudest CD you have. This is so you'll push the output to its maximum and if it's done with a quiet CD, once a louder one is played, the whole problem shows up again. They do vary greatly and if I need to do this I would use Climax Blues Band's FM Live or Leslie West's Guitarded. I don't think I have ever heard louder ones. First step, turn the input controls on the amps down and play the CD, listening for distortion on the loudest parts, but not distorted recorded sounds. You want to be playing music with clean sounding instruments, not heavily distorted guitars. If you hear it break up on the kick drum or synthesizers in the loud parts, back it off until it doesn't and make a note of that point on the volume control. Use several examples for this and use them for setting the head unit and amps. Next, play the same tracks and, with the head unit at the highest clean setting, gradually turn the input sensitivity control of one amp up to the point where it distorts. This is best done while wearing ear plugs because it's hard to hear when the distortion starts at high volume. Once this point is found using all of the tracks (one tune isn't a very representative sample), mark the position accurately on the amp (tape and Sharpie if you don't want to permanently mark the amp), turn that one down and repeat with the other amp, marking the position. Now, turn the head unit down and turn the input controls up to the marks on the amps and listen to it. It should sound very clean and will still be loud. Loud and distorted just sounds bad, especially from a distance. Loud is bad enough for ears but loud and distorted is even worse for them and if you have ringing all the time when there's little other noise, the damage may be permanent.

The alternator was probably putting out whatever it's supposed to, but I would measure the voltage at the amps at the highest volume level. If that's low, the amps will never put out their rated power and if they do, it won't be clean power. If the voltage goes back to normal when hte system is turned down/off, a high output alternator is needed and possibly an additional battery, not a stiffening cap. Stiffening caps are OK for peaks but for sustained high power use, a battery is better. A battery stores much more energy than a cap, although a 1 Farad cap does store a lot.

[O2BESOHUGE]

Maybe The Crossovers Were Bumped And All The Highs Were Taken Out Of The Speakers....may Be Just A Flip Of A Switch

Ive DonE That By Accident On Rockford Amps Before

[CRAIGTHEMAN]

thanks again jim for the info...i do have a high output alt and a dual battery setup if that means anything????

[brucemac]

wow, i'm really suprised this happened. i had those mmc650's on my last boat and they worked flawless for 2 years. i was only pushing like 50W RMS with a 6-channel JL though, so nothing too fancy. they saw plenty of high DB and high heat too.

hey someone get that jim guy on jeopardy already!

[JimN]

All of that means the supply voltage is probably good but amps still put out more power at higher voltage input, which means that when you're idling, turn it down of you want it to stay clean, or set the levels at higher RPM and if it distorts at idle, turn the sensitivity controls down so it doesn't. Once all of that is done, it should be pretty trouble-free for a long time unless someone who doesn't know about the maximum volume setting cranks it higher which to me, is like someone driving your car and mashing their foot to the floor. Anyone who does that to my car/equipment doesn't get a second chance to drive/use what I have.

I don't know how many hundreds of systems I installed that never came back with problems and some of the best sounding ones were pretty low power.

[CRAIGTHEMAN]

alright guys i lied to you..i finaly just pulled everything apart and the is the verdict..i have one speaker with a blowen tweater and the rest are good but all the crossovers are fried...3 of them look good but just didnt work and than 5 of them have the capsators just blown to pieces..also i noticed that the porclen resistors were getting really hot and distored the plastic a little bit..do you think jim that i still had to much voltage going to them????

[Lennyp04]

OK quick threadjack.

So I'm reading this and thinking I shouldn't hook the amp that we got up to our speakers in fear of a catostrophic malfunction and a nice bill to replace all of it. The amp is a 2000 Watt Pyle 6 channel. Anybody know?

Thanks and sorry!

[JimN]

Yup. Too much voltage and current through the resistors. Any resistor will get hot. When you have excessive current, they get very hot. Caps go because of voltage but when you have too much voltage across a given resistance, the current will also be excessive.

Again, what is the power rating on the speaker system? Power is a function of voltage, load and current. There's no way to argue with physics and win.