Power handling of my DTH subs

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thomas110
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Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by thomas110 » Thu Mar 31, 2011 5:12 am

Hi there it has been a while just got my DTH 215 subs working replaced all the baskets great sounding subs I have a crest CA18 to drive them is that to much power or about right? my subs are 1400w program the amp is 1800w per channel in to 4 ohms

crossedwires
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Re: Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by crossedwires » Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:18 am

A lot of people in this forum recommend choosing an amp that will deliver 65-85% of program speaker ratings. Experienced sound guys sometimes use 100% program rating. In your case, you are beyond on the program rating of your speakers, meaning you are "speaker limited". This can be dangerous if the amp begins to clip because it is capable of delivering far more power than the peak rating of your speaker.

If you have a VSX, SemperFi Steve can help you set-up the compressors to limit the signals going to the amp. He did a post on the 29th titled "Changing VSX 26 limiters" which may be some good reading for you.

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SemperFiSound
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Re: Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by SemperFiSound » Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:27 am

Thomas,
If you can hear the onset of distortion and can keep your subs from flopping out onto the dance floor, then you will be fine. Unfortunately, a lot of pre-recorded music has distortion "built-in" making it harder for the average ear to discern the difference. Also, many sound guys/gals that do "live band" work cannot hear the onset of distortion. I would not want your 215s to get ruined just as they are coming back online.

You would be better off an amp that can put out 900-1200 watts into 4 ohms.
CS-3000: 1065 watts/4 ohms per side
GPS-3500: 1200 watts/4 ohms per side
PV-3800: 1300 watts /4 ohms per side

If you have a hard limiter or a compressor or a LoudSpeaker management system with limiters, yes, we can set them accordingly.
Cheers,
Steve
SemperFi Sound; the website
SemperFi Sound On FaceBook
"The Art of War teaches us to rely, not upon the calculated likelihood of
the enemy's coming or not, but on our own readiness to receive him... no
matter what he does." Sun Tzu

crossedwires
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Re: Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by crossedwires » Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:40 am

SemperFiSound wrote: Unfortunately, a lot of pre-recorded music has distortion "built-in" making it harder for the average ear to discern the difference.
I haven't been able to figure out why they do that.......it doesn't sound good! :lol:

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SemperFiSound
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Re: Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by SemperFiSound » Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:13 am

crossedwires wrote:I haven't been able to figure out why they do that.......it doesn't sound good!
Me either...and I concur with your assessment, although I remember explaining it in less than poly-syllabics to a DJ once who was using my four x QW-2 / VR-218 system one evening.

Cheers,
Steve
SemperFi Sound; the website
SemperFi Sound On FaceBook
"The Art of War teaches us to rely, not upon the calculated likelihood of
the enemy's coming or not, but on our own readiness to receive him... no
matter what he does." Sun Tzu

crossedwires
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Re: Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by crossedwires » Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:16 am

SemperFiSound wrote:Me either...and I concur with your assessment, although I remember explaining it in less than poly-syllabics to a DJ once who was using my four x QW-2 / VR-218 system one evening.
Let the 4-letter words fly! :lol:

ed corlew
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Re: Power handling of my DTH subs

Post by ed corlew » Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:29 pm

Unfortunately, a lot of pre-recorded music has distortion "built-in" making it harder for the average ear to discern the difference.
ever hear some of taylor swift music really bad and these kids just hear sound
sp2ti
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