i'm running 2 JL 12" w3 d4 subs and a JL 500/1 amp. i don't know why but , why does it sound distorted? it seems like its not goin on its full potential. do you guys know if i have to run a capacitor?

 

Who tuned it for you or have you played with the eq on the amp?

Gilbert

 

i did all that. can anyone here tell me how they wired the subs to the amp?

 

How do you have those subs wired? The JL amps are not forgiving when it comes to certain ohm loads and they literally freak out at anything above medium volume.

 

Cap will not fix the issue you are having.
Could be many things.
1. Are you using sufficient size wire for the 12v + Ground?
2. Do you have a good ground (scrape to bare metal)
3. Did you use high quality preamp wire?
4. Did you run the preamp away from the 12v (I run my 12v down the drivers side and the preamp/patch cord down the passengers side)
5. What ohm load is the amps seeing?
6. What is the gain setting on the amp? Also check the filters to make sure they are on/off and on the right frequency.
7. Could be a blown sub.

In other words, more information is needed.
can you describe the distortion

 

i had everything figured out. i just didn't adjust the amp that well. took me a minute to figure it out. i feel hella stupid! but i got it adjusted, and everything sounds awesome! this thing knocks!!

 

??? IMO you are on crack, hah... they will freak out if wired wrong or wired to the wrong oamage, and it the gain is out of wak, but not b/c of too much volume? lol

 

LOL how many have you owned and installed? I was a dealer you nutcase.

With a very low ohmload say 1-1.2 ohms the amp will play at low volumes but start to crank it up and bad things happen. Go try it if you dont believe me. Seen it on 2 1000/1s and 3 500/1s. 1 of which was my own and I repeatedly swapped subs around just to test exactly what was going on. Lowering the gain helped some but it still wigged out at 1ohm.

Volume can and will change the dynamic ohmload because the speaker is moving and thus no longer static. Hook up a multimeter to the terminals and then press the cone in and out and see what you find. Now most amps will simply overheat and go into therma protect but these amps didnt, they just distorted really bad. Maybe it was a weird batch hwo knows but thats what happened.

But who am I to say, you have a 12 W 6v2 and some Alpine V12s! Woot!

 

JL Amps work fine as long as you dont go below 1.5 ohms. They arent rated to go below that so they will usually go into thermal protection. JL Amps definitely need to be tweaked after they are installed you cant just hook them up out of the box and expect them to work.

 

:rofl: I had 2 1000/1 and the 450/4 in my acura...Was all sold w/ the car, all of this was installed myself w/ a buddy...and what maddboost seys is true, those amps are not meant to be used at that low of an ohmage...what subs are you using that take that kind of load? Not trying to be a punk man, as I frankly don't care or will ever meat you in person.

Why don't you still own the shop? having lots of problems w/ the installs? j/k man...I've only done maybe 4 complete installs...by no means an expert or even a seasoned installer...but in the 4 years that I have owned and operated JL equipment only had 2 blown speakers, so Im a fan for life.