Clipping vs Distortion

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jxw004

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Ok so this is a noob questions. First off my set up...Alpine ine-w940 to PDR-F50 for door speakers (spa-610c front and rear) and MRX-M100 for subs (Type S 15 x2 in a ported box). I purchased a SMD dd-1 and discovered that my head unit is "defective" since the distortion led is always on.

I am not clipping at the head unit, the pre outs are all 2v (front, rear and subwoofer) at the amp they measure 1.605v with a 40Hz tone and .906v with a 1Khz tone (PDR-F50) and .291v with 40Hz and .281v with 1Khz tone (MRX-M110).

I am not overpowering door speakers or subs (used the RMSxIMPEDANCE and then Square root that to get the output voltage on the amp channels).
<- Explanation.

My question is will this "Distortion" that the DD-1 is detecting cause any damage? or will it only effect sound quality?
 

ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)

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the distortion shouldnt cuase any damage
whats the impedence of your door speakers
and subs
not sure what an SMD DD-1 is ?
also are any of your pre outs running anywhere close to any power or ground wires
 

about20ninj45

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the distortion shouldnt cuase any damage
whats the impedence of your door speakers
and subs
not sure what an SMD DD-1 is ?
also are any of your pre outs running anywhere close to any power or ground wires
Steve mead e design tester. It's an audiophile thing. Steve Meade is pretty successful and makes an assortment of device to test manufacture's claims on rated power and performance of their amps and subs. He also has one of the cleanest tahies around. Check I'm out on YouTube.
 

ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)

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the problem you mite be having is simply the fact that yer head unit only has 2v pre outs every deck ive owned that didnt have at least 4v pre outs ive always had sound problems

yeah i usually shoot for have my amps true RMS rating about 20 percent higher then the RMS rating of the speakers

cool that sounds like something i need to pick up
 
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jxw004

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No, All my power wires (for amps and Aux toys) are run on the drivers side and the the RCAs are run on the passenger side. That was my main concern if distortion would damage anything. My door speakers are 4ohms and my subs are 2ohm DVC (2 subs) wired in parallel (each sub) and series to get the impedance down to 2ohm. The reason I went with this unit is that I'm a stickler for having matching brands on projects and that was what I could afford. The sound is clean at all volumes so may just run it and deal with what brakes. Thanks for the replies!!!

DD-1 is about $119.00 on ebay or through sonic electronix.
 

ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)

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yeah im a planet audio fan
i had a axis 3200 watt (wich was only really about 1900 watts true RMS) powering two infinity reference 4ohm DVC subs ran in parallel to 1ohm
and 4 apline door speakers running off my 1800 watt planet audio anarchy amp wich is there cheapy line so it was only really about 1200watts true rms
overall my system was prolly putting out 2500 watts real RMS i installed a 250 amp alternator cuz i literally killed an optima red top on like 2 months with the stock alternator
 

jbancs

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What you've found is the downside to a DD-1. It doesn't tell you how much you're clipping or give you any visual data to judge the signal, but merely a light saying good or bad. My suggestion would be to find someone who has an Oscilloscope and use that to scope your outputs and see what they're doing. Voltage just determines what the power output is, but if your amp is getting a garbage signal in, its going to be putting out a much more powerful garbage signal.

As for you second question, yes, if you're sending out a clipped signal you're much more likely to blow your speakers. A square wave is going to create substantially more heat within the voicecoils of your speakers and even if they're underpowered can still fail.
 
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jxw004

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What you've found is the downside to a DD-1. It doesn't tell you how much you're clipping or give you any visual data to judge the signal, but merely a light saying good or bad. My suggestion would be to find someone who has an Oscilloscope and use that to scope your outputs and see what they're doing. Voltage just determines what the power output is, but if your amp is getting a garbage signal in, its going to be putting out a much more powerful garbage signal.

As for you second question, yes, if you're sending out a clipped signal you're much more likely to blow your speakers. A square wave is going to create substantially more heat within the voicecoils of your speakers and even if they're underpowered can still fail.
I think I'm going to order one, I found them cheaply for about 150-200 for a handheld one.
 

jbancs

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I think I'm going to order one, I found them cheaply for about 150-200 for a handheld one.
theyre definitely worth the money. They have many uses, but they are by far the best method of setting your gains and a great help when troubleshooting.
 

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