Why Kinergetics SW-200 clipping?


I'm a newbie and have a simple question about clipping.

I have a Kinergetics SW-200 sub (four 10" speakers, 200W kinergetics amp). They seem to clip really easily. These have always been rated as a high-end sub, but they don't do it for me. I want to "feel" the bass in my home theatre setup.

I'm in a fairly small room (15 x 15) which I know limits the level of bass producability. Does the small room also mean that the subs clip easier? Or am I pushing them too hard trying to get bass out of them that I can't get in such a small room?!

Any insight would be great.

Thanks.

John
robotman
One issue you might have is that the room is 15 by 15 feet. This square room will generate a lot of standing waves. I would also check to insure that the woofers are moving in and out correctly. i.e. not out of phase. It can happen easily. Insure the subs drivers are all phased properly. Sometimes you have one coming out and the other going in which will cancel the bass. If you move towards one of the subs does the bass seem to get stronger? This would be a symptom of out of phase subs. Good luck. I also have exactly the same Kinergetics sub amp and have no trouble with clipping at all even in very large rooms with multiple drivers on each channel.
(This thread is basically duplicate to a more general "clipping" thread I have in "tech talk." I'll go ahead and discontinue this thread and continue the one in tech talk so I'm not being redundnant. I appreciate your ideas, so please continue to provide them in the other thread!)
The amp came with the speakers so I'm sure they are matched well. It is an external amp with a built in crossover. I'm using the crossover in my HK because the HK doesn't have pre-amp inputs.

The fuses that sometimes blow are the ones inline to the speakers. Therefore, it seems like the amp itself is sending too much power to the speakers. I was just wondering if there is some "power surge" effect caused when the amp can't get enough power and then tries to compensate.

The driver still seems to work fine at lower volume levels. Just at loud, bassy times (i.e. organ in phantom of the opera or a big movie scene), they start having problems.
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Definatly plug it into the wall.
You might be able to get aay with plugging a dvd plyer or cd player in those outlets on the back of your reciever, but those subwoofers need alot of juice.

If the fuses are blwoing its telling you yer getting too much juice.

what is the ohm load on your subwooferS? are the amplifiers external to the subwoofer?

you might have a 4 or even a 2 ohm load on that subwoofer, if it is an outboard amplifier that isnt designed to handle that, you will basically be screaming a crap load more power through them they can handle, and might damage the amp as well
I was reading some other threads on subwoofers. Is it possible that I need a better power supply to the subwoofer?

Currently (no pun intended), I have the sub plugged into the switced AC outlet on my HK AVR300 receiver. Maybe this isn't enough power and I should plug the sub directly into the wall?

Of course, I don't think a restricted power source would explain the fuses blowing does it? Unless a restricted power source causes a pulsing electrical flow or something as the amp tries to suck the power it needs.

Any insight?!
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Thanks for your response.

They make a loud popping noise (similiar to the "pop" sound that it makes when you turn them off, but repeatedly). I'm using the system mostly for home theatre. The "clipping" usually happens during "bassy" scenes in movies. The fuses burn out really easily, too. Usually if it makes this popping noise for too long, the fuse will blow.

Is this because the amp is getting overloaded or the speakers themselves are getting overloaded?

The amp is rated as a 150W x 2 but sure doesn't seem to make too much bass before it gets overloaded and start clipping. Would a different amp help?

I'm trying to understand what component(s) in my system I need to replace to get a better theatre sound. The Spica / Kinergetics are a great match for sound, but I can't figure out if they are suitable for home theatre. Do I need different speakers or different amps?!

Thanks for your help.
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what exactly happens when you say they are clipping ?
having previously owned these woofers before either their is a malfunction causing this or you are playing them extremely loud