How do you know if you are clipping ur amp. for example can u clip an amp that the gains are set less than 1/2? My set up is zx 650x4 running 1 set of kmt6 tower and the other side 1- 4 ohm rf 15 p1 bridged.This is how kicker recomends setup but the amp gets waaaaay hot dose not shut off but is blazzing hot.

How did it run after swapping the KTM's to one half the amp and before adding the sub? What are the x-overs set on for both the KTM's and sub? <BR> <BR>You need to put a DVOM on the speaker leads and check the resistance.......sounds like you may have a short in one of the speaker wires.

usually the amp will have a clipping light on it. you could have some wires crossed. like a pos on a neg or something like that.

the hi pass is set at around 60-80 hz low pass around 150 hz. TIGEMIKE after switching the tower to one side without the sub it ran very cool even cranked 4 30 min when the sub was hooked up way hot agin thanks 4 any help.Is this amp so small 4 my setup maybee a zx 850x4 is in order or 2 amps.

Id go with 2 amps personally, but the 850 X 4 might do the trick... <BR> <BR>my sub amp gets much hotter than my others too for some reason?

what about a stinger fan how much do those help

thsoe KTM6's are an odd ohm load...if wired in parallel, they are showing a 1.5 ohm load.

My Kicker 650.4 ran hot as well. All i had to do with mine was put 1/2-3/4" spacers between it and the mounting surface, that gave it the ability to breath all around the amp.

That amp will deliver 325W's x 2 @ 4ohms to your sub, I dont think that's the problem. I think it's in the settings. <BR> <BR>The half running the KTM's should be set in H-Pass and the dial set to about 100-120Hz's. The half running the sub should ne set on Low-Pass and the dial set to around 50-80Hz's. It should run perfect there, and then the Hz's can be tweaked to your listening pleasure, but the Hi-Low switches are crucial

Guys- <BR> <BR>The Kicker amplifiers have a thermal sensor that will shut down the amp in the event of overheating that is is outside of design parameters. <BR> <BR>The shut-down temp is 185 deg. F at the sensor. Yes, this is quite hot. It is way hotter than you want to touch. If you thermal the amp, it will not turn back on until it "cools" back down to 175 deg. F. Still real hot!!!! We are real close to boiling water here. Folks advocate brewing coffee at 190 deg. F I think.. <BR> <BR>If you are jamming hard, and have been doing so for a while, it will be normal for the amp to be uncomfortable to touch. If it is not shutting down though, you are not too hot, yet... It is early in the season, and as the air gets hotter into late July and August, the amps will get hotter too. <BR> <BR>TigeMike advocates using spacers under the amps for improved air flow and I agree. Additionally you can add a fan to help get rid of the heat. <BR> <BR>Just know that for the amp to be quite warm is normal. Unless you are shutting the amp down due to excessive heat, you are not hurting anything. <BR> <BR>As TigeMike says, make sure the crossovers are set right; this goes a long way to keeping the amp as cool as possible... <BR> <BR>Phil <BR>Kicker

I've heard of folks plumbing lake water to pump through some kind of mounting plate attached to the amps. Sounds relatively simple compared to most of the ballast systems in use. Anyone here done this or have any pictures of a water cooled system?

By the way, the answer to your first question: Clipping is possible at any gain setting. If you put enough signal into the front of the amp at the RCA inputs, you can run the amplifier's output devices to their maximum amplitude at the minimum gain setting. <BR> <BR>Clipping distortion, particularly the clipping an amplifier does when it runs out of headroom usually causes fuzzy, crunchy, crackly sound... A good example is junior driving around in Dad's car, cranking the living daylights out of the stock stereo system, all nasty and distorted.. We have all heard that car go by, most of us laughed at it, and a significant number of us have actually done that to the stereo in Dad's car... <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>The problem is, I still hear a lot of badly distorting systems when I am out on the water here and there, and I think it is due to the fact that a lot of people grew up listening to badly distorted audio systems and do not know the difference between clean and distorted audio reproduction. <BR> <BR>The best way to know you are clipping is to listen for it and learn /know what it sounds like. A goofy example, but one that will allow you to listen for and understand what it sounds like would be to play something that is totally acoustic. A clarinet recording; a violin recording; a spoken word recording.... We hear un-distorted speech every day, and to hear that going into distortion should be easy. Take one of those recordings and play it. turn the amplifier gain up... up... way up until it starts sounding different.. Crunchy, starting to get harmonics, fuzzy, ragged... These are all vague descriptors I have to describe the sound, but you might come up with different ones. The point is, when you are cranking things up so much that they quit being just louder, and start to sound different; that is a real good clue that you are clipping... After that, you could use some more complex music, and go through the same exercise. Listen for that point where the clean sound goes away; listen for the point where it quits getting louder, listen for that crunchiness to start taking over the sound... That will be clipping.... <BR> <BR>If we all had oscilloscopes it would be easy. We could look at the signal at any stage in the audio system. At the point where the nice roller-coaster hills and valleys start having flat spots at their tops and bottoms is the place where we run out of headroom and start clipping. Without the benefit of oscilloscopes, we need to rely on our ears.... <BR> <BR>Phil <BR>Kicker

I Hasegawa, <BR> <BR>I think it was/is MTX that had/has some water cooled stuff.

Could we rent an oscilloscope somewhere? If so how would an oscilloscope be hooked up? I wondered if there was a way to check my settings when I was adjusting a few weeks ago. Sounds like the oscilloscope would be what we need. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>btw: I really like saying "oscilloscope" <BR>oscilloscope <BR>oscilloscope <BR>oscilloscope

Wow, sorry Jason, I opened a can of worms... <BR> <BR>It might be possible, but I doubt it... <BR> <BR>I used to own a few; it was funny scanning Chicago radio stations and watching the signal... One night I found a gospel station with a channel out of phase... <BR> <BR>Anyway, it would be better to learn with your ears what the onset of clipping distortion sounds like; the rent is cheaper, you always have your test instruments with you, and they do not delay boarding at the airport... <BR> <BR>Phil <BR>Kicker

Check your battery cables. I know it sounds silly, but my Amp was clipping....and it had nothing to do with the amp. The wingnut hoding the cable on the battery terminal was slightly loose, and would lose connection every few minutes briefly. Justa thought....I am no stereo expert.

reset the gains lowered the low pass filter did the trick seems to be running cooler stil going to add fan ITS HOT IN TEXAS.

"it was funny scanning Chicago radio stations and watching the signal... One night I found a gospel station with a channel out of phase... " <BR> <BR>Wow, Phil, sounds like you have some crazy nights.... haha, just kidding man..

Hah hah hah Brit- <BR> <BR>That right there is funny... <BR> <BR>Phil