Can getting vocals through a subwoofer damage them?

Question

i have 2 12" subs in my car & i have it wired to a stock radio. i have a converter that takes the speaker line & makes it into RCA line for the amp. but the speaker line that i connected off of is not the line to the stock sub, its just one of the door speakers. So out of my subs im getting the full signal, bass, vocals, ect... Can i damage my subs by having it this way? im just trying to save some time & energy if i dont have to re-wire it.

Answer 1

it can most definitely damage the voice coils of your subs because they weren't designed to move that fast!! if your sub amp has a low pass filter or LPF make sure it's on! if it doesn't...move the line output converters (LOC) wires to your stock sub's amp for signal. most subwoofers are designed to play anywhere from 10-250 Hz (Hertz measures in repeating cycles per second...think sinewave!) vocals appear in the audible range from about 300-1500 Hz...anything above that (guitars, cymbal crashes, etc. is way too high for subs to be trying to reproduce without damage to the subwoofers voicecoil)

these Hz measurements that i stated are simply arbitrary...not exact numbers

Answer 2

The way you wired the converter is fine, but it won't eliminate the high signals from your line wires. All it does is convert high output levels (amplified speaker wires) to low output levels (RCA level) To get the "high's" out of your subs, you need to run a low pass crossover, if your amp doesn't already have a built in low pass crossover. They make 2 different types of crossovers. Passive and active.



Passive - no power connections, you just hook up the speaker wire inline with the "coil". These coils come in different sizes. The size you choose will depend on what frequencies are filtered out.



Active - power is connected to the unit. You might be able to select a particular frequency, and some even have a built in boost.



I recommend the "active". Better sound quality, and more efficient. Believe it or not, Radio Shack used to carry a single low pass active one pretty cheap that worked very well. They also carried a high pass one to filter out low tones that you didn't want, or distorted the smaller speakers in the dash, doors, and rear deck.



Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

It really dosn't matter as long as your amp has a low pass setting. If not then the stock sub line would be the best one to splice into since it probably has a built in crossover in the radio. If not then you're going to need to buy a crossover. Whatever you do don't just run full signal into your subs b/c it will sound like shlt.

Answer 4

Yes it can damage them. Be sure the LPF on the amp is on and set no higher than what the subs can handle. This info should be in the manual that came with the subs.

Answer 5

Having vocals come from the subs, can finally harm it. how you may have it very last, is to: Have a effective Headunit. Your amplifier amplifies the signal from it, so the more effective the deck, the more effective the amplified signal, the more effective the signal reproduced. Have your amplifiers earnings, matched to the output voltage on your deck, for ex: 2Volts or 4Volts.. in no way use any bass enhancments/louds, and so on.. They positioned out distortion, which will spoil your sub. be certain the container has the acceptable airspace, also.. Use the lowpass crossover, set right to the length and tuning, of the woofer and enclosure..( I run 10's, So I initiate my tuning round 80hz..) good luck, and that i wish that permits a touch..

Answer 6

If the woofers have a power rating at least as large as that of the amplifier driving them, you should be fine.