Possible Perils Pertaining To Power Handling
The power-handling capability of any woofer is related to both its ability to dissipate heat, and the maximum excursion limits of its cone. Power handling for sub- woofers is directly related to the type of enclosure that is chosen. The JBL Power Series sub- woofers are designed to meet their power ratings in properly designed, sealed, vented, and bandpass boxes. Please be aware of the following:
•Voice-coil overheating and burning is typically caused by overdriving an amplifier into ”clipping“. This damages more speakers than any other cause. Damage occurs because the amplifier is too small rather than too large. Bass that sounds bro- ken up and distorted at higher volumes usually indicates that the amplifier is being asked to deliver power beyond its capabilities.
•Sharp ”popping“ sounds coming from a woofer indicate that the voice coil is ”bottoming out“ or hitting the back of the motor structure. This can seriously damage a woofer. Either your sealed box is too big or leaking air, the port tuning frequency of a vented box is too high or your amp may be overpowering the woofer. Fix the box, retune the box or turn the gain down on the amplifier respectively.
•Infinite Baffle or ”free air“ mounting applications allow for greater cone excursion than sub- woofers mounted in an enclosure. In order to compensate, the power rating of the subwoofer should be reduced to half its rated power. If the woofer ”pops,” turn down the amplifier gain.
5 Ohms And System
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In order to increase flexibility, the Power Series subwoofers are designed with a 5-ohm nominal impedance. This provides an extra margin of safety for simple installations, and allows those in competition or those who are always pushing the ”edge“ to use more woofers per amplifier chan- nel safely and efficiently, without shutting the amplifier down or exceeding the amplifier‘s SOA (Safe Operating Area), which could cause serious damage. In systems using multiple woofers per channel, please make sure your amplifier can drive low- impedance loads safely and effectively.
