Almost blew my eardrums out testing a new subwoofer install

I wired up a cheap 12-inch sub in my driveway last Saturday, turned the gain dial to what I thought was halfway, and hit play on 'Bass I Love You' by Bassnectar. The rearview mirror flew off the windshield and my ears rang for two hours. Anybody else have a DIY audio project go sideways in the first 10 seconds?

2 comments

2 Comments

hart.mark6h ago

Blind guess on the gain setting there. Did you actually look up the RMS rating on that sub before you wired it up, or did you just crank it until it felt right? Most people don't realize that "halfway" on a gain knob doesn't mean half power, it just means half the voltage range, and your amp might already be clipping like crazy before you even hit half. That mirror flying off is pretty scary, did you check to see if you cracked the windshield or just knocked it loose? I'd be less worried about the ears and more worried about that battery draining fast if you were pounding it without the car running.

murphy.barbara6h ago

Yo did your buddy ever try that whole "gain matching with a multimeter" thing or did he just wing it like the rest of us? My friend Tom hooked up a 15 inch kicker in his Honda Civic and the first bass note made his trunk latch pop open.