# Amps clip at high volume



## deadenddude (Jun 3, 2009)

I have 2 Diamond Audio D-7152 amps. One for the subs and one for the components. The gains are set all the way down. I still get a clip on music peaks at high volume though. I've tried other speakers and a different HU and the clip didn't go away so it's defiantly originating in the amps. I'm trying to figure out what's the cause of this, is it just the limit of the amplifier or could it be clipping because my stock electrical system isn't giving it adulate power to produce peaks? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.


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## GregU (Dec 24, 2008)

deadenddude said:


> I have 2 Diamond Audio D-7152 amps. One for the subs and one for the components. The gains are set all the way down. I still get a clip on music peaks at high volume though. I've tried other speakers and a different HU and the clip didn't go away so it's defiantly originating in the amps. I'm trying to figure out what's the cause of this, is it just the limit of the amplifier or could it be clipping because my stock electrical system isn't giving it adulate power to produce peaks? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.


How do you know the amp is clipping?


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

You need to put a good meter on the amp on the 12v power. Crank away and see what voltage drop you actually have at the amp, then you know for sure what power you are getting. Just watch a cheap meter they might not react that fast, but you can get an idea if it is dropping if you play with it for a while.

I assume you have a clip light on the amps? I have an infinity with one but not used it yet.

If you still have good 12v voltage at the amp (or ~14v running), it may be all you get out of it. Then I'd put a tone in and measure the AC and speaker ohms to see what you have at that clipping, and see if it is near what the maker specs for output power.


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## deadenddude (Jun 3, 2009)

GregU said:


> How do you know the amp is clipping?


I can hear it come through the speaker in the form of a popping sound.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

deadenddude said:


> I can hear it come through the speaker in the form of a popping sound.


Which drivers are popping? Sub? Components? Both? What are your crossover points set at?


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## deadenddude (Jun 3, 2009)

mikey7182 said:


> Which drivers are popping? Sub? Components? Both? What are your crossover points set at?


When the sub amp clips it comes through the subs. When the component amp clips it comes through the components. All my crossovers are set at about 100 hz.


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## savagebee (Sep 12, 2006)

any eq or bass boost in use?
is it a popping or slapping sound?


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## deadenddude (Jun 3, 2009)

savagebee said:


> any eq or bass boost in use?
> is it a popping or slapping sound?


No I run everything flat. No boost or EQ whatsoever. I'd say it's a popping. Like the sound you would get if you plugged a guitar cable into the amp while the amp was on.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Have you disconnected one amp to listen to the other one clip by itself? I.e. disconnecting the sub/sub amp and listen to the components alone? If you're running shallow slopes on say a 5.25" driver with a HPF at 100hz, it could still be reaching mechanical limits at high volume without a clipped signal. Also, don't rule out a clipped signal from the HU. Just because you tried another HU doesn't mean they both weren't clipping at high output. The best way to rule everything else out is to measure it like has been suggested, but maybe try the 2-3 things I mentioned to see if that narrows anything down for you.  A few other questions as well- is this on CD only, or all sources? Does it do it on all songs, or only some? Does your HU have a SLA (Source Level Adjuster) and if so, what is it set at?


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

ive had 3 d7 amps....2 of them had problems on the rca input area. I would get a poppy/fuzz sound. I recommend doing what i did...bring the amp in your room and hook it up to a speaker. I could use the xovers to make a bandpass and both times it was in the 80 to 200 hz region. We swapped in a demo JL 300/2 and no surpise...the buzz sound was gone. 

A friend of mine who is a extremely experianced installer also mistook the problem. He said, "ahh hah, that is clipping!" Couple hours of trying different things...the amp was swapped out and problem went with it. That was the 2nd time a D7 amp pulled that on me. I had 3 d7's for my install last winter. Needless to say, they are all gone now.


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## GregU (Dec 24, 2008)

deadenddude said:


> I can hear it come through the speaker in the form of a popping sound.


That's probably not clipping, the popping sounds could be caused by the amps getting a large enough voltage drop to power off briefly and power back on when they get the voltage back. If voltage stays in a good area, then I would look at the RCA inputs as being a possible culprit. It would be my luck to get 2 of the same amps with the same problem....

Question, do both amps make the popping sound at the same time?


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## diamondjoequimby (Jun 30, 2009)

What head units did you try? Also, can you tell if it is an electrical "pop" or a mechanical one? The only 2 ways I know can accurately tell if it is clipping is look at the wave form on an o-scope or listen w/ a test tone through a small amplified high impedance speaker and clipping will show up as the harmonics of the fundamental tone.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Music comes severely clipped as well sometimes.


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## ogg (Oct 13, 2007)

t3sn4f2 said:


> Music comes severely clipped as well sometimes.


This is, unfortunately, very true, especially with modern recordings. 
Silk: CuteStudio Ltd. Audio, electronics, graphics and embedded software - products/audio/CD_clipping/shame

I doubt that's the OPs problem, however.


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## tspence73 (Oct 14, 2008)

GregU said:


> That's probably not clipping, the popping sounds could be caused by the amps getting a large enough voltage drop to power off briefly and power back on when they get the voltage back. If voltage stays in a good area, then I would look at the RCA inputs as being a possible culprit. It would be my luck to get 2 of the same amps with the same problem....
> 
> Question, do both amps make the popping sound at the same time?


I'm going to go with this. Clipping is typically not a popping sound but rather distortion/static type sounds with a loss of impact. Popping is usually a tweeter related deal when it's fed a way too hot input.

What size power cables are you using? What is your alternator's amp rating? It may also be a speaker wire issue where it's loose at a terminal or intermittently touching ground.


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