c_k_115

Hello, i recently put in some Power Acoustik NB.1 tweeters, and am having a problem with them mainly at higher volumes. My deck goes to volume 40, and around the 28-32 range on bass-intensive songs my tweeters make clicking noises, which must not be very good for the tweeters. I am running them off of an ssl 400 watt 4 channel amp, and have the gain turned ALL the way down, and the high pass filter is on. Do i need resistors or capacitors for the tweeters? Any help would be appreciated. The tweeters still sound fine at lower volumes and on songs with less bass. Also, if i turn the bass setting on my deck to the negatives or zero, the clicking mostly goes away. Unfortunately those settings control all the speakers and subs, so there are no independent settings so i need the bass level at 2 or 3 out of 8 for my subs to be any loud.

wasted911

iTrader: (2)

are you running any sort of inline crossovers?

c_k_115

No, just the high pass filter right off of the amp, the tweeters are supposed to have something built in, but it said if your using high amounts of power( which i dont think i am with the gain all the way down) your supposed to use some kind of resistor or capacitor, can't quite remember i accidently through away the instructions

LOUDGUY

the clicking sound you are hearing sounds like the internal x-over(capacitor) is loading up and discharging. This is the only thing saving your tweeters from burning up due to over powering. resistors or a better quality x-over may help.

c_k_115

Thank you for your help. What kind of resistors would you reccomend for tweeters, or where could I get some reasonably priced crossovers? Thanks for your help!

tpcustomauto

install a capacitor get them from and electronics store look for one at 4.7 uf and a min of 50volts more volts means more power handling so the bigger volts reading the better and make sure they're nonpolarized this is the same as a bass blocker that a retail store will over charge you on

Tony Dehnke

One thing here.. I'm assuming from your description of the amp it's a Sound Storm Labs - f4.400 amp. The x-over on that is a fixed 200hz High-pass - which would work for mids - but is going to have very little benefit for your tweeters.

Most tweeters are crossed over at 2000-6000hz (2-6k).

They guys are right - better caps (or a change of frequency - higher) will help solve the problem. If your tweeters are already damaged it's not going to help much though. You may need a resistor as well - your amp may still be producing too much power for your tweeters.

Your profile says your from SK - Head to your local Audio Warehouse and they will be able to help you out. Tell em I sent ya

c_k_115

Thank you all for your help! Yes, the amp is a SSL f4.400. I got some capacitors, although i could not find 4.7uf only 3.3uf at 50 volts, and they seem to help a bit, but the clicking is still there. It will work at least temporarily until i can make it to the audio warehouse in Yorkton. I think my problem was more than just needing capacitors. It seems that the tweeters still make the clicking sound when the rca's are unplugged for that channel... Theres no sound that comes through, only a clicking once the volume is around the 30 range with the rca's unplugged just to the front channel. Could this possibly be a bad ground somewhere, maybe right off the amps ground? The ground from both my amps go to the same spot, which is on the trunk lid support.

Also i have one more question. Is it ok to have the rca's on a deck used at the same time as the 3 channels (Front Back and Sub) right off a deck is used? I have the two tweeters and 2 little 4.5's in the back off the amp, My pre-outs are 2 volt if that makes any difference. Thanks.

tpcustomauto

if they're making the clicking sound when the should be makeing no sound it is the amp from what i could understand of your ground location you should change it not a vary good spot usualy cause's problems. a better ground is always a good thing

Njord

I would suggest putting a lowpass filter on your midbass, although i would definitely put a high pass filter on the tweeter before you break them. As said above tweeters usually don't like anything under 3Khz (read the manual on your tweeter to find out the minimum frequency)
A capacitor =/= a filter. you need a resistor in there to make it a low/high pass filter. (Ideally you would use an LC filter to minimize resistive losses)

This wiki article will tell you all you need to know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-pass_filter
How to hook up the resistor capacitor and how to calculate it.
Fc is the frequency you want it to cut off at (probably around 3Khz) R is the resistor value, C is the capacitor value. Remeber uF (micro) is 1x10^-6. Then use basic algebra to rearrange the equation to find a resistor to make it work (since you already bought the capacitor)

The voltage rating and Watt rating on the capactior and resistor will depend on the amount of power your tweeter is running at.