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Subwoofer Questions


abattle10

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Near the end of the season the subwoofer in my 2010 LSV stopped putting out sound. Now that I finally dug into it, I have power at the amp (not in protect mode) and there is power at the end of the wiring going into the sub. I can softly press the cone (with some resistance) in and there is no scraping or awful noises. Subwoofer is also "turned on" in the HU.

Amp is the stock RF Punch 400x2 bridged. The sub is a 12" Vibe Space 3000 W. Is this the stock sub? We are second owner and I am not sure what the previous owner may have done.  I believe this is it http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_31819_VIBE-Audio-SPACE12D4-V4.html but the connections look a little different on mine. It was wired to the connections on one side while on the other side there were connectors labeled for 2 ohm.

I am a rookie when it comes to all things audio so bear with me. Is this sub blown? Am I currently wired at 4 ohms? Can I or will it make a difference if I rewired to the other side that is labeled at 2 ohm?

TIA!

Edited by abattle10
added info
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Stock sub was the RF M12, decent sub with that amp provided you don't have the factory POS sub box. I did have 2 subs warrantied for bad coils though. My '10 factory sub box was totally shot after 1 year being pulled apart by the weight of the sub and the poor stapled together construction of the starboard plastic. Additionally according to the RF spec sheet for that sub, the sub box was almost 1/2 the recommended size for that sub. If you are not an audiophile and have the skills I would build your own sealed box per the RF specs and stick another M12 in it. The correctly sized new sub box properly sealed made a world of difference in the SQ of my sub and probably would have prevented my 2 previously failed subs from happening. JM2C

Edited by wdr
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30 minutes ago, abattle10 said:

and there is power at the end of the wiring going into the sub

There is? what exactly did you measure? 

 

30 minutes ago, abattle10 said:

I have power at the amp (not in protect mode)

its on I presume? 

 

33 minutes ago, abattle10 said:

but the connections look a little different on mine. It was wired to the connections on one side while on the other side there were connectors labeled for 2 ohm.

I do not know anything about that woofer and have not looked at the link. However, I can say for sure that on a dual voice coil woofer, both woofers need to be wired. This can be done externally of it can be done internally on some woofers by means of jumpers or switches. Having said that, I dont see this being the cause of woofer to just stop working, if someone had previously left one coil un-wired unless that one powered coil burned. An impedance check will help alot here in determining the state of the woofer.

 

38 minutes ago, abattle10 said:

or will it make a difference if I rewired to the other side that is labeled at 2 ohm?

No. The amp will not like a 2 ohm load. Also, if a coil is bad, you've got a bad woofer.  

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@MLA I disconnected the sub and used a voltmeter at the ends of the wires. Is this a capable way of making sure I have power all the way to the sub? Yes, I meant that the amp powers on.

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3 hours ago, MLA said:

 An impedance check will help alot here in determining the state of the woofer.

I am assuming that would be to just use an multimeter/ohmmeter at the terminals?

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Totally disconnect the subwoofer from the amplifier. Measure the DCR of both voice coils individually to make sure they are the same. Manually move the subwoofer cone as much as you safely can while measuring the very small AC voltage output across the voice coil(s), whether separately, in series, or parallel. Take a small 9 volt battery and momentarily pop the woofer. All methods to verify operation and condition without disassembly of the system.   

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