Blown Subwoofer? (1 Viewer)

[Jamesurq]

Hoping that someone can tell me if I need to repair/replace the sub or the amp in this scenario. It's a 15" Parts Express subwoofer (build your own - ie: screw in the sub and amp). 240W RMS amp 250W RMS speaker REALLY good bass from this cheap ($300) setup. Had it running for about a year with zero problems and all of a sudden it's lost 80% of it's kick and it's buzzing. Question is, is it the amp or the speaker? I've attached a youtube video that hopefully will help:

 

[Robert_J]

1. Is it still under warranty? Some of the older PE stuff had 5 year warranties and they will honor them. 2. Can you push in the driver without it making a scratching noise? Make sure the amp is powered off? 3. Do you have another driver to test this with? Another amp? Rule out the offending party. The video sounds like a driver that has the voice coil unwinding. Have you really cranked it up lately before this started happening? Did someone else have control of the system while you weren't around?

 

[Jamesurq]

Yep - it's under warranty. I sent the video to someone in their technical department. They've asked me to hook up the amp to a functioning speaker just to be sure that it's not the amp (as you did) - and assuming it works, they're going to issue a return authorization for the speaker and replace it. To answer your questions on cranking it up? the answer is never past about 70% - but yes, I run it pretty loud. Here's hoping the replacement one doesn't do the same thing in another 6 months. But the more that I read, the more a multiple driver infinite baffle system in the crawl space sounds like a good plan. Now I just have to find an excuse to cut a huge hole in my hardwood floors

 

[Robert_J]

There are numerous decorative grates you can put over it. The jump between your sub and an IB like this is like going from a mini-van to a Lamborghini.

 

[Jamesurq]

So apparently although the driver is under a 5 year warranty, the amp (which is what it broken) is only a 1 year warranty. Figures. So for a $35 bench fee, $20 in shipping back and forth, they'll repair my 1 year old $90 amplifier.... groan...