My Tempest is moving! What can I do to stop it(besides turning down the volume)?

Justin Ward · 07-01-2003, 04:19 PM

I noticed when playing some loud bass demos I got a clacking noise coming from my sub. I assumed this was the sub bottoming out at first. But then I noticed it seemed to come from the box not the driver. Then I thought my box was falling apart. Finally I discovered my box is moving while it plays and the clacking goes away when I sit on the box to keep in on the ground.

I'm surprised this can even happen when my SBB4 Tempest weighs nearly 190lbs. Is this normal? Is it due mostly to the downfiring position of the driver?

What do you think I could do to prevent this? Would bluetac on the bottom of the subs legs be enough to stop it?

TimForman · 07-01-2003, 04:28 PM

Somethings loose. With that much weight it shouldn't be moving unless it has some of that weight moving along with the driver. That could produce enough intertia to make it move.

Brian-K-Owens · 07-01-2003, 04:32 PM

Something padded on the feet will definitely help to prevent the clacking when the feet vibrate on the floor. . .

When I had my BPD 1803 in a sonotube, it would jump off the ground over 1"!!!!

190 lb. enclosure and it is vibrating with a tempest? Are you sure there is not a brace (or something else) vibrating within the cabinet, and when you sit on it it keeps the brace pressed against the side wall of the enclosure?

Brian

Justin Ward · 07-01-2003, 04:39 PM

I will have to try just holding down the legs. This should tell me if it is the enclosure jumping or a brace on the inside.

Brian-K-Owens · 07-01-2003, 04:46 PM

What kind of floor is it sitting on? Unless it is on hardwood, tile, etc., I would not think you would hear the feet vibrating against the floor. If it is on hardwood or tile, just put a couple of towels under the legs to isolate the vibration between the feet and the floor to test it.

If the floor a good solid floor? Is it upstairs, or over a basement? Could the floor itself be vibrating?

Brian

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Justin Ward · 07-01-2003, 05:31 PM

The flooring is linoleum(I think that is how to spell it). The room is above a crawl space. I will try the towels first. I am also going to put a cement slab under the sub soon because I hear it can improve sound quality. I don't think the floor is shaking. The shaking does seem to come from the top of the encosure though. It may be a brace or noises as a result of the jumping.

Justin Ward · 07-01-2003, 05:47 PM

I tried the towel suggestion and it had a pretty good effect. I only used one towel under each leg and it made the clacking considerably less noticeable. The sub still moves slightly but the noise is reduced. Just to test it out I played the Senator ship explosion in AOTC at 3Db from reference(a real sub killer) and no rude noises came from the sub.

TimForman · 07-01-2003, 10:10 PM

Makes you wonder about the floor.

Justin Ward · 07-07-2003, 12:10 PM

Bad news. I did some more listening to the sub and it just sounded kinda thin. After checking all my connections I noticed that only one channel of the stereo amp powering the Tempest was connected. I guess the noise would be reduced when you only send the sub half the power

. I'm amazed I was so stupid to not notice this right away. After hooking up the second channel, the noise returned

.