DIY is a waste of my time, money, sanity etc (1 Viewer)

[DonHo]

I am on my second DIY sub, I built a vented adire ebs shiva 142 litre sub, and it sounded awful, it was buzzy (sounded like slapping the side of a big rubber air filled ball). So my concensus was 'air leak' so i sealed and resealed and retested then reseal retested etc etc. The sound would not improve. I gave up on it.

I decided to build a second sub, the 88.5 litre sealed shiva i was even more careful in the construction of it. I caulk all the joints as it was being built, followed the plans to a T, I used rope putty to seal the driver hole, and the binding posts. IT SOUNDS WORSE THAN THE FIRST ONE. I am using a JVC 240 amp to power it, I know it is wired correctly, i have my crossovers set up properly, it is not an issue of placement blah blah blah

I've dump $300 cdn into this (let alone my time etc) and it sounds like crap, i don't know if the driver is bad or what is wrong, i am extremely frustrusted, wished i had not read this forum and wish i had just bought a retail product.

any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Dustin B]

I hope it's just frustration there. Your tone and attitude will have to change if you expect to get your problems solved.

Something is wrong somewhere as I know how good a Tempest and Dayton DVC12" can sound.

With a sealed sub and what you've said in your post I'll assume the construction is solid and the sub is well sealed.

Have you tried the amp with another speaker you know is working? Recheck the wiring again (make sure the voice coils aren't out of phase). Have you tried swapping out the speaker wires and cables you are using? Have you tried running only one VC at a time? Do you have another amp you can try with the sub?

Can you give us more information on the crossover you are using?

 

[DonHo]

Yes, it is all frustration. Sorry, I know the tone was bad, I was taken my frustrations out on the keyboard. (My first stress relief choice would have probably involve a plane and 88.5 litre box falling out of it)

I will try some of your suggestions, unfortunately I only have one amp (outside of my main one)

As far as crossovers go I have HK525 set at 80hz (I have tried many combos with no luck)

Thanks for your suggestions Dustin, (Saskatchewaneans are amoungst the nicest people you could ever meet)

Don

 

[DonHo]

Just another thought, my jvc (the sub amp) has a graphic analyzer built in, when the sub is playing the bars on the analyzer show all frequencies being used (with more emphasis on the lower frequencies) i don't know if this is right or not. If not it would imply my main amp is not performing the x over properly.

 

[Seth_L]

It sounds like the leads are slapping agains the cone, or that there is something wrong with the driver.

Does it sound bad all any volume, or just when it's loud, or what?

Seth

 

[TonyiBe]

I know how you feel, i felt the same and with Dustin's help my Shiva in a 115l ported sounds amazing. I emailed Dustin non stop. At times i thought he was going to tell me "Hey buddy stop asking a million questions", but he didn't he answered all of them for me. I Love this place everyone is helpful, but i have learned from the last 2 months of my DIY projects that everything is patience. If i got frustrated i would walk away from the project and come back when my mind was clearer. After all my hardwork it has payed off. I see Dustins pointers and trust me he's on the money.

Hey Seth, I just received my AV12 and AV15 from Stryke and man those things are AWESOME, The build on them is amazing. I just have to figure out what enclosures i am going to build.

 

[DonHo]

It sounds its worst at low volumes and gets better (not perfect though) as the volume increases

Thanks for your replies
don

 

[Shawn Solar]

Hmm I can't help think the Jvc is too blame. It sounds like an integrated piece with a volume control. Maybe the volume control is faulty. I hope your not using the phono output. Try using different source inputs. If non above apply I would be bettibg the subwoofer is too blame. Have you tried the sub on the main speakers(xover disabled) I now this a fullrange signal. And to test the sub amp try it on your mains. by the sounds of it your running seperate sources(L+R on the amp, one to each coil) so your not over driving the amp(load of 4ohms). It has to be either the amp or sub.

 

[Seth_L]

Try plugging the sub directly into your HK525 in place of your front speakers and give it a listen. It won't be damaged by a full range signal.

Seth

 

[AdamN]

Did you try emailing Adire? If anyone can figure whats wrong it would be Dan Wiggins and the Adire techs.

 

[Isaac C]

If the noise is there even at low volumes, then the driver could be faulty -- the voice-coil might be rubbing against the pole piece.

Or...

Examin your receiver/player's sub out. I found my SONY DVP-S336's subout to have scratching, grainy, noise along with the bass signal. I knew it was my player's sub out because I've tested it with 3 other speakers and two other amps. And I don't have a receiver anyway.

The noise wasn't constant, it would hit as the bass hit. I didn't know if the noise was normal to, or a defect of, the player (as this is my first and only dvd player). To cancel out the noise, I set the player's crossover to the highest frequency (120Hz, I think), then my outboard subwoofer processor took care of the low-pass filtering (at around 50Hz) and equalization prior to feeding my Shiva's plain vanilla power amp... Problem solved

Try to plug your sub amp directly to either the left/right line outs of your player. If the problem is still there, connect your Shiva's terminals directly to your receiver's main speaker terminals as was suggested by Seth_L.


Be patient, the rewards will more than make up for the trouble you're experienceing now. Good luck!

Isaac

 

[Daniel T]

I think your problem can be with the JVC amp. I have an older JVC receiver with a sub out but everytime I hooked up a powered sub it would bottom it out very quick. I bought this POS from CC along with the sub about 5 years ago. At first CC thought it was the sub so we sent it in for repairs, until I brought a loaner home and it was doing the same thing. I brought the receiver back to the store and come to find out it was the receiver. JVC forgot to put a resistor into the receiver to help control the output to the sub. The receiver works ok and I use it a second room but hope to replace it soon. I would buy a plate amp or a better dedicated amp to use.

 

[DonHo]

thanks for all your responses,

Daniel I am using an HK525 as my main amp the jvc is the sub's amp it doesn't have a sub out nor do i need to have a sub out

Isaac, the HK525 is brand new and unlikely to be causing the problem, I do think you are right re VC rub as the bad sound is most prevalent at lower volumes (as in low volumes)it improves to some degree (not perfectly) as the volume goes up. This says to me that as the driver handles more power (with increase volume) it can better overcome the rubbing albeit not completely.

Does anyone know the warranty on these, it has been doing this from day one. I will try contacting Dan wiggins tomorrow for his thoughts.

Thanks
Don

 

[Michael R Price]

Don,

I agree with Seth's suggestion. Plug your subwoofer in place of one of your front speakers (high level outputs from the HK receiver), set them to large and just see if it makes the same sound. The problem you describe might not be a problem with your driver. If it was a problem with your driver Dan would probably recognize it and send you a new one immediately. Don't worry too much, I do have a feeling you will be happy with the result when you work this one out.

 

[DonHo]

Thanks Michael,

The problem still remains (when using on the mains) although not as pronounced (I assume this is cause by higher frequencies hiding the sound more). I'll talk to Dan tomorrow


Don

 

[Seth_L]

DonHo,

Sounds like you have a bad driver.

Seth

 

[Geoff L]

Don

Make sure to check the JVC that powering it also by hooking it up to some speakers and check both R & L channels using the H/K's sub out to feed it.

Sounds like the subwoofer itself is BAD but,,,,
I'd also want "to be sure" the JVC thats powering it is fine and the H/K also is doing it's crossover job. That way when the replacment driver comes, you know for sure the amp driving it is not a problem on either of it's channels and the H/K's sub out & crossover is working fine!

Best of luck
Geoff

 

[Seth_L]

Geoff,

If he hooked it straigt to the HK's power output and it still does it the driver's bad. The JVC is out of the loop and the HK's crossover isn't in the loop either. Sounds like the voicecoil is rubbing on something.

Seth

 

[Geoff L]

Seth

Yes, I understand that he hooked it up to the main receiver H/K speaker wires and it's still making noise.

BAD DRIVER scratchy coil/s...!!!!

But he will be running it with the JVC for the power and using the H/K's sub-out when he gets a new driver.
Right?
I just would make sure that there is no problems with those pieces "either".

Regards
Geoff

 

[Seth_L]

Geoff,

That is true. He may not be out of the woods yet. Only time will tell.

Seth