Trying to find a replacement Woofer (1 Viewer)

[bpickell]

My Sub blew a speaker and I'm trying to find a replacement speaker to fix it.. I would like to find a speaker with similar specs and was wondering what my options would be... Sorry I'm being so cheap, I really don't have the cheddar required to buy a new powered sub, and yes I know my current sub isn't all that great to begin with. But I'm on a budget.

The speaker I'm trying to replace is a Kenwood 8":

PN:T10-0848-05

From Model number powered sub: SW-36HT

Is there anything out there with similar specs to replace this speaker with?

Oh Crap!! I posted this in the wrong section... I thought I was in the speaker section.. could someone please move this post... Thanks

 

[Ed Moxley]

Check these pages, starting here:
Search Results Page

 

[bpickell]

I was looking at that website, but without knowing the exact specs of my woofer it makes it a little difficult to find an off brand replacement. I don't want to buy one that is too different since the cabinet is tuned specifically for the specs of that speaker. I have no problem with buying an off brand speaker but I would like to know that it has the same specs as the speaker coming out.

 

[Ed Moxley]

Contact Kenwood...........

 

[Brent_S]

Wow, that subwoofer's hard to find. Looks like it was mostly part of a Kenwood HTiB system. I like how the sub is "powered by a 100 watt amp", but if you look at the photos of the sub, it's rated power draw is 100 watts. Given the typical 70% efficiency of Class AB amps, real world RMS power is probably 70 watts at most, likely a bit less into real world loads.

What are the symptoms that lead you to believe the driver is blown?

The biggest concern you have finding a 3rd party driver is any EQ that Kenwood dialed into the sub's amp to shape the output response.

The enclosure itself is what it is. It's not specific to any one driver other than being suitable for the driver's T/S parameters, which can be offset to some degree by amp EQ. The cabinet's key spec is net volume after subtracting out for bracing, amp, driver, and port volume (treat it like a solid cylinder). Gross volume wise, I'm estimating somewhere around 1.25 - 1.4 ft^3 depending on whether it's built from .75" or .5" material.

The port tuning is a function of port diameter, length, and box net volume, it has nothing to do with the driver. Using WinISD, Unibox, or even PSP's port length calculator , you can back into the tuning frequency.

If cheap is the word and Kenwood is too expensive or no longer has a replacement driver, I'd suggest P-E's SDVC-8. It works well in enclosures as small as 1 ft^3 tuned to 30ish Hz, but likes bigger/lower tuning if possible. Even if it fits the physical paremeters of your cabinet, remember any EQ in the Kenwood amp might be counterproductive to final sound quality. Given your requirements, you've kind of painted yourself into a corner. Spend much more than $30 for the SDVC-8 and you might as well get the Sub-80 for $90 delivered. I'm not currently aware of any other decent 8" subwoofer drivers available for less than $30...ignoring Jack's deals because he requires an $80 minimum order.

-Brent

 

[bpickell]

What drove me to believe that the driver is blown is really quite simple.. My sub has been rattling really bad lately so I decided to take the grill off and voila there it was the foam surround had a tear in it and had also separated from the outside of the speaker cage. So every time the sub fired it would blow a ton of air through the separated foam.

I found someone locally that could replace the driver for me for 65 bucks, but I checked the local HH Gregg to see what they had on sale, and on the closeout table was a Polk Audio PSW125 12" powered sub. I paid $145 for it.. I feel like I stole the thing.. Does anyone know anything about this sub as to weather or not it's a decent one?

 

[Brent_S]

That certainly sounds like a deal. Looks like it typically sells for $300-350ish.

I wouldn't call a rotted surround "blown", but failure is failure. If you still want to revive the Kenwood, P-E and other speaker vendors offer refoam kits. For the price difference, I'd still consider the SDVC driver swap, if you can confirm the tuning frequency is acceptable. Even at $28, it's almost certainly a superior driver to what Kenwood used in the 36HT.

-Brent

 

[Ed Moxley]

You can buy a foam kit for that size speaker, on eBay, and repair it yourself. Everything you need, along with instructions, comes with the foam kit. They run somewhere around $20-$25, I think.

Ha........I guess Brent beat me to it by a minute.

 

[bpickell]

How hard are those foam kits to install? I did see those, but I just thought it was going to be too much of a pain in the hind end to install and get it right.

 

[Brent_S]

Never done it myself, but the P-E description sounds pretty straight forward. It's still probably harder than measuring the gross volume of the cabinet and then measuring the port to determine the cabinet volume and tuning frequency to see if the SDVC-8 would be happy in there.

Just food for thought, this is a nearfield measurment of the SDVC-8 I built for my parents. Effective cabinet volume is about 1.4 ft^3 with a 30ish hz tuning. Ingore the actual SPL reading, when your mic is 1/4" off the dust cap or port mouth, everything measures loud.


-Brent

 

[Ed Moxley]

I will be finding out myself, soon, probably after Christmas. My Allison speakers need foaming. Some guys over at AudioKarma.org, say they have done several, and it's not hard. You just have to be careful. We'll see...........