I have a JL 10w6v2 installed in my s2k, has about 1 cubic ft in its sealed enclosure and is powered by a directed audio 1200d amp thats rated at 300wrms @ 4 ohms. Well yesterday i heard this nasty cracking sound coming from the sub. I inspected it and saw that the rubber diaphram around the cone was ripped in one part and separating all around the woofer.

I took the speaker to the place I bought it from, being that I had a one year warranty on the sub. They told me it was either overpowered or underpowered or not enough volume space. it wasnt over powered and wasnt underpowered either. He did say that it smelled like the voice coil was burnt. How can that be.

I did what they suggested when I first got that sub, turn my gain all the way up on the amp and set the sub volume level until i heard the sound distorting. It was fine for 2 months. Am i going to keep having these problems? the guy also said that im under powering the sub so I should ditch my directed amp and get a jl 500.1 Any insight from anyone would greatly help

 

id say that where you went and got advice was pretty much correct.
you are probably underpowering your subwoofer because your amplifier at maximum output only supplies the subwoofer with 300rms watts, and the 10w6 is capable of handling 400rms watts.
you should also get a correct box or build your box to some sort of jl spec.
good luck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LSRracing95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">id say that where you went and got advice was pretty much correct.
you are probably underpowering your subwoofer because your amplifier at maximum output only supplies the subwoofer with 300rms watts, and the 10w6 is capable of handling 400rms watts.
you should also get a correct box or build your box to some sort of jl spec.
good luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

the box is has at least one cubic foot, and the sub according to jl can be underpowered and not damage the speaker, i was well within the operating range

 

maybe it is just a defective driver then, that can happen.
it sucks that you got something not up to par for JL. but at least its under warrenty, so the only headache is sending it out and getting it fixed, or being sent a brand new one. let me know.

 

thanx for your input bro, i appreciate it

 

At a 2 ohm load the amp should have enough power to drive the speaker properly, [DVC 4 ohm wired in parallel is a 2 ohm load] however if the VCs are wired in series for an 8 ohm load, the amp will make very little power, [about 150W rms] recommended box volume for that sub is .625cuft net, add the sub .068cuft = .693cuft.
Sounds to me like the box is too big at "about 1 cubic ft" other factors will apply but a box that is too big would not have very good control of the sub leading to the torn and separating surround, also a burnt VC means too much power or a severely clipping amp.

More then a few times I have replaced subs with burnt VC just because the amp was improperly wired, [poor power or ground cables or their connections], an amp that is not getting the current it needs will start clipping long before it makes it's rated power.

We are a JL dealer and we would still send the sub in to JL and have them check it, and the only time I have seen JL not replace them under warranty is if the VC is burnt, torn, subs with separated or damaged surrounds have always been replaced, [unless it's obvious that it is from an external source (screwdriver pocked through it)]

The W6 is a very dependable speaker, and even though it sounds like your box is too big, I'd be willing to bet there are other problems.

What kind of box is it?
Is the box airtight?
What are you using for power and ground cable?
Where is the amp grounded and how?
What kind of fuse is being used on the power cable by the batt.?
Has the oem batt. to chassis ground been upgraded?
Are all the connections on the power and ground cable soldered?
What kind of HU are you using?
What was the sub x-over point?

Answer the above and I will have a better idea of what went wrong. 94

 

fcm, you seem to have a very good idea of whats going on here.
im impressed with your knowledge in the audio area and appreciate what you have to say.
as for the rest of this thread, just read what was said and as posted before..
send the subwoofer back and pray for guarantee. good luck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">At a 2 ohm load the amp should have enough power to drive the speaker properly, [DVC 4 ohm wired in parallel is a 2 ohm load] however if the VCs are wired in series for an 8 ohm load, the amp will make very little power, [about 150W rms] recommended box volume for that sub is .625cuft net, add the sub .068cuft = .693cuft.
Sounds to me like the box is too big at "about 1 cubic ft" other factors will apply but a box that is too big would not have very good control of the sub leading to the torn and separating surround, also a burnt VC means too much power or a severely clipping amp.

More then a few times I have replaced subs with burnt VC just because the amp was improperly wired, [poor power or ground cables or their connections], an amp that is not getting the current it needs will start clipping long before it makes it's rated power.

We are a JL dealer and we would still send the sub in to JL and have them check it, and the only time I have seen JL not replace them under warranty is if the VC is burnt, torn, subs with separated or damaged surrounds have always been replaced, [unless it's obvious that it is from an external source (screwdriver pocked through it)]

The W6 is a very dependable speaker, and even though it sounds like your box is too big, I'd be willing to bet there are other problems.

What kind of box is it?
Is the box airtight?
What are you using for power and ground cable?
Where is the amp grounded and how?
What kind of fuse is being used on the power cable by the batt.?
Has the oem batt. to chassis ground been upgraded?
Are all the connections on the power and ground cable soldered?
What kind of HU are you using?
What was the sub x-over point?

Answer the above and I will have a better idea of what went wrong. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

The box is a sealed enclosure, sealed perfectly. The power and ground is 2 gauge or even 0. the ground cable is only 6 inches long and is grounded perfectly. the fuse is an standard fuse you would get with amp kit. the xover point is 80k, the head unit is a Pioneer DEH-P770MP Premier.

I didnt solder the power and ground cable, or upgrade the chassis ground.

i am considering that the amp I used a directed audio 1200d amp, just isnt good enough and am going to upgrade to a jl 500.1 amp

here is a link to the 1200d specifacations http://www.directed.com/audio/amps/default.asp

 

I seen in your first post that u have your gain turned all the way up.
Who told you to do that?
Its exactly oppisite,gain should be all the way down and then put volume on a resonable level than turn ur gain up til u hear distortion.
And like fcm said make sure its wired in parellel.
Should be enough to push that sub,but couldnt hurt to get more.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Skip01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I seen in your first post that u have your gain turned all the way up.
Who told you to do that?
Its exactly oppisite,gain should be all the way down and then put volume on a resonable level than turn ur gain up til u hear distortion.
And like fcm said make sure its wired in parellel.
Should be enough to push that sub,but couldnt hurt to get more.</TD></TR></TABLE>

he hit it on the head, im almost postive you clipped it to death, thats why you have to set your gains with a dmm. and your dealer is a complete greasy dumbass... you can't underpower a sub

very sorry to hear, but lesson learned (shitty way to learn, i know). let us know if you need any help with your next setup or new subwoofer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chubzilla &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The box is a sealed enclosure, sealed perfectly. The power and ground is 2 gauge or even 0. the ground cable is only 6 inches long and is grounded perfectly. the fuse is an standard fuse you would get with amp kit. the xover point is 80k, the head unit is a Pioneer DEH-P770MP Premier.

I didnt solder the power and ground cable, or upgrade the chassis ground.

i am considering that the amp I used a directed audio 1200d amp, just isnt good enough and am going to upgrade to a jl 500.1 amp

here is a link to the 1200d specifacations http://www.directed.com/audio/amps/default.asp </TD></TR></TABLE>You sound confident that the box is sealed "perfectly" how do you know this, what kind of box is it, [custom or prebuilt]?

Can you give me the inside dimensions HxWxL ?

"2 or even 0 gauge" cable is pretty thick stuff, [more then needed for that amp but can't hurt]

There is more then one kind of fuse that comes with amp kits, ATC, MAXI, AGU, ANL/WFR, what kind is yours, is it the "blade type" ATC/MAXI, [ATC like you have in your fuse box or MAXI a bigger version] or AGU, [big glass fuses] or ANL/WFR, [also called wafer fuses, also comes in "mini" version]?

One of the problems you can run into if term. are not soldered to the power/ground cables is oxidization. If air, [oxygen] can get to the connection between the wire and term. it will oxidize and can build up a lot of resistance.

Also you say it is grounded "perfectly", again to what and how?

I assume you mean the x-over point is 80Hz.

The JL Audio 500/1 is a great sub amp 500W RMS into 1.5- 4 ohms @ 11V-14.5V, at 4ohms the THD is .05%, fully variable (40-200Hz) 12 or 24dB per octive L/P x-over. among other things.


As I said the amp you have should power the sub no problem, the JL amp will be better, the words under powered and overpowered are misunderstood and mis used a lot.
Engenics is correct, kind of, underpowering a sub will not blow a sub, eg: driving a 400W sub with a 300W amp will not blow the sub, the problem starts when you overdrive the 300W amp into continues clipping, it produces a lot of heat at the VC that can't be dissipated fast enough, so the VC burns up.
As I also have said, I have replaced more speakers with burnt VC on "underpowered" systems, [by a 100 fold at least] then I have on systems that are properly matched or "overpowered" and again it's not because the amp has less power then the speaker can handle, it's because the amp was driven into clipping continuously.

The result would be pretty much the same if you have a 400W amp running a 300W speaker, if you push the amp to it's full 400W continuously, the speaker WILL be damaged. 94

 

guys thank so much for helping me out. Yeah im going to get the jl 500.1 as everyone ive been talking to has said its best combo for that sub. Im almost positive the amp was clipping to death.