As stated in my project thread, my subwoofer randomly cut out on me this past week, and I can't stand not having the "full" sound which is now gone. This happened once about 6 months ago, shortly after buying the sub/box. I ended up taking it apart, re-doing the connection from the sub to the box, and everything worked again. I did the same thing a few nights ago and no dice.

Symptoms: The sub doesn't bump or make any noise. However, if I rest my hand on the cone, it will turn on and work...to a point. It will get to certain frequencies and start to rattle.

The amp is not clipping out (or cutting out), just the sub no longer works. Is it blown?

My current set-up consists of a 5 channel Alpine amp. Model number MRV-F450... the amp channel puts out 200w RMS at 4 ohms. The subwoofer is a 10" MTX Road Thunder RT12-04 rated for 200w rms at 4 ohms. There are three little dials on the amp for the 5th (sub) channel, all of which are either at the 1/2 way point, or a little behind that.

If it is blown, can someone recommend me a 10" subwoofer that I will not have to worry about in the future and/or how I can go about preventing this from happening again? I thought that since both the amp and sub were are the same specs, everything would be fine. I liked the sound that the MTX provided to be honest, so I wouldn't mind going with another of them. I also have had Alpine's and never complained. I will not buy a Sony subwoofer. LOL Just not a fan of their subs. Lastly, I do understand that generic boxes aren't the best for subs. I am not that into sound quality, I just like to have 7+ speakers in the car in order to hear the highs/mids/lows and everything in between.

Also, I am thinking about replacing the stock tweeters with something a little better. Any recommendations?

Thanks guys,
-Pat

 

no clue on the sub, but i have mb quart component speakers and they absolutely rock. tick so hard it'll make your ears hurt. the even tick over my fosgate p3 on 1000 watts. i could russle up pics of the component speakers if u want, but i cant post pics to well cuz im too damn stupid...

 

Thanks, however, I will stick to my sub for now. I dont have the money to drop on a nice set of components. That may be a possibility in the future though.

After searching around on youtube, the sub woofer is definitely blown.

Anyone with a suggestion for a replacement? How can I stop myself from blowing another sub? As I stated before, I thought that since both the amp and sub were 200RMS @ 4 ohms, everything would be fine.

 

well pull the subwoofer out and inspect the 2 little tensil wires going from the terminals to the subs center cone... if you see a black spot or frayed spot in the wire then thats your bad point! a simple touch of solder and it will work fine again! been there done that quite a few times, just dont add to much solder since if you use to much solder it will flow all over the flexable wire and make it solid and not flexable anymore, and that will cause the wire to get ripped out. it happens....
and tho the amps still set low it could be starving for voltage thats messing up the signals as well that might also cause clipping. have you upgraded your ground wires at least? i know the stock alt is weak as hell! but for a small amplifier i dont see to much of a problem unless at night at a stop light with the headlights and ac or heat on full blast while system cranked up.

 

I took the sub out of the box and added a little solder to the connections a few days ago, but nothing happened. I saw a youtube video showing you how to determine if your sub is blown or not, and it most definitely is.

The ground wire off the battery has yet to be re-done at this time. The one from the VC to the rad support and trans to frame rail have been "upgraded". I will go ahead and get that last one done soon. The amp is not clipping.

I am thinking if I get something that is like 300w rms at 4 ohms, I wont have this issue again?

 

id like to see this VIDEO...lol
you dont add solder if the wires not fraid or black spot... im talking about the tensil wire NOT the wire terminal.

if the sub still works on and off then its most likely a fraid tensil wire. if the sub is blown it will either send the amplifier directly into protection mode or the sub will have a BAD SCRATCHY SOUND when you push in on the subwofer equally. use both hands and move the subs cone down and such on both sides equally. if no scratching or dragging then its not bad.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQAu-V9WT-w

I cannot see any wires which are blackened or frayed. The sub does have a scratchy sound when pressed in.

 

ok ya if its scratching then ya its bad.

 

the first thing to look for when buying a new sub is to match it with your box. what size is it? is it sealed or ported? if you have a site where i could look at specs that would be great.

 

consider getting a 300 watt subwoofer, might be able to take the beating your alpines putting on your mtx. considered a capacitor?