Question about USED Subwoofers

[Mike Mcsweeney]

How do you test a used subwoofer. If the driver isn't broken, and it doesn't sound totally trashed, is it good, or??

I haven't ever bought a new subwoofer, and I am on my 3rd used one currently...and some are very highly rated.

It seems like all of them just kind of die if you turn them up too much or sound hollow..but then turn them down again, and they seem fine. Am i having bad luck with used subs, or is it normal for them to kind of just die if you turn them up too much? To clarify, I am not blowing the drivers, as they sound fine again at lower volumes.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

[coxhaus]

I would think if you are turning them up to much maybe you need 2 or a bigger one. New or used should not matter.

[maelob]

Can you be more specific on how are you connecting the sub?how high are you setting the volume? Which specific subs are u using? I've never had a issue with a sub. How loud are you listening to music?

[Mike Mcsweeney]

Can you be more specific on how are you connecting the sub?how high are you setting the volume? Which specific subs are u using? I've never had a issue with a sub. How loud are you listening to music?

 

the two that i have currently are a

Velodyne HG-10 and an Outlaw LFM-1

 

THe velodyne 10 sounds has a 10" sub and can get much louder than the 12" in the Outlaw and the Outlaw reviews suggest for the price range that you won't find more bang for the buck.

 

I am listening to the 10 pretty loud and it sounds pretty darn good, but it seems once you start pushing it, it just kind of dies... I bought the LFM-1 expecting to get a lot more boom (physically it is 4 times as big as the velodyne), and it got decent reviews, but the velodyne is probably twice as loud. In both cases, depending on how high you have the amp turned up, it seems to be optimal between 1/4 to 1/2 turn,but then if you turn it past that, they both kind of just get worse and softer...but not so much where it blows anything up or that it is shut down, because they still work..they just aren't as loud and sound like crap after after turning pass 1/2 way. Granted it's pretty loud before they crap out by pushing it. I am just wondering if i bought a brand new sub in the same price range that i would experience similar results.

 

Can you tell me if you play this song with your amp at half to 3/4 volume, and your sub at 1/2 turn, should it keep getting louder and you should be able to turn it all the way on the sub?

 

use this as reference song

[ckpiv]

the two that i have currently are a

Velodyne HG-10 and an Outlaw LFM-1

 

THe velodyne 10 sounds has a 10" sub and can get much louder than the 12" in the Outlaw and the Outlaw reviews suggest for the price range that you won't find more bang for the buck.

 

I am listening to the 10 pretty loud and it sounds pretty darn good, but it seems once you start pushing it, it just kind of dies... I bought the LFM-1 expecting to get a lot more boom (physically it is 4 times as big as the velodyne), and it got decent reviews, but the velodyne is probably twice as loud. In both cases, depending on how high you have the amp turned up, it seems to be optimal between 1/4 to 1/2 turn,but then if you turn it past that, they both kind of just get worse and softer...but not so much where it blows anything up or that it is shut down, because they still work..they just aren't as loud and sound like crap after after turning pass 1/2 way. Granted it's pretty loud before they crap out by pushing it. I am just wondering if i bought a brand new sub in the same price range that i would experience similar results.

 

Can you tell me if you play this song with your amp at half to 3/4 volume, and your sub at 1/2 turn, should it keep getting louder and you should be able to turn it all the way on the sub?

 

use this as reference song

 

If you are turning your amp half to 3/4 volume to get the volume you want you are pushing the amp to hard and past its limits. The amp does not have any headroom at these levels and is most likely clipping. IMHO, It appears you need to invest in a larger high current amplifier.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

If you are turning your amp half to 3/4 volume to get the volume you want you are pushing the amp to hard and past its limits. The amp does not have any headroom at these levels and is most likely clipping. IMHO, It appears you need to invest in a larger high current amplifier.

 

I wouldn't listen to it at that level on a regular basis, rarely actually. I was just pushing it to see what it will do. It the amp is at 3/4 and sounds fine, you are saying that by me turning the sub up, causes the amp to clip??

[mayhem13]

Sounds like a good possibility. It takes a LOT of current to reproduce deep bass and subwoofer drivers are not very efficient in nature. It doesn't help that most subwoofer mfgrs rate their amps at dynamic peak current and not RMS. My DIY 12" subwoofers are fed 1kw each and my 15s and 18s 1.6kw each.

[coxhaus]

The other thing to check is power as it sounds like to me you are going to need more than one circuit to power your amps and subwoofers since you drive them so hard.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

Sounds like a good possibility. It takes a LOT of current to reproduce deep bass and subwoofer drivers are not very efficient in nature. It doesn't help that most subwoofer mfgrs rate their amps at dynamic peak current and not RMS. My DIY 12" subwoofers are fed 1kw each and my 15s and 18s 1.6kw each.

 

I would think that the fact that they are powered subwoofers, that it wouldn't require a lot of amps to drive them....

[Mike Mcsweeney]

can anyone else try this test for me if they have a powered subwoofer.....

 

turn your amp up 1/2 or more.

play this video:

if your dac has volume or you control volume by speaker turn it up, say 3/4

then turn your subwoofer up a little at a time, noting where the sweet spot is, and what happens if you keep pushing it all the way up.

[mayhem13]

can anyone else try this test for me

if your dac has volume or you control volume by speaker turn it up, say 3/4

then turn your subwoofer up a little at a time, noting where the sweet spot is, and what happens if you keep pushing it all the way up.

 

My drywall cracked and my neighbors called the seismic alert center.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

My drywall cracked and my neighbors called the seismic alert center.

 

ROFL....

 

seriously, your subwoofer didn't drop out? You can turn your sub all the way up with your amp turned up too, and no issues? I guess i will need to buy a new sub instead of a used one if what i am experiencing is not normal behavior...

[Mike Mcsweeney]

well, i downloaded the manual for the outlaw lfm1 plus, and set all the knobs the way they suggested, and even with it turned up just half way it didn't sound good. I don't know if it is defective or just that the HGS-10 velodyne is that much better. The velodyne is 1/4 the size of the outlaw (literally), but it blows it away. I just bought a second one to see how a 12" well reviewed would compare to the 10" velodyne. I thought it would shake the walls down, but no such joy. Granted the 10" gets very loud and i could feel the thumps and vibrations anywhere in the 12' square office, which is more than i really would want for regular listening pleasure, but i was so excited by the thunder of the 10" that i just wanted MORE POWER (grin)....i wanted to really hear kati perry ROAR. Well i am going to return the 12" and be satisfied with my 10" velodyne...it really does rock.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

also, just in case anyone else stumbles across this thread looking for testing your subs, check out you tube and try search subwoofer tests or bass test tones or a similar searches...you can find some nice tests to run your subwoofers through a range of frequencies....i liked this one best as you could leave it on one tone for a period of time for comparison purposes or jump around to different frequencies easily...i downloaded for my arsenal of other music files.