I broke something in my subwoofer... (edit: I tore my spider a new one!)

[isasir]

So I was blasting my stereo pretty loudly over the Labor Day weekend (we were outside, speakers, sub were inside) and now my sub (KLH KSUB10, 10" woofer, 120 amp) sounds like crap. It still makes noise, but it sounds almost as if there's loose paper in front of it or something. I don't know much about stereo equipment, but my friend said that it's probably the cone that's busted. I already used this as an excuse to buy a better sub (spent $100 on this one), but I'm curious if this does sound like a busted cone issue, and if so, is this something I could replace? If so, where?

BTW, I opened up the sub and looked inside and nothing seems to be visibly wrong.

Edit: So yeah, I checked the driver, and there was a tear in the spider.

 

[tweakmm]

It sounds like you blew your sub.

 

[rudeguy]

probably blew the surround on the speaker...check into getting it reconed, but you will probably be better off just getting another cheap sub

 

[Mayhem1869]

yeah, sounds like it's blown. you can't replace the cone, but you could just replace
the driver instead of the whole unit.

 

[spidey07]

Sounds like a busted spider.

Thats the strong flexible material that holds the cone in place. Its behind the cone itself. Its actually pretty hard to blow a speaker out of its surround (you have to tear the spider first and THEN blow it out of the surround...ain't pretty. )

Yep, your speaker is beyond repair. Time to replace.

 

[Blueopticalmouse]

Blew your sub/same as ripping cone or surround. Not worth it to have it redone. Just buy new.

 

[Lithium381]

probably ripped your speaker a new one, buy a replacement speaker, not the whole sub, and you should be fine

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Sounds like you overheated the voice coil and cause it to melt/distort from it's round shape, so it's now rubbing. This'll make a paper scratching noise...

 

[isasir]

So guys, should I buy a new sub?

Got shipping confirmation on a HSU VTF-2 about 3 hours ago. I just figured I'd see if there's anything I could do with this existing sub.

 

[spidey07]

to check for a busted spider push gently on the cone evenly. Hear any crackling? If so then that's the spider unable to keep the voicecoil aligned with the magnet.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: RishiS
So guys, should I buy a new sub?

Got shipping confirmation on a HSU VTF-2 about 3 hours ago. I just figured I'd see if there's anything I could so with this existing sub.

Replace the driver.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: spidey07
to check for a busted spider push gently on the cone evenly. Hear any crackling? If so then that's the spider unable to keep the voicecoil aligned with the magnet.

if its a home audio sub he probably cant access the actual speaker without disassembling the whole thing

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: spidey07
to check for a busted spider push gently on the cone evenly. Hear any crackling? If so then that's the spider unable to keep the voicecoil aligned with the magnet.

if its a home audio sub he probably cant access the actual speaker without disassembling the whole thing

????

Of course you can. I've replaced drivers in home speakers all the time. Even swapped out the panels on my martin logans. It ain't that hard.

 

[isasir]

Although I'll look into the advice given here, is there a place that helps troubleshoot this sort of thing, to at least figure out the problem? My searches on hometheaterforum.com weren't yielding any good results, nor was google.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: RishiS
So guys, should I buy a new sub?

Got shipping confirmation on a HSU VTF-2 about 3 hours ago. I just figured I'd see if there's anything I could do with this existing sub.

You'll enjoy the HSU. If you blow it you need to calm it down just a little. Pretty tough sub. I had one for a few months, really nice for the money.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: RishiS
Although I'll look into the advice given here, is there a place that helps troubleshoot this sort of thing, to at least figure out the problem? My searches on hometheaterforum.com weren't yielding any good results, nor was google.

Rishi,

If you push on the driver and it makes a noise, its blown.

Cone or surround damage can be seen.

Spider or voicecoil damage can be seen/heard. Remove the driver from the box and check the spider. If the cone does not move smoothly and lineraly then you toss it.

If it is your voicecoil you could risk shorting out the speaker and could cause damage to the amplifier.

found a quick diagram of a convential loudspeaker if it helps with the terminology.

http://www.audioconsultengineering.com/crosssection.htm

 

[isasir]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: RishiS
So guys, should I buy a new sub?

Got shipping confirmation on a HSU VTF-2 about 3 hours ago. I just figured I'd see if there's anything I could do with this existing sub.

You'll enjoy the HSU. If you blow it you need to calm it down just a little. Pretty tough sub. I had one for a few months, really nice for the money.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[isasir]

To follow-up, I did check on the driver and it turns out that there's a tear in the spider.

It seems like a good amount of ppl. that purchased this sub ended up replacing the driver from the get-go, since it's a good amp, but so-so driver. I suppose I could do the same thing if I wanted, but then again, with my HSU arriving on Wednesday, I don't know if I'll bother.