Alpine rw12-d4 making weird noise.

[Josh49]

Hi my alpine rw12-d4 started making this noise shortly after I got it last June. If anyone has any idea what this noise is that would be great before I take it back under warranty.

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[Lasherž]

Hi my alpine rw12-d4 started making this noise shortly after I got it last June. If anyone has any idea what this noise is that would be great before I take it back under warranty.

It sounds like it's hitting xmax or is at least under dampened. That can happen due to fatigue in ported or vented enclosures and can happen due to an air leak in a sealed enclosure. It could also happen due to a hole in the cone/surround. That's assuming no settings have changed between not hearing it and now hearing it on the same songs. It could also be something like a dust cap falling off and interacting with the back side of the cone inside the box, something resonating against the box, your car resonating from that specific note... Quite a few things. If it's the driver making that sound in a clean box then the box needs more dampening to keep the driver from experiencing so much unproductive excursion.

If you did change settings then you should probably reassess the new ones.

Is your amp well matched to your subwoofer? Is it more powerful? Did you set up the amp properly to not clip?

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Had that happen on a Fosgate p2. It turned out that the "dust cap" began to unglue at one spot. The entire cone area of your sub is the dust cap. I tried gluing the edge, but it proved too difficult getting under that rim. Ended up scrapping it. I would do the warranty.

 

[Josh49]

I’ve inspected the sub multiple times and can’t for the life of me see anything that looks bad. It still pounds like brand new but on certain songs and certain notes the sub just sounds like trash if I have the volume up. The way that noise plays through the box is terrible. Anyone got any good quality loud subs they recommend? I’m running a PDR-m65 alpine amp with a 1.5 net cu.ft box. Was thinking a JL W3

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I’ve inspected the sub multiple times and can’t for the life of me see anything that looks bad. It still pounds like brand new but on certain songs and certain notes the sub just sounds like trash if I have the volume up. The way that noise plays through the box is terrible. Anyone got any good quality loud subs they recommend? I’m running a PDR-m65 alpine amp with a 1.5 net cu.ft box. Was thinking a JL W3

Thats a decent sub.. Why not try a properly Tuned Enclosure before you go swapping subs??That Type R needs to be in a larger enclosure to perform. That 1.5 is more for like a 10" sub. Try building one or buy one tuned for that sub

 

[Josh49]

Thats a decent sub.. Why not try a properly Tuned Enclosure before you go swapping subs??That Type R needs to be in a larger enclosure to perform. That 1.5 is more for like a 10" sub. Try building one or buy one tuned for that sub

You think going to 1.7 like recommended would make a huge difference? I love the sub it pounds way harder than the type s 12”, just thrown off by the weird sound as the type s never made it in quite a small wedge box and still pounded

 

[Lasherž]

I’ve inspected the sub multiple times and can’t for the life of me see anything that looks bad. It still pounds like brand new but on certain songs and certain notes the sub just sounds like trash if I have the volume up. The way that noise plays through the box is terrible. Anyone got any good quality loud subs they recommend? I’m running a PDR-m65 alpine amp with a 1.5 net cu.ft box. Was thinking a JL W3

By inspect do you also mean the backside? I think the dust cap is a pretty likely culprit. As 1aespinoza mentioned it could still be attached but only weakly causing it to slap the hard plastic against the hard magnet which would sound horrible like that. In an undersized box I wouldn't expect mechanical noise like that unless there's an air leak or the port is too large/came unglued. Try playing it outside of the box (low volume) to see if you can narrow down what part the noise is coming from exactly.

 

[Josh49]

By inspect do you also mean the backside? I think the dust cap is a pretty likely culprit. As 1aespinoza mentioned it could still be attached but only weakly causing it to slap the hard plastic against the hard magnet which would sound horrible like that. In an undersized box I wouldn't expect mechanical noise like that unless there's an air leak or the port is too large/came unglued. Try playing it outside of the box (low volume) to see if you can narrow down what part the noise is coming from exactly.

Yes I’ve had it out if the box and still puts off the sound, someone told me it’s bottoming out when outside the box but I don’t understand why it would make the same sound while inside the box. Subs recommended for a 1.7 cu ft box and mine is 1.5 so not sure if that would make a huge difference.

 

[Lasherž]

Yes I’ve had it out if the box and still puts off the sound, someone told me it’s bottoming out when outside the box but I don’t understand why it would make the same sound while inside the box. Subs recommended for a 1.7 cu ft box and mine is 1.5 so not sure if that would make a huge difference.

It will bottom out outside of the box, but only if you turn up the volume. If it's doing it when the cone is barely moving then you may be looking at something scratching or bouncing around either inside the voice coil or maybe stuck on the spider. If it's the dust cap resonating then I don't think it would do so outside of the box, so maybe that rules that out. I think in order to be sure you should setup your amp with a test tone and a multimeter. If you're not exceeding the capacity of the speaker in the box and you're still experiencing noise then do the warranty return.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

You think going to 1.7 like recommended would make a huge difference? I love the sub it pounds way harder than the type s 12”, just thrown off by the weird sound as the type s never made it in quite a small wedge box and still pounded

Recommended enclosure is always key to the subs performance, environment, location ect., Yet, most of us experience out of the box for getting the Max performance from trial and error. Properly tumed enclosure is what you need.Do you have tools and time and a little patience?Follow directions? Approx. $100- 150 Bucks? If so you can make your own in a couple days.If you want a properly Tuned and Custom enclosure, just buy one.

1 Woofer Enclosure Design

Shop 1 Woofer Enclosure Design at the Guaranteed lowest allowed price of 75 with 20+ yrs of the best customer service, only at the SSA STORE

store.soundsolutionsaudio.com

Or buy a custom Tuned enclosure

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[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Yes I’ve had it out if the box and still puts off the sound, someone told me it’s bottoming out when outside the box but I don’t understand why it would make the same sound while inside the box. Subs recommended for a 1.7 cu ft box and mine is 1.5 so not sure if that would make a huge difference.

Send it in under your warranty.Sounds like you are going to have an issue with a coil. Id let them know its been doing this from day 1. Id still build a properly tuned enclosure for it.Ported will give you some really nice results with that Type R

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Recommended enclosure is always key to the subs performance, environment, location ect., Yet, most of us experience out of the box for getting the Max performance from trial and error. Properly tumed enclosure is what you need.Do you have tools and time and a little patience?Follow directions? Approx. $100- 150 Bucks? If so you can make your own in a couple days.If you want a properly Tuned and Custom enclosure, just buy one.

1 Woofer Enclosure Design

Shop 1 Woofer Enclosure Design at the Guaranteed lowest allowed price of 75 with 20+ yrs of the best customer service, only at the SSA STORE

store.soundsolutionsaudio.com

Or buy a custom Tuned enclosure

Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay

Buy & sell electronics, cars, clothes, collectibles & more on eBay, the world's online marketplace. Top brands, low prices & free shipping on many items.

rover.ebay.com

These are just some examples for you and suggestions to get that sub to perform to its potential

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Hey, just for shits and giggles try wrapping a sock around the junction. That is where the cone, spider and voice coil are glued together. If the ca glue is cracking, it will give you that sound on your video clip. I fixed an issue like that on one of my first subwoofers (freebie) in Jr. High. I tied shoe laces around that junction and bumped it on a home stereo for quite some time.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Hey, just for shits and giggles try wrapping a sock around the junction. That is where the cone, spider and voice coil are glued together. If the ca glue is cracking, it will give you that sound on your video clip. I fixed an issue like that on one of my first subwoofers (freebie) in Jr. High. I tied shoe laces around that junction and bumped it on a home stereo for quite some time.

LOL!! YES!! Shoe laces.Got ta Luv It!!

 

[Josh49]

Just ordered a DD-1. I’ll at least know if my gains are set properly and can go from there. This way I can rule out clipping or over powering the sub.