Bought 2 RE audio 18 SX's....... and....

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

How about the bass and sub level on the head unit? What are those set at?

 

[knowledgestick 10+ year member]

I don't doubt it had anything to do with amp settings. Why would a manual tell you to set the gain at 12 o clock without knowing anything else about what you have? Does it say to use bass boost on the amp too?

it says and i quote

" This setting is a fixed bass boost at 45Hz that is variable from 0-10dB. This feature provides impact to your bass, but if not adjusted correctly, it can

be over used and cause damage to your subwoofers and amplifiers. It is best to slowly turn this setting clockwise until the desired punch is felt. It is

not recommended to exceed the 12 o’clock position unless listening at a low volume or a low recording quality as this can result in high distortion and

possibly clipping "

Level control setup aka gain and i quote :

"Level Control Setup:

Ensure that the Level is turned completely to the left prior to turning the system on. Next you should insert a CD or cassette that you are familiar with

to use as a reference, and turn the head unit volume control to about 80% of its full setting. The system sound level will of course be very low, and

the following procedures will help you to match the amplifier input sensitivities properly to the head unit output signal level.

It is important to match the amplifier LEVEL input sensitivity to the Radio/CD output sensitivity. This can be located in the Radio/CD manual.

If the Radio/CD output sensitivity is 2 volts, then adjust the amplifier LEVEL input to 2 volts.

If you are not sure what the Radio output sensitivity is, follow these general guide lines:

Turn the level control up slowly, till you hear distortion, then back off a few degrees on the control. If at any point your amplifier goes into protection,

you will need to turn the Level to the left a bit and then try again. If you reach a point where the output does not increase, stop turning the Level

control to the right as the amplifier/subwoofer combo has reached its maxx output in this application."

Both of thease where adjusted at a level where i was pounding my MA audio XE's for around 3-4 months without any problems, 1 of them had a cracked cone and was held together with PL Adhesive they didnt blow for 3 months, and the only one that DID blow was the pre-damaged one, the other one was still going strong and fine.

I cannot picture MA audio being stronger or better than R-E audio. Especially since the XE's i bought where worth about half the price of the R-E audio subwoofers i just bought I expected thease to be alot stronger, and to be able to handle 1ohm instead of 2ohms, so if they couldnt even handle 2ohms with the same settings i had on my old subwoofers they would have blown apart if i put the amplifier at

1ohm, This does not make any sense to me as i thought they where supose to be able to handle high ammounts of power and abuse, it is even stated in their manual.

 

[DownSouth954 10+ year member]

 

[knowledgestick 10+ year member]

How about the bass and sub level on the head unit? What are those set at?

Bass has always been +4 50hz used to be REV when my MA audio subwoofers where inverted, but when i had thease installed i changed that setting to "Normal"

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

Take it all to a shop.

Or find someone close to you from the forum and set everything.

 

[knowledgestick 10+ year member]

Take it all to a shop. Or find someone close to you from the forum and set everything.

Looks like when i pointed to the instruction manual and asked the installer if the "not recommended" for sealed box's text for the SX series was going to be an issue he lied.

"Andrew, please tell me you did not put these into a sealed box. The lifting that you saw was excessive glue on the dust cap. Nothing to worry about. But, if these are in a sealed box that is 100% of the issues that are occurring."

Greg Carolus"

Should the installer be held responsible for their damage? he said they would be fine in a sealed box and it would keep them more punchy and that i would loose that if i went to a ported box, and even in a way steered me away from it.

I knew it had nothing to do with the way the amplifier was setup, because there was no way in hell that MA audio could take the power the amplifier was putting out and the RE audio SX's couldnt.

Should the installer be held responsible for this ? i feel atleast the store should owe me a set of new dust caps and w/e other damages have been caused to the subwoofers.

 

[knowledgestick 10+ year member]

Looks like 'hand built in the USA' dosen't mean anything when you use the cheapest parts you can find in china... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Are you still happy with your purchase ?

I've got some SX 18's from 2004 and I needed a dust cap for one (got cracked while in storage)

Anway, I email US Amps/RE and they wanted $25 + shipping for single cap which probably cost them 45 cents... NO THANKS...

Andrew, I will have the guys in the back send them out asap on the dust caps with some stronger but messier glue be very very careful with it please.

Greg Carolus

US Amps - RE Audio Tech Support / Production Manager

20819 Currier RD Suite 100

City of Industry CA 91789

U.S.A

Office 877-267-9360

Fax 909-869-9199

Cell 626-833-2177

Wow no 25+ dollar dust caps for me ? maybe they have changed who is calling those kinds of shots now.

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

I'm sure they are sending them free because they are brand new subs. I would expect them to be free.

I also fail to see how one cracked cap and another one which has started to melt has anything to do with the box.. (that is to say any more then the caps being too flimsy)

I'd ask for four new caps so you can double them up..

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

You don't even know what ohm load the subs are at, so you can't say the ma's shouldn't be able to handle as much power. You don't even know how much power they were getting. Your amp settings could still be part of your problem.

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

+4 bass on the head unit probably isn't helping much either.

 

[knowledgestick 10+ year member]

You don't even know what ohm load the subs are at, so you can't say the ma's shouldn't be able to handle as much power. You don't even know how much power they were getting. Your amp settings could still be part of your problem.

Yes, we do know what load they are wired up at. they are wired in series, they are D4 and the installer copyed the diagram or suposedly did from the manual, when i put the first subwoofer in myself, i copyed the inseries diagram, so i know that it was running at a 2ohm load then.

when they take them out of the box when we go to futurehsop on the weekend, we will find out what ohm load the futureshop goonies wired them up at.

i have found multiple sources saying DO NOT put SX's in sealed boxes, so it is oviously not just an excuse.

 

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

There's a lot of China hate going on. I say a manufacturer can get quality out of China.

An assembly line is only as good as the process put together by the engineering team and

the number of qualified engineers doing QA, training processes etc. When an American

company chooses a manufacturer in China, they have total control over what the company

in China is obligated to provide under contract. They tour the facilities, they can define the

processes.

A lot of times they go after price only, and we get what we get. I just happen to

think RE did not do that with the woofers they sell, even the ones made in China.

I got no proff though:laugh:

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

So your 2 dual 4 subs are wired at 2 ohms to your amp?

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

So your 2 dual 4 subs are wired at 2 ohms to your amp?

Yes, in series... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

OP I'm sorry but you completely FAIL at car audio.

Some of you guys might think an amp setting caused this.. but I doubt it.. even with gain and bass boost maxed and that amp clipping hard it shouldn't take those subs out.. and if it did I'd expect to see a damaged coil, not a cracked dust cap..

If you are going to blame the box it should be because the box is way too small.. not necasarilly because it's sealed.. the increased Q of such a small box will certainly put more pressure on the cap - but it still shouldn't have cracked... that coupled with the fact that the other cap looks like it started to melt tells me that RE should be using caps that are much thicker...

I don't want to hate on parts from china, just really cheap parts from china and dust caps that belong on a 250watt woofer, not a 1000 watt one...

 

[Bassman999 10+ year member]

a pair of d4 subs cannot ever reach a nominal 2 ohm load. You need to find a different audio shop to do your installs. a pair of d4 subs will be at 4 ohms or 1 ohm. My guess is that they are at one ohm. A 4 ohm load wont cause enough heat to melt plastic caps.

So we have a 1 ohm load with bass boost half way up and +4 on bass from head unit. That is like a total of +13 on the bass. Those subs are getting everybit of that amps power and then some. Subs being abused doesnt mean they can handle serious amp clipping. So, like I said have a REAL shop setup your stuff please!!