Greetings,
Ok so I'm new to this site but have been dabbling in the car audio scene off and on for 20+ years now. I purchased a JL Audio12W6v2 new about 10 years ago for a previous build. I had it powered by a JL 500/1v2 slash amp in a slot ported box built to the recommended specs as listed on the JL Audio site. After about 2 years I pulled it out and went with a stealth box instead.
The sub then sat in my air conditioned closet for close to 8 years.
Recently I purchased a used SUV and decided I would dust it off and use it as part of a complete system build to add some SQ to the new ride. I started by replacing the foam surround on the sub with a JL replacement kit. I then did a basic health check to make sure the sub was still in good working condition including using an volt meter to check the ohm load. All was reading good, the meter read 2.1ohms (it's a dual 4 ohm sub wired to 2 ohms). So I figured it was good to go.
I went ahead and installed the JL 12W6v2 paired with a Kicker cxa800.1 which is rated at 600 watts rms at 2 ohms and has a built in sub sonic filter set at 24hz. The source head unit is a Pioneer avh. After I set the gain and low pass frequency (at about 80hz) on the amp I gave it a listen.
For reference on this head unit volume level 30 is about as high as I like to go.
At volume levels 1-2 I can't hear anything from the sub, from 3-6 there is a faint noise or rattle from the sub along with decent sounding bass, above 6 the noise/rattle goes away and the bass sounds as I think it should, smooth, tight, and hard hitting.
My concern is obviously what is going on between 3-6. It makes me very concerned about pushing the sub. I really don't have the $$$ to buy another equivalent sub at this time.
Any ideas about what the issue might be or suggestions for a possible remedy?
Thank you in advance!
