Sundown Audio SA12 bottoming out

[Sizzlechest]

I have a dremel and like DIY projects, but if there are no negative impacts in letting it ride like this then I'm not going to bother. Do you know exactly what the internal issue is that is causing it to make this noise and need a re-cone? Is it possible my ground is bad as Jeff suggested? Is there anything I can inspect without taking the speaker apart?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I have a dremel and like DIY projects, but if there are no negative impacts in letting it ride like this then I'm not going to bother. Do you know exactly what the internal issue is that is causing it to make this noise and need a re-cone? Is it possible my ground is bad as Jeff suggested? Is there anything I can inspect without taking the speaker apart?

cant inspect anything. Its just an issue that happened to me back then. same noise as you, on the higher frequencies it was prevalent but low frequencies had no issues. It was doing that with every sub i put in along with every amp i put in. So i traced it back to some resistance at the grounds and redid the ground tightly. Issue was gone for all woofers.

 

[Sizzlechest]

I'll take a look at the ground since that's obviously the easiest to check. Did your noise spring up out of no where, or was it there since you first did your install?

 

[Hertz Mafia]

No a bad ground won't make it sound like that.

 

[staan]

using viper4android with a u-ish shaped curve.

I'm pretty sure this is the issue check and see how much of a db range that eq has and back down the low freqs

some crappy eq's can have 12 or more db's of adjustment and that much will def cause clipping and could bottom out that sub in a sealed box

 

[Sizzlechest]

Thanks for the feedback staan, this issue did start shortly after updating my HU firmware that has this Viper4Android crap on it. Im going to revert back to an old version and see what happens.

 

[Based]

After box rise and the fact that your amp isnt 100% efficient, your sub is probably seeing around 400watts.

 

[Sizzlechest]

After box rise and the fact that your amp isnt 100% efficient, your sub is probably seeing around 400watts.

Ok...what point are you making?

 

[Based]

Ok...what point are you making?

I only read the OP. I'm just saying it's not that it's getting too much power

 

[Sizzlechest]

I switched firmwares and eliminated the Viper4Android/ViperFX module and the issue still exists. I think I'm going to live with it until the sub blows. Like I said, I can only hear this when I'm sitting in front of the sub setting the gain or something -- when its playing while in the trunk I cannot hear it. It ***** but at least it works still.

 

[shredder1]

Mystery rattle, Cheap head and quality woofer... what a mess! since you've ruled out the box and feel that your HU is fine... its probably the woofer... my son's RE *** 10 did the exact same thing and I noticed a tinsel lead that was separated from the cone where it passes through... Very hard to spot visually... but once I started moving the cone manually to feel if there was coil rub I noticed that the factory glue was separated at the pass thru location on the cone... He's very hard on woofers as he loves to show his friends the excursion of these subs even though at those freqs they are out of the range for a couple of 10's (20-25 hz is what he tries to play) He played it so long like this that he loosened the tinsel and unraveled the coil shorting out my hand-me-down 500s Fosgate! Kids... live and learn... anyways be very careful when you inspect the sub as this rattle does sound like something similar... I bought a L7 10" rattling once and fixed it quick because the cone is a 2 piece assembly and the front had separated from the rear... A little glue and "Like magic" it was fixed... Could be an easy fix... could be a bear... Good luck

 

[Sizzlechest]

I know you guys have been wondering about this for the past 6 years so I thought I'd give an update.. I just installed the sub in a new car, powered by an LC2i Pro LOC feeding a Sundown SFB-1000D amp wired @ 1 ohm, which maxes out at around 1,400w, dyno proven.

That tapping sound is still there when the sub is pushed, so I think it is actually bottoming out. Now that the signal source has been 100% replaced we can rule out crappy signal as the cause. Dust cap is secure and no other visible damage/sound when I inspect it.

I considered re-coning but don't want to go through the trouble and still be in the same boat. I have a feeling that 6 years ago the Soundstream amp was just a powerful little amp and also pushing the sub to its limit.

 

[Boominburban]

could just be tinsel leads slapping the back of the cone also ...