Unique subwoofer problem

[TheBlackSheep 10+ year member]

After previously blowing it's companion speaker, I wired my remaining Cerwin Vega DVC 1202 such that my two channel amp had one channel per voice coil; it was receiving 125W rms per coil, so the sub was maxed out. For awhile there, it was sounding better than two woofers!

But now, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but my woofer does not always work.

Here are the symptoms:

The woofer now remains dormant; if I leave the switch wired to the amp on (such that the amp is on even when the car is off) for a little while, the sub will work for a little while; if I'm listening to a CD, it seems that if the sub is indeed working, if I switch tracks, turn the volume down, or hit a part where the bassline isn't as prominent, the sub will quit on me. Also, I can 'jumpstart' the sub by pressing on it, and then when it starts beating, if I let off quickly enough, it'll continue to beat.

This is the sub that I believe has a tinsel wire that I had to resolder one time, if that could be a factor.

Can anyone figure out what's wrong with it?

I'd appreciate any help, thanks.

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[diminishedpower 10+ year member]

jest a guess but you fried your voice coils so they rub and get stuck

 

[Moe Lester 10+ year member]

you shouldnt run a DVC sub on a 2 channel amp unless its bridged. each coil can get a different signal, and then youve got the potential for damage. test the coilis with a DMM and see if they read whatever ohm they are supposed to be.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

A damaged VC will do that, you should consider some higher power woofers if you plan on driving them that hard.

 

[DJ_Mittens 10+ year member]

Damaged VC. As Moe Lester said, you were feeding each VC a different signal, which is like having two engines hooked up to a single axle. Unless perfectly, and I mean perfectly set up, the driver is going to get two unique signals working against each other and it'll cook the driver.

 

[TheBlackSheep 10+ year member]

So they're cooked; that's friggin great.

Well, no loss of sleep, seeing as how I got my whole set-up for free (I just had to buy cables, the swtich, and do the install work myself).

I guess now that I've fried both, I need suggestions for some replacements.

I liked the CV's, but with my smaller amp (Jensen XA2250 puts out 125W/rms per channel; bridged is 350), I need something that fits suitably (because when I underran them, I guess that's how I blew the other one (between that and my ground cable coming loose multiple times a month, haha). The amp bridged was a little much for my sub (Which handles 250W/rms (I suppose 125/coil, Cerwin Vega didn't specify on their site and I had no books or anything that came with my setup)).

My box fit the 12's well; I'm loving the Solobaric L7's (I've got a friend that's got one that I might buy if he'll sell it cheap enough), but if I can get some candidates for replacement 12's, I'd highly appreciate that.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

Needed- Two twelves that have the thermal power handling of 300 watts rms each.

Power source= Jensen 2ch 350 watts RMS bridged @ 4ohms. (will be pushed deep into clipping)

Box not given

Two 8 or dual 4ohm subs

Must be able to handle lots of abuse and amp clipping

MTX?

RE?

What do you guys think.

 

[DJ Kontakt 10+ year member]

awesome ghetto rig my man //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

maybe the spider broke?

 

[TheBlackSheep 10+ year member]

Haha, I've mastered the art of ghetto rig; I used wire nuts instead of crimps when putting in the head unit, and now it sticks out like a 1/2 inch from the dash, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[TheBlackSheep 10+ year member]

Mmk, just noticed something in the Jensen manual; it puts out 125W rms/channel at 4ohms, and 175W rms/channel at 2 ohms.. Seeing as my amp is stable at 2 ohms, I don't see how I fried my first woofer; as far as I knew, they were correctly wired in parallel...

In any event, I know the higher end RF speakers are legendary, but how are their punch series? I know a few guys around town that use MTX, but I like to stand out, even though MTX is a good brand. I'll probably shop for the woofers on eBay (if not the flea market, //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif )

Still open to suggestions..

 

[Goldenknob 10+ year member]

heh... does it say your amp is stable at 2 ohm's or have you tried it?.. I would doubt jensen is stable at that rate. I can sell you two rockford 12's for 60 shipped if your interested. RFZ1412's. They are used but are in great condition. I'm their single owner! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

also being that the amp is probably overated these subs would be perfect. the rms for them is about 150 each I believe.