Used to sound good - now muddy

[boy&hisdogs]

I've got an Alpine 12" S type in a sealed box powered by a Rockford Fosgate R500-1D. I'm also running an Alpine S 6.75 component set powered by a RF R400-4D with my ipod going directly to it and then to the mono via rca pass through.

I put it in about 3 months ago, very carefully set the gain with a DMM and gave it about a month of break in time keeping the volume low. Up until about a week or so ago it sounded great. Nice and tight response, full sound, etc.

Recently its sounded muddy and wobbly. Ive been using the same music, same ipod, settings, all that. It doesn't sound quite as bad as some blown speakers Ive heard, just notably worse than before.

What can I do to fix this?

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[Based]

Maybe your screws are loose. The sub might be vibrating against the wood making noise.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

I lifted the box (it's down-firing) up to check of the sub was loose and it wasn't. I set the box back down, plugged the amp back into the input and gave it a listen. It was extremely quiet. I looked at the sub itself and the cone didn't seem to be moving hardly at all. I took the box out of my truck to see what I could see. I unscrewed all the screws around the sub and pulled it out. As soon as I lifted it from the box I could smell electronics. Not burned/hot electronics, just a general electrical smell. I looked all over the sub inside and out and couldn't spot any physical damage. I don't really know what I'm looking at though so anything beyond cracks and burned spots I may have missed. When I went to screw it back in, I noticed that two of the screw holes didn't have any wood under them, the cutout for the sub was just a tad bit too large. This was the first time I've unscrewed it since initial installation, but moving the box may have disturbed it. I don't think a hole that small would have that much of an effect but I could very well be wrong.

I've also noticed that my door speakers are bass-less too. They play middle and high notes loud and clear, but low drum kicks that once used to rattle the doors (when hooked up to factory head unit) now sound like faint taps. It sounds like it's got a HP filter on it, even when I turn the filter on the amp to AP. When switching back and fourth between HP and AP while music is playing I couldn't tell you which was which, they both sound the same.

 

[pcchris 10+ year member]

C'mon man you know you burned them shits up..one sub is dead and the enclosure was most likely a prefab common chamber giving the surviving sub a big box...the end.. buy again...buy better and learn from your mistakes ...You probably was running a clip happy amp such Boss Audio with bass boost on the radio amp and crossover to make that trunk rattle... dont get on me fellow CA members I just felt like telling the real

 

[CSCStang]

Dmm the vc's and see what you get.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

Dmm the vc's and see what you get.

Still giving me 4 ohms each and 2 ohms total all hooked up in the box. At least the sub is still good. I bet my ground is what's doing it. I'll have to check and re-clean everything when I get some time. Calculus and programming homework is a harsh mistress.

 

[Babykinns 10+ year member]

Still giving me 4 ohms each and 2 ohms total all hooked up in the box. At least the sub is still good. I bet my ground is what's doing it. I'll have to check and re-clean everything when I get some time. Calculus and programming homework is a harsh mistress.

That's not a ground issue you blew the sub. Keep the dubbing down on the next one. Even though you may have set your gain knob right you were overpowering your sub and clipping it by turning up the dubbing.

 

[boy&hisdogs]

That's not a ground issue you blew the sub. Keep the dubbing down on the next one. Even though you may have set your gain knob right you were overpowering your sub and clipping it by turning up the dubbing.

I don't think so. The ohms are still right, the cone still moves freely, it doesn't scratch or make any funny sounds, suspension is still responsive, all the telltale signs of a blown sub aren't there.

And what do you mean by dubbing?

 

[Babykinns 10+ year member]

I don't think so. The ohms are still right, the cone still moves freely, it doesn't scratch or make any funny sounds, suspension is still responsive, all the telltale signs of a blown sub aren't there.
And what do you mean by dubbing?

Bass boost on the amp. Take the sub out of the vehicle and play it just as loud and see if it still sounds like that.