Is anything wrong with my subwoofer

cliffwang

I have owned a DSW microPRO 3000 for about 18 months. Recently I hear palapalapala sound from it. I believe I haven't heard that before I changed my receiver from Yamaha 6090 to Onkyo 807. How can I tell if that's setting problem or the subwoofer's problem. What I should do for the problem?

Glowrdr

I guess I'm not familiar with your "sound". Does it play normally and you are just getting some distortion that is faint, or in the background?

Or when you plug it in is it going at full volume and just making a loud noise? (Not musical, more of an electronic noise)

cliffwang

It sounds like that wind blows on a wood frame window. In the beginning I thought the sound was from my windows or from my hardwood floor. However, I still hear the sound after I put a pad under the subwoofer. Thus, I seat next to it, and then I heard the weird sound from it. It happens only when the volume is loud, and really low frequency sound.

Upstatemax

cliffwang wrote: »

It sounds like that wind blows on a wood frame window. In the beginning I thought the sound was from my windows or from my hardwood floor. However, I still hear the sound after I put a pad under the subwoofer. Thus, I seat next to it, and then I heard the weird sound from it. It happens only when the volume is loud, and really low frequency sound.

All sources? You check for solid connections between the sub and receiver?

cliffwang

I haven't check the connections yet. I thought once I could hear the sound, that means they are connected. Actually, I might have loose connection. I will check that tonight.
Actually not all movies have the strange sound. Only about 25% of the movies I have played have the weird sound.

20hz

is the cone bottoming out ?
if its worn it will bottom easier , try adjust the crossover freq lower like 80 hz , is the sub against a wall ?

cliffwang

20hz wrote: »

is the cone bottoming out ?
if its worn it will bottom easier , try adjust the crossover freq lower like 80 hz , is the sub against a wall ?

The crossover is 80Hz. How can I tell the cone bottoming out? Is the cone bottoming out is normal when the volume is loud? If the cone bottoming out, what I can do?

Glowrdr

Basically, just like a speaker will "crackle" if it is blown, you can also over-extend them as well. The speaker is pretty much just a magnet, that operates on a slide. That slide does have a top and bottom (kind of like a car, you can redline it, but it's not good)

Only solution would be to dial down the gain/volume on the sub if this is in fact whats happening. It sounds like it though, where you will hear a "cracking" or "smacking" noise from the cone itself

Glowrdr

I thought I saw something on here, or somewhere else that had a good demonstration of how the cones like to be in perfect harmony. Once you introduce clipping, you are causing a disturbance in the harmonic balance (right term here?) that the speaker is playing at that time.

You can literally ruin a speaker by flicking it at the wrong time

20hz

cliffwang wrote: »

The crossover is 80Hz. How can I tell the cone bottoming out? Is the cone bottoming out is normal when the volume is loud? If the cone bottoming out, what I can do?

TRY TURNING THE ADJUSTABLE CROSSOVER ON THE SUBS AMP BELOW 80HZ, it actually sounds like the speaker is trying to operate in its resonace frequency or being worked to hard . Its something you would have to be able to recognize the sound . How loud was it when you heard the mystery noise ?
Next time you notice that sound look at the subs cone , I suggest grab the remote and rewind it to repeat it , if that cone looks to be moving like 1 inch when you hear it you are overdriving the sub , but if its not moving much it may be a defective sub or amp , it would be nice to find a bad connection .
If its bottoming out that means its worn out or you need a BIGGER sub , by placing it in a cornor you get a lot more bass , also I get window resonations that I cant repeat enough to fix w/out just filling in the window .

cliffwang

20hz wrote: »

TRY TURNING THE ADJUSTABLE CROSSOVER ON THE SUBS AMP BELOW 80HZ, it actually sounds like the speaker is trying to operate in its resonace frequency or being worked to hard . Its something you would have to be able to recognize the sound . How loud was it when you heard the mystery noise ?
Next time you notice that sound look at the subs cone , I suggest grab the remote and rewind it to repeat it , if that cone looks to be moving like 1 inch when you hear it you are overdriving the sub , but if its not moving much it may be a defective sub or amp , it would be nice to find a bad connection .
If its bottoming out that means its worn out or you need a BIGGER sub , by placing it in a cornor you get a lot more bass , also I get window resonations that I cant repeat enough to fix w/out just filling in the window .

I have checked my connectors and they are connected well. I will tried to adjust the crossover to 40hz to see if I that will help or not.
Actually you mentioned something important. Whenever I heard the strange sound, the cone looks to be moving a lot. I am not sure that's about 1 inch or not. I need to check it again.
I haven't thinked about the overdriving problem because Micropro 3000 can handle 1200 watts of continuous power. I got a stupid question here. How can a subwoofer be overdriven? Shouldn't a subwoofer be able to handle it maximum power output?

20hz

cliffwang wrote: »

I have checked my connectors and they are connected well. I will tried to adjust the crossover to 40hz to see if I that will help or not.
Actually you mentioned something important. Whenever I heard the strange sound, the cone looks to be moving a lot. I am not sure that's about 1 inch or not. I need to check it again.
I haven't thinked about the overdriving problem because Micropro 3000 can handle 1200 watts of continuous power. I got a stupid question here. How can a subwoofer be overdriven? Shouldn't a subwoofer be able to handle it maximum power output?

maybe not a inch but going past the speakers maximum throw (x-max) .
POlk would know that # (could be 3/4" ) basically the speakers edge suspension will be stickibg out flat instead of the curve , and possibly be movibg in/out very fast.
Your quadrilatel bass radiator (passive radiator) is tuned like a port a ported speaker will create a fluttering effect wheras a sealed sub behaves better .
1200 watts is a absolte TON of power its something like 500 RMS (continues), 500 watts continues (sorry spelling) can peak at 1200 watts in a good amp now I am not as sure with those #'s as other polkies are , basically the term used is headroom in a amp .
But plate amps (like yours) are not given the same guidlines of performace as a componant (seperate sheetmetal frame).
More powerfull amps cost much more so all companies try to spend money on a amp that does the job that the speaker requires , plus customers cant blow up the speaker , but what does happen over time is the speaker wears (gets more compliant) and the amp can than bring the speaker to moving further easier and faster , I guess thats what happened to your amp .

20hz

I just read up
1200 watts continues with a 2400 watt peak is
1200 watts with 2 db of headroom .
Thats off memory I think 2 db=twice the power .