Sunfire True MKII need help

[MuchAfraid]

IM new, so sorry if I am doing something incorrectly , but I just bought this subwoofer off ebay, paid 70 in shipping and when it got here I hear a small rattling noise coming from the right side cone ( I presume the driver not the passive radiator)   It is very loud and I like it, but I fear something might have come loose during shipping, the lady already gave me positive feedback, so I doubt she knew it made this sound. I am now not sure if I should send it back , when you get up close to it, you can hear the sound and it is pretty annoying. I made a youtube video of the noise coming from that sub  here is the link.     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Z38Uv8aeA&feature=youtu.be   could it have been damaged during shipping? or is this s sound from an issue before it was sold?       IF anyone could give advise before its too late to return it( eventhough I do like how loud it is and would hate to spend 70 more to return it)  I would appreciate it.  thank you =)

[AdamG]

Alright, here is my guess: It would seem that either A: The spider glue has come down and the spider is flapping around or B: there is lead-tap, where the tinsil leads are hitting the cone. It's very hard to tell in the video. Where abouts are you located? If you remove that driver there will be an accordian-type fabric, this is the spider, and if at any point around the perimeter where it meets the metal basket on the subwoofer it has come loose (the glue may give up eventually) then it may be the sound you're describing. It isn't good to run a sub with the spider loose like that because it allows the voice coil to 'rock' in place when running and will eventually cause a failure. Many glues will do the trick, you can google "reglue subwoofer spider" or something like that and read up.  If it is a lead you can often stick a small adhesive-backed felt pad on the inside of the cone where the lead is hitting and it will quite the noise. If you're in the Pittsburgh area I'm sure someone can help you out, or if you're in the Morgantown area I can give it a good look as well.

Feel free to take pictures of the inside of the subwoofer once you pull the driver so other people can learn what the problem is and how to fix it, or a video like you did before.

-Adam

[Kingman]

Easier to remove the plate amp than cone. P.S. Don't touch the caps inside or you'll get a taste of good ole lectricity!!!

[OldiesButGoodies]

Agree - take the plate amp off and look.  It may be a s simple as a cable touching the driver that needs to be resettled.

[OldiesButGoodies]

After listening to the video I am with Adam that the spider may have come loose.  Below is a picture I took of my Sunfire driver some time back:



The red material is the spider.  If that has come loose,  it can be a tough fix for a DIY.  I imagine someone like Tom Zurcher could fix it properly. I do not see it as simple as replacing the surround on an old speaker.  This spider was designed to handle way more force than the typical woofer spider (long excursion in a sealed cabinet) - the glue must be applied just right to do the job.  If you confirm it is not as simple as a cable touching the cone or similar, I would gently communicate to the seller that driver was damaged during shipping and you would like to return it (unless you and the seller are ok with ordering a new driver from PartsExpress - I think they still have them).

Tom: Can you fix a driver with a loose motor spider like this?

[OCCD]

After listening to the video I am with Adam that the spider may have come loose.  Below is a picture I took of my Sunfire driver some time back:



The red material is the spider.  If that has come loose,  it can be a tough fix for a DIY.  I imagine someone like Tom Zurcher could fix it properly. I do not see it as simple as replacing the surround on an old speaker.  This spider was designed to handle way more force than the typical woofer spider (long excursion in a sealed cabinet) - the glue must be applied just right to do the job.  If you confirm it is not as simple as a cable touching the cone or similar, I would gently communicate to the seller that driver was damaged during shipping and you would like to return it (unless you and the seller are ok with ordering a new driver from PartsExpress - I think they still have them).

Tom: Can you fix a driver with a loose motor spider like this?

I have a few extra drivers littering the shop if it is toast.  But yes, I can fix the spider if it separated.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Much Afraid, where are you geographically?

[MacGeek]

Might it be something as simple as a loose mounting screw?  Any way to freq sweep them?

[AdamG]

I believe that is the HiVi SP10 driver, in which case Parts Express is now sold out of them, and it is listed as No Longer Available. It may be available from other retailers though. http://www.parts-express.com/hivi-sp10-10-subwoofer--297-460

[OCCD]

There is one other possibility. Check the foam edge, right off the roll, on the inner edge where it is attached to the cone. I have seen these crack in the past. This will make noise also.


I have drivers, and they are much less than the PE replacements.

[StephenWVU]

I'm surprised no one has recommended a JL replacement driver.  Am I out of the loop?

[MuchAfraid]

Hi guys, I havent been online till just now, I called a friend, he said if it has a low humm, then the capacitors were on the way out, and if I dont get them replaced , when they go, it will take out other stuff, then the amp is toast.. is that true? he wanted like 270 to fix it for me. =( I will try taking out the driver in the morning, I also bought a super JR sunfire sub off ebay it came yesterday, it is in better shape and sounds good, no humm, but I did notice some small cracks in the surround next to the cone, though now all the way through yet,, is there anything I could do to prevent the surround from completely cracking on it?  and to MR OCCD how much $ would that driver cost ? I called ebay and told them what happened, they had me file a claim, and the seller wanted me to send a picture of the box, incase the sub got damaged during shipping... There was no big holes or anything, but the seller did say there was no funny noises before they shipped it.

[MuchAfraid]

Im a single dad with a 5 yr old girl so my hands are full , and I forget stuff, I forgot to say, Im from south of morgantown by like 45 min. 

[MuchAfraid]

OH yeah I did call parts express too, they said they were sold out of the Hivi drivers for 150, but he got a new line one from RE audio with 24 mm xmax  and it would work, when I asked what the fs, res frequency was he didnt have the info, So I looked it up , and turns out its 30, I am not an expert, but I heard for home Audio, you want the Fs to be closer to 25 or less.

[MuchAfraid]

Subwoofer sunfire mkII woofer vibration

This is a video I took with my old phone of a frequency test from 200hz down. I noticed alot of extra noise around 70 to 80 hz as well as around 44. but overall it sounds bad =P   I did notice if I touch the cone slightly It seems to diminish the bad vibrations, being that its a flat cone, I wonder how its attached to the coil. I will know in a bit when I take it apart.