Loudspeakers Blown speaker? Not sure.

[chriskreidler]

Usually the subwoofer at the theatre I work at can blast out a ton of bass. The other day, though, there was a concert with somebody playing music they made off of a computer. I had the levels as high as they could go without risking damaging any equipment. The guy at the computer turned his computer up during sound check and the woofer started rapidly clicking. Ever since then, it doesn't take much bass and it will start to do that. Is there a speaker problem? Is it fixable? Thanks!

 

[FMEng]

Yes, it sounds likely that the woofer woofed its last. The voice coil may have gotten too hot and warped and is rubbing on the magnet structure. Or it has some other mechanical failure like a torn suspension.

Talk with the manufacturer's service department about it. Some woofer drivers can be repaired at relatively low cost. If not, driver replacement is the next option.

 

[Dover]

Unfortunately I must agree, what you have described sounds a lot like a warped voice coil. There are three ways to fix a blown driver. The first, and the one I recommend the least, is to find a speaker tech that can rewind voice coils and attempt to have your driver repaired. The reason that I do not recommend this option is depending on how bad the damage is the cost of repair can come close or exceed the cost of a factory replacement. That being said, I recommend ordering a replacement driver straight from the manufacturer of your cabinet. The third option is just to buy a whole new cabinet; this is usually only a consideration if the cabinet has a passive crossover that may have been damaged by excessive power or you have a lot of money.

I would also recommend that you add a limiter to the amp feeding the sub to prevent this from happening again. A DBX 266 from Full Compass is only about $150. Good cheap insurance.

Good Luck

Dover