Did I blow my Vega?

[<IowaBoomer>]

I have a Vega 12'' Sub, 800 watt max at 4ohm, and I think it is junk now. The little meshy goldish stuff below the cone is all cracked, and I can't get any noise out of it. Last night, as I was driving, I noticed it wouldn't hit as I turned left, but as soon as I went straight again it turned on. I pulled over, and went to check my wires. I noticed if I pushed in on the sub, i would crackle and try to bang, but it just sounded like ****. So I pulled it out of the box today, and I noticed all this stuff was cracked. Can anyone tell me what is wrong, and if it's fixable?

Click to read more...

 

[<natem33>]

I'm not sure what it is that youre talking about that is cracked, but I'm guessing that if your sub created a little bit of noise by pushing on the cone you could have one of two probs. The wire connections on the sub itself are loose, or burnt from heat. The other prob is that the guts of the sub (coil) has fried, and when you push on it, you can hear the crackiling because your helping the sub unstick itself from its position where it fried and melted. Hard to explain, but yes, if all connections are good, your sub is probobly gone.

 

[IowaBoomer 10+ year member]

Well, its hard to explain, but below the cone is a mesh type material that looks like Paper Mache. It is completely solid, but it is cracked in a few places. So I think the coil is detached, beacuse it makes no sound now. And I also noticed the wires appeared to be sodered on (remember, a friend let me borrow this for the next year or 2), but I doubt that is it. I know the amp still works, but is my sub ****ed?

 

[<Bassik LowZ>]

hey dude, that little yellow mesh you are refering to is called the "spider" 3 things that can cause them to crack....

#1 Dampness... if moister gets on the spider and it is one of the ones that has no protective seal over it (clear coat/ poly laminate) it will cause it to turn brittle and crack. The same for some foam surroundings.

#2 Driving it way past its excursion level. Usually this fries the motor structure before it actually tears up the spider, but could be it.

#3 Factory defect.

a simple way to test if the sub has a blown coil in it. get a AA Battery and tape wires at both the negative and positive end of it. attach the other end of the wires to the negative and positive terminals on the sub. If the cone pushes up and maintatins its resistence withought gradually falling back down, you should be fine. flip the wires over so that the negatives and positives are crossed and check it the other way too. later

 

[<natem33>]

I have heard of checking subs that way before too, but I was advised to only do it for a second or two at a time or it could cause a prob. I used that method to check for the polarity on coaxial speakers that weren't marked.

 

[LegendZ28 10+ year member]

Originally posted by :I have a Vega 12'' Sub, 800 watt max at 4ohm, and I think it is junk now. The little meshy goldish stuff below the cone is all cracked, and I can't get any noise out of it. Last night, as I was driving, I noticed it wouldn't hit as I turned left, but as soon as I went straight again it turned on. I pulled over, and went to check my wires. I noticed if I pushed in on the sub, i would crackle and try to bang, but it just sounded like ****. So I pulled it out of the box today, and I noticed all this stuff was cracked. Can anyone tell me what is wrong, and if it's fixable?

Sounds blown, if you push down on the sub and you hear a cracking sound then your sub is blown.

 

[<Bassik LowZ>]

hey nate, this method doesnt damage the speaker cause it is an actuall signal being sent to sub to move it. just as when the amp is supplying current to it. what hurt the sub is moving the cone in and out for long perionds of time with your hands. its safe and an easy method to test subs from pawn shops, swap meets, car shows, flea markets etc... later

 

[IowaBoomer 10+ year member]

I'm fairly sure it is screwed. I only had a Punch 250 watt amp throwing at it, and I did have the gains up a little bit, but I don't think that the amp could have kicked out nearly enough power to kill a Vega series 12''. I'll give the battery thing a shot though. But is there a way to repair it? A friend of mine gave me it (to borrow until he gets out of college), and I hate to only give him back an amp, and the cheapest I have seen those subs is around $130. I'm buying a 12'' Image Dynamics and a black fiberglass box for $100 for myslef, and I still want the Vega. Anyway to do it?

 

[LegendZ28 10+ year member]

Originally posted by IowaBoomer:I'm fairly sure it is screwed. I only had a Punch 250 watt amp throwing at it, and I did have the gains up a little bit, but I don't think that the amp could have kicked out nearly enough power to kill a Vega series 12''. I'll give the battery thing a shot though. But is there a way to repair it? A friend of mine gave me it (to borrow until he gets out of college), and I hate to only give him back an amp, and the cheapest I have seen those subs is around $130. I'm buying a 12'' Image Dynamics and a black fiberglass box for $100 for myslef, and I still want the Vega. Anyway to do it?

Trying to fix it would be a waste of time and money. I've never heard of anyone actually trying to fix a blown sub but if you feel the urge you could maybe try to use some superglue or something to fix the tear.

 

[<Bassik LowZ>]

hey dude, its not worth it to repair it really... you can go to a sub repair shop, but i have seen the work them people do and its pathetic. they rewind the coils with coper windings you can find on radioshack subs and they never sound the same after they get fixed. tuff situation man, but it would be worth it just to put money into a new one.. later

 

[<natem33>]

The best thing to do is to replace it. Unless your friend is dead set on vega's then I would just look for a quality replacement like Rockford Fosgate, JL, Kicker, polk, MTX or even another Vega. If your worried about price check out www.etronics.com, www.sounddomain.com. Both sites have good selection and are incredibly cheaper than local audio stores (at least cheaper than minnesota stores).

 

[audiodude]

well if the mesh is slit open and when you push it down it crackles, its blown. i had some speakers that did the same exact thing so i took them to my good friend whos an audio expert and he said they were gone. its not worrth your money to fix them if you even can, jus buy a new one itll save you time and hasle.

my 2 cents

Jon

 

[BlackSunfireGT 10+ year member]

Basic low's response with the battery is a good one. I wouldn't use a AA though, use a 9v battery (the small rectangular one) and wire pos/pos and neg/neg the sub should push outward with no noise from the spider(the yellow stuff) using the 9v battery is also a good method on checking to see if you have your speakers wired in phase or out of phase. A speaker will push outward if in phase, and outwards if out of phase.