Sub speaker issues

[King Tut]

Being a cheapskate, I bought a pair of active subs (the box 12A) from Thomann. One of the drivers has torn and needs replacing. I may get this done under warranty but to be honest - I've lost faith in them a bit.

Would it be feasible to replace them with something easily available, that will sound good? I've had a look at the driver, and there's no manufacturers name on it, but it's labelled as 4 ohm, and the spec for the whole speaker rate it at 300W output, so I'm assuming the speaker is rated at least that.

I don't really understand about enclosure design, X max and all that, so can anyone recommend a driver to do the job. I was thinking along the lines of an eminence delta 12LF 4 ohm (around £50 - 60 each) - would that be suitable? Suggestions please but can't spend a fortune!

[alexclaber]

Get it done under warranty. I really wouldn't want to mess with the speaker in any active sub, who knows what's going on in the electronics.

Alex

[King Tut]

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='173460' date='Apr 9 2008, 09:40 PM']Post pics of the cab with the grilled removed etc.; and of the driver - damage, surround etc[/quote]

OK - I'll stick pics up later this afternoon - cheers

[King Tut]

OK here's the speaker showing the surround - looks standard to me



And here's the damage



The edge of the driver seems to be loose around a lot of the edge, I'm a bit hacked off with Thomann as I've emailed three people there since sunday and no one's responded. The price you pay for cheap gear I suppose!

[stevie]

The edge of the driver seems to be loose around a lot of the edge, I'm a bit hacked off with Thomann as I've emailed three people there since sunday and no one's responded. The price you pay for cheap gear I suppose!
[/quote]

Somebody has stuck a screwdriver through the surround when tightening up the screws - a classic! You could have a problem with a warranty claim, as some retailers might say that you did it. Anyway, if that's the only problem, you can easily fix it yourself if you want. Pop to your nearest DIY store and buy some glue that is suitable for foam rubber (I don't think PVA is suitable, though). Just make sure that the speaker is OK otherwise (no scraping voice coil) because glueing it back together will definitely invalidate your warranty.

If there is more to it than just a damaged surround, I'd certainly persevere and get Thomann to fix it, as you will find it very difficult to get a suitable replacement. You have a 300 watt driver (ho hum) with a foam surround (i.e. low resonance), which is a very unusual animal.

If it were me, I'd send the photos to Thomann and ask for a replacement driver. Just make sure they know that the speaker arrived that way. Also, if the goods arrived with you less than 7 working days ago, I'd cancel the contract with Thomann quoting the EU Distance Selling Regulations (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31997L0007:EN:HTML), as it would put a lot more pressure on them to sort it out. You would then have the option of returning the goods if you wanted to, although you'd have to cover the cost of getting them back.

Stephen

[King Tut]

Thanks Stephen - but it was OK when new - it's only started farting recently. I'll ring Thomann next week. I'd really like to put some better speakers in the boxes to be honest - synaesthesia could you recommend something that would work well?

[King Tut]

Thanks for all your advice - I shouldn't have dissed Thomann so readily - on the strength of the photo, a new speaker was shipped out this morning FOC!

Nice one.