Hi all,
I have a JL12w3v2 in a ported box. I just blew up the third one. I dont think I can be over powering it... I have 2 channels bridged to it...Giving it 200W RMS. It is under warranty so Im not worried about replacing it. Just wondering if anyone would have some imput on why it keeps going out. I know the Voice coils are going bad... It is a progression, there is a vibration sound that gets worse and worse every day... I also rarely listen to rap, and my sub base controller for my amp is usually around 1/2 way. The gain is also set at half way... Any imput would be appreciated.

 

Its a ported box so are your subs bottoming out on you? That may cause voice coil and suspension problems.

That about the only thing I can think of, unless your are underpowering the sub and trying to get too much performance out of it without the power there.

I can't recall off the top of my head what the RMS rating is for a 12" w3v2, but I'm sure its more than 200W.

If you have trashed 3 of those JL's, man I know that sucks. Those subs cost some $$$.

 

wow that makes me not want to buy a pair of 10w3v2's. Other than blowing three of them up are you pretty happy with it, the sq and bump and what not? I was gonna go with 2 treo's and a 2500 watt amp but now im kinda leaning twords 2 w3's and a 650.1

 

What is that box tuned to and what do you have your SSF set at?

Even though the gains are 'only' half way up, you still might be clipping the signal. Get a DMM and set that thing right.

Definatley a user error if you blew 3 of them. Some setting I spose.

Are you sure you can get it replaced under warranty? Most of the time if you walk in with a sub that has a fried VC they will just laugh and say "to bad, you blew it".

Is this 'sub baSS controller' you talk about a remote gain, or a bass boost?

 

Wow, way out of my realm of stereo knowledge... Its a Qbass for a precision power amp. The warranty is from the store I bought it from, they have replaced the other two. It states if they hooked it up they have to fix it. Defenetly an error somewhere in my system just cant figure out where it could be. I am lost...

 

It sounds like you are clipping the amp. If the bass and or eq adjustment has not changed since they set the gain on the amp then I would have them reset the gain again. Also ask them what the max volume and max qbass level should be. Also the box may be tuned too high and the sub may be unloading and bottoming out because of it. They may want to add a subsonic filter to fix that, sounds high tech but its just a high pass set at low frequencies. They should know all about it since they are building ported boxes. If all this stuff is done and its not loud enough you need more power. Lack of power destroys more voice coils than anything else. Let them work with you on getting it right, but if they don't know anything about the stuff I mentioned look for a shop that does.

 

"Lack of power destroys more voice coils than anything else."

WORD. I'm so sick o people blaming blown subs on "overpowering."

I have a 10w3v2 in a JL stealthbox (also ported) and have also noticed the annoying sound that sounds like it is rattling almost. It does it even at ultra low volumes with vertain frequencies.

I tuned my system myself, and when I called JL Audio direct to get their engineer's advice on settings I was basically right on for everything. No help there

I'm pushing mine with a JL 500/1 though.

 

+1

The JL's a good sub. There's something wrong with the power AND/or the tune.

 

blowing voice coils because of lack of power is a myth. in fact I can run a 1000w rms sub off 250w rms all day for the next month and not have a problem. the reason everyone thinks underpowering = blown VC's is because they get greedy with the gain ****. and crank it up, in turn sending a clipped signal to the sub, so the fact actually is: DISTORTION/CLIPPING = blown voice coils. mainly because a clipped signal causes the sub's VC's to generate alot of extra heat since its not seing an true AC current sine wave but a square wave in extreme cases. the key is setting the gains properly

 

x2.
If that were the case you would have to buy new speaks every time you turned the volume down.

And to much power CAN kill a speaker. If you send, say, 800 watts through a little 1 inch coil wound to handle like 200 watts, sooner or later its going to over heat and melt and burst into flames and start your truck on fire and the rie department will come and.........ok, Im getting a little carried away there.
But you can get away with doing that a lot of times if your carefull with the gain and volume ****, know what to listen for etc. I like to throw my old Eclipse in and run it with about 700wrms. Its rated at 250wrms. It holds up, but I like to run test tones through it. So with a full signal going at it for awhile, the coil is starting to turn black a little. Someday I think Ill just pop in a test tone and put the HU on repeat and let 'er go till she blows.
Im getting off topic though, lol, oops.


Anyway, try taking it to a different shop and have them check over all the settings and see what they come up with.
Im thinking what NuthinbutaFord is: Box tuned somewhat high and the SSF is to low so your sub is bottoming out on real low frequencies. It only has to do it once and it can mess up the sub pretty bad.

 

Let me add to my original statement
because most people think they should have or simply want more volume than what the amp is capable of producing, and think by turning up the gain they will acheive that.
I wouldn't say its a myth, rather a byproduct of misuse.

With that said, kickinblue does any of this help ?
let us know.

 

 

WORD!
Like I said!

J/J

 

this is correct.

 

I think the problem is that your under powering these subs, these JL's need a minimum of 300 RMS per sub, just my .02.