My Paradigm speaker cones don't move anymore.

mikee3333 · 26th January 2012, 04:44 PM

My Paradigm speaker cones don't move anymore. The tweeters seem to still work. Some days ago while bassing I smelt a slight electronic-burn smell when doing 16hz and 8hz and 4hz.

They were hooked up to an old sharp reciever with a tape deck.

What do I do? Why did they break? Did the voice coils burn out or the crossover stuff? In one nothing works anymore, in the other just the tweeter? Is it hard to fix?

firechief · 26th January 2012, 05:21 PM

Ouch! What is bassing? Those are real low frequencies for any speaker.

adason · 26th January 2012, 05:32 PM

...probably meant biasing

you most likely caused significant DC on the output and burned voice coils, hence the smell
easy to verify with ohm meter or even with small battery

adason · 26th January 2012, 05:33 PM

biasing is usually done without any signal, at least that's what I was doing last 20 years
where did you get instructions to do it during such signals on?

AdamThorne · 26th January 2012, 05:35 PM

I guess I'd open em up and look for obvious burn marks. If you can remove the drivers themselves you could try to pass them a signal and see if they make any sound.

mikee3333 · 26th January 2012, 05:49 PM

Has this happened to you before? Is it common for the speaker internals to fail due to low bass?

The speakers are 8ohm. Max 110watt per speaker
The sharp says it's a 100watt amp.

50 watts per side?
I don't remeber the ohms for the amp.

The infinities seemed to do fine with the low bass, at 4hz it was like a helicopter rotor feel/sound.

pski · 26th January 2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikee3333

My Paradigm speaker cones don't move anymore. The tweeters seem to still work. Some days ago while bassing I smelt a slight electronic-burn smell when doing 16hz and 8hz and 4hz.

They were hooked up to an old sharp reciever with a tape deck.

What do I do? Why did they break? Did the voice coils burn out or the crossover stuff? In one nothing works anymore, in the other just the tweeter? Is it hard to fix?

Take out the driver(s) and touch the +/- leads to a 9 volt battery. This should put the driver in or out all the way depending on polarity. If nothing moves, make sure you have a good battery. If you battery is good, your voice coils are fried.

p

mikee3333 · 26th January 2012, 11:11 PM

They don't move. Why did my voice coils break?

Is there any inexpensive 6(?) inch drivers I can replace these POS paradigm garbages with? They are 6 inch diameter cones, and if you include that rubber that rips easily then 7inch, and if you also include the gaskets on the edge I guess 7.5 or 8 inch.

The hole in the box is like 7 inch.
The cone itself is 6inches.

Are there any inexpensives that can give me the big booty bass that I lookin for?

4642a · 26th January 2012, 11:42 PM

dude... 16hz and 8hz and 4hz? really?

how were you feeding them this sort of signal, and at how many volts?
a tone CD or signal generator or ???

what were the paradigms rated to do at these frequencies?

you generally fry most 18" subwoofers also if you do this with any sort of power....
is my first thought.....

18Hurts · 27th January 2012, 12:14 AM

Lightly press on the cones and listen and feel if there is any scratching or crunching sounds--if there are, it is burned voice coils.

A 6 inch woofer is not designed to do 16, 8 or 4 Hz. There are woofers out there that will do 16 or 8Hz but not 4Hz...even if they are 18 inches in size. True, you can use a sealed subwoofer and as long as you don't exceed Xmax, it will move back and forth but generally subs are not designed with that in mind.

There is a rotary fan subwoofer that will do 4Hz but at $16K, might be a bit expensive.

Check the specifications on speakers before running any test tones through them. They will be listed as (for instance) 50Hz to 20KHz or 30Hz to 19KHz etc. Generally speaking, the only reason to run test tones is when testing speakers for frequency response during setup. They are generally run at low volume to prevent damage to the speakers and the time used is measured in seconds. It follows one of those rules, if you don't know what it's for...leave it alone until you do.

On the good side of things you blew up something that is not too expensive to replace--blowing up a pair of 15's would get pricey.

The woofers are specific for the crossover and if you replace them with something different, the crossover would require different components to allow it to operate correctly.

It would be impossible to specify a replacement woofer since we don't know what Paradigm you are using. Since the speaker is a 2-way, there are no woofers that would put out enough highs to mesh with the tweeter and give strong bass response.

I'd replace the woofers with stock Paradigm woofers to retain the crossover settings, look into actual subwoofers and leave test tones alone.

26th January 2012, 04:44 PM	#1
mikee3333 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2012	My Paradigm speaker cones don't move anymore. My Paradigm speaker cones don't move anymore. The tweeters seem to still work. Some days ago while bassing I smelt a slight electronic-burn smell when doing 16hz and 8hz and 4hz. They were hooked up to an old sharp reciever with a tape deck. What do I do? Why did they break? Did the voice coils burn out or the crossover stuff? In one nothing works anymore, in the other just the tweeter? Is it hard to fix?

26th January 2012, 05:21 PM	#2
firechief diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Near Seattle Wa	Ouch! What is bassing? Those are real low frequencies for any speaker. __________________ "You can keep your insurance baby nothing is guaranteed" -Tom Petty

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26th January 2012, 05:32 PM	#3
adason diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: home sweet home	...probably meant biasing you most likely caused significant DC on the output and burned voice coils, hence the smell easy to verify with ohm meter or even with small battery

26th January 2012, 05:33 PM	#4
adason diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: home sweet home	biasing is usually done without any signal, at least that's what I was doing last 20 years where did you get instructions to do it during such signals on?

26th January 2012, 05:35 PM	#5
AdamThorne Rebel Samurai! diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN	I guess I'd open em up and look for obvious burn marks. If you can remove the drivers themselves you could try to pass them a signal and see if they make any sound.

26th January 2012, 05:49 PM	#6
mikee3333 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2012	Has this happened to you before? Is it common for the speaker internals to fail due to low bass? The speakers are 8ohm. Max 110watt per speaker The sharp says it's a 100watt amp. 50 watts per side? I don't remeber the ohms for the amp. The infinities seemed to do fine with the low bass, at 4hz it was like a helicopter rotor feel/sound.

26th January 2012, 11:11 PM	#8
mikee3333 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2012	They don't move. Why did my voice coils break? Is there any inexpensive 6(?) inch drivers I can replace these POS paradigm garbages with? They are 6 inch diameter cones, and if you include that rubber that rips easily then 7inch, and if you also include the gaskets on the edge I guess 7.5 or 8 inch. The hole in the box is like 7 inch. The cone itself is 6inches. Are there any inexpensives that can give me the big booty bass that I lookin for?

26th January 2012, 11:42 PM	#9
4642a diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: colorado	dude... 16hz and 8hz and 4hz? really? how were you feeding them this sort of signal, and at how many volts? a tone CD or signal generator or ??? what were the paradigms rated to do at these frequencies? you generally fry most 18" subwoofers also if you do this with any sort of power.... is my first thought.....

27th January 2012, 12:14 AM	#10
18Hurts diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2010	Lightly press on the cones and listen and feel if there is any scratching or crunching sounds--if there are, it is burned voice coils. A 6 inch woofer is not designed to do 16, 8 or 4 Hz. There are woofers out there that will do 16 or 8Hz but not 4Hz...even if they are 18 inches in size. True, you can use a sealed subwoofer and as long as you don't exceed Xmax, it will move back and forth but generally subs are not designed with that in mind. There is a rotary fan subwoofer that will do 4Hz but at $16K, might be a bit expensive. Check the specifications on speakers before running any test tones through them. They will be listed as (for instance) 50Hz to 20KHz or 30Hz to 19KHz etc. Generally speaking, the only reason to run test tones is when testing speakers for frequency response during setup. They are generally run at low volume to prevent damage to the speakers and the time used is measured in seconds. It follows one of those rules, if you don't know what it's for...leave it alone until you do. On the good side of things you blew up something that is not too expensive to replace--blowing up a pair of 15's would get pricey. The woofers are specific for the crossover and if you replace them with something different, the crossover would require different components to allow it to operate correctly. It would be impossible to specify a replacement woofer since we don't know what Paradigm you are using. Since the speaker is a 2-way, there are no woofers that would put out enough highs to mesh with the tweeter and give strong bass response. I'd replace the woofers with stock Paradigm woofers to retain the crossover settings, look into actual subwoofers and leave test tones alone.

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