Fixing possible broken subwoofer

[Sepultura]

By no means do i have enough knowledge of audio to know what the problem might be here, so i come to you for some possible answers.

I have a Boston Acoustic SW10 subwoofer and i belive its a 100w amp. The problem that i am having is that when some loud deep bass comes in, the speaker starts making this clipping/rattling noise. Some tell me that its the amp thats causing this to do it and my lack of knowledge says replace the speaker.

Is there a way that i can modify this subwoofer so that it will handle the deep loud bass better?

Also, if it turns out to be the speaker, and i put a 250W 10" in the box, will the 100W amp be enough to make the 250W 10" sub give off the same amount of loudness and low level bass that the current 10" speaker does?

Thanks a ton for your help!

[Cheap Shot]

what type amp./rec. are you using

[Sepultura]

I have an Onkyo head unit. Not sure the model but it was rather expensive. The amp in built into the subwoofer. The guys at Boston Acoustic say that im probably pushing the speaker too hard and the cone is hitting the magnet and thats the noise that im hearing at loud low base levels

[BillFitzmaurice]

Chances are that clipping is exactly what you're getting, probably along with overexcursion of the driver. You're just playing your sub at volumes higher than it was designed to operate at.

To prevent amp clipping it's customary to use an amp with at least twice the wattage rating of the driver.

Even with a larger amp there is just so much that you can get out of a ten without horn loading. Assume that you're going to have to replace your entire setup if you want to play it as loud as you do.

Before running out and buying a 250 w driver be aware that the power rating tells you virtually nothing about how it will perform.

[Cheap Shot]

Or perhaps the low freq. is up too high? I own a denon which
has sub or low level volume control, if I'm watching movies it
must be set at zero or even minus one but when listening to
music I can turn it up to + 3 or 4 . check to see if thats the
case if not try turning the sub volume down a tick until you fix or replace your current one.

[TheoM]

If turning down the volume works, then turn it down.
If you want more volume, buy a bigger sub, or add one.
If turning down the volume does not work, try another amp. If that works you know where the problem is. If that doesn;t work pull the driver, and try to get an exact replacement.

The drivers in a lot of those commercial subs are super-cheap - so replacement with a better one is not a bad idea - but unless you know wat you are doing you might end up with a sub that really stinks, and is not as loud as your old one turned down.

For example, I have a transducer that takes 1000 watts, cost 15 dollars, but only reproduces its input frequency at about 10 decibels: my toaster. ted.

[kelticwizard]

Does your sub have a hole or port in it? Or is it a completely enclosed box?

[Sepultura]

It is ported

[Hayden]

being ported could be your problem
ported you can't power very well. less control of your sub

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Originally posted by Hayden
being ported could be your problem
ported you can't power very well. less control of your sub

B**L S**T