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[Paul Lea]

OK, I am running a 2 channel amp to push 3 dual 18" subs.

They are wired so that Channel one drives the top 3 woofers and channel two drives the bottom three woofers.  This equates to a 2.7-ish ohm load. The subs are daisy chained, out from the amp, to the 1st sub then to the 2nd sub to the 3rd sub. We use 4 conductor cabling.

Is this an acceptable way to run subs? Its the way I was shown how to do it years ago.

Someone told me that each sub should be "home run" to the amp.

Which way is correct or does it even make a difference?

The reason I ask is that we popped some woofers this past year and I am wondering if the way I am wiring the subs together may be the culprit.

Thanks!

[Tim McCulloch]

OK, I am running a 2 channel amp to push 3 dual 18" subs.

They are wired so that Channel one drives the top 3 woofers and channel two drives the bottom three woofers.  This equates to a 2.7-ish ohm load. The subs are daisy chained, out from the amp, to the 1st sub then to the 2nd sub to the 3rd sub. We use 4 conductor cabling.

Is this an acceptable way to run subs? Its the way I was shown how to do it years ago.

Someone told me that each sub should be "home run" to the amp.

Which way is correct or does it even make a difference?

The reason I ask is that we popped some woofers this past year and I am wondering if the way I am wiring the subs together may be the culprit.

Thanks!

More copper or higher impedance will give you better damping factor, but it won't change the propensity for damage.

Woofers die because you applied too much voltage and made the cone travel further than it was designed to move, or you applied too much voltage for too long and damaged the voice coil windings.  Cabling has nothing to do with that.

[Paul Lea]

Thats what I thought, he had cited back-voltage causing problems the way I am wiring it.

The odd thing is that the 2 woofers that blew were re-coned by a EV authorized re-coner and they didn't last 2 shows, the other 9 dual 18's had no issues.

Just wanted to ask.

Thanks.

[Tim McCulloch]

Thats what I thought, he had cited back-voltage causing problems the way I am wiring it.

The odd thing is that the 2 woofers that blew were re-coned by a EV authorized re-coner and they didn't last 2 shows, the other 9 dual 18's had no issues.

Just wanted to ask.

Thanks.

What was their failure mode?  Heat or mechanical?  If heat, Ivan or one of the other guys with recone experience can probably give you a good idea of the type of heat failure if you have pictures of the coil.

[Paul G. OBrien]

The odd thing is that the 2 woofers that blew were re-coned by a EV authorized re-coner and they didn't last 2 shows,

That could indicate a problem with these particular boxes like an air leak big enough to affect tuning or a problem with the amplifier connected to these drivers, but I'd also be curious to know exactly what amp is powering these things and if appropriate processing is being applied.. as in a high pass filter.

[Paul Lea]

We are using the Crown XLS5000's on them, processed using EV's settings on the DC-one processor. 

Each woofer is getting about 600 watts give or take at full Boogie. Continuous rating is 500 watts per woofer.

The input attenuators on the amp are dialed back a step so that if the board or processor clips the amp does not. Figured that was a safe way to build in a db or two of headroom on the input side of the amp.

The Voice coils are burnt, but only on the 2-3 we had reconed.  They didn't rub, everything went in and out of the voice coil groove smoothly.  it was a EV OE woofer recone kit.  The guy that did them has been doing this for 30+ years.

Just trying to see if there is anything else that it could be that brought on the original woofer burn.

One other thing, this is the first time in 4.5 years that we lost a woofer.

[Paul G. OBrien]

Each woofer is getting about 600 watts give or take at full Boogie. Continuous rating is 500 watts per woofer.

Normally that wouldn't be a concern but it depends what the source material is. If it's Live sound the boxes are underpowered and should never burn out so I'd suspect sub standard recone kits or system problems, but if it a DJ then they're overpowered believe it or not so you need more robust drivers, smaller amps, or a processor that will prevent Captain Redlight from driving the system 20db into clipping.

[Ivan Beaver]

Maybe I missed it-but physically where were the woofers located that failed?

If they were in the top of the cabinet-then the heat from the lower woofers would have risen-and could heat up the air around the upper woofer.

If the system was run that close to failure-it could be that the other ones may not be far behind-assume they are wired up in parallel.

[Paul Lea]

Both woofers popped in the same box.  I don't have a accurate answer if they were laying horizontal or placed vertical.

I do think I found the culprit, when Paul O'Brien mentioned EDM, I checked back in our calendar.  Turns out that sub got smoked on a DJ festival.  Apparently the engineer was not watching what he was doing. I was the guy who used them on the next gig, a rock show.  After pressing the previous shows engineer a bit, he fessed up.

Now I just have to figure out why the re-cones are not lasting.

I keep calling EV to see if they re-cone directly, they take my number but no one ever calls back.

Does anyone have a reliable recommendation for a re-coner in the midwest that they have used and trust?

[Tim McCulloch]

Both woofers popped in the same box.  I don't have a accurate answer if they were laying horizontal or placed vertical.

I do think I found the culprit, when Paul O'Brien mentioned EDM, I checked back in our calendar.  Turns out that sub got smoked on a DJ festival.  Apparently the engineer was not watching what he was doing. I was the guy who used them on the next gig, a rock show.  After pressing the previous shows engineer a bit, he fessed up.

Now I just have to figure out why the re-cones are not lasting.

I keep calling EV to see if they re-cone directly, they take my number but no one ever calls back.

Does anyone have a reliable recommendation for a re-coner in the midwest that they have used and trust?

EV does factory recones at their Morrilton, Arkansas facility.