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[Mike Steines]

I have 2 peavey sp118s, I bought used, when tested off of a 300 watt amp they sounded fine. After I bought them and hooked them up to my AB international 1100a, they make a loud pop when barely pushing them. I unhooked all of my EQ's and Bass exciters, still had same problem.  So I hooked them up to my mackie fr2500 to see if it was an amp issue, still same problem. Checked all cords, everything is fine. No popping thru my main speakers.  I took one of the drivers out because I was afraid that I had been jipped and they werent black widows, but the are.  I took off the magnet and it looked okay other then a thin black circle about 3/4 inch diameter.  The black line seemed to be bubbly.  Other than that I cant seem to find a problem. Are the bad voice coils? or another problem?  Please help!!! I dont wanna spend 350 bucks on new baskets if thats not the problem.  Thanks!

[Paul G. OBrien]

What source signal are you driving these with?
Do you have a low cut filter engaged somewhere in the signal chain to eliminate everything below 40hz or so?
Do you have a multimeter to test the drivers continuity?
The bubbly black line you mentioned was that on the voice coil? If so that's bad and indicates the drivers are blown or were overdriven for an extended period of time and don't have much life left in them. A picture would really help here.

[Mike Steines]

I will be going to get them tonight and will send pics. The black circle IS on voice coil. And I have a crossover and eq that I have cutoff set at 40hz, But they pop at higher notes, id say 75-85hz range. I do have a multimeter and will test them.

What source signal are you driving these with?
Do you have a low cut filter engaged somewhere in the signal chain to eliminate everything below 40hz or so?
Do you have a multimeter to test the drivers continuity?
The bubbly black line you mentioned was that on the voice coil? If so that's bad and indicates the drivers are blown or were overdriven for an extended period of time and don't have much life left in them. A picture would really help here.

[Chris Carpenter]

I have 2 peavey sp118s, I bought used, when tested off of a 300 watt amp they sounded fine. After I bought them and hooked them up to my AB international 1100a, they make a loud pop when barely pushing them. I unhooked all of my EQ's and Bass exciters, still had same problem.  So I hooked them up to my mackie fr2500 to see if it was an amp issue, still same problem. Checked all cords, everything is fine. No popping thru my main speakers.  I took one of the drivers out because I was afraid that I had been jipped and they werent black widows, but the are.  I took off the magnet and it looked okay other then a thin black circle about 3/4 inch diameter.  The black line seemed to be bubbly.  Other than that I cant seem to find a problem. Are the bad voice coils? or another problem?  Please help!!! I dont wanna spend 350 bucks on new baskets if thats not the problem.  Thanks!

Try slowly pushing the driver in with your hand, does it make a scratching noise? Also, have you looked thoroughly in the cabinet for anything that may be loose and rattling around? Try to narrow down if your sound is coming from the driver, or the box.

[Mike Steines]

Try slowly pushing the driver in with your hand, does it make a scratching noise? Also, have you looked thoroughly in the cabinet for anything that may be loose and rattling around? Try to narrow down if your sound is coming from the driver, or the box.

I actually took the driver out and took it to a peavey retailer.  We did the push test and no scratching.  He told me there was no issue with the driver.  But I checked the cabinent and saw nothing loose.  I even put the driver into a PV118 cabinent I had laying around and it still pops.  Im 100% sure it is coming from the driver.  Im leaving here in a few minutes to go get it and take pics of the coil.

[Chris Carpenter]

I actually took the driver out and took it to a peavey retailer.  We did the push test and no scratching.  He told me there was no issue with the driver.  But I checked the cabinent and saw nothing loose.  I even put the driver into a PV118 cabinent I had laying around and it still pops.  Im 100% sure it is coming from the driver.  Im leaving here in a few minutes to go get it and take pics of the coil.

While you're doing that, look down into the gap with a flashlight for debris.

[Mike Steines]

While you're doing that, look down into the gap with a flashlight for debris.

Took them apart, Tested both coils, Read 3.8Ohm.  Here are the pics. Also any idea why the 2 coils look completely different but are both the same model number?

<a href="http://s889.photobucket.com/albums/ac94/djspreewell/?action=view&amp;current=coil2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac94/djspreewell/coil2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s889.photobucket.com/albums/ac94/djspreewell/?action=view&amp;current=coil1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac94/djspreewell/coil1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Mike Steines]

[Paul G. OBrien]

Hard to get a good look with those pictures(too dark and too close) but the coils definitely look a little cooked so you're probably going to need replacements soon. The difference in coils is probably because one or both drivers were reconed at some point and who knows but maybe one of those recones isn't correct or maybe it's just from a  different supplier.

You say you have tested both drivers and they behave the same? Have you tested the amp with other speakers just to rule it out as the source of the problem? Are you using a single channel of the amp to power each speaker or is it setup for bridged operation? If bridged set it for normal 2ch operation and try again.

[J. Taylor Webb]

Hi Mike;

That is something I've never seen before on a voice coil. It looks like something caused overheating in a small circular area, like debris or something in the gap .
Hard to see much detail on colors...
I am assuming the one with the small circle is the trouble driver.
Did the dealer SEE THIS?
This might be beyond my pay grade, but ...
Can you give a more detailed description of the noise that the driver makes, when it makes it, with what material through it, and at what volumes. Is it a pop, or more of a scratching sound?
A series of quick pops? Any distortion at low volumes?-Low bass tones at low volumes?
Is this just the one driver, is the other one OK?
As always, more info leads to better help.

Different looking voice coils, might indicate one has been replaced already.
If these are black widows, and one is driving OK, you might try swapping voice coil/magnets with baskets/cone assemblies, and see what happens. It is also possible that one coil might be a odd/wrong recone or some such, I'm not that familiar with the black widows to tell you what the coils are supposed to look like.
Also, are these rated 4 ohms?
Keep us updated,
Taylor

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