PhLaXuS

OK...For a while now, I've complained about this pair of 12" L7's in my car. They'd be great for hip-hop only, but can't track anything else at all (bass lines, synth, etc...).

I pounded the hell out of them trying to get these things to break in and that did help, but they never sounded right. I've probably ~500 hours of listening time on them. For the last month or so, I've not really cranked up the bass much at all. I've been listening to CDs which contain very little bass. While listening to a particular spot on the CD where a bit of bass kicks in, the subs went *POP* and suddenly they sounded much better. They aren't as loud overall, but are able to track bass lines much better than before. When they popped, the track I was listening to had bass, but not much. It was your standard alt-rock track where the bass is only reinforcement...so I don't think I pounded them into "submission".

What happened? So far it's for the better.

1meanGTA

sounds to me like a loose wire somewhere, maybe you werent getting power to all 4 voice coils or something and the wire bumped onto the terminal. pull the woofers and check that out.

PhLaXuS

Found It!

On Saturday, I needed to jack the car up so I popped the rear hatch to remove my sucky scissor-type jack, and had this whimsical desire to push on the cone of one of my subs (Don't ask me why, but I often get strange impulses like this which usually turn out to be a good thing). When I pushed one sub in, the other pushed out an equal amount. I did the same thing when I first got the subs and the chambers were most definitely sealed from each other. Looks like the POP I heard was the glue seal breaking on the box chamber divider. It's not a small leak, either. It is large enough to allow ~70 cubic inches of air to be leaked in ~2 seconds. When this problem first came up, I checked all the wiring and it was all OK. The only part I couldn't see is where the 10AWG sub amp output wires connect to the sub -- my box has no terminal cups. I drilled holes in the box to pass the wires through and JB Welded them for sealer. This weekend, I'll disconnect one pair at a time from the amp and make certain both subs are still operational, but I think they are. I cranked it up a bit Saturday evening and they both appear to be moving in and out with the same excursion. I'll let you guys know what I find out.

Guess the box wasn't as strong as I thought, but then again UPS kinda trashed it en route and the packaging materials from the distributor were abysmal.