bad sub sound

ok heres the deal i just got a used orion cobalt cs12d of a friend and hooked it up in my car. it worked fine in my friendds car before. now there is some bad sounds coming from it:
1. it sounds almost echoy
2. theres kind of a cone distorting sound
3. the sub makes a noise almost like it is hitting something
4. my 10" hits as hard (the orion was pounding in my friends car off less power)
ive tried reversing the polarity, inverting the sub(thats the way my friend had it), i took a good look at it and it seems ok. the cone isn't cracked, creased and the surround is good.
what can be causing this problem?

dirt_jumper54 wrote:

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1. it sounds almost echoy
2. theres kind of a cone distorting sound
3. the sub makes a noise almost like it is hitting something
4. my 10" hits as hard (the orion was pounding in my friends car off less power) 

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1. What size is the box? Is it sealed , ported, BP etc.. it could be way to big for the woofer that can sometimes cause a boomy/echoy sound
2. Could be a damaged Voice Coil, check the impedence of the sub with a DMM
3. Sounds like its bottoming out, possiably a box issue IE: to big or to small

Just some things to ponder

--Skold

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2004 Honda Civic Ex 4Dr

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I'd also recommend checking the amplifier gain and bass boost settings.  A clipped signal can sound oddly mechanical.

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My first guess when I first read this was a bad voice coil. As said above, check the impedance.

Steven Kephart wrote:

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I'd also recommend checking the amplifier gain and bass boost settings.  A clipped signal can sound oddly mechanical.

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Do this first!

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the box is not to big the recommened ported size is 2ft mine is 1.75. the problem is kind of solving itself its not half as bad today as it was yesterday. the amp was working fine with my other sub. 

dirt_jumper54 wrote:

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the box is not to big the recommened ported size is 2ft mine is 1.75. the problem is kind of solving itself its not half as bad today as it was yesterday. the amp was working fine with my other sub. 

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Problems that "solve themselves" were generally not problems to begin with... but back to the issue: how did you set your gain and are you using any "bass boost"?  If you changed subs, did you change impedance loading on the amp?  And are you sure the sound you're hearing is not simply because your new sub sounds different from your old one?

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ok there is no bass boost on my amp (its really old) my gain is about 1/3 up. i am runnig at 2ohms now. previously is was running a 10" mtx thunder 6000 8ohm svc with the gain pretty much cranked. i can accually hear the sub moving (its hard to explain) its not a bass sound its like i can hear the vc moving. this sub pounding unbelievably hard in my friends car which is about the size as mine and there both hatchbacks off the same amp. also if this effects anything my box is ported really low like 30hz or so could this be my problem?

Just because you are running @ 8ohms DOES NOT mean you need to jack up the gain level.  You should:

a.)  get some NEW 4ohm subs                             b.)  get ANOTHER matching sub (somewhere)

c.)  buy a newer amp with higher power rating

d.)  A and C

Whichever you choose, you'll be glad you did.

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Everything I touch turns to ICE

i know what the problem is now. the amp is just a pice of sh*t and only works good when it wants to. some times it works ok and others it just feeds a bunch of distortion. so im just just shell out the cash for a new amp. the reason i has the gain so far up at 8ohms is i still had no distortion. but when i started runnig it at 2ohms i got distortion at about 1/2 gain so i set it lower. im runnig it off one channel(instead of bridged)right now at 2ohms and it sounds ok but there is only 75 rms going to the sub so its pretty quiet.

Anytime someone use the relative position of the gain control, as you are saying that you're doing:  "i got distortion at about 1/2 gain so i set it lower' ............

..........it is a sure sign that the gain is NOT SET PROPERLY.  If you've set it according to standard procedure, moving it would not be an option during your troubleshooting.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

i bought a new used amp today so problem solved. RF 250m mint shape pd 130cdn (100us)from a local shop, it was a trade in and they just had it sitting there. sounds real clean. 1000 times better than my last one.

And i set this one using standard proceedure.