Have I blown a speaker?

[JDHayes]

I have a Peavey 4x10 rated 350w @ 4 ohm 700w peak. I'm pushing it with a Ampeg rated at 450w @ 4 ohm (so yeah, I'm probably over powering it). I normally use my sr506 with this set up and havn't had a problem. However, I used my passive p bass (the pickups are hotter than my active bass). I have been pushing it hard to get loud enough to be heard over 2 guiturds. Around the 3rd set the cab started distorting and breaking up pretty bad. I swapped basses and the sound was still there. I can't see any physical damage, but I've never blown a speaker and don't know what to look for, so I wanted to know if I have done just that.

[Growly Lytes]

Try plugging up at home or somewhere quiet .If the speakers distort when you have just turned the amp on then you may have damged them but it might be another problem altogether.Maybe a wire has come loose from the vibrations or the amp was over pushed resulting in distortion at the time, did they distort after the amp cooled down ?
Go through some tests to see if it still does the same thing.Try another amp & see if maybe the amp has a problem.
All the best.

[JDHayes]

Yeah it distorts when the amp is first turned on. I took the cab to my next gig and it started distorting on the first note i hit. I changed out cables, same thing. I ran my line out of the amp to the pa and used that all night, with no problems... i haven't tried running my amp to a different cab yet.

[paulygonemad]

found this for ya man.
good luck
How to test for blown speakers?

[JDHayes]

thanks for linking that! Ill try out the 9v and see what happens

[JDHayes]

So after doing the 9v test any 2 of my 4 speakers are moving. The top 2 speakers seem dead.

[beelzelboss]

They probably are blown then, because the speakers should move.... That is going to be a costly fix.

[paulygonemad]

sorry to hear that dude. Maybe someone else has some ideas for you, but you may indeed have 2 blow speaks.

[B-string]

Contact Peavey about replacments?

[wave rider]

I'm not sure how they are wired, but could one of them being out stop it's partner from moving? Maybe you only have one speaker out?

=wr=

[JDHayes]

took the 2 speakers out and examined them. On top right speaker the negative wire going to my speaker looks to have broke (or burned) at the solder joint. The other one looks fine, could the one make the other not work? Looks like all the speakers are linked by a jumper wire in series.

[paulygonemad]

I would search your model number for a wiring schematic. Maybe also try to repair that wire?

[JDHayes]

yeah im gonna try and repair the wire tomorrow. thanks for the responses all.

[Growly Lytes]

Yes it could make the other one not work so try to fix the connection then try again but i suspect that you have put `too much` or `not enough` power into them.Even if they are rated more than the amp it is easy to wreck a speaker.
2 ways - under powering can give bad distortion to a point they stop & burn out.
Second is over powering the cab with too much clean power & bottoming out the speakers to the point of death.
If you can see that the connection is burnt there was something happening there, if there was too much power or not enough power i dont know but definitly a problem has occured.
Again all the best buddy.

[ehque]

Originally Posted by Growly Lytes

2 ways - under powering can give bad distortion to a point they stop & burn out.

Please stop spreading misinformation. Underpowering speakers does not blow them, and speakers hitting their x-max (bottoming out, according to you) is an EXTREMELY audible phenomenon.

To the OP, fix the wire and see if your cab works that way. Possibly no permanent damage caused, unless AFTER the wire broke you turned up even more to compensate (which would probably be a bad thing to do). To the best of my knowledge once that wire broke your cab "became" an 8-ohm cab and that would definitely reduce the power.

You can check for voice-coil damage (the most likely form of damage here if the wire isn't the only thing broken). If i am not wrong it involves gently pushing on the speaker cone and feeling for "Scratchiness" in the movement.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 the "underpowering" myth has lived long enough. Let it die.

[B-string]

OH NO, we had a power failure, my speakers are being UNDERPOWERED!!!!

[JDHayes]

update: fixed the wire, speakers work and sound good (about knocked the pictures off the wall). As long as my solder joint holds, there was not a lot space the work in, so not my best work... thanks again for the help.

[Growly Lytes]

How is it possible to blow a woofer rated for 300 watts when I'm only using a 100 watt amp to push it?

Underpowering a speaker is likely to damage the voice coil due to the excess heat created by distortion. This distortion, called clipping, is created when the amp is not able to supply the power demand when the volume is turned up. If you turn the volume up very high without the power to back it up, you'll end up clipping the signal coming out of the amp. The speaker will try to reproduce this clipped signal, and if played under these circumstances for any length of time, the speaker will not last very long.

There is a mis-conception that if you're not giving the speaker as much power as it can handle you won't blow it, but that simply is not the case. The only way to really address this problem is to replace your speaker for one with a lower power rating, and a higher SPL rating, or replace your amp with one that better matches the speaker's power handling capability. An alternative to replacing the equipment is to simply keep your volume turned down!

Make certain that power and ground wiring for the amplifier is sufficient to deliver adequate current to the amp. Proper wire gauge and clean connections are critical for strong performance