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Is my SPL-150 broken?

Teletha

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Hey!

I don't know what has happened but my Klipsch SPL-150 sounds very strange in lower Hz. I set it up as what my Denon AVR x4700H said with gain etc. I filmed it playing a sound clip that goes from 20hz to 45hz. and after about 32hz it stops sounding like a piece of paper is in front of it. I have tried to lower the gain on it even more than it was on but it still is present but just at a bit less. I also tried to test press the cone to see if its broken but it feels just fine no weird sound or feeling to it and it bounces back real stiff like expected.
It says that the req. response is 18Hz - 125Hz so it should be able to handle this Hz without sounding like this or am i wrong?
Spec sheet

I have my speakers on 80hz crossover and the sub on 120hz. i couldn't find a high pass filter so not sure if its sending the 1-16hz to the sub too or if the sub has a built in highpass filter to protect it.


This is the test Hz i used (but i set it to 0.5 playback speed since it was going too fast)
 
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alex-z

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If you use half playback speed it will halve the pitch as well, so you measured 10-22.5Hz. Knowing Klipsch, it probably doesn't play anything below 20Hz. If you want to measure a subwoofer accurately you need a measurement mic placed within 10cm of the cone. Room modes dominate what you hear with your ears, making it difficult or impossible to judge the performance of a subwoofer.


If you are using a typical AV receiver, the 80Hz crossover is both a low-pass for the subwoofer and high-pass for the speakers. The 120Hz crossover you mentioned is called the LFE cutoff, and isn't related.
 
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Teletha

Teletha

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i made my own tones via audacity from 18-30Hz and it sounded bad through all of those freq. im opening a warranty claim.

what is the point of the 120hz LFE cutoff if it already is low passing at 80hz?
 
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Chrispy

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i made my own tones via audacity from 18-30Hz and it sounded bad through all of those freq. im opening a warranty claim.

what is the point of the 120hz LFE cutoff if it already is low passing at 80hz?
Lpf of lfe only affects the LFE (.1) channel (and normally 120 is limit of content), the crossover is bass management for other channels....
 
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Sancus

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If you use half playback speed it will halve the pitch as well, so you measured 10-22.5Hz.

Not true, YouTube and most media playback software nowadays use an algorithm that does not alter pitch to change playback speed.

I don't know what has happened but my Klipsch SPL-150 sounds very strange in lower Hz.

It sounds to me like it's rattling because some part of the driver(spider, maybe?) is loose and it's resonating. I don't think it's bottoming out, but could be wrong, haven't heard a lot of failing subs and usually a limiter will prevent that.
 
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AdamG

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Sounds and looks to me like he is reaching the excursion limits of the driver resulting in hitting the metal basket stops. I don’t believe that the OP stated where the Sub amp gain was set. I’m guessing he was just over driving the sub in both power output and frequency too low. That combination will make a sub start to bottom out. I have heard and seen this type of failure before. Specially when playing test tones.
 
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Teletha

Teletha

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Sounds and looks to me like he is reaching the excursion limits of the driver resulting in hitting the metal basket stops. I don’t believe that the OP stated where the Sub amp gain was set. I’m guessing he was just over driving the sub in both power output and frequency too low. That combination will make a sub start to bottom out. I have heard and seen this type of failure before. Specially when playing test tones.
the gain is currently at 10-11 o'clock.
 

Sancus

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I’m guessing he was just over driving the sub in both power output and frequency too low. That combination will make a sub start to bottom out. I have heard and seen this type of failure before. Specially when playing test tones.

It sounds like he calibrated the volume with Audyssey though. So unless he is running the test at >0dB volume setting, this really shouldn't happen with a decent 15" sub and a test track that does not use the LFE. 105dB in room at 30hz is not a problem even for my 12" sealed sub. It is possible something is misconfigured though or gain/EQ boost is set way too high somewhere.

the gain is currently at 10-11 o'clock.

That sounds very high to me, is that really what it took to get 0dB in Audyssey calibration...? I don't know anything about these Klipsch subs but mine is set to about 5 o'clock...

Nevermind that's like 5/11 which sounds totally fine.

What is your volume setting while playing this clip?
 
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