Today I was waiting for my wife to come out from visiting someone in the hospital. I decided to tweek the amps a little while waiting. I open the trunk, and start tweeking. I turn to the passenger side sub and thats when i see it, the cone cover (not grille) for my JL Audio 10W3 was cracked, Something got it at some point and i did not notice it. I did not hear a sound difference due to how the sub is designed. What we see is just a cover for the actual cone and since the cone wasnt messed up then the sound wasnt noticably different.====>Crutchfield link to design <====But now i have to see this cracked sub whenever i open my trunk. My wife made me feel guilty afterward bby saying that i will put my car before anything else. So that pretty much ment that I cant get a replacement any time soon. Im just lucky that i can still run the sub and the sound isnt any different. OK vent over. Thank you

 

I might be wrong but I think the huge "dustcap" that's cracked is a structural member of the cone. It might or might not hurt anything running it at reasonable volumes but I'm not sure what would happen if you were pushing it's limits. I mean, it's not going to come apart but it might not sound great either.

 

I see what you are saying. I dont plan to push it to its limit anymore until i get a replacement. I found out today that i can still push it decently and it still sounds good. I really dont want to push it too hard, i have to keep it for a few more months. Im still not happy and dont know what i had back in the trunk that did it. Maybe it was the oil jugs when i was taking them for recycling. i really dont know. When i get the replacement, i will definately be getting speaker grilles for them.

 

What's she doing out of the kitchen? lol. All joking aside...how big is the crack? Any pics? Might be fixable with something

 

Some subs need that dust cap to cool correctly too...

 

You're telling me you can swap that thing without her knowing! C'mon

 

Moving air through the pole piece?

 

Sometimes they are needed to force air in/out through the vent hole in the bottom. The manf would know.

 

Got it. I always wondered about that. I always thought it was weird that Dyn used a vented pole piece but also a "vented" dustcap. Then I realized it only looks vented.

 

i did not hear any air venting from the sub. Thats the first thing that i would have noticed. if you look at the design in the link i provided from right to left, there is the cone, then dust cover and then another cover and finally the ring. I attached some pics of the damage. Also my wife would find out in an instant if i swapped out the sub for a new one, especially whent hey run 260 at the authorized online retial locations. I will not go to the local JL audio retailer because they overprice everything to people who are not of the hispanic nature (I proved it at one point).

 

I can't remember from when I had my 12W6s, is the foam surround glued behind the broken part or on top of it? Just wondering because if it's on top and the crack makes it to the edge, it might mess up the foam.

Have you thought about trying to replace just the cover yourself? Usually an entire recone kit is not that expensive. You might get lucky and be able to buy just the cover cheap. You might also get unlucky and JL might not sell replacement parts.

 

Fixing it yourself is doable, ive done similar work before with a cracked edge on one of my Boston Acoustics components.

Back to the kitchen ( in the style of back to the future text)

 

I'd just pick up a new sub. There's always solid, cheap subs on my local Craigslist. Also check DIYMA

 

The cone seems like it is glued to the cover that cracked and the foam is glued to that. I could be wrong, but at least i dont hear any air escaping. i cant find any kits to help fix what busted, only re foaming kits. My local craigslist doesnt have any 10W3's. They have a few 10W6 but i want matching subs and my fiberglass enclosures are built for the W3's. Ebay definately has them. The big problem, I am worried if i dont get a replacement from and authorized retailer.

 

I'm all about getting stuff authorized and I do most of the time. However, I ran my 12W6s for nearly 8 years in every configuration possible. At one time they had 1,200w to them in a sealed box. Once they were bandpassed which can stress the cone. They've been ported and the last setup was infinite baffle in which I really pushed the mechanical limits.

They were with me when I used to drive 1.5hrs to work each way with them bumping the whole way for years. I never had any issue, nothing wrong with them. You almost never hear of a blown/broken W3/6/7 sub. In fact I do not thing I've ever heard of a failure other than from significantly overpowering.From an ethical standpoint, that's your decision but these things are so reliable.... and I don't like gambling.... but it's a pretty safe gamble that they will never fail and you will never need warranty.