Home audio help (subwoofer)

[Mustang5oh]

Well here is the situation... I have a 15 JBL subwoofer that the internal amp recently went out on. The system is in my basement and I like a lot of bass. I ended up finding a used 12 Klipsch sub and was hoping for similar bass output but was slightly dissappointed. My original idea was to get an external amp and mount it seperate and run the JBL but havent come across anything really cheap. So my second thought is to attempt to run both subwoofers off the one. The Klipsch is a 650W powered sub and has external outputs to hook up other speakers, my questions are will the output produce enough power to run the other sub? Also would I need a crossover? Has anyone ever tried this? Thoughts or suggestions? Also I want to do this as cheap as possible...

 

[Birdie2000]

How much power did the internal amp in the JBL put out?

Why not replace the internal amp with a new one?
http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=505

 

[Mustang5oh]

How much power did the internal amp in the JBL put out?

Why not replace the internal amp with a new one?
http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=505

The JBL was 350... I don't know if they even make parts for this sub, its like 10 years old now...

 

[moneypit]

jbl probably can fix it they are great with supporting older stuff

 

[Tin]

You wouldnt need a crossover running speaker level outputs, the crossover is in the subwoofer amp. Most good sub amps will have an adjustable crossover, so cross the low/mid where the speakers start to roll off on the bottom end. If you cross it over too low, youll have a dead spot in the sound, and crossed over too high will drown out the mids and give the boomy bass so many people are accustomed to. Boomy bass is not good bass, as the magic is in the mid range. Bass isnt supposed to boom, its supposed to kick you in the chest .

 

[Mustang5oh]

You wouldnt need a crossover running speaker level outputs, the crossover is in the subwoofer amp. Most good sub amps will have an adjustable crossover, so cross the low/mid where the speakers start to roll off on the bottom end. If you cross it over too low, youll have a dead spot in the sound, and crossed over too high will drown out the mids and give the boomy bass so many people are accustomed to. Boomy bass is not good bass, as the magic is in the mid range. Bass isnt supposed to boom, its supposed to kick you in the chest .

Yeah, the JBL definently has the "kick you in the chest" feel to it and the Klipsch seems to have more of the "rumbly" sounds to it. I think I am gonna try finding an amp for it if I can't get the current one fixed... and then run both for even more bass... Can never have too much...

 

[Killjoy]

I'd either pickup a BASH amp from Parts Express (linked to above), or look online for a used Crown/QSC pro amp (but you'd need to use a crossover too).

 

[Tin]

Klipsch uses BASH amps in their subwoofers. Have you taken apart your JBL amp? Amps arent especially difficult to repair, since most of the components are hole mounted on a PCB. If you see a nuked cap or resistor, just replace it with one of the same value. You will pay quite a bit sending it back to JBL to have them fix it. Chances are, you can get any part you need from them. Most of the better sub amps are class D, so they will use either chip style transistors or MOSFETs for amplification.