Polk 8 inch subwoofer not making any bass... vibrates like a dying sex toy

dirtrider216

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Just tried to install a polk db842 8" DVC subwoofer in my sport touring with the 12 speaker system. At this stage the subwoofer was just a drop in replacement. I dont have an aftermarket amp or a line out converter. Just spliced the oem wiring harness for the stock subwoofer. got everything connected and then turned on the car to test it. The subwoofer cone vibrates about as much as a dying sex toy. There is absolutely no sound output from it at all, even with subwoofer and bass turned all the way up in the headunit EQ.
Do I have a dead subwoofer or is this simply due to the sH*t EQ from the vehicle DSP?
I stupidly already tossed the oem sub so plugging that back in isnt really an option..
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When you say 'absolutely none'; do you mean the shit is weak? Or do you mean that, if you touch the surface, there's zero vibration felt?
 
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dirtrider216

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When you say 'absolutely none'; do you mean the shit is weak? Or do you mean that, if you touch the surface, there's zero vibration felt?
It just barely vibrates.
It moves but doesn’t make any bass
 


Ocelot

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Are the coils wired out of polarity with each other
 

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That particular sub, I believe, only has one set of terminals. And even if it is out of phase with the other speakers; you'd still feel it vibrate (when touching it). I'm guessing that there's just not that much 30Hz-200Hz signal coming from the Honda system. But I'm just guessing.
 

Ocelot

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That particular sub, I believe, only has one set of terminals. And even if it is out of phase with the other speakers; you'd still feel it vibrate (when touching it). I'm guessing that there's just not that much 30Hz-200Hz signal coming from the Honda system. But I'm just guessing.
I’m sorry, I was sure I read somewhere that it was a DVC.
 

PandaXpress

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nope the db842 is a DVC and has two sets of terminals

That particular sub, I believe, only has one set of terminals. And even if it is out of phase with the other speakers; you'd still feel it vibrate (when touching it). I'm guessing that there's just not that much 30Hz-200Hz signal coming from the Honda system. But I'm just guessing.
 
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dirtrider216

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I only have one set of terminals connected because I thought the oem system was 4ohm
Do I need to wire the sub as 2ohm for it to have enough power?
 


Kane666

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the dsp will cut it off anyway once you get it. it needs to be the same ohms.
 

PandaXpress

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you shouldnt run only one coil for a dual voice coil it might damage your woofer
you need to wire it in Parallel, so it will be running at a 2 ohm
 

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I'm interested in what kind of improvement you get from just replacing the sub.
 
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dirtrider216

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Went back and rewired it like that.
It made a small improvement but I still can’t tell a difference between having the sub plugged in or not plugged In
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