Okay
Yesterday was "Town Yardsale" day and someone had a JBL PSW-D110 out on their lawn with a sign that said "FREE"

So I did what any one of us would do and scooped it up. I took it home and sure enough its dead as a doornail. But its woofer is still intact and its still tuned correctly. Its just a problem with the amp. Then I looked up the history of this little beast and found that it is hounded by amp problems and they like to die often...
So I was thinking of replacing the amp with a 100 watt amp from Partsexpress. In the end I will have a cheap 10 with a good amp.

Any ideas? Feedback? Warnings? (Run away Jack, dont let it near your other components!)

SJ

Maybe you could just fix the amp.

DJ

Given it some serious thought but the general feeling is that this amp was made to a bad spec and is simply a pain in the @ss. I have had some people say the amp broke 3 times before the warranty was up. So the choice becomes do I replace or fix and possibly fix again, and again, and again...

Personally, I am leaning towards replacement because the amp I have in mind is:

Dependable, has a heat sink, and can be retrofitted very easily.

The feedback suggests that the woofer itself and box are tuned fairly well. I checked the action on the spider and dust caps and it all seems very solid. The solid cover is a plus as well since the kids and cats can be a tad rough.

SJ

Then again, I could just give it to someone and get one of these...

Rule of thumb, have twice the amp than you need. It's easy to turn an amp done than it is to turn it to 11!. Plus cheaper, low power, low end amps dont have clip protection. So you can drive it into clipping, not gain that much more sound (it will all be distorted anyways) and you can blow up the speaker. 100watts of heavy clipping is harder on a sub than 150watts of clean audio.


Oh and just remember, if you buy a 800watt amp for $80, then you know it's really only 50watts RMS.

I sold Audio and Video for several years...I think I have a "reasonable " grasp of the amp situation. Thats why I like the Daytons. I have dealt with them before and each time they have given me great service and solid advice. I have never had a bad experience with partsexpress.

Reading the horror stories about this sub, it seems that every one of the problems had to do with the amps design and build. People were greatly satisfied with the sub but it would start "rat-tat-tat-ing" and die. Invariably in the middle of the night.
Hehehe.

So Im still weighing in on a new sub versus a cheap fix for this one. I am tempted to fix it, but eveyone seems to agree that this amp is the worst thing since liver flavored bubble gum.

SJ

Other option to make the decision harder
A large proportion of the cost of an amplifier is the power supply. You could salvage that part and just add a new amp module?

DJ

It's a reasonably well tuned sub, and it's free. Slap an amp into that puppy and fire it up. The amp that came with it is crap, pure and simple. You could fix it, and it would break again. Don't bother.

Have fun!

Im CERTAIN it will break again. But the box is good and it has been tuned fairly well. However, during the conversation with my wife I mentioned the powered Dayton 12...

Wife: So, If you get that, then this one will go, right?
Me: Well, Yes I guess that would be the plan.
Wife: Well as long as it doesnt end up a coffe table in your office, I guess we could do that.

(/love wife)

Could you have somehow misinterpreted her and get 2 subs instead of one?

She said I would have to get rid of it...that doesnt mean it could make its way out to my garage with a small amp to replace the other one...

I mean....who could respect themselves if they threw out a perfectly good sub?

I think I may even have a sub amp from a car somewhere out there...seems a shame to waste that.

Took a small plunge and ordered this amp on sale today...

I have heard several people mention that this amp runs their 10 subs quite well...but there IS a method to this madness. Once the wife gets a taste of the boom, she will most likely mention that I should either build my own or purchase a larger one...especiall when I make frowny faces and go "This sub should be a little bigger to be compatible with this room."

Then one of two things happen:

1. Wife says "Sure" and I get 12 inch powered and the old amp goes into the bedroom.
2. Wife says "Sure" and I get a subwoofer for the garage!


Wife will not say "No" because she is a movie junky like me!

So now I am on the path to building a 'training sub' for the wife...This should be an easy swap.

As told to me by a sales person (Who wasn't trying to sell me anything at the time.)

"Women LOVE subwoofers. They only think that they don't."

There's an actual biological basis to this, more than just gender stereotypes. Men and women have different hearing ranges. Men's hearing is more sensitive in the lower ranges, and women's in a higher range. While both are perfectly capable of discerning balanced sound, there is a range bias there. Not so much in hearing, I suppose, but in how we perceive VOLUME.

So, when men get ahold of the volume control, we turn up the volume until the lower registers sound right. However, with the weak reproduction in typical (Or even some very good) speaker systems, this means that the treble is much too loud. Not a problem for the guys, since our hearing doesn't register VOLUME at that range. That is, however, where the women register volume, and they object. 'Does it have to be so loud?' Or they just turn it down and we're left feeling like it's too quiet. End result, nobody's happy.

Enter the subwoofer. More and clearer bass. The system volume goes down, and we're happy. We register the volume as being good. The women are happy too. The volume is lower for them, and they don't feel like we're trying to blow their eardrums out. Everybody wins.

Just don't expect every woman to really GET that it's the subwoofer that's making her happy.

Dayton has a good reputation for drivers.... Don't know about their amps, but, on the other hand, does it matter? It is a subwoofer after all. I was going to suggest using one of the higher-powered t-amp versions out there... but looks like you're getting an ok deal.

For the record: Women may like bass. But my neighbors do not.

Dayton makes some pretty solid amps as well. I was dead set on the 100 watt until I heard this one seemed to have a little more Umph behind it. And you really cant beat the price. Most likely this one will end up in the garage for raging dance parties for my girls while I quietly occupy the corner with a Hsu 10 or Dayon 12...

Oh..just checked my email...

Fedex just delivered me a little package. I am the proud father of a ten pound baby amplifier!

Hmmm...it's a cute little thing, so I had to give it a test go. Snaked the two leads for the sub out the back and plated them in place then ran the amp bare to the sub. A little RCA input and VIOLA! subsonic ( kinda) sound!

The amp is more than happy to push this little 10DVC. I think Im using quarter gain at best and Im rolling off somewhere around 60 hz after a quick tune. Flushes out the underbass nicely, but I can already tell that Im destined for a larger sub...

Watched a little Jurrasic Park and a Scene from the Matrix several times with sub on/off...I cant believe I didnt do this before. This wont do an incredible amount for music, but for movies...rarghhhhh!