Audiobahn ALUM12 Review
Written: Apr 27 '02
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Pros: aluminum cone,
rubber surround,
good looks
Cons: poor build quality,
poor terminals,
poor durability,
poor value
The Bottom Line: Highly recommend you spend your money on another
brand subs. Ease of use is poor (terminals are a pain).
Durability is poor (inside 2 years 4 of 4 purchased
defective).
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| war-pig's Full Review: AudioBahn ALUM12 Car Subwoofer |
I purchased 4 new in box Audiobahn ALUM12 Subwoofers
in an ebay auction a year and a half ago. I decided to
purchase the ALUM12, when in the pictures I had seen, it
appeared to be an extremely well built, strong speaker that
would fit my car stereo application well. The ALUM12 is a
chrome plated basket aluminum cone dual voice coil
subwoofer with rubber surround. Audiobahn spec's claim
power handling of 1000 Watts RMS. The ALUM12's were a
perfect match for my Rockford Fosgate G800a2 (200 Watts RMS
X2@4 Ohms or 400Watts RMS X2@2 Ohms)and with their 1000
Watt RMS rating should easily be capable of taking whatever
my 800a2 could dish out. I paid $129 each for all 4 for a
total of $516 plus shipping.
I received my speakers and installed 2 into a large
speaker box with the dual voice coils wired per the
instructions for a 3 Ohm load (2X 6 Ohm coils in parallel)
I planned to add the other 2 at a later time when money
would permit the purchase of a second amp. I stored the
other 2 in my closet for the time being. I was satisfied
with the sound with the exception of very loud bass notes
would have a tendency to sound loose, and not as tight as I
would like.
After using the pair for about 1 month I heard a loud
buzz coming from one of the speakers. I removed the speaker
from the enclosure to inspect the speaker and found that
the buzz was produced by the spider/voice coil structure
had broken the epoxy joint holding the structure to the
aluminum cone, and the aluminum cone was slapping the
structure when sound was reproduced. Rather than send the
speaker in for warranty I decided to re-epoxy the defect
myself. To this day that speaker has held up fine. Some
time later The second speaker malfunctioned. When I
removed the second speaker I was surprised at what I saw.
The second speaker was not going to be repairable by me,
and would require service. The material where the spider
attaches to the voice coil assembly was completely ripped
360 degrees around the voice coil assembly and the entire
voice coil assembly was bottomed out and the speaker no
longer had any suspension. The speaker was out of warranty
at this time and was not worth repairing. I replaced it
with one of the two left in my closet. The third ALUM12
developed a condition where it started to sound distorted.
I lightly pushed in the cone to check the suspension
assuming the same problem I had with #2 and when the cone
was pushed in about 1/4 of the way you could feel the voice
coil scraping against something inside the motor structure,
I removed the speaker and found, like with speaker #2 the
spider material was ripped as well, only on this speaker I
caught it before it ripped all the way in a 360 degree
circle around the voice coil structure, this one was ripped
about 325 degrees around the coil structure. It was then
replaced with the fourth and final ALUM12 in my closet. #4
lasted about 6 months before it started buzzing like #1
was, I removed it and like the first the epoxy from the
junction of the voice coil structure and cone structure
was loose, this time half of it is still glued solid and the
other half has come apart. One day I will pull it apart the
rest of the way and re-glue it like I did with the 1st
speaker but for now I've had it with these speakers. 4/4
bad speakers one of which I fixed myself, and another I
could fix if I could get it apart the rest of the way. Two
that are damaged beyond repair.
If these speakers can electrically handle 1000 watts
of power doesn't much matter if they cannot physically
handle 30% of that power without coming apart. I decided
to take a chance on Audiobahn's speakers and unfortunately
it was a bad decision. Too bad it cost me over $500 to find
out. Since 3/4 of my problems occurred when my speakers
were out of warranty it looks like I'm out of luck. Would
it have made a difference if they were still under warranty?
I don't know, but I don't know anyone who ever had their
woofers covered under warranty by ANY manufacturer, always
the same old "they were abused" song and dance, so I didn't
bother trying expecting more of the same. What I do know
is that if I had a need to have 4 speakers warranty
repaired, would I really want an exact replacement from the
same company? I think not! For what I paid, and for how
long the product lasted, I will not be purchasing any of
their other products.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): $129x4=$516
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Epinions.com ID:
war-pig
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Reviews written: 1
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