Sunfire subwoofer from auction site

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Hello everyone. I recently bought a sub and I am posting these pictures in the hopes that you experts can identify what I have here. Are these official Sunfire woofers? How do they look to you? First up is the passive woofer.

 

Thanks!

Here is the other woofer

[ChrisTFM35 668]

I don't know what I'm looking at here to be honest. The amp part needs servicing but what about these speakers?

[Daddyjt 9,648]

The first one you show is the passive radiator, the second is the actual driver. Both look to be stock “Hi Vi”.

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Thank you. I was concerned that the seller took out the Sunfire woofers and put in aftermarket ones. These are not labelled with any identifiable markings. 

[ChrisTFM35 668]

I will have to refinish the cabinet since there are some cracks at the corners. The date inside is August of 1997. 

[Daddyjt 9,648]

If you are going to refurb the cabinet, I STRONGLY recommend you take the opportunity to install T-nuts on both the driver and PR screw holes, if they are not already installed.  I have seen one Sunfire that has T-nuts, and two that do not. The sheer mass of the driver requires them, IMHO.  

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Thanks. T-nuts are in the cabinet so I'm good there. How is the driver looking to you? Anything off about the appearance? 

 

Chris

 

[Daddyjt 9,648]

The sealing gasket looks to be on the spent side - source new ones if you can, otherwise ensure you get the existing ones in the correct position before mounting the driver/PR.  Also, I would verify +/- with the 9v battery test, and not trust the red dots, as they can move:-)

 

 

 

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Thank you. What is the 9 volt battery test?

[Daddyjt 9,648]

9v battery terminals connected to the speaker terminals briefly. If the speaker cone pushes “out”, the positive speaker terminal is the one hooked to the positive battery terminal. If the cone pushes “in”, that’s out of phase.  There is no harm in this test for woofers and mids - I don’t think its useful for tweeters. 

[ChrisTFM35 668]

That's a clever test! Thanks. This board has tons of great info.

 

I've been all over the passive woofer and it looks to be in good shape. The active woofer concerns me because of that large - what appears to be - crack in the woofer itself.

 

I'm on the hunt for gaskets. Thanks for that tip too.

 

Chris

[ChrisTFM35 668]

I started on the cabinet today. I didn't work too long but the paint seems to be very thin on this one. It comes right off with minimal effort. Also appears no primer was used at the factory - just this thin black paint.

 

Is this in line with other first generation Sunfire subs?

[B-Man 4,781]

If you can see light through this it definitely needs repaired / replaced. Hard to tell in the picture but it looks like it could be separated to me.

 

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Thanks. I will check that out.

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Here's the newly painted cabinet.

[AndrewJohn 10,507]

very nice paint work!

 

Do you have a picture of the plate amp to post?  I'm curious.

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Thanks! The plate amp is out getting tuned up. I'll photograph it upon arrival. 

[ChrisTFM35 668]

Hello everyone. I received the plate amp on Tuesday. After installing and testing it, I can say that it might be the best thing I've ever done for my stereo room. 

 

I tested it with the Beatles, Stones, Mingus, Brubeck, Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Izzy Stradlin. Everything sounded great. I thought Paul McCartney and Charles Mingus were in the room with me. It was fantastic. The active and passive woofers work well. No tears or damage. 

 

I noticed that my power amps are no longer getting warm - I assume the subwoofer is taking the heat out of them. 

 

I'm waiting on some cables to arrive for final install.  Pics of the plate will be added soon. They are on my Kindle. 

[ChrisTFM35 668]

[ChrisTFM35 668]