Question Velodyne DD12 - Rattling - Amp or Voice Coil ?

Scottgough

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Morning

My DD12 has sadly developed a death rattle. I've sent it to a local speaker specialist in London who believes the amp is at fault. Having taken it apart he couldn't find anything, and has now sent it to an electronics specialist, who are also struggling. Looking at other with similar problems, I'm not sure I'm convinced its the amp at fault.
Sometimes it's absolutely fine, then you turn it on and it's like this, it's almost like it's the voice coil and sometimes the servo doesn't grip it or something, very odd.

I've since bought a SVS SB16 Ultra to fill the void, but really don't want to bin what's an excellent sub if I can get it repaired. Does anyone have any ideas or know of a decent repairer around London?



Many thanks !
 
Have you ever had it serviced? You may want to contact the UK distributor Redline, based in Essex.
 
Hi Steve

I haven't had it serviced. May be a good idea to call Redline actually, I wasn't sure where they'd be on a 2005 sub as parts aren't readily available anymore, having said that the only way to find out is call them I guess! Thanks
 
Mine is about the same age as yours and developed a similar noise, although not quite as bad as yours or as consistent. I was told by Vince at Redline that they need servicing every 7-10 years, so mine was overdue. Had it done just under 3 years ago now and they did a great job at a reasonable cost.

As I'm retired and had time on my hands, I took my sub to them and picked it up. If you don't want to do that or can't do it, they will guide you through taking the amp assembly out of the sub and you just send them that, so it's minimal courier cost. Of course, this is assuming that it is the same issue as mine had. You may want to talk with them (Vince may still be with them as he's been with them for a while and is very experienced with Velodyne) and see what they think.

My sub is boxed up and hasn't been used for over a year now, so I can't really look at the back of it right now to see if the amp is as easy as they say to remove. Sorry.
 
Thanks for the info Steve, must say I didn't realise they needed servicing. It's reassuring to know they haven't abandoned them due to the age because as a sub they still punch well !
 
I run a M&K X10 nowadays that betters it in my opinion, but they were a very good sub back in the day and still can hold their own. Very well built and compact.

I seem to recall that Vince told me that they had purchased loads of spare parts to be able to service Velodyne subs for years ahead, so you should be OK. They would definitely be who I would contact first.
 
I run a M&K X10 nowadays that betters it in my opinion, but they were a very good sub back in the day and still can hold their own. Very well built and compact.

I seem to recall that Vince told me that they had purchased loads of spare parts to be able to service Velodyne subs for years ahead, so you should be OK. They would definitely be who I would contact first.

I had a SVS SB16 Ultra delivered on Saturday as I couldn't cope without a sub, so far very impressed. Need to EQ it yet, but its tight and punches hard, was considering using the DD12 as a second sub if I don't sell it once repaired. The M&K X10s are wonderful things !
 
I'm going to be trying my DD12 as a 2nd sub too as I've been too lazy to do it before or even advertise it for sale. If it works well, it will give me enough info to but another X10.

The SVS SB16 is reputedly a wonderful sub and it does sound like it's proving that way for you. :thumbsup: I've thought about twin SB3000's, but have yet to try them. I do like my X10 very much.
 
Aren't these serco driven so does the servo mechanism also need servicing and also another thing that could fail? And the movement sensor part too believe it measures movement of the transducer and compares it to the input signal?
 
Aren't these serco driven so does the servo mechanism also need servicing and also another thing that could fail? And the movement sensor part too believe it measures movement of the transducer and compares it to the input signal?
Not sure to be honest, I've dropped Redline a message now so hopefully will get a steer !
 
Aren't these serco driven so does the servo mechanism also need servicing and also another thing that could fail? And the movement sensor part too believe it measures movement of the transducer and compares it to the input signal?

They are servo driven, so yes, that and the sensor parts could potentially have a fault. That's the advantage of servicing by Redline. They will check out everything. At least they did that with mine. They also ran a 24 hour (48 hours actually in my case) to ensure all is working as it should with any new components. :)
 
Great news on this, I contacted Redline and Vince emailed me straight back. He's pretty certain from the video and explanation it's amp failure, he's confirmed they can repair if i drop the amp out and send it over to him. Just waiting for the sub to come back from the first repairer, and I'll get the amp over to Redline. Happy days - DD12 lives !
 
What's the rough cost of repair on this, mines exactly the same and was just about to replace it with an SVS SB-2000 Pro.
 
What's the rough cost of repair on this, mines exactly the same and was just about to replace it with an SVS SB-2000 Pro.

For mine Vince has quoted just under 300, but as above, I'd contact him directly to get a quote. Mine will only be subject to anything found on inspection.
 
For mine Vince has quoted just under 300, but as above, I'd contact him directly to get a quote. Mine will only be subject to anything found on inspection.

That's not to bad, but think I'll swap it out as its 17 years old now and I've heard a lot of the DD12 seem to suffer from this problem.
 
That's not to bad, but think I'll swap it out as its 17 years old now and I've heard a lot of the DD12 seem to suffer from this problem.

Personal choice I think, but if someone offered you a good working DD12 for ÂŁ300 would you take it? I think most people would bite their hand off, these days theres not much south of ÂŁ1500 comparable to it really.
 
That's not to bad, but think I'll swap it out as its 17 years old now and I've heard a lot of the DD12 seem to suffer from this problem.

What's more relevant is if the repair fixes it long term or not. If it does then there's no issue really.

A fixed DD12 should outperform an SVS S2000 Pro, and could also easily be sold for more than ÂŁ300 I'd have thought.
 
I had mine serviced by redline. All I can say is wow they did an amazing service the subs are now performing as they should. Really happy now. The power of the subs shake the room!!
 

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