Brahma this, Brahma that...

after talking to him, it doesn't seem like he is a very pleased customer...

 

Couple of things:

1. There is quite a bit of slack in the tinsel leads. The only way to break them is to pull them tight, which happens at high excursion. There is simply no other way to pull the leads loose. Note that a single loud kick drum can result in a peak that is 2-3 times what the eye will pick up (the decay part will be much lower in amplitude, but is what is visible).

2. Make sure you have completely eliminated box issues. I know KingJamez fought a nasty buzz issue for days before isolating it to the box.

3. If all else fails, contact your dealer about service. If you have a problem and can't solve it, contact your dealer - they can help you (that's what you pay them for).

Thanks,

Dan Wiggins
Adire Audio

 

im not tryin to say anything, but i have heard of problems with the brahma before, and it just doesn't seem appealing...from mroe than one person...

almost makes me hesitant towards considering purchasing one

 

I definitely agree with you, JohnBlayz...
And I am sure Adire hears these concerns, I wouldn't doubt if you see the very next release of the Brahma addresses these issues publicly!

But it really is an issue that I think can be worked around, it wouldn't STOP me from buying one...
I have thought of several ways that I might attempt to solve that sort of issue, if I encountered it, if I had one... it's not a "make it or break it"...
Although it can be annoying for sure!

But I think the Brahma is enough of a "super sub" at a reasonable price to still make it very worth it...

And like Dan says, if you don't think the issue is within "normal" tolerances (or even what is acceptable to you), deal with the dealer!

Good luck to Ryno, I will be looking forward to hearing what he finds out (as MANY people here will be looking forward to as well!)..

 

hey fellas,

Ive been doing some investigation of the slap and have found a couple of things thanks to the inverted install. First, when I started to play mine it had almost no slap, then it began after a couple of weeks. Being in my trunk I never really minded it as it is inaudible. With Ryans complaints though, I used the inverted install to our advantage. I feel the suspension becomes a bit more compliant after a good banging, so maybe it's time to take the gains down a tad. I took mine down about 1/2 volt. Next is the wear I am seeing on the tinsels. It seems the tinsels are slapping the spider itself, rather than the cone. I will glue some cotton to the spider today and see what effect it has on the driver slap. Also, the tinsel mounts are in a 60 degree or so bend off the back of the binding posts. I bent mine to about 80 degrees and it helped some of the slap as well. I also noticed the pad on the cone has shifted. This is due to overexcursion of the cone. The tinsels are coliding with the spider and the cone, forcing the pad toward the surround. This, I feel, is due to the suspension becoming more compliant, and should be able to be corrected by resetting gains after suspension break in occurs. I'll continue to look for remedies to the slap and let you know what I am coming up with as I go.

Don't be discouraged Ryan. We'll work out some remedies for the problem. I'm working as hard as I can to get you taken care of by the end of this weekend. Just think of how good it really does sound, and how loud it is!!!

 

Fellas, I have a fix. I have little time right now, but I will post the fix and some pics of the fix, most likely tomorrow. I have a busy night.

 

Is this a manufacture default with all the Brahma's? I am trying to decide between the Brahma and W7 so please post the results of the fix ASAP.

Dave

 

Shouldn't you be getting ready for your honeymoon? Hard to get off these forums isn't it? My girl thanks I spend too much time on the computer

 

OK, no pics right now, I'll do them later. I spent alot of time looking at the way the Brahma was moving and looking for possible problems. Rhyno's displeasure sent me on a crusade . As everyone knows, I talked him into the Brahma, and I wanted to be sure he was happy. because the Brahma is in my trunk, I don't hear the slap and it doesn't bother me much. Thanks to the inverted install, and a timing light, I was able to watch her in action, and see the possible reasons for the slap. I already listed my observations with the tinsel mounts and that did quiet her down some, but the slap was still definately there. I looked the tinsels, cone and spider all over before playing it for obvious signs of wear (indicating slap) and found a couple things.

I contacted Dan and sent him the same pics I sent to both Geo and Ryno, as well as a few more. I gave him my input, and he promptly replied with some possible solutions, so thanks to Dan for his time.

First, the pad on the cone has obviously moved toward the surround. I felt the break in heat (because Adire doesn't cook their coils before delivery) was softening the glue and causing it to shift. Dan said that most likely it was over-excursion causing the spider and coil to collide, via the tinsels, forcing the pad down the cone. That makes sense, but I still feel it was break in heat, as there is still glue accross the whole pad. I felt adding some felt to the exposed area may help, but with Dan's point (about collision of cone/spider) I investigated further. Note... I did not add felt to the cone area, the fix seems to be elsewhere.

The insulation on the tinsels was worn right where the outside edge of the spider would meet it, so I had obvious contact there. Read this well, this is the fix!!! I told Dan about a desire to cover the spider at the contact point. I figured some felt in that area would help as well, but Dan suggested I glue a cotton ball to the spider (I hope this doesn't void my warranty Dan ). I used some wound cotton and some spray glue to attatch it to the spider. The Brahma is silent. The slap is GONE. All gone. Don't use a big ball of cotton, I worry about a big ball forcing the leads into the cone. Keep it as flat as possible.

When I set the gains to the sub initially, I heard a modest slap, and I backed off a hair. Over time (maybe 2 weeks), the slap developed, and seemed not to get better or worse after about 2 weeks. With the cotton on the spider, and the slap gone, I was able to set my gains higher. I opened it wide open and heard no distortion, or slap, or mechanical noise. I decided to use my O-scope on it to reset my gains properly. The Brahma is quiet, and quite happy now. Ryan, I really hope this helps. If not it may be a driver defect, and time to get in touch with the vendor. I buy direct from Adire myself, just to eliminate the middleman. I truely hope this helps. Please fellas, feel free to attatch this wherever you see a Brahma noise problem.

Brahma for president AGAIN!!!

 

Did Dan say he was gonna fix this problem, or am I gonna have to bust out the cotton once I order the Brahma?

 

Cotton my friend.

 

Timing light...
Sandt, you are a freaking genius!

I certainly commend you, in the first place, for not being one to complain about something without investigating the issue first...
That often bugs me... it seems like too many people are just like "waaaaaaa..." too often...
That's certainly not you, that's certainly not me!

The difference is, I also would have watched it in action, inverted, looked it over, poked pushed and prodded...
But I wouldn't have had the stroke of genius to break out the timing light!
Hell, I wouldn't have been able to figure how to hook up the tach sensor... was it as simple as clamping it onto the sub lead(assuming inductive pickup)?

Wow, you said "I used a timing light" earlier, didn't you?
Sorry, I am still impressed with that...

I wonder if Dan will be adding some sort of pad to upcoming Brahmas in this area (hint hint)...
And good job Sandt! YOU are the one who discovered the fix to the lead slap! (applause applause)

There's no such thing as the tooth fairy, santa claus, marty moose, the easter bunny, or over-excursion!
Can't have too much excursion...
It's only too much excursion when you end up with a crushed voice coil former!
j/k....

 

I haven't contacted him yet on this. I saw him here earlier today, and I'm sure we'll see and hopefully hear from him tomorrow regaurding this finding. I will be surprised if it isn't addressed. Quite simply, the outside roll of the spider is all that was in contact with the tinsel. Looks like an easy problem to correct.

 

No. actually I pulled another car next to mine. all it did was slow down the movenent of cone, like a strobe effect. I don't know if the current through the speaker wire would be enough to trigger the light, so I just used a car. That is actually an old trick to fire the light on a TB injection unit to observe the feul pattern to determine if the injector is partially clogged (rather common problem in the old iron dukes causing ping).

Thanks for the props Geo. Coming from you it is definately a compliment.