If you are not clear whether your subwoofer is blown or not you can use a multimeter to test and check if the subwoofer is really blown.
A multimeter is one of the best ways to completely verify if the sub is blown or there can be any other problem that is causing distortion or another malfunctioning.
Subwoofers and speakers mostly blow when you deliver very high power or if they continue to work for a long time above the RMS power.
When you hear a distorted sound or no sound at all, it indicates that subwoofer is blown. You can also know this by touching the voice coil if it is moving at its place or not.
Today, we will use a multimeter to test if the subwoofer is blown.
Related: How To Connect Two Wireless Subwoofers To One Soundbar
What is a multimeter?
A multimeter is a multifunctional electronic device that can test voltage, current and resistance. It is mainly used to know the continuity of the current between two points.
There are mainly two different types of multimeters but today we use mostly the digital multimeter that is more efficient than analog multimeter.
Also Read: How To Power a Car Subwoofer at Home
Check a Blown Subwoofer With Multimeter
We will use a multimeter and check the resistance of voice coil. The condition of voice coil will decide the functionality of subwoofer.
Follow the steps to measure the resistance in ohms.
- Turn off your subwoofer completely and unplug any power source
- Remove all audio inputs or any cables to make your subwoofer free
- Remove the subwoofer from the enclosure
- Attach the positive multimeter probe to the positive terminal of voice coil of your subwoofer
- Connect the negative multimeter probe to the negative terminal of voice coil
- Turn on the multimeter and you will see the resistance
Result:
- If there is no resistance at all, it means that your voice coils are damaged
- When the reading shifts abruptly, that means your voice coil is damaged completely. It is actually a strong indication of a blown voice coil.
- If the reading is above 1.0 ohm, your coils are safe and sound and the problem may be somewhere else.
