Audio Systems: subwoofer problems, voice coils, watt amp

Question
i have two subwoofers running of a 450 watt amp and they have worked fine. they now give out sound but very little but when i switch from left to right on my head unit they work fine singly. just wondering if you could help me get them both to work punchy and at the same time again. thanks   chris

Answer
Assuming they once worked as you expected, then something has gone wrong in the meantime.  Here are some things you can check.

ONE:  Check the wiring. Turn the system OFF and pull the plugs going to and from the sub amp and reinsert them a couple of times to sure the connections are making good.

TWO:  Check the speaker wiring very closely, especially at the point where the wires connect to the sub amp and to the speakers.  Look for hair wire shorts across the terminals.  Also, look for the speaker wire runs for scraped insulation or possible other shorts.

THREE:  Switch the wires from one woofer to the other and se if the problem switches or remains the same.  If it switches when you switch wires it means the problem is in that speaker wire or speaker.  If the problem remains on the same channel after switching it is in the amp or amp wiring somewhere.

So, you have some homework to check out each item above. It should lead you to the problem.  What you are looking for is: Bad wires or cables or connections thereof, defective woofer (loose voice coils) or bad channel in the sub amp.

Let me know if you need more ideas.

C