I'm gonna go ahead and blame my situation on the economy...

[j13jjs]

Hey, I'm Joe by the way - new here.

You may not have heard of the exciting Gemini XTR-500!!!!
-That's because it seems to be junk.

Regardless it's the system that my organization has for playing music at parties/social events. Most of the venues aren't any larger than a couple hundred square feet- Small town.

So anyways to get on with the purpose of this thread...

The subwoofer would appear to be blown, although it's hard to tell a difference because there was always some level of distortion during the high bass output. This system is not exactly top of the line.

Budget here is minimum without wasting money on junk, all of this will probably be coming out of my pocket just because I know how hard it would be to get funds to repair this when a lot of the other people involved would not even understand that there is a problem.

Recommendations for a replacement subwoofer that will work with the existing amp?

Here are the specifications from the companies website.
- 2 XTR-SAT 10” Trapezoidal loudspeakers & 15” powered subwoofer
- Efficient MDF Bandpass subwoofer enclosure w/ 35mm Standmount
cap andwheels
- 3-channel power amplifier & active crossover built-in to subwoofer
- 230 watts RMS on subwoofer channel
(Subwoofer Freq. Response: 100Hz to 20kHz)
- 85 watts RMS per satellite channel
(Satellite Freq. Response: 35Hz to100Hz)
- 400 watts total RMS and 800 watts peak power
- 120dB total continuous SPL
- Individual channel Sensitivity/Volume controls
- Balanced XLR and 1/4” inputs
- Speakon™ outputs for satellite channels (Cables Included)
- Variable speed fan

I'm also open to the idea of constructing a new box for the sub if it would be helpful and someone would point me in the right direction, I've constructed a few mdf subwoofer boxes for car applications.

The controller for all of this is a an American Audio Q-D1 MKII by the way.

Thanks!

-Joe

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey, I'm Joe by the way - new here.

You may not have heard of the exciting Gemini XTR-500!!!!
-That's because it seems to be junk.

Regardless it's the system that my organization has for playing music at parties/social events. Most of the venues aren't any larger than a couple hundred square feet- Small town.

So anyways to get on with the purpose of this thread...

The subwoofer would appear to be blown, although it's hard to tell a difference because there was always some level of distortion during the high bass output. This system is not exactly top of the line.

Budget here is minimum without wasting money on junk, all of this will probably be coming out of my pocket just because I know how hard it would be to get funds to repair this when a lot of the other people involved would not even understand that there is a problem.

Recommendations for a replacement subwoofer that will work with the existing amp?

Here are the specifications from the companies website.
- 2 XTR-SAT 10” Trapezoidal loudspeakers & 15” powered subwoofer
- Efficient MDF Bandpass subwoofer enclosure w/ 35mm Standmount
cap andwheels
- 3-channel power amplifier & active crossover built-in to subwoofer
- 230 watts RMS on subwoofer channel
(Subwoofer Freq. Response: 100Hz to 20kHz)
- 85 watts RMS per satellite channel
(Satellite Freq. Response: 35Hz to100Hz)
- 400 watts total RMS and 800 watts peak power
- 120dB total continuous SPL
- Individual channel Sensitivity/Volume controls
- Balanced XLR and 1/4” inputs
- Speakon™ outputs for satellite channels (Cables Included)
- Variable speed fan

I'm also open to the idea of constructing a new box for the sub if it would be helpful and someone would point me in the right direction, I've constructed a few mdf subwoofer boxes for car applications.

The controller for all of this is a an American Audio Q-D1 MKII by the way.

Thanks!

-Joe

Welcome Joe,
What did you expect for $380!

I'm afraid you are wasting time and effort even trying to mod that system.

The sub contains the amps AND the crossover between the sub and satellites. So this would be like trying to modify a dreadful Bose system, which is impossible.

If that system could produce an spl of 120 db anywhere in the listening area, I would eat my hat! The specs are fanciful.

For what you are trying to do a coupled cavity sub is a bad way to go. They are inefficient and you can't hear signs of distress on the sub. Distortion is usually very high unless you are very skilled in the design of these subs. They are lousy party subs.

You will be far better off starting from scratch and looking for decent used gear. However even with used, do not expect to get any sort of quality or spl. for that kind of outlay.

Reliably filling a space of several hundred square feet for a party, takes some expenditure. I'm afraid that rig was misbegotten before it left the factory in China and its a lost cause.

 

[j13jjs]

Thanks for the response.

I agree with everything you've said, the system is junk, I didn't purchase it, organization did, I'm just usually the one running it.

SQ of course has always been a let down, volume though hasn't, the system is generally quite loud enough without being anywhere near max volume or gain.

The sub though of course gets quite a lot of distortion even at very low levels and as I said at this point it's pulling itself apart.

So knowing I won't get any money from the organization to repair any of this and it will all come out of pocket what driver should I replace the blown one with? I'd just like to get something that isn't going to distort as much and hopefully last a little longer than this one did.

Thanks again!

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for the response.

I agree with everything you've said, the system is junk, I didn't purchase it, organization did, I'm just usually the one running it.

SQ of course has always been a let down, volume though hasn't, the system is generally quite loud enough without being anywhere near max volume or gain.

The sub though of course gets quite a lot of distortion even at very low levels and as I said at this point it's pulling itself apart.

So knowing I won't get any money from the organization to repair any of this and it will all come out of pocket what driver should I replace the blown one with? I'd just like to get something that isn't going to distort as much and hopefully last a little longer than this one did.

Thanks again!

I have no idea. You will have to use a driver with the same Thiel/Small parameters. Every model of driver is unique. All boxes have to be made to the driver. Coupled cavity boxes are very critical. Even a small change in the TS parameters will result in no sound from the port, and or, even a good driver destroying itself.

I'm not hopeful you could salvage the amp, and use another box and woofer properly aligned, as it is probably like the Bose and has built in Eq to the woofer drive. This again might result in destruction of a good driver.

This sounds to you like a simple project, but it isn't. I can not advise you without the full circuit of the amp and crossover and knowing the TS parameters of the driver involved.

I think most likely the only thing you can salvage from that rig is the mixer.

By the way it probably sounds loud because the quality is bad. Uneven frequency response, especially with a lot of midrange shout and high distortion, seems loud, but the actual spl. in those situations is usually a lot less than you think.