Subwoofers start popping for several reasons. When there is too much distortion or power going to the speaker, you’ll experience problems with your audio.
When the incoming signals tell the cone to move too far forward or not far enough, you’ll get the distorted audio that becomes so annoying when driving or listening to music at home.
If you get a clipped signal that tries to move the cone too fast, you’ll also get the dreaded popping sound.
This guide will direct you toward the various solutions that can help you stop the unwanted sounds.
Why Does My Subwoofer Make a Popping Noise?
Subwoofers make popping noises because of squared waveforms, incorrect cone signals, or overpowered setups. The distorted sounds indicate a mismatch between the input and output based on the speaker’s specs. Loose wiring can also cause popping noises.
The fastest way to reduce the popping sound from your subwoofers is to ignore the maximum wattage ratings.
Only use the RMS ratings for your subwoofer. Although this spec is harder to find in the owner’s manual, this power rating is the only one to use.
Your subwoofer prefers an amplifier that won’t give it more than the highest RMS power rating it can manage.
You’ll also need to set the gain for your amp correctly. If you run more than one sub, there must be enough power to reach all of them to avoid popping sounds.
When you’ve split the difference, and both units are underpowered, both will start sounding like a fresh bowl of Rice Krispies.
Let’s say that you have a subwoofer rated for 120 watts RMS. The amp you have for your audio system puts out 160w RMS. That issue could cause the sub to blow.
The situation gets even worse because most manufacturers won’t honor warranties when you’ve exceeded the RMS rating.
■ Why Does This Problem Only Happen in Cars?
When you experience popping sounds from a subwoofer at home, the result is almost always a wiring issue.
The vibrations caused by the lower frequencies can jiggle out the connections, creating an interrupted circuit.
When the subwoofer crackles in your home theater system, you hear the wires go in and out of their terminal.
If you use a Bluetooth subwoofer, the popping sounds are often due to localized interference.
You might need to shut off other devices in the room to improve the audio output.
Home theater subs have amps and subwoofers that get matched together by the manufacturer.
You typically purchase them as a set, eliminating the issues with power matching that you can experience in a car audio system.
Why Do Clipped Signals Cause Popping Sounds?
When you look at the shape of the typical soundwave sent from the amp to the subwoofer in a vehicle, you’ll see rounded summits and valleys.
You’ll go up to the +V1 and down to -V1 to give the sounds some character. This wave travels for eternity until it impacts something in its way.
If you have a clipped signal, the roundness shape disappears. You end up with squared corners as it reaches the +V1 and -V1.
Although a drop might sound fantastic in an EDM composition, you don’t want this issue to happen with your subwoofer.
The squared shape causes the cone to move faster and farther than usual.
You’ll hear popping because it tries to push it all of the way forward and backward to accommodate the adjusted soundwaves.
This effort causes the flapping cone to wobble, eventually jamming the coil gap to kill the sub. It might tear itself apart, trying to accommodate what you’ve told it to do.
■ Clipped Signals Can Cause Heat Problems
Since your waveform looks more like vertical lines than rounded circles, it represents a longer time when the cone stays forward or back.
That means it moves into a prone position at each horizontal movement instead of having a causal gradient to use.
This issue results in a cone that stands still for too long when it receives audio information.
The current still flows through the coil, causing it to heat up because there isn’t as much movement available with the clipped signal.
Without the cooling effect that occurs with the added control, the equipment usually burns through at least one of its windings almost immediately.
If you don’t experience a catastrophic failure, the windings heat up enough to deform the internal shape to jam the coil gap.
When that issue occurs, you’ll experience the popping sounds from the subwoofer.
The only fix for this problem is to repair the speaker, which means it might be cheaper to buy a new one.
■ How to Solve a Clipped Signal
If you suspect the popping sounds from your subwoofer involve a clipped signal, the easiest solution is to purchase a more powerful amp or to play your music at a lower volume.
It typically happens when you have soundwave incidents that go beyond the capacity of the subs installed.
High-quality amps provide peak power quickly to ensure you receive an accurate playback.
When you match these figures to the RMS settings on both products, you should resolve the clipping problem.
When you don’t want to pay for the better amp, you’ll need to turn the volume down in your car and live with the issue until you can make the necessary equipment changes.
How Bad Is It to Underpower My Subwoofer?
If you don’t send enough power to your subwoofer, it isn’t the end of the world.
The primary outcome is that your music won’t have as much detail to it from a heard-frequency standpoint.
When you listen to vocal-based content, such as news radio or audiobooks, the voice will sound weak and thready.
Having less power highlights the same symptoms of giving it too much, only in reverse.
You’ll get less energy coming from the spider, which is the flexible ring that works to keep the voice coils correctly aligned.
When it moves faster than its design is meant to go, you could deform or tear it to create popping sounds from the subwoofer.
If it isn’t getting as much movement as it needs, you’ll end up having less momentum coming to the flexible surround that supports the cone. That’s why the result is something weak.
Sound Pulses and Subwoofer Popping
The one issue that car and home subwoofers face when popping is intermittent (not constant) involves audio pulses.
Whether you have the equipment set to engage when you turn on the system automatically, or it’s always on, you can get sound pulses from other sources that get picked up by the speaker.
If you are at home and hear the occasional pop or double crackle, you’d want to check the electrical circuit for the subwoofer.
When it is on the same sequence as other electronics or appliances, the voltage surge when the equipment starts can cause interference issues that sound like popping.
When you hear this issue in your vehicle, it usually involves the engine starting up, your heater or A/C kicking in, or another electronic device operating.
If you’re unsure of the popping source, the fastest way to diagnose this issue at home is to disconnect the RCA.
When it is part of the power circuit, you’ll still get unwanted feedback. If it disappears, you’ll need to look at your connections.
When you have a popping problem in your vehicle, you’ll need to time when the problem occurs.
Does it distort when you shift gears? Have you heard the changes happen when you turn on the defroster?
As you eliminate the potential issues at each step, listen for continued popping. When it stops, you’ll have found the problem!
What Is the Best Subwoofer to Use to Stop Popping?
If you want a subwoofer that guarantees it won’t have popping, distortion, or feedback, you’ll be looking for that product forever. It doesn’t exist.
The issue with popping occurs because there’s something wrong with the system itself.
When you don’t have a connection, cable, or power set up correctly, the results will not come to a favorable conclusion.
Although you’re more likely to get distortion and feedback from cheaper subwoofers, the popping problem occurs because of power or connections.
That’s why price matters less than the actual setup used.
If the popping sound comes from your sub’s receiver, it could be a bad electrolytic capacitor.
These items are found throughout the audio chain, so you’ll need a direct connection with the amp volume turned all the way down.
Start playing the source material while slowly turning up the volume.
If you still hear the popping, you’ve got an issue with the sub amp. If not, then the problem is with your receiver or part of the circuit in your car or home.
Although it can be somewhat annoying to deal with a popping subwoofer, the fix is usually painless and only takes a few minutes to complete.
Keep this guide handy for when you encounter this issue the next time so that you can diagnose the problem right away.
