my 2012 mk6 gti build

had some spare scan 12ms on the shelf for a few years now. i broke them in for a few days of 90db pink noise back in like 2018.

IMG_1629.jpeg


"home audio drivers in a vehicle environment will break down" as the old wisdom goes. my scanspeak 12ms are no different. they're dryrotting some of the softer rubber bits. easiest to see the difference in the distortion-controlling coating between the cone and surround.

old on the left, new on the right.

IMG_2725.jpeg


Scanspeak prides itself in those cone slices, lining them with some kind of rubber coating. They claim it helps with distortion. do they help? i'd say so. take a look at the distortion graph differences between old and new drivers.

measured from a microphone about 0.5m from the front of the speaker. i muted all speakers but the right midrange and removed the lowpass crossover:

IMG_2719.jpeg


old driver distortion:
old-rmid-denim-distortion.png

new driver distortion:
new-rmid-denim-distortion.png


frequency response difference:
old-vs-new-mid-fr.png


i should note the old ones still sound great.

it was a productive day screwing around in the garage. there's more but for another thread :)
 
this weekend, stereo was cutting out as i was driving down the road. super strange. happened when going over bumps. dsp always stayed up/online.

i thought maybe loose remote turn-on at first.

disassembled everything. did some knocking around w/ the rubber hammer, amps dropped out while tapping the ground distribution.

ok, measured resistance w/ the grounds from ground lug to distribution, 1.2 ohms. kinda high for a three ft 1/0ga run. so i cleaned everything up. no oil/grease, no rust, nothing, but okay. it's better now. put a fresh ring lug on the end too.

re-measured resistance w/ the grounds, 0.03 ohms. much better. :)

however, problem still exists as i began buttoning everything back up.

amps were powering down and up. grounds were good, positive wires were good. that led me back to remote turn-ons. dsp's remote-out doesn't drop when the amps drop. however, the remote-in on the amps drop. this led me to the relay.

youtube made this a short :(

turns out the load-side of remote turn-on relay was dropping out, not the control side. since the control side didn't drop, there's no solenoid energize/de-energize

i put in a basic bitch bosch relay until i hear back from fuzeblocks.
 
their faq says it's easily solderable/replaceable - https://www.fuzeblocks.com/FAQ_ep_43.html
Is the relay replaceable?

The relay is replaceable by de-soldering the relay and replacing it with a new one.


If the relay fails on the road, the best suggestion is to move the fuses from the switched position to the constant position to get home. Make sure that you power off any devices when turning off the bike at that point. Once home you can work on replacing the relay.


The relay chosen for the fuse block is a common relay used in automotives, furnaces and industrial kitchen appliances. It is made to withstand heat, humidity and vibration. It is also meant to be cycled thousands of times and for the contacts to be closed for long periods of time. It's a high and long-duty cycle relay. Some relays that can handle the same or more amperage (and are smaller) are typically used for short duration applications such as door locks and power windows. However they cannot withstand long durations in a high current situation because they simply can't dissipate the heat.


Although no relay is perfect the fuse block relay is one of the most durable PC flush mount relays available today which is the reason it is made by several manufacturers. It wasn't a random choice and the relay was chosen for its low profile and its ability to handle long duty cycles.
Click to expand...

the relay (T9AS1D12-12) is $4-8. it could probably replace it in an hour or so.
 
I hope they extend an offer to replace the entire unit for you. Or at the very least, offer to sell you a new unit at cost + shipping. Then you could decide what to do from there.

Not everyone has the tools/consumables to de-solder a relay, then solder in a new one. Plus it was a fairly recent purchase (within the past year?).

I understand that they don’t manufacture their own relays, but they still need to stand behind their product.

Let us know how it goes.
 
I may have mentioned this before but I just love your car. Those speaker pods are fabulous. They are huge but in no way do they look out of place.
 
Chris12 said:
I hope they extend an offer to replace the entire unit for you. Or at the very least, offer to sell you a new unit at cost + shipping. Then you could decide what to do from there.

Not everyone has the tools/consumables to de-solder a relay, then solder in a new one. Plus it was a fairly recent purchase (within the past year?).

I understand that they don’t manufacture their own relays, but they still need to stand behind their product.

Let us know how it goes.
Click to expand...
i am outta warranty by over a year. they gave me a relay part numbers. i ordered one of each from digikey. i'll be swapping them sometime after they arrive.
 
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