12" Kicker sub won't bump at all? Help!

[VWSundownAudio]

Alright, I have a 2006 Silverado 1500 crew cab with the Bose system in it. I replaced the stock HU with a Pioneer double din. I got a Kenwood 1000w class D mono amp and paired it with a 400W RMS Kicker CVR 12" DVC 4 ohm subwoofer. And I have a medium sized ported box. I ran all 4 gauge wire.

I wired this sub parallel to a 2ohm load. (The amp puts out 500w RMS @ 2ohms)

I had this setup in TWO other vehicles. It hit hard and worked perfect, NO problems. I got this new truck that I just described, and I turned the whole sytem on for the first time after hooking it up and nothing... I put my finger on the sub and I could barely feel it move. So I thought, oh. Must be my ground. Made a new, superior ground. Nothing changed. Okay I thought, must be my RCA cables. Nope. So I thought man, my sub or amp must be shot. I took the whole system back out, took the sub out of the enclosure, checked wiring, nope. Hooked it all back up in a different car, and it started hitting so hard, like the first day I bought it!!!!!! So I moved it back in the current truck, and nothing. So I got desperate and started messing with the bass boost and gain on the amp. I got the sub to start moving, but it didnt hit all that hard and the volume seemed completely erratic. At one moment the sub would be moving alright, but at the next it would flex so hard it would clip and the amp would go into protection mode. It seems like my door speakers are getting way too loud, way too fast, and the sub (at the correct settings, bass boost 0 and amp gain correct) cant get enough volume before my door speakers are blaring and as loud as I want to turn them up before they blow. And the volume on the head unit is only like 1/3 if that!

So my question is.... what could be causing this, what is wrong with this particular vehicle??? The same setup works in every other one of my vehicles! Could it be because of my stock BOSE system? I would be greatful for ANY input. I dont want to take it to an audio shop and spend my life away just so they can be stumped also.

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[James Coyle]

Never mind what I said originally, I didn't know what reading was the first time and attempted to answer the question and failed

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

Your bass boost and all that should be off or at 0. On the kenwood HU do you have a subwoofer control? Because on mine in order to get my desired voltage to my amp i had to have it all the way up (+15) and then set your gains accordingly with a dmm.

 

[VWSundownAudio]

Yup I know, the bass boost should always be at 0 and always has been, and I do have a sub control on my headunit but it only goes to +6 so it doesnt change too much. Not sure what else could be wrong or why my speakers are maxed out at 1/3 volume or less on the HU.

 

[C1500martin 10+ year member]

Are your speakers amped aswell? The trucks acoustics can play a part but the fact that the sub barely moves is weird... Have you sub control on HU all the way up bassboost and that down and set your gains. Other then that you kight be expecting too much out of that kicker

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

I'm not familiar with the reason but anytime a vehicle comes stock with an amp, special wire harnesses are required to reroute things properly for aftermarket addons.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Yup I know, the bass boost should always be at 0 and always has been, and I do have a sub control on my headunit but it only goes to +6 so it doesnt change too much. Not sure what else could be wrong or why my speakers are maxed out at 1/3 volume or less on the HU.

you gotta bypass the bose system buddy or at least find it and turn your mids and highs amp's gain down.

You would need to try to position the subwoofer facing different locations. Top fire, back fire, left side fire, right side fire, fire into the corner, downfire etc. Truck's acoustics are different then trunks and hatchbacks. Turn off stock sub too, that can cause cancellation having two different subs in the car playing.

 

[Jepalan]

You need to isolate the problem before you do anything. With the system installed in the truck (that doesn't work) get a 3.5mm to RCA cable and connect an ipod or similar source directly to the sub amplifier. If the sub hits, then the problem is with the source (which I suspect it is). If the sub doesn't hit then the problem is with the amp, amp power, or speaker wiring.

Common problems with Pioneer head units:

1) There are often two settings in the menu that aren't easy to find in order to enable the SUB RCA outputs. First make sure you actually have the RCA outs enabled.

2) You might have blown a pico fuse on the RCA output of the pioneer.

 

[VWSundownAudio]

C1500martin - I do not have an aftermarket amp powering the door speakers/tweeters. I am not expecting too much out of the kicker, because I have had it in a 2004 Silverado, and a car like I previously mentioned, also in various spots throughout those two vehicles as a matter of fact. I know what the sub SHOULD sound like. Thank you for your input though.

shizzon & Jeffdachef - I have thought about that too, because I just bought the cheap $5 Metra wiring harness adapter. Could it be that I might have to shuck out the money and go with the GM wiring harness adapter/module which is $80-$100+? Could that make any difference though? And I am not sure how to turn off the stock sub?

Jepalan - That is ingenius! I will definatley be trying that. Also, to answer your last two comments, I have been through that whole radio and never have I seen anything that mentioned RCA's, but I will look more and read up in the manual and online... and I have heard about blowing that fuse but I guess I dont know much about it or how to fix it if I had... first I will figure out if it is the amp/wiring or the source with your advice.

I will be back to update! Thanks so much guys. This is frustrating!

 

[VWSundownAudio]

Figured it out. All it took was a little more online research. Here is the link to the best thread I could find explaining my situation: *UPDATED* I DID IT! solved the bose system upgrade issues : Mobile Electronics

Turns out, the Bose amp is the culprit who has been messing with my sub setup. The reason my sub wont bump at all is because the more you turn up the factory system, the more it shuts down my aftermarket sub in order to protect it's factory subs/speakers.

In order to fix this problem, I would have to remove the amp completely and re-wire things or do a custom bypass on the amplifier since no one makes a wiring harness adapter fix to bypass it while leaving it in.

Thanks for your help guys!