Am I Just Expecting Too Much?

[konechiwa 10+ year member]

Alrighty, so I have a Rainbow Hammer 12" Sub, 400 Watts RMS, in a 1.0cu ft. Sealed box made by yours truly, powered by a profile Ca600 (400watts rms at 4ohms...crappy amp, i know, i'm getting a new one anyway).

I literally need to crank the bass boost and sub level on my HU to get anything near what i want for bass. The sub is accurate as hell, but if i put it down to neutral, 0db sub level boost on the HU, 0db bass on the HU EQ, i get almost absolutely no bass. When i crank it up to where the volume is up to snuff, it isn't nearly as accurate, and it doesn't produce any sort of "thump"

My gains are set about right in the middle between 1/3 and 1/2, right in between them. 4 gauge wiring to a distro then a small 3-4ft 8gauge piece to the amp.

I just don't get the "thump" that i want, i don't feel it in my chest when the bass hits, i just hear it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

I am going to be getting a new (nice) amp and building a fiberglass enclosure (ported) this summer (in about a month) and i am just wondering if should shop around for another sub, or hope that the different enclosure and amp will make a difference.

The only thing is that the sub is forward firing into the cabin (trunk car), meaning their is no metal behind it...which might cause the rear wave to cause cancellation.

Also, the thing moves good, is sealed up nice, but it just doesnt slam against your chest when the bass notes go off.

It's a really good SQ sub, very accurate, but it just isn't nearly loud enough. My friend has a Kicker CVR 12 and (he has his HU sub level boosted...really high, but his gains are set low, either way, when i crank my HU level too, it can't compete) and it just annihilates the rainbow in terms of loudness. Mine is way more accurate, but it just isn't as loud

Do you think if i gave it say, maybe 500 watts from a good clean amp (thinking Alphasonik, DD, US Amps, or the new iPaul rainbow amp) and give it a big old ported box tuned right that i can get it to really wang on me? Because right now i'm not satisfied.

I'm not keen to giving up on rainbow, because they make good stuff, but man, if it aint got it, it aint got it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Thanks!

-Eric

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[60ndown 10+ year member]

get a real 1000 watts on that sub and you can set everything to zero or flat and bump the hell outa your ride.

profile? meh........

 

[jonnybusa 10+ year member]

Alrighty, so I have a Rainbow Hammer 12" Sub, 400 Watts RMS, in a 1.0cu ft. Sealed box made by yours truly, powered by a profile Ca600 (400watts rms at 4ohms...crappy amp, i know, i'm getting a new one anyway).
I literally need to crank the bass boost and sub level on my HU to get anything near what i want for bass. The sub is accurate as hell, but if i put it down to neutral, 0db sub level boost on the HU, 0db bass on the HU EQ, i get almost absolutely no bass. When i crank it up to where the volume is up to snuff, it isn't nearly as accurate, and it doesn't produce any sort of "thump"

My gains are set about right in the middle between 1/3 and 1/2, right in between them. 4 gauge wiring to a distro then a small 3-4ft 8gauge piece to the amp.

I just don't get the "thump" that i want, i don't feel it in my chest when the bass hits, i just hear it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

I am going to be getting a new (nice) amp and building a fiberglass enclosure (ported) this summer (in about a month) and i am just wondering if should shop around for another sub, or hope that the different enclosure and amp will make a difference.

The only thing is that the sub is forward firing into the cabin (trunk car), meaning their is no metal behind it...which might cause the rear wave to cause cancellation.

Also, the thing moves good, is sealed up nice, but it just doesnt slam against your chest when the bass notes go off.

It's a really good SQ sub, very accurate, but it just isn't nearly loud enough. My friend has a Kicker CVR 12 and (he has his HU sub level boosted...really high, but his gains are set low, either way, when i crank my HU level too, it can't compete) and it just annihilates the rainbow in terms of loudness. Mine is way more accurate, but it just isn't as loud

Do you think if i gave it say, maybe 500 watts from a good clean amp (thinking Alphasonik, DD, US Amps, or the new iPaul rainbow amp) and give it a big old ported box tuned right that i can get it to really wang on me? Because right now i'm not satisfied.

I'm not keen to giving up on rainbow, because they make good stuff, but man, if it aint got it, it aint got it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

Thanks!

-Eric

IMO, that amp is whats killing ya......buy yourself a better quality amp w/ more power, and run 4 guage into it. You will be good to go then.

 

[konechiwa 10+ year member]

IMO, that amp is whats killing ya......buy yourself a better quality amp w/ more power, and run 4 guage into it. You will be good to go then.

Alrighty then! That sounds reasurring. I'll build my ported box, give that sub some real power and go from their.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

Any updates? I'm looking into some Rainbow equipment so I'm real interested in reviews.