Bass is lacking

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

So I installed my SE and the bass is real low. Very little output. I have it in a 2ft^3 box with a port of 2x13x28. This should result in a tuning of ~32hz. Settings are flat on my AVIC-D2. The amp is an Autotek SX 1200X, 1200 watts at 1 ohm and I am running it at 2 ohm. Right now I have the gain up about halfway and the bass boost at about 1/4. The potential is there because we had the bass boost up at halfway and above and it slammed. Only problem I can see right off the bat is ground. I watched the sub be wired and it wasn't wired out of phase. Is my box tuned too low. Should i compensate with bass boost? Also something else that is kind of weird is the bass sounds cleaner at higher volumes than at low volumes.

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[neonrt 10+ year member]

what is the voltage outputs on your hu? may need more than half gain, and bass boost shouldn't be used at all.

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

voltage is 2v. The most I had the gain turned up was about 60%. That was with a good amount of bass boost also.

 

[BIGsherm7272]

turn up the SUBWOOFER level all the way up on the unit, bass all the way down. Cause since you have a low voltage unit, when you turn up the sub level, it turns up the voltage that the amp recieves from the h/u. and try to keep the bass boost off from your amp and/or h/u, cause all it will do is creat a very clipped signal. And of course, set gains accordingly. I prefer by ear......

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

Sub volume is maxed on the HU. I can't think of anymore settings on the HU that will affect the sub.

 

[BIGsherm7272]

well, in that case, all I can think is that you have it either wired in series instead of parallel, the box is too big/poorly built and could have air leakage. double checke all of those, especially the wiring config with a dmm

 

[neonrt 10+ year member]

well, in that case, all I can think is that you have it either wired in series instead of parallel, the box is too big/poorly built and could have air leakage. double checke all of those, especially the wiring config with a dmm

what he said^^^. also try setting gains with a dmm, still may need the gain a bit more. is there a lpf on your deck? may be set wrong, as well as the one on your amp?

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

Could there be a link between the lack of bass and the fact that it sounds cleaner at higher volumes?

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

So the problems get worse. Now my amp is cutting in and out. And I am not talking about going into protect mode, I mean turning off all together. I thought something was up when it happened at low volumes and the amp wasn't even warm to the touch. I thought clipping at first, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I think something is loose somewhere. I am wondering if this is related to the low output or it is an independent problem. And FYI, the only thing that was not professionally done was my box. Either way I am about to rip this stuff out and go back to riding stock. After not having bass for two years because my stuff was stolen I am not ready to deal with this frustration. Starting with problems with the dashkit for my navi I am getting real sick of the bs coming from mobile electronics. Maybe someone could help narrow down this problem even more.

Thanks everyone for the help

 

[neonrt 10+ year member]

remote lead cutting out? bad rca's? that would be the first 2 things off the top of my head. if i was anywhere near you, i would gladly take a look for you. maybe someone in your area will come forward and stop in to help.

 

[pjvoc 10+ year member]

my amp cut in and out and it was a series of things, my ground was loose causing sparks, and then that caused my fuse to blow on my protector, so check that for sho

 

[LinxuS 10+ year member]

If the amp turns out to be okay, you could try what I had to do on my AVIC-N3.

Does the D2 have a 3 band parametric EQ?

If so, set Low at -6, 100 hz, and 2 narrow.

Then set your gains accordingly. Worked great for me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Hope everything works out okay with that amp though.

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but as I was driving tonight when the amp was turned off I hit a bump and the bass came back. May have been a coincidence, we will see.

 

[cgrier 10+ year member]

Your problem sounds alot like mine. I had the Pioneer avic-d2 installed about two weeks ago and at low volumes my sub sometimes cuts completely off and sometimes just rattles and makes popping sounds when the bass hits. If i turn the volume up it goes away. The louder the better. I checked all my wiring in the sub box, to the amp. Ive had my sub/amp combo for 2 years so i think we have a problem with the d2.

Let me know what you find. My shop cant check my unit until monday.

 

[creyc 10+ year member]

Sounds like a crappy ground wire connection! Check the bolt its screwed down with. Make sure its got a large, clean metal surface to ground onto. And make sure the bolt is tight, if it moves at all you're losing your ground when you hit bumps, etc. This is very bad for the amp, and needs to be fixed asap.