Bass is not as loud.. have to take care of this once and for all

[chargers 10+ year member]

Here's the situation:

A few months ago, I pushed my 15" Avalanche with my Phoenix Gold Tantrum 1200.1, benched at 1567wrms. A few weeks went by, and there was a noticable drop in bass volume. It wasn't as loud as it used to be.

So I downgraded to a Phoenix Gold Xenon 600.1 and it pushes around 800wrms. Same thing happened. Bass wasn't as loud.

Now, my electrical is stock. I have no wiring done--eventually, I'll do the big 3.. one of these days. This is in a 2002 Honda Civic.

Is my battery the problem? I'm running a cheap battery that I bought new two years ago.

With 800 watts from my amp and 100-180 watts from my Lanzar Optidrive 100.2 running my CDT components, would I need to replace my alternator? Power-wise, I don't plan on upgrading much in the future because I'd rather run more power efficient setups. If I upgrade my sub amp, it won't be more than 1200wrms.

Should I just get a better battery?

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[Bolognablake 10+ year member]

I hate to say this, but are you sure you're not just 'getting used to it'?

 

[Hydrastas 10+ year member]

upgrade= ability to get the electricity the amp uses to make the bass louder from driving the sub. Upgrade>stock.

 

[xluben 10+ year member]

have you checked the input voltage the amp is getting with the car on?

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

I hate to say this, but are you sure you're not just 'getting used to it'?

No, it's not that. I wish it was, but I can feel that it's just not as loud. I've had a failing battery before, so this has happened before.

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

upgrade= ability to get the electricity the amp uses to make the bass louder from driving the sub. Upgrade>stock.

Yes, but you have to understand I've been a cheapass for so many years. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

But if it must be done, then it must be done. Just another huge ****ing hit for my wallet.. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

have you checked the input voltage the amp is getting with the car on?

Well.. of course. There's no way I'm going to check the voltage with the car off and a stock electrical. 56.56 volts. My Xenon makes a buzzing sound if I go past it also, which is pretty cool.

 

[mikeyboc 10+ year member]

Maybe i missed something, but why would you go from 1500ish to 800ish RMS to INCREASE output?

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

I SHOULD mention that I went to school early one morning and decided to study in the parking lot before I went into class. I listened to the radio with the engine off and I turned the sub 'off' on the headunit. This was for about 20 minutes. I wasn't sure whether or not the amp would still draw power, so I was testing it out. I had my tantrum in at the time. Yeah, it was a stupid thing for me to do, but I wasn't sure if there would be power drawn with the sub set to off.

This is where it all started.

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

Maybe i missed something, but why would you go from 1500ish to 800ish RMS to INCREASE output?

When did I say I was downgrading to INCREASE output? I didn't.

 

[mikeyboc 10+ year member]

When did I say I was downgrading to INCREASE output? I didn't.

Guess I read into it wrong, no need to get your panties twisted //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. I read 1500+, then a noticeable drop in bass and wasn't as loud, so I downgraded. My bad. Hope you get it figured out.

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

Guess I read into it wrong, no need to get your panties twisted //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. I read 1500+, then a noticeable drop in bass and wasn't as loud, so I downgraded. My bad. Hope you get it figured out.

I wasn't mad, I was just letting you know. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[xluben 10+ year member]

Well.. of course. There's no way I'm going to check the voltage with the car off and a stock electrical. 56.56 volts. My Xenon makes a buzzing sound if I go past it also, which is pretty cool.

i meant the input to the AMP, meaning the voltage put out by your alternator/battery. if it was reading 14.4V before and now you electrical system has weakened, it could read less, and without adjusting your gains, you will be getting less power output. if you recheck your amp output voltage and it's still at 56.56V then you should not be having a problem, unless there's not enough current available.

my xenon also seems to make a buzzing noise right about the level where i'd think it should start clipping, hmmmm..........

also when you set the gains with a xenon make sure you do this:

leave subs hooked up to amp

turn on car, and head unit, so that amp also turns on

THEN unplug subs

adjust gains with DMM

(calculate voltage using whatever actual load your subs will present the amp)

if you unhook the subs and then turn the car on, the xe.load circuit will be bypassed and it will output a significantly different voltage once you have the subs hooked back up (i have done it and confirmed the results, set to 40V output with 2ohm load at startup will jump to a 60V output with no load at startup!).

 

[chargers 10+ year member]

i meant the input to the AMP, meaning the voltage put out by your alternator/battery. if it was reading 14.4V before and now you electrical system has weakened, it could read less, and without adjusting your gains, you will be getting less power output. if you recheck your amp output voltage and it's still at 56.56V then you should not be having a problem, unless there's not enough current available.
my xenon also seems to make a buzzing noise right about the level where i'd think it should start clipping, hmmmm..........

also when you set the gains with a xenon make sure you do this:

leave subs hooked up to amp

turn on car, and head unit, so that amp also turns on

THEN unplug subs

adjust gains with DMM

(calculate voltage using whatever actual load your subs will present the amp)

if you unhook the subs and then turn the car on, the xe.load circuit will be bypassed and it will output a significantly different voltage once you have the subs hooked back up (i have done it and confirmed the results, set to 40V output with 2ohm load at startup will jump to a 60V output with no load at startup!).

No I haven't checked the voltage on my alternator/battery.. I'll do that later after work or tomorrow morning.

As for setting the gains on the x600.1, I set the gains just like that. When I first got the xenon, I saw your thread and set it according to how zfactor mentioned.

 

[xluben 10+ year member]

ok, good that you have your gains set correctly. i guess just monitor the battery voltage and see if it's dropping off as time goes on.

i've also noticed that some days (different driving conditions, etc.) the bass is noticeably louder than others.