Help! Hip Hop vs Country - tuning my subs is driving me nuts!

[ripvannwinkler]

I listen to all types of music, literally. I'm not one of those people who says that but can primarily be heard rocking country all day long or bumping down the road with heavy rap 7 days of the week. It's not unusual for me to listen to a country song, then flip over to rock channels, then listen to a few hip hop songs in the same session. My radio presets are (2) country, (2) rock, (1) hip hop and (1) pop music stations.

Having said that, I can't seem to find a middle ground where subwoofer gain is concerned. The local country radio stations seem to be much heavier on the bass than the hip hop / pop music stations, so if I tune the subwoofer to sound good while listening to country, I lose a ton of bass on the other stuff (and indeed even on CD tracks, so I suppose it may just be the country music stations ****, but I digress...). If I tune for decent bass on the hip hop / rock channels, country music is overly boomy to the point of being unlistenable.

I'm currently running 2 pioneer 10in subs (250 RMS) in parallel off a KAC8105D amp (500 RMS total) so each sub should be getting its optimal power, but I just can't get the **** things to sound right. Any tips? Things I should look for?

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[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

Country has more bass than rap? Im guessing you have a prefab box

 

[ripvannwinkler]

Yes, I bought the box at Best Buy. The recommended volume for the subs is .85 cu ft I think and the box volume is .78 cu ft per side. Should I look at a different box type / size? What's being prefab got to do with the sound?

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

Is your box sealed or ported?

 

[ripvannwinkler]

Here's the enclosure I bought:

Fierce Audio - 10" Dual Sealed Flat Pack Subwoofer Enclosure - FPS210.1

I did seal the inner edges with caulk before the install and stuffed each side with about 1lb of polyfill.

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

Here let me call in some box designers into this thread and see what they have to say.
@RangerDanger ; @CAT MAN ; @RAM_Designs ; @pro\-rabbit ;

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

While a difference enclosure may give you a better overall sound and output it won't change your radio stations. Just like everyone else we all have stations that have better bass output then others. You just have to tune around that. That is like tuning your car for the radio with basic music then tossing a bass cd and just letting it play. You have to alter your settings, not really anyway around that.

 

[CAT MAN 5,000+ posts]

hd radio for starters would help out with quality. and the type of music you listen to i would tune in the mid 30s

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

What vehicle is this in?

 

[slvrado28z 10+ year member]

i think sealed if fine if not tune around 35, may need bigger box..and a epicenter might help in your situation

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

lol, tune subs.

anyhow, you're all missing the main isssue...his point of reference. He's using the radio stations to compare. Got news for ya bro, radio stations like to put a boost on their signal at around 45 hz so people's shitty speakers in their cars sound better. They also like to cut out lower fequencies that make peoples cars rattle. Some are just a flat alignment across the spectrum. Ya never know who's gonna do what. So your point of reference should always be a direct source like a cd, or input signal from a iphone.

 

[BrownVanMan 10+ year member]

lol, tune subs.
anyhow, you're all missing the main isssue...his point of reference. He's using the radio stations to compare. Got news for ya bro, radio stations like to put a boost on their signal at around 45 hz so people's shitty speakers in their cars sound better. They also like to cut out lower fequencies that make peoples cars rattle. Some are just a flat alignment across the spectrum. Ya never know who's gonna do what. So your point of reference should always be a direct source like a cd, or input signal from a iphone.

he nailed it, use a direct source and use a test tone and set accordingly

 

[ripvannwinkler]

he nailed it, use a direct source and use a test tone and set accordingly

Well I did try tuning with a CD, both test tunes (50-60hz) and an audio CD that I burned at 89db volume. My issue is simply those radio stations mentioned that like to arbitrarily boost or flatten their spectrum. Few things bother me more than switching radio stations only to have my equalizer all out of whack. I guess I'm hoping to find some middle ground that affords me the ability to make as few adjustments as possible when switching audio sources.

On a side note, I think the sensitivity on my rear deck speakers (Alpine S-type 6x9s) is way higher than my front speakers because they are just naturally louder. I had a pair of 300hz bass blockers on the front speakers and tried moving them to the 6x9s this morning and found the overall sound quality much improved. Maybe the problem was just too much midrange in the back and not enough up front?