Help tuning my sub/amps bass..?

[coleworld 10+ year member]

My setup is a JL 12W3v3 in H.O. box (ported) with a JL 500/1...

It sounds ok now how it is but I really want to get a change in the bass sound...right now it is too much low vibrations and not much thump if you know what i mean.

When you hear a subwoofer (outside the car) you hear the thump of the bass...but outside my car all you hear is low vibrations and the car parts shaking. The JL 500/1 has a lot of knobs and I am pretty sure some of them helps me tune the sub to what I'm talking about. What should I be looking for? Here is what the amp has right now and what I understand of them, please correct me if i am wrong:

Infrasonic Filter -

I have this set on and turned between 25-30, I read this was what you are supposed to do for a ported box. As i understand the infrasonic filter is like where the bass bottoms out, sort of like the opposite of a LP filter...correct me if I'm wrong, but this means the bass shouldn't go below 25-30 Hz that I set it at.

"Q" -

I have no idea what this is for...I read that it controls the bandwidth of the bass but I don't understand what that means. I tried moving it all around but it didn't seem to help.

Center Freq -

If i understand this, it is the center Hz of where the bass plays from...basically what part is the loudest. I had mine set to 45, I turned it up to 55 and 70 but I couldn't really tell a big difference.

Boost (dB)

This is just a bass boost, I understand what this means. I tried with it on and off, it didn't change the sound of the bass just how loud it went.

Then the LP filter, I know what this is also...I set it to 80. I tried playing with it a little but I think 80 is best.

So which one of these knobs do I need to change to get more thump and less low vibrations? When my car drives by, everyone just hears a bunch of rattling...no bass. Thanks for the help

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[coleworld 10+ year member]

Does anyone know what Hz range the drums in a rap song are in? Not the basslines but the actual kick drums?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

That what subs are supposed to do. Get sound deadner and line your trunk

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

I have heard many many subs that sounded better. Picture this...outside of the car, instead of hearing the bass of the beat, you just hear 1 straight low vibration on almost all songs. Inside the car, you can't even hear most words of the songs or anything really over the low bass. I don't think thats how subs are supposed to sound.

I think my problem is the low bass, I am going to try to boost the higher bass but I don't know what Hz the kick drums are...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Kick drums are in the 40s. You can only "boost" the higher bass by getting a higher tuned box. It will sound like **** with a high tuned box. SUBS ARE MEANT TO PLAY LOW UNLESS YOU WANT A PURE SPL SETUP

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

What do you mean a pure SPL setup is not meant to play low? How are SPL subs any different from mine as far where you can tune them to? The JL 500/1 has an eq setting where you can boost whatever Hz range you want to...

I still don't think my sub is normal. Every time I hear someone drive by with subs, I can hear (and feel) the beat, in the car you can feel the beat. My sub is just straight vibrations. It is like the bassline of the song is louder than the rest, and that is all you hear.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

500 watts is not going to be that loud, i dont know what you are expecting. You might have some setting on the amp messed up. Go to JLs website and there is tutorials on how to set that amp up

 

[esmokah 10+ year member]

find and fix the rattles first. then cram a towel in your port and see if you like that instead!

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

I know it shouldn't be that loud...I guess I'm not explaining the problem very good because I don't think you know what I mean.

If I drove by you on the street in my car, volume loud, you would hear a loud VVVVVHHHHH sound. Not the beat thumping. It isnt a problem of not being loud enough, just not the right kind of sound (in my opinion).

If you were sitting in the passenger seat of my car with the same volume, all you would hear is a VVVVVHHHHHH sound. No words or the rest of the music over the low bass.

Again, it isn't the kick drums that are louder than the rest of the music, it is the bottom bassline that is overpowering the rest of the sounds. I would like to make the kick drums and rest of the bass be louder, and the bassline vibration be much quieter.

Does this make more sense? It is hard to picture without actually hearing what I mean...but I really just want to make the drums louder and lowest bass sounds quieter. I have heard subs very close to mine in boxes very close to mine, and they sounded a lot better. I am pretty sure its not a problem with the box or sub, just how I have it tuned. The "Q" and "center freq" knobs should be able to let me give a boost to any range of the bass, so there should be a way to make the drums louder.

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

The bass doesn't "hit" or "thump" at all. It isn't tight bass or crisp, it is all muddled together because of the low bass sound. I just want to find out how to tune it better!

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I think I told you what to do. So I guess I have to do all the work for you. Use this

JL Audio - Car Audio Systems

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

Here, this will definitely help you understand what I mean: watch this video:

JL W3V3 in H.O. Box - YouTube

That is what I am trying to sound like...same sub and box. you can hear the beats and thumps of the bass.

Listen to this video too:



In the first two videos you can hear the beat of each kick drum, in the last video they all kind of blend together. I can still hear the kick drums in my car, but they are overpowered by the lower bassline so they blend in too much.

I hope that helps explain it, I think it has something to do with my amp settings but I can't fix it by playing with them. Maybe it has something to do with my head unit EQ settings...but I tried putting it flat and that still didn't help.

Honestly I am not trying to get my sub louder or make it so people outside my car hear my bass thumps, I just want to hear the kick drums without killing the whole rest of the song.

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

And I have been to the site you showed me already, before I even posted this. I tried playing with it but I can't get it to the right setting for what I'm talking about. I can make the sub sound choppier so the bass ends sooner, but I can't get the lower basslines to be quieter.

 

[coleworld 10+ year member]

Maybe the infrasonic filter has something to do with it? I know I am supposed to have it turned on because I have a ported box, but I can't find the port tuning settings for my H.O. box anywhere so I don't know what to set it to. Right now I have it between 25 and 30. I tried turning it off for a minute, but it just made the bass sound a little muddier.

 

[05trailblazer 10+ year member]

hmm did you check that the subs are wired right?? not saying u didnt but doesn't hurt to check that out. and well take pics as well