Hitting Lows

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

I just got two 12" RF P1 Punches hooked up to a 1000W kenwood amp. So far I'm very pleased with them, I just wish they would hit lows better, it seems that after a certain point they just stop putting out bass. I realize they aren't going to hit the lows as loud as they're going to hit the mids, but I'm really just trying to figure out what to do.

Thus far, I have the bass boost at about 3/4 of the way up, the input sensitivity is maxed, and the LPF is sitting right around 80 i'd guess.

I'm just trying to figure out why it is just cutting off when the performance just drops off when the song goes too low.

Click to read more...

 

[Vossy 10+ year member]

:facepalm:

LEARN HOW TO TUNE

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

:facepalm:LEARN HOW TO TUNE

LOL. Learn how to tune?

More like first learn how to set your amp before you fry the subs and amp. Bass boost should be at 0 and your gain should not be maxed out. I have a feeling the next time you check this you wont have subs or an amp.

 

[Nelson1 10+ year member]

Found this for ya man.

1.) get a DMM with an AC voltmeter.

2.) turn the HU to 3/4th to full volume.

3.) turn off bass boost and EQ. disconnect speakers at the amplifier (not at the speaker). turn off lowpass and highpass filters.

4.) determine how much AC Voltage should be on the outputs for a given power.

V = (Power * Impedance)^0.5 (square root of the product of power and impedance.) see a wiring guide for multi-sub setups.

5.) adjust the gain on the amp until this voltage appears on the DMM. measure AC voltage at the amp's output.

6.) ok. use a marking device or a camera to mark or otherwise store these "optimal" gain settings. because the actual values will be different.

7.) Ok, now turn the HU down. reattach the speakers. Set some crossover points, like Lowpass @ 80hz for woofers, and highpass @80hz for mids. listen to some music with complex bass lines. turn up the music a bit. adjust gains.

likely you will have some speakers too loud. if the bass is too loud, turn down the gain on the sub amp. if the speakers distort, turn down the gain on the speaker amps.

try doing this over a series of days. anytime you listen to loud music, you're ears will adjust to the levels in an odd way. if you take many short trips, this will become apparent. the settings you made after listening for an extended time will sound different when your ears are fresh...

setting gains for optimal sound is a bit harder then setting gains for optimal power. almost every DMM based gain tutorial forgets that in liue of "hey, pretty numbers".

hope it helps

 

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

:facepalm:LEARN HOW TO TUNE

That's kind of why I posted the thread, *ss.

I'll set everything to zero and tune it properly tomorrow. I'm not dedicated enough to my sound system to measure currents :/

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

That's kind of why I posted the thread, *ss.

I'll set everything to zero and tune it properly tomorrow. I'm not dedicated enough to my sound system to measure currents :/

Bass boost kills subs. Just set it to zero and forget about it.

Try to find a few tutorials on how to set gains, I can assure you they should not be all the way up, its not a volume knob.

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

if your not dedicated to car audio, then why do you have a system! any way. is your box sealed or ported?

 

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

Bass boost kills subs. Just set it to zero and forget about it.
Try to find a few tutorials on how to set gains, I can assure you they should not be all the way up, its not a volume knob.

Alright, honestly, I don't need it, at this point when I turn the bass pass the half way point on my HU, the subs outperform my speakers, and the music gets hard to listen too.

Currently the LPF setting works well enough, so I won't bother.

But, like I said, I'll go re-tune tomorrow with the advice given in mind

 

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

if your not dedicated to car audio, then why do you have a system! any way. is your box sealed or ported?

There's a fine line between enjoying your sound system, and obsessing over it.

It's ported

 

[Nelson1 10+ year member]

Alright, honestly, I don't need it, at this point when I turn the bass pass the half way point on my HU, the subs outperform my speakers, and the music gets hard to listen too.
Currently the LPF setting works well enough, so I won't bother.

But, like I said, I'll go re-tune tomorrow with the advice given in mind

This does not make any sense.

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

since its ported do you know what it is tuned to, also double check the lpf and make sure its not a low set hpf instead. not an insult, but ive seen it happen.

 

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

This does not make any sense.

Limited said to turn Bass Boost to 0 and that my gain shouldn't be all the way up.

The low pass setting I have now works fine, so I'm not going to mess with it.

So tomorrow, when it's not 20 degrees outside, I'm going to go adjust my amp, properly.

What I was trying to say was, when I turn my HU 'bass' setting up, it gets too loud and starts blocking out my treble, so I might as well turn the bass boost down anyway.

since its ported do you know what it is tuned to, also double check the lpf and make sure its not a low set hpf instead. not an insult, but ive seen it happen.

It's tuned to appx. 30

and I'm sure it's LPF, here's the back of the AMP i bought

http://images.sonicelectronix.com/images/382905/big/kac8105d.jpg

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like your box is not tuned correctly or is just a cheapy prefab enclosure. Anyway you can get the H x W x D of the box then measure the port HxW then get the length? We can tell you what it is tuned to and what air space you have. This would tell you if it is a good or bad box for your application.

 

[T.I.K. 10+ year member]

Sounds like your box is not tuned correctly or is just a cheapy prefab enclosure. Anyway you can get the H x W x D of the box then measure the port HxW then get the length? We can tell you what it is tuned to and what air space you have. This would tell you if it is a good or bad box for your application.

41.25 x 17 x 14

port 2.5 x 8

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

its looks like you dont have enough port area.