Installed my sub, but it's not loud at all!

[bbka 10+ year member]

I have one JL Audio 10w6v2 dual 4ohm voice coil sub (brand new) running off a Rockford Fosgate P3001 mono amp (brand new). I finally finished my sub box, so I hooked the sub amp up and had the gain down, filter off, and everything set to zero on my deck. I was going to tune the gain with my multimeter, but it needed a new battery and it was late, so I just set the gain to a little below half to see how this sub hit. Low pass filter was at 80hz and all the settings on my pioneer deck were still at zero. I started the car and popped in a cd, but I could barely hear the sub at all, I literally had to open my hatch and stick my head down there to make sure it was even working.

The amp is getting power and it's not in protect or thermal mode or anything like that. The amp is a mono amp, but it has 2 sets of speaker terminals that are wired in paralell internally (A and B), so for a 2ohm sub you just hook it up to speaker terminal (A) according to the manual, which I did. The sub like I said is wired in 2ohm just like the manaul says, so I am good there. My wiring all seems to be fine and everything works, there is just hardly any bump even when volume is at 80%.

I called my car audio buddy and he suggested installing my bass boost to see if that helps or does anything, but I don't even know what I did with it, so that's not an option (everybody here says bass boost isn't needed, so that's why I left it out). I played around with the settings on my deck and turned the bass settings up, it did get a little louder, but I shouldn't have to run my bass settings at +6 to hear it. I still think even with the settings at zero and the volume at 80% it should be hitting somewhat decent. My buddy is bringing his car by today and we are going to swap subs, to see what happens, that should tell us if it's my sub or something with my car real quick.

I just thought I would post up and see what you guys thought and if you had any ideas/suggestions of what might be wrong.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

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[Max_Power 10+ year member]

depending on what kind of deck you have, the gain could just be too low. I would get a multimeter and check it.

double check all your wiring!

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

300w amp...might take a little more than that to get the sub going?

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

It's just a basic Pioneer DEH-4800MP deck. I installed my Alpine amp and 6.5 speakers just fine and they work great. The gain is about 3/4 of the way on that amp. I'll just geta battery for my multimeter and set the gain correctly and see what happens. I just figured I would at least be able to hear it with the gain halfway lol. I have doubled checked my wiring, with exception of pulling the sub out of the box, but there are only 2 ways the sub could be hooked up and I am 100% sure it's at 2ohm.

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

300w amp...might take a little more than that to get the sub going?

Well the birthsheet said 418rms at 2ohm, this at 14.4 VDC. The sub is rated to handle 400rms, but I'm sure a lot of people put more power to it.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

what kinda box is it in? or did i miss that?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Well the birthsheet said 418rms at 2ohm, this at 14.4 VDC. The sub is rated to handle 400rms, but I'm sure a lot of people put more power to it.

I see that you've upgraded your Big 3 - but are you actually feeding the amp 14.4vdc when the car is running?

I only ask because ratings at that input voltage become completely meaningless if you aren't actually feeding the amp that strongly...

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

It's a sealed .625 cubic ft box I built exactly JL spec for this sub. I used titebond 2wood glue, clamps, 1 5/8 inch drywalls screws, and siliconed the shit out of it. It was my first box and I took my time to make sure it was all done right.

This site is very helpul by the way, did the Big 3 and got a lot of good info to help me with my install.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

hmmm trunk install FTL??? j/k you got me. It sounds like you should be fine. you might pull the LPF up a little to see if you hear more bass in your cabin.

did you deaden the interior or anything?

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

I see that you've upgraded your Big 3 - but are you actually feeding the amp 14.4vdc when the car is running?I only ask because ratings at that input voltage become completely meaningless if you aren't actually feeding the amp that strongly...

I have also thought about that. I'm really not sure how much it's putting out with the car running, guess I could check with my multimeter when I get a battery, maybe ill go to the store now. It is a pretty small battery and only a 65amp alternator, shitty 89 civic!

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

hmmm trunk install FTL??? j/k you got me. It sounds like you should be fine. you might pull the LPF up a little to see if you hear more bass in your cabin.did you deaden the interior or anything?

It's a small stock hatchback, no deaden or anything.

I really haven't played around with the setting too much, ill check it out more though. This is my first install, so I just don't want to F anything up, figured it's better to test and ask questions. I'm guessing if I put my sub in my buddy's car and it hits pretty good, I'll know it's not my sub.

 

[Safe-N-Sound215 10+ year member]

What's up Farva? Anyway, I think you should find your bass boost cable and wire. I have a 500s laying around here somewhere that had the same problem. I left the wire unhooked from the amp and bass was non-existent. Plugged it in and turned it up and it came to life. I had no problems with clipping, etc... . During the time I had it hooked up, I never looked into it further.Now I'm not sure, but it could be that it's a gain knob, not bass boost. Now that you've refreshed my mind on this, I'm going to investagate, Lol.

Edit: Go to rockford's forums it seems that this is a pretty big topic over there.

 

[NhustlaR 10+ year member]

uhh .625 cubic foot box...........

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

uhh .625 cubic foot box...........

I know it's really small, but that's what JL recommends for a 10w6. Like I said it's my first install and box build, so I figured I would keep it simple and just follow what the manual said.

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

Here are the manuals for my sub and amp if anybody is curious. Right click save as... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

JL Audio 10w6v2 Manual... http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/7954.pdf

Rockford Fosgate P3001 Manual... http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=5ZxSYdCi&p_tbl=9&p_id=454&p_created=1116542314