My subs are barely audible without the 'loud' feature on my h/u...

[Popez 10+ year member]

is this a cause for concern? i can turn the loud feature off and crank the bass all the way up on the eq and just barely be able to make out anything below the 80HZ that i set my LPF to... but if i have loud on, they bang like crazy. why?

also, i read that if you're setting the gains by ear you should have all of the eq. features off/at 0. is this right? and how do you tell when its distorting, i couldnt notice much difference except in loudness as i upped the sensitivity.

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[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

It could be that you have your gain set incorrectly, or have the subs wired at the wrong impedance... what kind of amp, deck, and subs are you using?

 

[Popez 10+ year member]

Power Acoustik OV2-1200 Gothic Series 1200 Watt 2-Channel Amplifier

2 12" 1240W infinity ref. subs

~$100 JVC deck

i just guessed on the gain and put it halfway cuz the only markings on it are min & max and im pretty sure the wiring is right.

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

set it maybe 1/4 away from the max sens setting... that deck probably has around a 1 volt output.Those are the wrong subs for the configuration you have set up, should be the 1242w's and then you would be able to load down each channel better. Oh well, you just aren't getting the maximum power to the subs that you could. By the way, GO CHANGE YOUR POWER WIRE!

 

[Popez 10+ year member]

lol alright, ill get working on that power wire in a couple of days.

why arent the subs matched to the amp?

subs= 300W each

amp= 250W x 2 at 4 ohm, 300Wx2 at 2 ohm

 

[maldecido33 10+ year member]

because the voice coil impedance of the subs are dual 4 ohm; you can only wire the subs to 4 ohm or 1 ohm. your amp isn't 1 ohm stable, so im guessing(hoping) you have it wired to 4 ohms. hence your getting that 250w(prolly less) per chan.

if your subs were dual 2 ohm, they could be wired to 2 ohm so you could get that 300wrms per channel.

thats why

 

[chubby 10+ year member]

my buddy has a cheap JVC headunit too. same problem. wiring and amp are all perfect. it's the HU.

 

[Popez 10+ year member]

well it sounds pretty good with loud on, should i just leave it like that?

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

because the voice coil impedance of the subs are dual 4 ohm; you can only wire the subs to 4 ohm or 1 ohm. your amp isn't 1 ohm stable, so im guessing(hoping) you have it wired to 4 ohms. hence your getting that 250w(prolly less) per chan.
if your subs were dual 2 ohm, they could be wired to 2 ohm so you could get that 300wrms per channel.

thats why

You have things a bit backward. That amp is PERFECTLY set for those subs.

If the subs are dual 4 ohm subs, then they can be wired each to 2 ohm or 8 ohm, parallel or series (respectively.) If you have dual 2 ohm subs, you can wire each to 1 ohm or 4 ohm. You got these reversed... unless you were speaking in terms of briding the amp to 1 channel and wiring each sub in series to present a 4 ohm load for each sub, and then run the 2 subs parallel to present a final load of 2 ohms bridged.

The amp is a 2 channel amp. Wire each sub to a 2 ohm load, and wire each sub to 1 channel each. The amp thus presents the subs with 300 watts x 2 @ 2 ohms. Perfect.

Popez, just put the "bass boost" switch on the amp on. It'll help you.

-cris

edit: upon further research into the sub, I figured out that the sub is a single voice coil, 4 ohms. I was under the impression when you said " the voice coil impedance of the subs are dual 4 ohm " you meant that each sub was a DVC sub, not that there was 2 subs each with a single coil.

 

[Popez 10+ year member]

just put the "bass boost" switch on the amp on. It'll help you.

uhh i thought everyone here says it will cause clipping and ruin the subs or amp. its either +18db or off so i cant put it up just a bit

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

Sounds like an enclosure problem. I had a VERY similar setup in the past. JVC HU, same amp (loved that amp, miss it BTW..) and SPL ELF 15" subs.

I suggues pulling out the subs, remounting them in the same box (just pull them out, put them back in. Same opening, same screw holes, everything. Trust me.), checking for air leaks and whatnot. Then reset the gains from scratch. Unhook everything but your subs, zero the gain on the sub amp, set the crossover at 250hz, and crank your HU for all it's worth. Then raise the gain until you hear it distorting or it's loud enough. Then set your crossover where you want it and call it a day.

It worked for me, that's all I'll say.

 

[chubby 10+ year member]

You have things a bit backward. That amp is PERFECTLY set for those subs.
If the subs are dual 4 ohm subs, then they can be wired each to 2 ohm or 8 ohm, parallel or series (respectively.) If you have dual 2 ohm subs, you can wire each to 1 ohm or 4 ohm. You got these reversed... unless you were speaking in terms of briding the amp to 1 channel and wiring each sub in series to present a 4 ohm load for each sub, and then run the 2 subs parallel to present a final load of 2 ohms bridged.

The amp is a 2 channel amp. Wire each sub to a 2 ohm load, and wire each sub to 1 channel each. The amp thus presents the subs with 300 watts x 2 @ 2 ohms. Perfect.

QUOTE]

2 dvc 4ohm loads wired parallel = 1 ohm.

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

You have things a bit backward. That amp is PERFECTLY set for those subs.
If the subs are dual 4 ohm subs, then they can be wired each to 2 ohm or 8 ohm, parallel or series (respectively.) If you have dual 2 ohm subs, you can wire each to 1 ohm or 4 ohm. You got these reversed... unless you were speaking in terms of briding the amp to 1 channel and wiring each sub in series to present a 4 ohm load for each sub, and then run the 2 subs parallel to present a final load of 2 ohms bridged.

The amp is a 2 channel amp. Wire each sub to a 2 ohm load, and wire each sub to 1 channel each. The amp thus presents the subs with 300 watts x 2 @ 2 ohms. Perfect.

QUOTE]

2 dvc 4ohm loads wired parallel = 1 ohm.

if 1 channel, yes. If 2 channels, no. Each dvc 4 ohm load in parallel = 2 ohms. Read it over again; I think you missedunderstood what I said.

 

[Cris 10+ year member]

uhh i thought everyone here says it will cause clipping and ruin the subs or amp. its either +18db or off so i cant put it up just a bit

I own the amp, as I've already said. When it was in my friend's car running 2 rockford subs, they never blew. They could blow, or not. Who knows, i dont know the THD ratings on the sub once the bass boost is on.

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

Two DVC 4 ohm subs can be wired in series/parallel for a 4 ohm load.

Also, that specific amp I found to be two ohm stable when bridged..