NEW-B Equalizer Question

[goldfive]

I'm not happy with my system's bass, it's too boomy and the head unit's 3-band Eq isn't doing the trick to fix it. I want to get a seperate parametric EQ to hopefully address the issue.

Here's my question: I have an Eclipse CD3200, which has seperate pre-amp outs for the front, rear and sub channels. It's seems, from my research online, that most EQs are only 4 channel. I have two amps, one 4-ch, and one bridged for the sub. So I if O got a 4-ch Eq, then I wouldnt be able to use all three pre-amp outs from the HU, right? I'm really confused how this works.

I've looked at AudioControl's 6ch EQS, but it's a lot more expensive than other EQs.

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[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You're attempting to address an installation issue with an electronic solution. You're setting yourself up for disappointment. I assume that you have a subwoofer. Is the enclosure custome desigend for the sub by someone that knows what they're doing? If it's prefab, the answer is "no." Until you've got a good sub in the right enclosure, trying to fix boomy bass with EQ is like trying to bandage a severed jugular vein with a Barbie band-aid. It looks cute, but its woefully ineffective.

 

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

ya...check your crossover slopes and speaker baffles first. makes sure the speakers are sealed against thier baffle and all connections are solid.

sometimes the speakers positioning will cause the soundwaves to bounce off nearby interior panals causing peaks or dips in freq response. eq's to an extent can sometimes help with this issue. i love having external eq's, thats just me.

clarion makes a nice band for cheap. and i have a very nive old school pioneer 9 band for 50 shipped. imo the oldf school 9 band is going to be best quality for $50 shipped. lmk.

http://www.caraudio.com/forums/car-audio-classifieds/481960-rare-pioneer-eq-5000-graphic-half-din-9-band-eq-circa-1987-1992-a.html

 

[goldfive]

the sub enclosure was custom made out of wood and fiberglass to fit behind the seats in my two-seater. I did my homework and it **should** have had enough airspace for the minimum requirements of the sub I chose. But I didnt have time to finish the box, so I let an installation place finish it up when they put my whole system in.

The installer said he needed to reinforce the walls with dynamat because he thought the fiberglass was too thin. I asked if he filled the box with polyfill, (which the sub manufacturer said to do) and he said he didnt put polyfill in the box because he didnt want it eating up more airspace (which sounded strange to me, because I was under the impression that polyfill makes the sub think the box is bigger, not smaller).

So, I can't alter the sub enclosure-- there is simply no room for anything bigger. I probably made a bad choice of a sub, but it's too late to change that too. All's I can really do now is try to compensate with an eq as best as possible.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

An EQ isn't going to help. The enclosure being too small and lossy are what is causing the boomy bass. EQ isn't going to fix that. The fact that the installer didn't know what effect polyfil has, didn't make the fiberglass portion of the enclosure thick enough and suggested reinforcing it with Dynamat (WTF? Seriously?) leads me to believe that he didn't know what he was doing when he speced out the box. It might be custom built for the space, but not well matched to the sub.

What sub is it? How much airspace is in the box?

 

[goldfive]

An EQ isn't going to help. The enclosure being too small and lossy are what is causing the boomy bass. EQ isn't going to fix that. The fact that the installer didn't know what effect polyfil has, didn't make the fiberglass portion of the enclosure thick enough and suggested reinforcing it with Dynamat (WTF? Seriously?) leads me to believe that he didn't know what he was doing when he speced out the box. It might be custom built for the space, but not well matched to the sub.
What sub is it? How much airspace is in the box?

um, well **I*** designed the box myself. I took off the plastic fascia behind my seats, covered it in blue painters tape, and laid in layers and layers of fiberglass. When I thought it was thick/rigid enough, I demolded it. The flat front face is wood, reinforced with pillars underneath to support it. I made a 1 cubic foot cardboard box, then filled it with foam packing peanuts-- then I poured the peanuts out of the box into the enclosure to get an idea of the interior volume of the box. Anyway, it started out in theory at 1cubic foot, but in practice it came in at more between .75 and .50 cu ft.

Here's where I'll prob get flamed.... the sub I chose is the Soundstream Stealth 13.5" sub. It's a super shallow mount, less than 2 inches, and it's specifically designed for a 0.5 to 1.0 cu ft box.

What happened was I just didnt have time to finish the exterior of the box, to bondo it and paint it or cover it. So when I had my system put in by what I thought was a high-end shop, the installer felt he needed to "reinforce the box with dynamat' which i thought was really odd since it's for sound absorption, not reinforcing. And like I said, despite Soundstream recommending polyfill for use with this sub, he neglected to put in any in since "the box was already small".

What really bothers me is that the place had my car for over a week and never once picked up the phone and said "um, we think there's a problem with your box" or whatever. And everytime I called for an update on the system install , i was told "oh it's going well".