Not happy with my sundown sa15

[quackhead 10+ year member]

So I just built a box that is 4.5 gross before sub, port and braces. I put it around 4 cubes net. Single 6" aero port tuned to 27. Rockford P500-1 powering it at 1ohm.
Sounds great when the volume is low but it sounds like crap up high. Its like I cant make the settings go low enough for tuning. Should I tune it higher? In the 33ish range. I listen to alot of dubstep/trance/progressive/dance type music. Think Cazette/Kaskade/Deadmau5/Kito & Rita Lee but also listen to music such as Rhianna/Eminem/Tech 9/Young Jeezy...... Rock such as Drowning pool/chevelle/theory of a dead man/Seether......

Anyways it all sounds great and I have a bass knob to adjust it per song but anything over 75% it sounds like crap. My last box that was like 2.5cubes ported way high with a slot port sounded way better at volume but not as good lower.

Whats going on? Tune higher? smaller box? **** it and get a better sub? I shouldnt need a better sub when I am only putting like 600 watts too it.

what do you mean by this?..HU vol, or bass boost setting?...either way and I bet you are clipping, what HU are you running, exactly?

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

Yea it's a big box, but he's got it on conservative power, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue. Yes, you're also tuned too low. But that shouldn't make the sub sound awful, that would just limit how high it can play.

I think this comes down to settings. It sounds like you're clipping and distorting.

I want to make sure your bass or EQ settings aren't cranked up or maxed?

I want to make sure your Bass Boost is set to 0 or Flat at all times. Bass boost should only be used in rare situations where you've done a full RTA sweep in your car, and detect a specific drop in that frequency range due to design, install, and cabin. Even then, it is to be used very conservatively.

I want to know where your LPF is set.

And lastly, you need to set your gains PROPERLY, with a DMM. The gain knob position and eyeballing method does not count. Google "How to set gain with DMM" to learn how.

 

[ArrizX 10+ year member]

So I should just get a sundown z v3 then //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

If I understand correctly you are saying the "higher" bass notes don't sound great ? If so -- the large box and low tuning are going to result in a setup that is going to play low and that is about it. The 27 Hz tuning is only reducing woofer excursion up to 36 hz or so -- in a car the box is probably loading and tuning itself even lower.

As suggested earlier shrink the box / tune in the mid 30s -- should be good to go !

 

[ArrizX 10+ year member]

Thanks for the reply. What is the result if I kept the box the same and tuned higher? Doesnt matter I am going to try and then if it doesnt work out ill just try a different box.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

you can use 2x4's to take up volume in the box. Bigger box usually gets louder off less power, but you can only go so much bigger before the sub just won't be happy. With your tuning you're at that point right now. As suggested tune higher and take up volume and you should be much happier for the music you listen to...

 

[Dtrom 10+ year member]

Someone is unhappy with a sundown product? Hell has frozen over.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Add another 6" aero port the same length and buy a better amp.

Tuned too low, port is quite small, and you could double up on power.

If sub sounds fine until you turn it way up, don't turn it up that high, you're pushing the amp beyond its limits.

 

[Iosias 10+ year member]

Get a box designed to what you want....

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

Yea it's a big box, but he's got it on conservative power, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue. Yes, you're also tuned too low. But that shouldn't make the sub sound awful, that would just limit how high it can play.I think this comes down to settings. It sounds like you're clipping and distorting.

I want to make sure your bass or EQ settings aren't cranked up or maxed?

I want to make sure your Bass Boost is set to 0 or Flat at all times. Bass boost should only be used in rare situations where you've done a full RTA sweep in your car, and detect a specific drop in that frequency range due to design, install, and cabin. Even then, it is to be used very conservatively.

I want to know where your LPF is set.

And lastly, you need to set your gains PROPERLY, with a DMM. The gain knob position and eyeballing method does not count. Google "How to set gain with DMM" to learn how.

Still haven't addressed any of this.

 

[mklett33 10+ year member]

what do you mean by this?..HU vol, or bass boost setting?...either way and I bet you are clipping, what HU are you running, exactly?

Still haven't addressed any of this.

What these guys are saying! I would look at making sure you have a nice clean signal before doing anything to the box, after that then I would suggest going for a higher tuing. 32-36 range

 

[ArrizX 10+ year member]

what do you mean by this?..HU vol, or bass boost setting?...either way and I bet you are clipping, what HU are you running, exactly?

HU is Kenwon Excelon x896

Yea it's a big box, but he's got it on conservative power, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue. Yes, you're also tuned too low. But that shouldn't make the sub sound awful, that would just limit how high it can play.I think this comes down to settings. It sounds like you're clipping and distorting.

I want to make sure your bass or EQ settings aren't cranked up or maxed?

I want to make sure your Bass Boost is set to 0 or Flat at all times. Bass boost should only be used in rare situations where you've done a full RTA sweep in your car, and detect a specific drop in that frequency range due to design, install, and cabin. Even then, it is to be used very conservatively.

I want to know where your LPF is set.

And lastly, you need to set your gains PROPERLY, with a DMM. The gain knob position and eyeballing method does not count. Google "How to set gain with DMM" to learn how.

thanks for the replies I msised them.

Bass is a -6 and subwoofer is a 0 or -1 usually. Since I had it tuned low I turned all the EQ settings as low as possible. Bass boost is always off however I have the little thumb control (aka cop saver) and I set that in the middle and control it per song. Is that a bass boost control?

Ill need to learn how to do it correctly with the dmm.

In other news I took it up to 35 hz and it sounds worse.

I am going to put it in the old box and build a new one and do it right this time. Thanks for all the hlepful info and will continue to take advice if anyone has it for me...................

 

[Jerhemy 10+ year member]

good luck with the new box man! post up some pics if you get a chance, some great advice in this thread so far. My sa 15's are tuned to ~35hz in a common chamber, 6cubic feet after displacement with ~1200 rms on each and they sound great through almost all notes, from 25 to 80hz where i have the LPF set at.

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

So I just built a box that is 4.5 gross before sub, port and braces. I put it around 4 cubes net. Single 6" aero port tuned to 27. Rockford P500-1 powering it at 1ohm.
Sounds great when the volume is low but it sounds like crap up high. Its like I cant make the settings go low enough for tuning. Should I tune it higher? In the 33ish range. I listen to alot of dubstep/trance/progressive/dance type music. Think Cazette/Kaskade/Deadmau5/Kito & Rita Lee but also listen to music such as Rhianna/Eminem/Tech 9/Young Jeezy...... Rock such as Drowning pool/chevelle/theory of a dead man/Seether......

Anyways it all sounds great and I have a bass knob to adjust it per song but anything over 75% it sounds like crap. My last box that was like 2.5cubes ported way high with a slot port sounded way better at volume but not as good lower.

Whats going on? Tune higher? smaller box? **** it and get a better sub? I shouldnt need a better sub when I am only putting like 600 watts too it.

like it has been said, try 3.5 net @ 33-35hz

Sundown recommends 3-4 cubes at 35hz.

 

[skylineTT 10+ year member]

Step 1, turn Gain(sometimes called level) DOWN on your amp to 0, then go to your head unit and turn the Subwoofer and Bass settings to 0 instead of -6 and -1.

Then turn the gain on the amplifier back up until the sub is playing well. I don't know how trained your ear is, but you can usually be safe by turning it up til it distorts, then turning it back down a little.

Make sure you do the amp tuning when the head unit volume is at the max that you will listen to.

Basically, I feel like your amp is probably distorting balls because you have the gain cranked and the head unit settings too low.