Please help me diagnose why my subs aren't hitting as hard as they should.

[SilverHorse]

I have 2 10" subs (Boston Acoustic G110PD) hooked up to an Alpine MRP500 amp and ran to a Pioneer DEH01300MP headunit.

My problem is that the bass is sloppy and sometimes hardly hits. It seems I either get crazy amounts of distortion or no bass at all, no matter what the amp is set at. I only seem to get bass when I set the headunit to the loud mode but I don't like doing this because it makes my door/rear speakers sound very poor. I have a few theories but wanted some advice before I take it into the local car audio shop.

My first theory is that my headunit is the problem- when it was installed we bypassed the new headunit amp and just tapped into the stock amp (2000 mustang-bad stereo) because we didn't get the right harness in the mail. I considered taking it into the shop to get it all hooked up correctly to see if maybe the stock amp head unit amp is the culprit. (New headunit or just getting everything rewired)

My next theory is that maybe I have a terrible set up. But I feel even a poor set up would have much better bass than what I'm getting. The subs are 400 rms at 2 ohms and the amp is 500 rms at 2 ohms so it couldn't be a lack of power. Is there a chance my amp just isn't going to 2 ohms and is sending 4 ohms instead (300 watts)?

I'd appreciate any help I can get!

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[urmomsmin3 10+ year member]

well depends do u have them wired to to ohms correctly and not all amps really do 500 rms and if its a 500 watt amp then each speaker would get 250 rms there so many things that could be wrong..lol

 

[SilverHorse]

The subs came pre wired to 2 ohms so I just plugged in my two inputs to the side of the box without doing anything else on the amp (was previously set up for a 4 ohms sub). Is there anything I'm supposed to do? I know there are a lot of variables, sadly. haha

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

Could be a bad ground. I know it's a pain but go over your wiring again and definitely check the grounds. Did u get that 2 10s in the ported prefab Boston box? It's a decent setup. I've heard them. I love even BA's lower line equipment. Shame they're out of car audio now. What kind of amplifier is it?

 

[SilverHorse]

The amp is a mrp500, which says it's 500 watts rms for 2 ohms. It's in the Boston prefab box, but it just isn't sounding as good as it should. Could I do any harm by switching the positive and negative inputs on the side of the box to see if that's my problem?

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

I suggest running the rcas to the radio then properly setting the gain

 

[Justin braaapp]

I have a pioneer deh x8500bh and I just wanted 2 sets of rcas out the back of it, I ran the one that said sub output to the subs amp and the output that wait from on it to the door speaker amp

 

[MXcarAudio]

try unhooking the rca from the amp and run an ipod or your phone to see if the amp reacts differently