Please Help, subwoofer underperforming/messed up?. boston acoustics 10.5LF

[boogiem0nst3r 10+ year member]

HI

I have 2004 camry automatic

Jl 500/1 AMP with about 50% gain (followed instruction manual)

ground wiring for amp i put under the back seat (scraped off metal with screw driver first)

proper wiring/wire size. power wire on left side of car, RCA on right side

one boston acoustics 10.5LF in sealed box (built box myself to specs of manual)

alpine deck +SUB is +3 to +6 out of +15 possible.

here is the link to the manual of these subwoofers http://bostonacoustics.com/Manuals/CarSubMan.pdf

i built the internal specs to what they gav eme. the material is 3/4" MDF. so naturally i added the proper amount to each side to make sure the internal measurements remain...and also put a lot of sealant on the inside and etc.

MY PROBLEM: so far this setup sucks!! i'm extremely frustrated. i kept hearing rave reviews about this sub (or its brother 12.5LF) being able to play very loud and hard...so far this sub is not performing satisfactory at all. i HOPE it is only a fault setup somewhere and not the best this sub has to offer. its at the point where if i turn the sub ON/OFF i can BARELY (sometimes not even) tell a difference between sub ON or just stock speakers...yes...STOCK!

the sub appears to make this popping noise..(clipping? bottoming out? fault box? ground wire? ) at around volume 17-20...the max my HU goes up to is 35!!! so i don't believe im driving it hard at all. in fact i can barely hear the bass outside of the car, the only time i really hear any bass outside o fthe car is when i open the trunk.

is the sub blown? when i push the sub in and out it appears to function correctly. i put my hands around all sides/corners/areas of the box when the sub plays to test for air leaks adn don't see anything.

i emailed boston about my problem..their best answer? that i have overexpectations for this sub and its just not performing to my expectation...but please i can barely tell if the sub is on and it doesn't play much louder then friggin STOCK speakers!

i have looked up such keywords as blown speakers, clipping, popping noises and such.

i believe the speaker is popping/clipping? but im confused on why its doing this when its barely being pushed? is the speaker already blown to begin with?

-Vinh

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[J31Rob 5,000+ posts]

FIrst off, turn tha bass off (0 or negative) on your headunit.. that causes distortion.

2nd, set your gains correctly.

3rd, make 100% sure your ground is good.

 

[boogiem0nst3r 10+ year member]

thanks for the prompt response

1) i have tried +0 on deck

2) i followed the instruction manual of the jl amp and set the gained accordingly (and also the voltage as well). its late right now so i can't take a picture of the setup just yet, but i will take a picture whn i get the chance

3) what are the symptoms of a faulty ground and how do i know if the ground is "100% good"?

thanks again for your help.

my problem is that i can barely hear the sub's bass over the stock speakers in the back. this leads me to believe osmething is wrong (although im out of clues right now but quite desperate to make this work and join the crowd who believes this sub rocks)

FYI

i am definitely NOT a ghetto street bass junkie who requires pounding thundering dirty bass to "have fun" or to know its there. i got these subs cuz i believe they would offer what im looking for (MUSICAL). however as of currently they are barely adding anything to the setup, and the setup being stock speakers that came with the camry.

 

[mrray13 10+ year member]

what exactly is the box size? did you build the box to spec as NET or GROSS? and do they list a ported box? a ported box might help achieve the output you crave. also,in most cases, manufacturers give two or three different box options, from a mostly flast response to a boomy, street bass one and all the way (in some cases) to an all out spl set up. make sure you built the one that leans towards the response your after.

i'm assuming your alpine deck has sub control, correct? if so, make sure your gains are set with the sub control at it's maximum. this gives you the ability to turn the sub down some if it's overwhelming, while at the same time, if your gains are set correctly, when the control is maxed, your at the upmost output.

camry's aren't that well insulated, so i'm sure it's a box/ setup issue. but one that can be fixed.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/peace.gif.2db28b618ed8d1964ebbe2f5021d2c39.gif

 

[boogiem0nst3r 10+ year member]

here is th elink to the manual of these subwoofers http://bostonacoustics.com/Manuals/CarSubMan.pdf

i built the internal specs to what they gav eme. the material is 3/4" MDF. so naturally i added the proper amount to each side to make sure the internal measurements remain...and also put a lot of sealant on the inside and etc.

allow me to re-edit my OP. i meant +3 to +5 SUB (not bass. i keep bass/trebel at 0 or -1, while treble sometimes goes to +2).

the thing is, when i attempt to turn the bass up to a point where i can begin to actually hear it, it starts to make that popping noise. so im pretty much baffled and desperate.

i was also specific to ensuring the enclosure is this size/sealed because i've heard horror stories if you feed these subs to anything but sealed they will go kaboom. well as of current they are sealed, but they aren't going BUMP. LOL.

currently i have the ground wire from trunk to under the rear seat. i will check to see if its properly grounded...anyone care to tell me the symptoms of poor ground...and have suggestions for an ideal place inside a camry? (bear in mind amp is in trunk and ground wire is only 3 feet)

 

[krisfnbz 10+ year member]

if you cant hear your bass over your rear speakers....what about your wiring? are you sure you have everything wired correctly?

 

[Ninteens 10+ year member]

I'm beginning to think that you might have the subs wired out of phaze. Check the wiring on the speakers.

And switch on of the speaker's wires and see if that helped.

 

[PolishDude 10+ year member]

I'm beginning to think that you might have the subs wired out of phaze. Check the wiring on the speakers. And switch on of the speaker's wires and see if that helped.

thats what it sounds like to me, i had the same problem last weekend and symptoms sound identical

 

[boogiem0nst3r 10+ year member]

on the JL amp the wiring outlet goes like this

just imagine these symbols are a spot to connect wires.

+ + - -

i have the speakers wired on the FIRST Positive and First Negative

anyways the speaker wires im using are 16g and the OHm load should be 2ohm (subs are 2 ohms, and i think the amp should detect automatically).

are these wires too small? and do too small of wires actually cause subs to distort/pop/clip?

 

[vernisog 10+ year member]

i usually run mine on the outer. it sounds like u just have a + or - hooked up wrong is what theyre saying. double check and make sure the - on the amp is connected to the - on the sub and so on. it's a simple mistake and does exactly what ur hearing when its hooked up wrong.

 

[HCCA 10+ year member]

MY PROBLEM: so far this setup sucks!! i'm extremely frustrated. i kept hearing rave reviews about this sub (or its brother 12.5LF) being able to play very loud and hard...so far this sub is not performing satisfactory at all.

First, these do not play "loud" or "hard". They are SQ subs. 9 out of 10 times, the bass in most vehicles is very exaggerated, relative to the mid frequencies. These subs are NOT the ones you want if you want to "GO BOOM".

Second, you are using one ten? Is that correct? You will not get a lot of performance from a single 10" sealed, and kept in the trunk.

My experience with these, when I used them, was that they needed a lot of EQing to bring up the bottom 20-30hz range. And, you had to tone down the 50-70 hz range. No, you will not "blow" them running them in a ported enclosure. I first heard them, at the store, in a ported enclosure. They were louder, but still not on par with the SPL subs. They were never meant to be "loud". They DO indeed sound great in the SQ depatment, but I am inclined to side with what the Boston people told you. You may have unrealistic expectations from these subs for SPL output. As they are a very accurate sub, they are very "touchy" to get set just right. I found that when set to play well with Queensryche, or Pink Floyd, they would over-excurd or distort (that popping noise you are hearing) with rap, or dance mix.

NOW, that said, I would do as Nimbyfaygo and vernisog said, check the wiring. They should STILL play louder than factory speakers. They won't vibrate your occular nerves to make you see blurry, but they SHOULD vibrate your rearview mirror pretty well. I am inclined to believe that your wiring is the culprit. Also, I would go larger than 16 guage for the subs. I prefer 12 guage, or larger.

 

[boogiem0nst3r 10+ year member]

ok update

first off thanks for the help so far everyone!

i just tried switching ground locations as well as sanding the ground spots further (didn't help)

as far as tuning them...do you have any recommendations or settings i should use on the JL AMP?

i'm not expecting these subs to be crazy spl subs or comparable to something in a ported box...however it should at least sound better then...my rear speakers? lol.

i also just tried reversing + - on speaker wiring,....on that note once i made the switch didn't fix the problem.

are they so accurate...as i can't even tell if the bass is on or not? heheh

thanks again for the help everyone, i really appreciate it!.

My experience with these, when I used them, was that they needed a lot of EQing to bring up the bottom 20-30hz range. And, you had to tone down the 50-70 hz range

i just tried tuning my amp settings and tried centering the freq around 20-30hz range (btw its set to filter out freqs below 22hz and above 85hz or so)

anyways i did a blind test, was listening to a song...CLOSED my eyes...toggled switch on SUB on my HU between ON/OFF....didn't hear any difference with sub on or off.

you are right...they are very accurate...which is why i got them. that and also base on recommendations from many people...but as of right now i can't figure out what i'm doing wrong...or did i pay $150 for subs that can't even make me notice a difference from my rear stock speakers?

do you guys think i have bad ground?. when i turn the volume on songs to about 18 out of 35....i can hear some distortion (over excursion?) from the subs...amp gain is set at 55% or so, input voltage low, and HU is +0 SUB (lowest).

-vinh

 

[wvufootball 10+ year member]

hmmm since you said your sub on/off switch did nothing? I would say maybe check your RCAs in the back of your head unit?

 

[teamquakecelica 10+ year member]

Do you have 1 or 2 subs?.. if its 2 I bet they are out of phaze with each other...

try hooking up only 1 and I bet you'll get more bass //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[boogiem0nst3r 10+ year member]

sorry for the confusion. allow me to clarify

i have ONE boston pro 10.5LF.

switching ON/OFF for SUB on the HU does turn it on..but the sub is performing so poorly that i can't really tell a difference when its on or not.

HCCA...when your subs distort on rap/dance music...how loud did you have it? and what are your settings?

thanks for the help so far!

is this possibly a BOX problem? this is my first time building the box, as careful as i was with measurements and procedures...did i do something wrong?

people with experience with these subwoofers...how loud were you able to turn the sub... with say dance/rap before it distorts? how about classical?

thanks!