Sub doesnt seem as loud as it should be...

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Hey,

I have an Alpine MRP-M1000 which is set to close to 3/4 gain running a 12" Type-R in a 2.4 cubic feet box tuned to 34Hz. The gain was set using a DMM to achieve like 41v or whatever it was. I have stock bat and stock alt but I do have the big 3 done.

Now my problem is that I don't find my system is loud enough... I have a few friends with shitty best buy style set ups running like 400-500 Watts off of 1 12" like me and their systems sound basicly as loud as mine... Both of them have much smaller boxes than mine. I think mine sounds better quality wise but it bugs me that they can bump just as loud as I can when my system is superior to theirs...

My gut is telling me that the box is probably the problem. The box was made by me, it was my first time. The design was done by JBLCAMRY and the specs are 2.4 Cubes to 34Hz, theres a picture of it in my sig.

Could I have done something wrong with the box to be making my sub not as loud? And by loud I'm talking SPL. Would a smaller box give me better SPL?

Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot

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[fbi90909 5,000+ posts]

it might be your head unit settings..

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

set it by ear

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Its not the HU settings.

When setting it by ear how do I know if its clipping? Do I play a test tone and crank it up until I hear something funny?

 

[manbeer 10+ year member]

Well comparing to your friends cars with 500w best but amps, you have to take into account that doubling power is only equivalent to a 3 db increase in spl. a type R gets pretty loud off 500watts imo so the extra power may not really do much for the spl if you are getting to the point of power compression. also, your car probably has a pretty small alternator stock, and if your electrical system isn't up to par, you may not really be making 1kw, maybe not even much more then the guys with the 500 watt amps. if they are making 500 watts and not getting much voltage drop and you are rated for 1000rms @ 14.4volts or something, but dropping to 12 you may only be making like 700 watts- which is maybe 1.xx DB louder than 500

 

[Linkz 10+ year member]

get a bigger box

also throw 1000watts at it.

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

manbeer I agree with what you said, I was thinking that too.

I cant fit a bigger box and I dont think it would help...

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

One thing I was thinking though...When I set my gain by DMM that was with a 50hz tone... When I play regular music I'm never putting out as much volts as when I was playing the 50hz tone because its not constant. So when I'm playing regular music I'm not getting full watts...

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

also what kind of cars they have some are easier to get loud in than others.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

One thing I was thinking though...When I set my gain by DMM that was with a 50hz tone... When I play regular music I'm never putting out as much volts as when I was playing the 50hz tone because its not constant. So when I'm playing regular music I'm not getting full watts...

hence setting by ear. much better results IMO.

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

I'm going to go ahead and try setting it by ear, do I play a 50Hz tone when setting it by ear aswell? Will probably be the easiest way.

Also my HU is rated for 2v pre-outs but it doesnt even give that much which explains why I need to set the gain so high on my amp.

 

[manbeer 10+ year member]

i would beef up that electrical system a bit, also how do you have the box aimed? facing the rear? any sound deadening? in general, those of us with trunk cars have to work a little harder to squeeze those extra few db's out

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

set by ear with MUSIC

you are fckin up if you use a tone //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

I cant afford changing the bat or Alt atm. I have the big3 in 0awg and 0awg running to the amp.

The box is aimed to the back of the car, no sound deadening at all which is I think another one of my problems.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

even though it's considered taboo on here try the LOUDNESS button and see if that helps. I had a Pio 2v HU and that was THE only way to get decent output from the sub and comps...