Subs sound like crap

[jmcs23 10+ year member]

Hello,

Here's what I have installed in my 2003 Nissan Altima:

Lanzar Vibe 435 amp (4 channel, 4 x 200W RMS at 4 ohms) I have the subs bridged on the amp.

2 Sony XS-L151P5 15" subs (400W RMS each)

JVC KDR730BT headunit

I'm using a cheap/off brand 4gauge power wire, ground wire, RCA from an auto parts store.

First off I know my equipment is old, but I've never had any problems with it and it sounded just fine in my old car (2000 Civic) the only difference was I used Kicker or Kenwood (can't really remember) power, ground, and RCA cables. When I was using everything in my Civic I actually had the gain and bass boost turned up all the way and it sounded fine with no problems.

In my current car if I have the gain and bass boost turned up all the way (like before) it just doesn't sound right and if I turn the volume up on the HU too much the amp will go into protection mode which it never did before unless I ran the amp for several hours and it started to get too hot. I tried adjusting the gain and bass boost down and the amp doesn't go into protection mode but the bass *****. I also tried many different configuration settings on my HU too.

So I'm trying to figure out what happened. Why does everything sound bad compared to when I had everything installed in my old car?

Could it be the cheap power, ground, and RCA cables that I'm using now?

Any input is appreciated! Thank you!

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[SubbyBeat 10+ year member]

first of all. you pay for what you get and try.. turning your bass boost all the way down.. and setting your low pass around 100. and turning your gain up NOT YOUR BASS BOST

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Hello,
Here's what I have installed in my 2003 Nissan Altima:

Lanzar Vibe 435 amp (4 channel, 4 x 200W RMS at 4 ohms) I have the stubs bridged on the amp.

2 Sony XS-L151P5 15" stubs (400W RMS each)

JVC KDR730BT headunit

I'm using a cheap/off brand 4gauge power wire, ground wire, RCA from an auto parts store.

First off I know my equipment is old, but I've never had any problems with it and it sounded just fine in my old car (2000 Civic) the only difference was I used Kicker or Kenwood (can't really remember) power, ground, and RCA cables. When I was using everything in my Civic I actually had the gain and bass boost turned up all the way and it sounded fine with no problems.

In my current car if I have the gain and bass boost turned up all the way (like before) it just doesn't sound right and if I turn the volume up on the HU too much the amp will go into protection mode which it never did before unless I ran the amp for several hours and it started to get too hot. I tried adjusting the gain and bass boost down and the amp doesn't go into protection mode but the bass *****. I also tried many different configuration settings on my HU too.

So I'm trying to figure out what happened. Why does everything sound bad compared to when I had everything installed in my old car?

Could it be the cheap power, ground, and RCA cables that I'm using now?

Any input is appreciated! Thank you!

sounds like the subs may be out of phase , try switching the sub wires at the amp ,or unhook just one and see if the other one sounds good or not.also the cheap wire is bad ,change it

 

[jmcs23 10+ year member]

first of all. you pay for what you get and try.. turning your bass boost all the way down.. and setting your low pass around 100. and turning your gain up NOT YOUR BASS BOST

I already tried this and it did get rid of the protection mode issue. But the bass was horrible. Everything in my old car sounded just fine turned all the way up.

sounds like the subs may be out of phase , try switching the sub wires at the amp ,or unhook just one and see if the other one sounds good or not.also the cheap wire is bad ,change it

By switching you mean switch the chs the stubs are using on the amp?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

I already tried this and it did get rid of the protection mode issue. But the bass was horrible. Everything in my old car sounded just fine turned all the way up.

By switching you mean switch the chs the stubs are using on the amp?

how are the subs wired to the amp ,in stereo or bridged ?.are there 2 wires going to the amp or 4 ?

 

[jmcs23 10+ year member]

Bridged mode. I have one cable going to ch1&2 hooked to one sub and another cable hooked to the other sub on ch 3&4.

 

[NIHL8ION]

switch the positive & negative on one of your subs and see if it sounds better

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

d2 or d4 subs ,if d4 then you need to wire them both to 4 ohms stereo ,if d2 then both subs at 4 ohms bridged , but you need to line match the amps outputs on all 4 channels

 

[jmcs23 10+ year member]

d2 or d4 subs ,if d4 then you need to wire them both to 4 ohms stereo ,if d2 then both subs at 4 ohms bridged , but you need to line match the amps outputs on all 4 channels

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by D2 or D4...

Here's some pictures I took to give you guys a better idea of how I have everything hooked up:







I also took out the Lanzar amp and installed a Kenwood KAC-729S 2CH amp which is only rated at 200 watts RMS x 2 for a 4ohm load. But, the Kenwood sounds soooo much better than the Lanzar. The Lanzar always sounded better than the KAC-729S with these speakers.

I'm just confused what would make the Lanzar sound so bad now. It's hooked up with the same subwoofers and settings (gains & bass boost) as before. The only differences is a new HU and a cheap set of amplifier cables (power, ground, rca).

 

[jmcs23 10+ year member]

Sorry duplicate post...

 

[robert420 10+ year member]

check the wiring on your current HU. also get new power/ ground cables, RCAs etc. its possible the amp isn't getting sufficient power because of the current power/ ground wires

 

[admobass]

All of the above better wires, check phase, turn down the fart knob (bass boost)

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

The different head unit can make a tremendous difference.

First turn bass boost off never use that call that the bass begone knob cause it usually lows subs

Second set the subsonic filter to 28-30hz and the low pass to 80hz

Then get ur music playing about 3/4 ways up on your radio and slowly start turning the gain up, when it stops getting louder stop going up and come back down bout 1/16th a turn

Be sure there is no bass boost on the radio turned on and the eq for the subs is flat. Loud feature should be turne off as well

Good wiring I always a plus. An like the others said check your subs wiring u may have the pos and neg reverse on one of the subs

Lanzar is a lower quality brand if you are happy with it great but I personally don expect much from that brand unless it is the opti line