System not hitting as hard as it should?

[LiveAudio911 10+ year member]

Actually with all things to aside.. I'm sure all things pointed out here in the responses hold their own merit.. and need to be addressed one by one..

I can tell you one thing about your install from those pictures the ultimate problem above all else is "Install"

Install is 90% component selection is only 10%

That is a hatch right? You are pointing directly backwards..

You need to have a box that angles towards the hatch.. not firing strait up ... but angled.. the pass output in a hatch back because of the design is much greater like this.. and the shape of the vehicle and the wave reflection/refraction..

You will hear and get much better bass response I guarantee..

 

[Sarthos 10+ year member]

So could you explain what I may be doing wrong to not get the power to the subs?? and the box is ported.. not sealed. btw.

I know it's ported. That should make it louder than sealed, and since a sealed should give off decent power, ported should be even better. My buddy in a prism had a single type r 10", sealed box, about 400 watts, gave off decent power, there's no reason your 12" shouldn't be louder, especially in a sealed box.

Here's what you do to at least help diagnose the problem. Take a digital multimeter, and test the outputs on your amp to the sub. Turn your stereo to like 3/4 volume, turn off all bass boost and EQ functions, then insert a CD with a 40 Hz test tone. Here's what your goal is for voltage on the outputs.

350=v*v/r

v*v=350*r

v=sqrt(350*r)

with a 4 ohm sub, you should be getting

v=sqrt(350*4)=sqrt(1400)=37.4v

If you're getting less than 37.4v you can turn your gain up some until you reach 37.4v. If you're getting less even with gain maximized, then you need a line driver. If you're getting this much voltage, and it's still not loud enough, use the multimeter again to check the resistance on your subs. Just switch is to read resistance, and touch one probe to the positive wire on your sub, the other to the negative wire on your sub (with the sub disconnected from the amp of course)

 

[xoutofmyheadx 10+ year member]

queston for the box builders here,.... why a 4in port over a 2in port? the12volt website calculator says for a 2in port it needs to be 2.3inches. a 4in port needs to be 12inches. how do you choose which to use and why? so going by the calculator his box is good.

as for a new box, there's a thread for box designs on here if you look (when you geta chance to build a new box) your box is 1.9cubes. 2.5cubes would only add 3more inches to the box length. if you're not sure how to wire, or if it's done correctly scroll to pg2 http://support.alpine-usa.com/products/documents/OM_SWR-10+12_23D_43D.pdf

with the amp you have you can't run it at 1ohm you need the 4ohm wiring.

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

the length just determines the tuning, WinISD will just tell you the length as well as other sites. You need a certain port area(L x W for square and r^2 x pi for round ports) Most tell you 12-16" square PER CUBE for slot/square and if you use true aeroports 6-8" PER CUBE. But if using just round pvc no flares you need about as much as slot 10-12" per cube

Anyway the 2" is 1^2 x pi=3.14159" square and its around 1.8cubes which is 1.74" square per cube(which is waay too small). He needs more like 10 which will be 18" square a single 4" would be 2^2 x pi=12.566 / 1.7 cubes = 7.39" which is perfect if using a true aeroport but prob needs 5" for reg pvc

The 4" will require a longer port to keep the same tuning as 2" he currently so it will make the box even smaller(hence why I figured 1.7cubes above)

 

[xoutofmyheadx 10+ year member]

so, can you even use a 2in port? or is there a minn and max dia. port size? do you just pull a size out of your *** and say hey i'll use this here. i guess the calculator can't tell you there's a minn. size it just tells you numbers. personally i don't like the idea of ports like this i think they should just build it using the outer wall myself.

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

what your looking at in WinISD or similar is port velocity, which you want to keep lower than 20m/s or so. This basically will tell you what size port you need