BreakingBad
Banned
this will be very long to show everyone exactly what happened and the final outcome..
first let me reference a thread on realm of excursion where the majority of the debate went down:
http://forum.realmofexcursion.com/showthread.php?t=29291
as time goes on the thread may be locked, deleted, pictures may not show up.. who knows but right now everything is in place and can be referenced.
let me begin by saying that in sept. of 2006 i had Team Nutz in Pittsburgh, PA do some work for me. i bought two RE Audio SX 12" subs, a US Amps AX1500DE from them and i had them build the box, and install everything. everything went great.. until now.
i had called them to get a quote for 1 18" RE XXX. they quoted me at almost full MSRP ($2,000+). i found it cheaper elsewhere with a warranty included, so i went with the other company instead of them.
i had set up an appointment with them to build me a box (6 cubes @ 35 hz, as RE recommends) and to install a new car battery along with run the wiring to the amp and what not.
first, i was going to put 1,500 watts (ax 1500 de) to the XXX (2,000 W RMS) which both RE and US amps said was plenty, but 2,000 was preferred as its a 2,000 W sub. they assured me 1,500 was fine but if i wanted the full potential of the sub to get a 2,000W (which would of only been what a 3 db increase at most?)
anyway. they built the box, did the install but i was called and informed that "i had no bass. the sub was barely moving" and to me, this was suspicious because at 1,500 watts that thing should be killing the lows and whatnot. anyway i come down, my car was out of the shop, i paid, was told the owner was busy and handed my keys and had really no choice but to leave. i turned the system up, and even at volume 50 (max is 80 on my hu) i had little to no bass.
i at that point was told by team nutz that i needed "more power" to produce any bass what so ever. the owner told me that greg @ us amps said that i need a MINIMUM of 3,000 watts just to have ANY bass what so ever and/or to get the sub to work IN GENERAL. i immediately powered off the HU and kept it off until i made my way back down there to have them check the wiring on the sub.
magically, after them re-doing the wiring in front of me, the bass output increased 10 fold and i had bass. the owner admitted to me it was probably wired backwards or wrong.
people at ROE said the sub was probably out of phase, and that they wired it incorrectly originally, which WAS the issue. from literally no bass to having about 120-140db.. um HUGE DIFFERENCE.
anyway, upon speaking with RE and many other techs i was told that it was wired wrong and it could have possiblity damaged the sub and to get it returned anyway. team nutz' owner told me both voice coils were reading at 2.6, when they should be at 2.1. which wasn't surprising, as when they first installed it he said he "smelled a burning smell and turned it off".
keep in mind this is all available over at ROE in the thread that goes on for 20+ pages..
anyway the owner decided to come on ROE and 'defend' his bad install saying that 1,500 wasnt enough power to have ANY bass what so ever from the sub. he denied wiring it wrong and still won't admit that there was any difference in volume or sq coming from the sub (which.. going from where my rear view wasnt even vibrating to shaking the wall and having customers say holy ****.. yeah HUGE difference)
bottom line is this shop did a shotty install and won't admit up to the mistakes. they also did a crappy ground, which i RE DID and it eliminated almost all problems with the sub (aside from the fact that the vc's still might be damaged).
the owner told me to have the sub warranty replaced and that he cant help me. not even a refund on the install, no apology, nothing. he didn't even review the install with me until i came back complaining.
i will never shop at this place again, and i suggest anyone who knows their **** about car audio / subs do NOT bring your car there.
again this goes more in depth over at ROE, as i don't want to repeat myself 10 fold.
if i didn't have a warranty i might have been screwed out of a two thousand dollar subwoofer.
first let me reference a thread on realm of excursion where the majority of the debate went down:
http://forum.realmofexcursion.com/showthread.php?t=29291
as time goes on the thread may be locked, deleted, pictures may not show up.. who knows but right now everything is in place and can be referenced.
let me begin by saying that in sept. of 2006 i had Team Nutz in Pittsburgh, PA do some work for me. i bought two RE Audio SX 12" subs, a US Amps AX1500DE from them and i had them build the box, and install everything. everything went great.. until now.
i had called them to get a quote for 1 18" RE XXX. they quoted me at almost full MSRP ($2,000+). i found it cheaper elsewhere with a warranty included, so i went with the other company instead of them.
i had set up an appointment with them to build me a box (6 cubes @ 35 hz, as RE recommends) and to install a new car battery along with run the wiring to the amp and what not.
first, i was going to put 1,500 watts (ax 1500 de) to the XXX (2,000 W RMS) which both RE and US amps said was plenty, but 2,000 was preferred as its a 2,000 W sub. they assured me 1,500 was fine but if i wanted the full potential of the sub to get a 2,000W (which would of only been what a 3 db increase at most?)
anyway. they built the box, did the install but i was called and informed that "i had no bass. the sub was barely moving" and to me, this was suspicious because at 1,500 watts that thing should be killing the lows and whatnot. anyway i come down, my car was out of the shop, i paid, was told the owner was busy and handed my keys and had really no choice but to leave. i turned the system up, and even at volume 50 (max is 80 on my hu) i had little to no bass.
i at that point was told by team nutz that i needed "more power" to produce any bass what so ever. the owner told me that greg @ us amps said that i need a MINIMUM of 3,000 watts just to have ANY bass what so ever and/or to get the sub to work IN GENERAL. i immediately powered off the HU and kept it off until i made my way back down there to have them check the wiring on the sub.
magically, after them re-doing the wiring in front of me, the bass output increased 10 fold and i had bass. the owner admitted to me it was probably wired backwards or wrong.
people at ROE said the sub was probably out of phase, and that they wired it incorrectly originally, which WAS the issue. from literally no bass to having about 120-140db.. um HUGE DIFFERENCE.
anyway, upon speaking with RE and many other techs i was told that it was wired wrong and it could have possiblity damaged the sub and to get it returned anyway. team nutz' owner told me both voice coils were reading at 2.6, when they should be at 2.1. which wasn't surprising, as when they first installed it he said he "smelled a burning smell and turned it off".
keep in mind this is all available over at ROE in the thread that goes on for 20+ pages..
anyway the owner decided to come on ROE and 'defend' his bad install saying that 1,500 wasnt enough power to have ANY bass what so ever from the sub. he denied wiring it wrong and still won't admit that there was any difference in volume or sq coming from the sub (which.. going from where my rear view wasnt even vibrating to shaking the wall and having customers say holy ****.. yeah HUGE difference)
bottom line is this shop did a shotty install and won't admit up to the mistakes. they also did a crappy ground, which i RE DID and it eliminated almost all problems with the sub (aside from the fact that the vc's still might be damaged).
the owner told me to have the sub warranty replaced and that he cant help me. not even a refund on the install, no apology, nothing. he didn't even review the install with me until i came back complaining.
i will never shop at this place again, and i suggest anyone who knows their **** about car audio / subs do NOT bring your car there.
again this goes more in depth over at ROE, as i don't want to repeat myself 10 fold.
if i didn't have a warranty i might have been screwed out of a two thousand dollar subwoofer.