Very strange lack of bass?

[GAM3OVR 5,000+ posts]

he has kappa PERFECT moofers, you dont

nuff said

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

I used to have it in my trunk facing back and I put it in my back seat facing up to see if it sounded more like my brother's truck.
It is a little louder in the back seat than it was in the trunk with my rear seats folded down. Without at least one seat folded down, its very quiet in the trunk.

Why is there such a difference in opinion with speaker wire? Some say 12g is way too small, others say 14g wouldn't limit anything.

Which is actually true?

For that much power 14g is fine. Im using 12g on about 3000 watts.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

12g is bigger than 14g....
You will be fine with 14g unless you're running 10ft of it!

I'm not using 14g, I'm using 12g.

Someone in this thread said that 12g isn't enough, while someone else said that 14 is enough (not sure why 14 was even mentioned).

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

I guess I'm just frustrated with how much louder and sharper his system sounds than mine when my sub can theoretically take more than twice as much wattage as his and is significantly more expensive.

If his sub is clipping, I can't tell. It sounds good to me where as mine sounds like I'm hearing a sub from 20 feet away, rather than 2 feet.

Our amps should be pretty similar, but this sub has to count for something...

I wish a knew an audio "pro" who could listen to my system and tell me if something doesn't sound right, but I don't know of any that I'd trust around here.

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

I guess I'm just frustrated with how much louder and sharper his system sounds than mine when my sub can theoretically take more than twice as much wattage as his and is significantly more expensive.
If his sub is clipping, I can't tell. It sounds good to me where as mine sounds like I'm hearing a sub from 20 feet away, rather than 2 feet.

Our amps should be pretty similar, but this sub has to count for something...

I wish a knew an audio "pro" who could listen to my system and tell me if something doesn't sound right, but I don't know of any that I'd trust around here.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif...there's your problem I didn't see before...the idea that because your sub can take more, even if you aren't feeding it more, you should be louder. Its actually in almost all cases the exact opposite. A sub made to take 500 watts, getting 500 watts will perform much better than a sub made to take 5000 watts getting 500 watts. That's why if you don't have the power to push a higher power sub, you're better off with a lower powered one

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

but if yours and his sub is sealed, and yours moves more than his, but isn't louder, then its definitely an issue with different cabin gain/cancellation which you can adjust by changing direction/position of the sub inside your car

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif...there's your problem I didn't see before...the idea that because your sub can take more, even if you aren't feeding it more, you should be louder. Its actually in almost all cases the exact opposite. A sub made to take 500 watts, getting 500 watts will perform much better than a sub made to take 5000 watts getting 500 watts. That's why if you don't have the power to push a higher power sub, you're better off with a lower powered one

I realize that a better sub doesn't mean more power.

I had several people recommend the Q for an amp like mine.

All "5000W" exaggerating aside, why is a "400W RMS" sub getting 900W significantly louder than a "1000W" sub getting 890W?

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

I realize that a better sub doesn't mean more power.
I had several people recommend the Q for an amp like mine.

All "5000W" exaggerating aside, why is a "400W RMS" sub getting 900W significantly louder than a "1000W" sub getting 890W?

refer to my post right after that

and if his sub is truly getting 900 rms I doubt that thing is gonna last much longer...idk if they can take more than rated power but more than double rated? How long has he been running it like that?

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

I've moved my sub all over the place several times without any real change in volume, which is why it ended up in my back seat.

I didn't think that acoustics could still effect the sound so much with all the doors and windows open in the truck.

If you really think its due to acoustics, I guess I'm just screwed. I could always pay out the *** to slather my car in Rammatt or something similar, but even then there's no guarantee it'd make any difference at all.

After all of this I'm kind of wishing I'd just saved myself the $900 sound system upgrade and just kept using my stock speakers with my 300W Infinity Reference 12.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

refer to my post right after that
and if his sub is truly getting 900 rms I doubt that thing is gonna last much longer...idk if they can take more than rated power but more than double rated? How long has he been running it like that?

His sub has been running like that for almost 2 years now, and he plays it at high volume every day to and from work.

I honestly wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen and heard it several times.

If his amp is somehow only wired to 4ohms and he's only getting 500W, that just makes it even more annoying that his system sounds so much better.

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

i understand your frustration. if you really want to get louder why not buy a sheet of mdf and build a nice ported box for that sub. it will be so much louder which is obviously what you want. lots of people on here can help you with a design, i could even.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

i understand your frustration. if you really want to get louder why not buy a sheet of mdf and build a nice ported box for that sub. it will be so much louder which is obviously what you want. lots of people on here can help you with a design, i could even.

I'd love to, but they just take up way too much room and I'd just end up getting rid of it for something smaller after running out of trunk space a few times.

I already have about 1/2 of my trunk space with my amps and sub in there, so having the sub in the back seat has been kind of nice some times...

Still, I'd consider it if I knew it'd make a big difference, but Fi seems to recommend a small sealed enclosure for these subs. What effect would going ported have if my car just has poor acoustics?

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

I'd love to, but they just take up way too much room and I'd just end up getting rid of it for something smaller after running out of trunk space a few times.
I already have about 1/2 of my trunk space with my amps and sub in there, so having the sub in the back seat has been kind of nice some times...

Still, I'd consider it if I knew it'd make a big difference, but Fi seems to recommend a small sealed enclosure for these subs. What effect would going ported have if my car just has poor acoustics?

i wouldnt reccomend it if i didnt know it would make a big difference. and i know how much these subs love ported boxes, i have two Q 18"s. Its just something to keep in the back of your mind.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Do you know of any ways to improve the acoustics of a car?

What kind of things actually cause poor acoustics for bass?

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

You need to take the sub out of your back seat. It's strapped in?? I know this isn't DIYMA, but come on. I'm getting a mental image of your sub box wearing a seatbelt, and it's giving me a headache. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif "Slathering" your entire car with deadening will make a WORLD of difference, and it has been proven in countless installs, so don't doubt the improvements it would make for a second. If you don't have the money to spend on a lot of deadener, buy enough to do your trunk and trunk lid, and put the box back there. Hell, even if you don't have enough, put your box back there anyway. Unless you have the knowledge, time and effort to install the sub up front, like in the passenger floorboard or something along those lines, it needs to be in the trunk. Don't be under the impression that having the sub closer to you automatically means it will sound louder. I had a Kicker CVX 12" that I put in a sealed box upfiring in a 4 door F150, seeing about 1100w. Then, I built a downfired sealed box for it, fed it the same power, and the output was like night and day. Hell, an Alpine Type X 10 in that downfired box was louder than the 12" upfiring. The point is, acoustics really do determine a lot of how your speakers will sound. That's oversimplifying it, but it's where you need to start. Good luck.

Mike