Very strange lack of bass?

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

skrate up.........I have heard many systems in many cars. older model cutlass made my cousin car BOOOOOOOM! with my FI Q. We put it in my truck with the same box and amp and it was SIGNIFICANTLY less loud. Try putting his sub and amp in your car and it will most likely be much quieter. If it is not then there is something wrong. You cannot compare different amp and sub setups (esp. in a diff. vehicle). Have you heard of cabin gain?

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

troof. Put the sub in the trunk for starters, sound deadener is the only way i know of to change a vehicles acoustics.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

I just wish I could afford to play with all of this stuff to find out the best solution though. Sound deadening, supplies and tools to build boxes...

I have too many hobbies and this one is by far the most complicated and expensive.

I can build a kick ass gaming computer with my eyes closed but all of this car audio stuff just makes my brain melt...

Though I guess I've been doing computer crap for 10+ years and car audio for... about a year and a half.

 

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

Fukk Fay!

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

I just wish I could afford to play with all of this stuff to find out the best solution though. Sound deadening, supplies and tools to build boxes...
I have too many hobbies and this one is by far the most complicated and expensive.

I can build a kick ass gaming computer with my eyes closed but all of this car audio stuff just makes my brain melt...

Though I guess I've been doing computer crap for 10+ years and car audio for... about a year and a half.

I really want to build myself a top of the line gaming PC for call of duty but i would have no clue where to start. I guess thats what makes it a hobby. It wouldnt be fun if it was simple.

 

[CaptNKILL 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

Yeah, having the sub box belted in looks completely retarded, but I was desperate. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I've only had it like this for a little while. It was in my trunk for 2 or 3 months and my old system was always in my trunk.

I can't imagine having the sub in the trunk without folding seats in a modern car though. With my seats closed up and the sub in the trunk I can barely even hear my sub, even with almost 900W going to it.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

I really want to build myself a top of the line gaming PC for call of duty but i would have no clue where to start. I guess thats what makes it a hobby. It wouldnt be fun if it was simple.

If you want any tips to get started with PC building check out the forums at http://www.nvnews.net .

I'm a moderator and long time member there. Its one of the biggest nvidia (graphics card company) fan sites on the net and its a great community... as long as you can take a joke. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

Yeah, having the sub box belted in looks completely retarded, but I was desperate. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
I've only had it like this for a little while. It was in my trunk for 2 or 3 months and my old system was always in my trunk.

I can't imagine having the sub in the trunk without folding seats in a modern car though. With my seats closed up and the sub in the trunk I can barely even hear my sub, even with almost 900W going to it.

If thats true something is seriously wrong with your amp and/or headunit settings. I wish i could help you out but yout deffinately not local. Maybe ask around and see if anyone can help with all the settings for you.

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

If you want any tips to get started with PC building check out the forums at http://www.nvnews.net .
I'm a moderator and long time member there. Its one of the biggest nvidia (graphics card company) fan sites on the net and its a great community... as long as you can take a joke. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Might head over there, and hey ive survived this place idk how much worse that place could be //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

If you want any tips to get started with PC building check out the forums at http://www.nvnews.net .
I'm a moderator and long time member there. Its one of the biggest nvidia (graphics card company) fan sites on the net and its a great community... as long as you can take a joke. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Might head over there, and hey ive survived this place idk how much worse that place could be //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

If thats true something is seriously wrong with your amp and/or headunit settings. I wish i could help you out but yout deffinately not local. Maybe ask around and see if anyone can help with all the settings for you.

I have everything I can set set properly as far as I can tell.

The sub low-pass on my HU is set to 80Hz, the crossover on the amp is set to around the same thing...

And what else is there?

My gains are set according to the volume so that I measure around 41v at the speaker terminals with a 50Hz test tone. I bumped the sub woofer volume on the HU up one notch to +1 since test tones are usually quite a bit louder than any music.

Either there are some really odd acoustic issues with my car, my speaker wire is seriously lacking for some reason or both of my amps are faulty (I've made other threads about poor mid bass response from my speakers on this amp).

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

I have everything I can set set properly as far as I can tell.
The sub low-pass on my HU is set to 80Hz, the crossover on the amp is set to around the same thing...

And what else is there?

My gains are set according to the volume so that I measure around 41v at the speaker terminals with a 50Hz test tone. I bumped the sub woofer volume on the HU up one notch to +1 since test tones are usually quite a bit louder than any music.

Either there are some really odd acoustic issues with my car, my speaker wire is seriously lacking for some reason or both of my amps are faulty (I've made other threads about poor mid bass response from my speakers on this amp).

Does the sub volume on your HU go into negatives as well as positives? (edit: nvm wouldn't matter if ur setting with a dmm and getting 41v anyway...)

Also, again...does your sub move just as much or more than the other guy's? But doesn't seem to be making as much noise?

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Does the sub volume on your HU go into negatives as well as positives? (edit: nvm wouldn't matter if ur setting with a dmm and getting 41v anyway...)
Also, again...does your sub move just as much or more than the other guy's? But doesn't seem to be making as much noise?

My brother's sub has a much smaller\flatter surround than my Fi Q so the movement looks different in general, but mine appears to flex a lot more than his.

It seems like more movement should equal more sound, but mine sounds flat and not very interesting. Like its deep but just not punchy or loud.

From far away it still pretty audible and deep though.

Also, I have checked to make sure everything is wired in series properly. A little while ago I used my multimeter to check the resistance on the sub and with the system off it seems to be around 1.7-1.9 at the speaker terminals as well as at the other end of the speaker wire.

So voltage and ohms are right for the wattage I should be getting.

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

what kind of box are you using? Did you make it or is it a prefab? And is it possible its leaking air?

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

what kind of box are you using? Did you make it or is it a prefab? And is it possible its leaking air?

Its in a sealed Q-Logic box I bought from Crutchfield about a year and a half ago for my first system. It seems to be pretty well built and I already tried re-sealing it myself a while ago to make sure I didn't have any leaks.

I can't be 100% sure that there aren't any leaks but it looks pretty tight to me.

I think this is the same one:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=178650&i=044Q12S125&tp=127

Can the shape of sealed box effect the sound at all as long as it is the correct size? This is a "hatch back" box but it has the exact volume of 1.25cu that Fi recommends for this sub.