Want more DBs

Ozdowski

CarAudio.com Newbie
I currently have an Orion hcca124 sub in a ported box, and Orion 3000.1 d splx amplifier, and an XS Power D3400 secondary battery and a 250amp alternator in a 2002 Mazda Tribute. I am only hitting about 140db on a Term-Lab meter. Does anyone have any suggestions for increasing my DBs without heavy modifications to the vehicle.
 
I currently have an Orion hcca124 sub in a ported box, and Orion 3000.1 d splx amplifier, and an XS Power D3400 secondary battery and a 250amp alternator in a 2002 Mazda Tribute. I am only hitting about 140db on a Term-Lab meter. Does anyone have any suggestions for increasing my DBs without heavy modifications to the vehicle.

I would say the easiest thing to do is add another 12 to a custom built box. Then, eventually you can switch to a bigger amp. But for now, add more cone area and a proper box.
 
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3kw takes a lot more electricity than most people think. Are you feeding your amp all the juice it needs? Define "heavy modifications to your vehicle".
 
Go with a bank of lithium instead of the XS Power D3400. You still need to add another 12 though. Isn't 140db about right for a single 12?
 
124 Hcca?.. Tax that amp if you think you got the juice to support it and wire .5 with a D1 recone.
Otherwise buy a bigger amp or you'll only see small gains thru small adjustments.
Electrical will help some yes, but rise sux... and its real.
As long as your enclosure & install are at least close to being on point (big assumption) its gonna be down to delivering the power. A 2K sub might like some power.
Hcca are famous for this iirc
 
I currently have an Orion hcca124 sub in a ported box, and Orion 3000.1 d splx amplifier, and an XS Power D3400 secondary battery and a 250amp alternator in a 2002 Mazda Tribute. I am only hitting about 140db on a Term-Lab meter. Does anyone have any suggestions for increasing my DBs without heavy modifications to the vehicle.
box design, reinforcement, and its orientation, a lot of testing and enclosure adjustment as well. You can adjust your seat position as well if you are chasing tenths.

Best bet is to buy an SPL meter like the SSA apm-2 and do some serious testing along with finding your resonant frequency, then tune your enclosure around that frequency.
 
box design, reinforcement, and its orientation, a lot of testing and enclosure adjustment as well. You can adjust your seat position as well if you are chasing tenths.

Best bet is to buy an SPL meter like the SSA apm-2 and do some serious testing along with finding your resonant frequency, then tune your enclosure around that frequency.
Lol...I think if I read it right, he's wired 2 ohm on his amp... and he's stuck around 140db with an underpowered 12.


Seat position might be the next step... Someday
 
box design, reinforcement, and its orientation, a lot of testing and enclosure adjustment as well. You can adjust your seat position as well if you are chasing tenths.

Best bet is to buy an SPL meter like the SSA apm-2 and do some serious testing along with finding your resonant frequency, then tune your enclosure around that frequency.

What db should he expect out of a single 12"?
 
Lol...I think if I read it right, he's wired 2 ohm on his amp... and he's stuck around 140db with an underpowered 12.


Seat position might be the next step... Someday
Seat position is when you meter, having them forward changes the score when you meter by a few tenths. Im not talking about walls.

Adding and removing seats or having stuff take up more space in the car affects your score as well. A lot of factors that can be done to squeeze out tenths
 
Seat position is when you meter, having them forward changes the score when you meter by a few tenths. Im not talking about walls.

Adding and removing seats or having stuff take up more space in the car affects your score as well. A lot of factors that can be done to squeeze out tenths

Lmao... I know what seat position is, and how to chase tenths. So thanks for the response. Walls.. where did that come from?

I'm thinking he's looking for little more "substantial" results... he's asking why he's stuck around 140 . I think he's underpowered on a higher power sub. People see folks doing 145-147db on a single 12 on 3K and don't realize its clamped power on a higher wattage amp or are wired into the dirt to get there, plus testing.

The way I read it he's wired at 2ohm on that Orion 3000.1 d splx with a 2500w d4 4" coiled 12 or am I reading it wrong?

Now if he's looking for more than than incremental gains I'd say wiring down for more power would be the best, easiest option (assuming he has enough electrical).

Buying a meter is great advice but I never did and only metered the day of the show or thru friends myself. Testing, testing and changing small things will gain or lose but only small gains usually.
 
Lmao... I know what seat position is, and how to chase tenths. So thanks for the response. Walls.. where did that come from?

I'm thinking he's looking for little more "substantial" results... he's asking why he's stuck around 140 . I think he's underpowered on a higher power sub. People see folks doing 145-147db on a single 12 on 3K and don't realize its clamped power on a higher wattage amp or are wired into the dirt to get there, plus testing.

The way I read it he's wired at 2ohm on that Orion 3000.1 d splx with a 2500w d4 4" coiled 12 or am I reading it wrong?

Now if he's looking for more than than incremental gains I'd say wiring down for more power would be the best, easiest option (assuming he has enough electrical).

Buying a meter is great advice but I never did and only metered the day of the show or thru friends myself. Testing, testing and changing small things will gain or lose but only small gains usually.
well depends, all those small gains end up to be 1-3 db compounded together. A combination of box/port positioning, small adjustments in the vehicle, finding your proper resonant frequency/loudest hertz, having windows down, Flaring out the aeroports, adding weatherstrip seals on the subs, sun visors folded down, seats all the way forward vertically, empty or packed car, cooling the cabin/amps(for long musical runs), Changing to a more powerful source CD/USB over bluetooth/aux(yes for spl comps this does increase almost a full db)

Those are just small things that I helped my buddy in the trunk class squeeze out from a 141.2 to a 143.5 db in his altima without changing any gear. Actual musical and daily driving performance then yes i definitely a gree, box, cone area and way more power but for a one note burp, you can really fk around and get that number up
 
I built a ported box for one of these some years back, but I never got to hear it. The guy picked up his box and I never heard from him again. He drove to Denver from Cheyenne Wyoming to pick it up. I remember doing it in a super small ported box with aero ports on the outside, and a 2 inch baffle. I remember this one specifically because it was impossible to build it with ports on the inside without too many bends in the port, so I brought it outside the box to limit it to 2 bends. I think it was 1.3 cubes at 40 hz, and against my advice, he wanted 2 3 inch ports, instead of the single 4 inch port I suggested. Really wanted to hear it in action.
 
this guy got the same score with 500 watts and inside a trunk
And Terry Brock puts up 160's out of a trunk. These results are abnormal out of a trunk. Still though OP is doing something wrong and I'd agree if he doesn't own an SPL meter he will find it difficult or impossible to optimize gains.
 
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