Weak bass and midbass from preamps?

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

I've been messing with this setup off and on for months now and I can't seem to get sufficient bass and midbass from my Eclipse components. It all just sounds hollow because the 80-300Hz range (rough guess) is very quiet. They sound alright if I turn the sub off and crank the "bass" setting on my HU to +8 at 80Hz. Obviously I can't do that when my sub is turned on though.

Today I hooked up an ancient Rockford Fosgate 2 channel amp to one of my components and with the "bass" knob all the way down things sounded the same as on my Kicker amp. When I turned the bass knob up half way it sounded perfect. I would do this with my Kicker amp but the bass boost is tuned to 40Hz so it doesn't do much for the components, even when I turn it all the way up.

So I'm wondering... is something wrong with my HU since I clearly need to boost the bass externally? Or is it normal to need external processing to get good bass and midbass from components? Should I just get a cheap EQ and be done with it? I'd use the RF amp but its old and beat to hell and I'd rather not waste the $90 I spent on my Kicker amp 6 months ago.

Just for some more info:

I'm almost positive that it isn't related to sound pressure in the doors because they are very well sealed and I've tested speakers in free-air and they sound fine with the bass turned up.

Also, my stock rear door speakers are still powered by the HU and I normally just fade them out since they sound pretty harsh. They do have plenty of bass though, which is why I think its related to the preamps.

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[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Any ideas?

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

you may be expecting too much out of the comps? what model number do you have? 2 ways are very hard to tune correctly, 3 way active is really the way to go to get the full spectrum.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

you may be expecting too much out of the comps? what model number do you have? 2 ways are very hard to tune correctly, 3 way active is really the way to go to get the full spectrum.

Thanks for the reply. I have my system listed in my signature.

2006 Hyundai Sonata GLS V6Big 3 in Knu KLM 1/0, Stock 130Amp Alt, Stock battery

Kenwood Excellon KDC-X491 Head Unit

Fi Q 12" in Sealed 1.25cu box on Kicker ZX750.1 rated @ 891w RMS

Eclipse SC6500 6.5" Components in front doors on Kicker ZX200.2 @ ~70w per channel

I know I'm not expecting too much out of them because my stock speakers that have 1 inch magnets and paper cones have far more bass and mid bass when running off of 25w from my head unit than my Eclipse components do running off of 70w on my Kicker ZX200.2.

This is only my second system and its my first time running mids and highs off of an amp (I just ran coaxials off of my HU before). Its also my first component set.

I've tried setting my head unit crossover to "thru" and setting the crossover on my zx200.2 to 50hz (lower than it should be set for these) and the bass and mid bass are still extremely weak compared to my stock rear door speakers running off of my head unit. There just isn't enough bass and midbass coming from the amp or the head unit.

It sounded pretty good when I turned the "bass" level to half (with treble at minimum) on my old RF Punch 60x2 trans-ana, but when I crank the bass boost all the way up on my Kicker amp it barely does anything. Either way though, it doesn't seem like I should have to add bass boost with the amp to get the same sound the HU is putting out to my crappy stock speakers.

All I really need to know right now is if its normal to have to add bass boost or use an EQ to get ANY bass and midbass from components powered by an amp. If it isn't, something is wrong with my HU, wiring or amps.

 

[WrenchGuy 10+ year member]

Give em more power.

Sounds to me they can take some more. Shouldn't hurt much from 80 up.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Give em more power.
Sounds to me they can take some more. Shouldn't hurt much from 80 up.

Throwing more power at it isn't going to solve the problem. I have no problem getting enough volume to make my ears ring. At best I need to buy an EQ to boost the bass and midbass for my components, but like I keep saying, I just want to know if its normal to need bass boost or high EQ settings to get any audible bass and mid bass from components. If not, there is either something wrong with my amp or my head unit.

I appreciate the input, I'm just trying to get a specific question answered so I can figure out what the problem is. Then I can worry about how to fix it.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Turning the bass level down will remove midbass, to fix that turn the level down on your sub amp.

 

[CaptNKILL 10+ year member]

Turning the bass level down will remove midbass, to fix that turn the level down on your sub amp.

Thanks, but I have the bass boost for my sub amp at zero already. I can't turn it down.

I really just need to know if its normal to need bass boost or high EQ settings to get any audible bass and mid bass from 6.5" components. Please.

 

[adio 5,000+ posts]

no, it's not normal

 

[endofdays89 5,000+ posts]

you should throw them away and get a new amp and component set. I will sell you an orion amp and alpine components for $120 shipped.

Do they sound like ****, or just not quite how you want them to sound?