Weak bass without bass boost! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Jcsaudio]

I was messing with a mono subwoofer amplifier playing a 50 Hz test tone through it one day with a 12” subwoofer. I was slowly turning it up as I listened for a change in sound for about 3-5 minutes. The only change I heard in sound was when the amplifier fuse blew and the power supply mosfets went up in smoke as they burned up. Amp was cold but the mosfets apparently got too hot.

Nope; I’m in the category where I’m better off just using a different method. Was the amplifier over that 10% and clipping? Yup, and that lesson cost me some money that day too. Did the subwoofer coil get hot? Yup, because the coil had that burnt smell but I didn’t think to check that until I cooked the amp and it was too late. Was successful in repairing that amplifier on my own though so I did learn that!

Now I buy an amplifier that is at least 25% to 50% more powerful that the top RMS rating of the sub, if I can and use the DVM method and my ear to set the gain and blend things in with the front stage. This method works good for me. Jeff, you are a master at what you do but I **** at it.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

Then I was right. You are not going to understand what I’m trying to say. If everything is balanced from the start then all that’s needed to adjust is the volume.
I’m glad we worked that out. Next time just say you don’t understand instead of trying to insult

Except it's not balanced, I understand you're saying it should represent the music but that's not what people are after with the equipment they have

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Except it's not balanced, I understand you're saying it should represent the music but that's not what people are after with the equipment they have

I hope you get to hear what I’m talking about. It may not be for you but it’s something every audio lover has to hear.

 

[YukonXL04]

So i find the point where my subs stop getting louder and starts sounding like a totally different tone than what it supposed to sound like aka normally a 40hz bass drop starts sounding like a 42 or 43 hz bass drop and starts sounding different. Thats your 10% thd point which is pretty audible and thats clipping, try not to stay in that zone for longer than 5-6 seconds. I'd back the sub level or master volume off a few notches until the output is clean and the sound is uncolored. Now play for a bit like 2 mins, then 5 mins then 15 mins sessions, smell the sub's coil or the box's port, feel the sub's dustcap or if you have access to the coil, touch the coil, it should be cool to very warm but never hot to the touch, same with your amp. AKA if you touch it and it hurts to hold it longer than 2 seconds, you need to back sh*t down even more.
Once you get to a point where the heat is proper, memorize that output level by heart. For every song you play, back down the head unit volume and roll up on the head unit volume knob until you reach that output level, if the bass is too strong and vocals are too weak, lower the sub level. if the vocals are too forward and bass is nonexistent, raise the sub level. simple as that but now you have a point of reference on how loud your system should be while being clip free.

Do the same heat test during summer because things heat up much faster in the summer and can get a lot more dangerous with the heat depending on your state. You may not be anywhere near clipping but your sub and amp can still overheat and blow up or go into thermal protect. Heat is the actual cause of equipment death, clipping just accelerates heat build up.

Thats why i dont bother messing with test tones for gain settings at all. Relying on your ears and knowing what distortion sounds like then doing tests with heat is a much more guaranteed way to get max output out of your setup without short changing yourself on output while keeping your equpment safe. Its a skill you need to build. Most people using DD-1s and test tones are literally refusing to learn these proper skills.

The DD-1/oscope is good for finding head unit and multiple signal boosters aka heaunit to dsp/LOC or line drivers/EQ max distortion levels though, i give it that.

I learned this a long time ago. Everyone jumped on the dd1 bandwagon for setting gains... never got it. Like you said all music is different. There is no set it and forget it if you want it to sound it's best.

Just roll that knob up until you hear the distortion then back down a little. It's pretty noticeable with my DD 9500. The problem is that it just keeps getting louder as you keep turning the knob lol

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I was messing with a mono subwoofer amplifier playing a 50 Hz test tone through it one day with a 12” subwoofer. I was slowly turning it up as I listened for a change in sound for about 3-5 minutes The only change I heard in sound was when the amplifier fuse blew and the power supply mosfets went up in smoke as they burned up. Amp was cold but the mosfets apparently got too hot.
Nope; I’m in the category where I’m better off just using a different method. Was the amplifier over that 10% and clipping? Yup, and that lesson cost me some money that day too. Did the subwoofer coil get hot? Yup, because the coil had that burnt smell but I didn’t think to check that until I cooked the amp and it was too late. Was successful in repairing that amplifier on my own though so I did learn that!

Now I buy an amplifier that is at least 25% to 50% more powerful that the top RMS rating of the sub, if I can and use the DVM method and my ear to set the gain and blend things in with the front stage. This method works good for me. Jeff, you are a master at what you do but I **** at it.

Thats why i did say you cant stay in that zone for more than 5 seconds so turning it too slow would not serve you well. It also takes time for your gear to cool down. Also you dont use test tones. Use music with a decent bass drop. Its much less stress on the amp. Get test tones out of the equation completely

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

I hope you get to hear what I’m talking about. It may not be for you but it’s something every audio lover has to hear.

I have heard it, not sure what level it was on but the owner of crescendo audio has a pretty awesome SQ setup with 2 of the big 2k Class AB's in a lexus

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I have heard it, not sure what level it was on but the owner of crescendo audio has a pretty awesome SQ setup with 2 of the big 2k Class AB's in a lexus

If it’s the white car there is nothing sound quality about it.

I take it back. It’s a good looking install