Where'd the bass go?

[scrapiron 10+ year member]

Hey guys I just recently got rid of my 1986 pontiac firebird and got a 2004 4runner. I had an excelent system in the firebird and it sounded great!

Well i recently transfered all my stuff to the 4runner. I just had to modify a few things a little bit. Everything works and sounds great except, I am just not getting the hard htitting/booming bass that i got out of the firebird. I know that firebirds are like megaphones as far as the individual accoustics inside. That may be part of the problem. I have messed with all the settings on the amp and it doesnt sound much better. I have a 1000 watt 2 channel amp with 2 10" dual voice coil subs in a sealed enclosure with .75 cubic feet of airspace. Everything custom built by me.

I am thinking that if i were to get a bandpass box for them, mayb that will fix my problem.

Basically i was wondering if anyone has any ideas about why my subs dont "thump" as loud as they did in the firebird. I would appriciate any info. Thanx

Here are some pics of the system in my old firebird and in my new 4runner.

amp rack in firebird:

custom built speaker box and subs in firebird:

Now here is the same system installed in the 4runner:

4runner head unit and equilizer:

amp rack in 4runner:

Click to read more...

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

maybe its an HU setting that was reset when u disconnected it from the firebird to the truck.

 

[Volenti 10+ year member]

Your subs slammed in the firebird because they were loaded correctly (and it was a big horn, like you said).

Having the subs just behind the back seat like that in the 4runner isn't loading them optimally, in addition to the fact that 2 sealed 10''s aren't going to excite the larger volume of the 4runner all that much in any case. Optimal loading is having the subs all the way towards the back of the car, with about 4''-6' of clearance between the subs and the tailgate, or the box all the way back with the subs facing up, either way will slam better than in the current position.

A correctly designed bandpass enclosure would be louder, as would vented, the choice would depend on the which the subs perform better in.

 

[scrapiron 10+ year member]

Personal thanx to Volenti. and thats kinda what i was thinking. correct me if im wrong but when it comes to subs, Their main goal is is to MOVE AIR. and now i have alot more air to move? So i basically sat my speakers in the "middle of a parking lot" (the 4runner) where before they were "in a closet" (the firebird) So i understand what your saying if i move them closer to the rear i create this little air pocket for the subs to play in. and when the subs move that little pocket of air, it moves all the air in a big SUV more efficently. Right?

Do u think it has anything to do with the way i have my speakers wired? The dual 4 ohm voice coils allow me to set them to 2 or 8 ohm operation. I have each of them set to 2 ohms. And i am running them at 2 ohms stereo on the amp. My amp is not 1 ohm stable or else i would bridge them.

Anyways, Im still tuning my amp little here little there. I just adjusted the sub-sonic frequency knob, gain, and high pass crossover and it helped alot as far as the distortion. But it is just nothing like the way it sounded in the firebird. It pounded in the firebird with no distortion!!! I was really thinking i could just transfer this equipment into the 4runner from my firebird and sound pretty much the same.

But also now that i have the room, i also thought about getting 2 more 10" subs for a total of 4. And repalce my existing 1000 watt amp with 2 mono block amps which i would bridge each set of subs down to 1 ohm loads on each amp and i would be set!

Again thanks for the help ill let u guys know what i end up doing.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Check and make sure they're not wired out of phase with each other.

To check this, just reverse the polarity of one of the subs. If they were wired correctly, this should kill output. If they were wired incorrectly, you should see a large improvement.

 

[scrapiron 10+ year member]

Check and make sure they're not wired out of phase with each other.
To check this, just reverse the polarity of one of the subs. If they were wired correctly, this should kill output. If they were wired incorrectly, you should see a large improvement.

I checked... its all good. Polarity is correct.

 

[Volenti 10+ year member]

Personal thanx to Volenti. and thats kinda what i was thinking. correct me if im wrong but when it comes to subs, Their main goal is is to MOVE AIR. and now i have alot more air to move? So i basically sat my speakers in the "middle of a parking lot" (the 4runner) where before they were "in a closet" (the firebird)

This is correct.

So i understand what your saying if i move them closer to the rear i create this little air pocket for the subs to play in. and when the subs move that little pocket of air, it moves all the air in a big SUV more efficently. Right?

Yea pretty much.

Do u think it has anything to do with the way i have my speakers wired? The dual 4 ohm voice coils allow me to set them to 2 or 8 ohm operation. I have each of them set to 2 ohms. And i am running them at 2 ohms stereo on the amp. My amp is not 1 ohm stable or else i would bridge them.

You could try setting the subs to 8 ohm and bridging them both on to the amp (in paralell) but I don't think that is the problem.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

I checked... its all good. Polarity is correct.

Did you check with a 9v as well as just flip them?

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

I'd go for a few 15's to fill that size vehicle, and port them.

 

[scrapiron 10+ year member]

Yeah i thought about getting 15" subs. I know that would do the job. And i will probably get some... later

Well i moved my subs to the rear like volenti said to and it definetly helped alot.

If i leave them there i have alot of customizing to do. Not a big deal. i like doing this sort of work

I am also STILL messing with all the settings i have. I havent messed with the EQ much, I have 2 frequency's and the bass level i can adjust + or - 15 DB. ( i wish i could give you the actual frequency's but the #'s on the EQ are kinda rubbed off, yes i need a new one) I set these settings when the system was in the firebird and had both of them at about -12 db. Everytime in the past when ever i moved those 2 frequencys even a tiny bit, i got alot of distortion.

Well today i moved one almost all the way up and the other alll the way down. And adjusted the bass level and it made a huge difference. BUT STILL, my subs just dont satisfy me like they used to. Ill figure something out . These 10" subs are very powerfull extended low frequency drivers and there is no reason i cant get these to really slam in the 4runner.

But thanx alot guys yall helping alot.

 

[amartin_72]

what brand are the subs? Just building a new ported box would help alot.

 

[scrapiron 10+ year member]

They are digital audio Which are made by audiobahn.

http://www.digitalaudioinc.com

 

[scrapiron 10+ year member]

So, i tested the capacitor and the microfarad reading on the capacitor tester was all over the place. If i am correct on a 1/2 farad cap. The tester reading should stay around 500,000 microfarad. So i figure its bad. I have had this capacitor for about 5-6 years. ANY IDEA ON LIFE EXPECTANCY OF CAPACITORS? There was also a very minute amount of dried up residue, white in color.

Needless to say, I disconnected it. But it DIDNT FIX MY PROBLEM. After another week of driving. I am starting to notice something. The subs will be sounding pretty good then all of a sudden its like, the gain got turned down, or like the polarity switched, its really wierd and kinda hard to explain exactly how the bass changes, it happneds intermitently. Sometimes when i take a corner to hard or accelerate from a stop faster than normal.

I am only guessing but i think... That i am having some sort of power/current issue here. Either that or my subwoofer amp is ****ed up.

Who knows, mayb a FUSE is partially blown, only letting a small amout of current to pass intermitemtly. I have had this happen once before but symptoms were different. luckily fuses are easy to check, ill do that tomorrow.

WHAT DO U THINK GUYS?

 

[pwnt by pat 10+ year member]

volenti, How's the multi-pipe silent evap cooler running?

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Ive never heard of a fuse "partially blowing" Maybe you have a problem with the signal going to the amp?