why does my bass hit softer sometimes?

[Farris2k1 10+ year member]

so i just got a new kennwood 800 watt amp installed to go along with my jl 12w0's and i noticed that sometimes instead of the bass pounding like it normally does it starts getting softer, then after a few minutes it will go back to normal..it's not too bad but it's really noticable..could someone tell me what might be wrong?

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[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

check the connections. maybe there is something loose.

 

[tweekerz 10+ year member]

check the connections. maybe there is something loose.

Ahhh, can't be the connections. The problem starts with JL.

 

[AsK 5109 10+ year member]

Maybe it's the volts fluctuating back and forth. Maybe your alt just can't keep up with your amp.

 

[Farris2k1 10+ year member]

i've been reading around and ya know your probley right about the alternator...it's stock and only 65 amps

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

I vote for a voltage problem. When does the bass tend to dip? After a heavy sequence in your music, or randomly?

 

[AsK 5109 10+ year member]

The first car I ever had was a plymouth neon and I can remember my old W3 doing the same thing. It would start loud and then gradually go down, and then sometimes out of nowhere and would jump back up. Ya my advice to you is to either by a new alternator, or get a high quality battery like a yello or red top optima. Either one will certainly help you. Stay away from the caps though cause your alt wont be able to handle that either. Ya I would say theres nothing wrong with those subs cause those are high quality.

 

[Farris2k1 10+ year member]

alright now im leaning more towards a loose connection because whenever the bass gets softer, i'll hit a bump on the road somewhere and it'll pound again but then it goes down after a while, but i'll hit a bump and it'll start up again...also my lights aren't dimming at all so maybe it's not the alternator?

 

[AsK 5109 10+ year member]

If your lights are dimming then yes that's a sign that your alt isn't keeping up with your power demands.

 

[Farris2k1 10+ year member]

yeah, but they aren't dimming at all so i think the alternatior is fine

 

[tplaya07 10+ year member]

Just keep hitting bumps.

 

[tplaya07 10+ year member]

Actually though. I agree that its prob a voltage issue. If possible, have your amp hooked to a multimeter while your driving, and have a friend check the voltage readings for you during the "lower" bass. Your prob gonna have noticable dips, even if its not effecting your lights.

 

[Spkrman]

i DONT vote for voltage...voltage doesnt make sense, what voltage wise would make the amp put out less power for X amount of time.

If it shut off after a big passage, sure... but not just lower the volume.

If the sub is DVC...one of the wires to one of the coils may be loose.

It could also be something wrong internally with the amp, although this isn't the most likely situation.

Isolate the problem as well as you can, that normally leads to the solution.

Good luck!

 

[BMG 10+ year member]

so i just got a new kennwood 800 watt amp installed to go along with my jl 12w0's and i noticed that sometimes instead of the bass pounding like it normally does it starts getting softer, then after a few minutes it will go back to normal..it's not too bad but it's really noticable..could someone tell me what might be wrong?

youre putting 800 watts to the W0s?!?! how many subs do you have? just two? thats way overpowering them isnt it?

 

[enorfrog 10+ year member]

a little food for thought...

what size power wire are you running to the amp? what is the length of the power wire? Amps now days have good power handling, but they need a good feed of power.

I had a friend who put in his own amp. He ran a 18gauge wire off the stereo power lead to the amp. His amp was so hot you could not touch it...not to mention the sound was crap. He didn't know any better.

We rewired the entire system. The amp ran much cooler and the sound quality was there.

You could also look at using a cap to help keep available power on reserve. The cap helps feed the amp when you have big current draws (big bass hitting notes)