hi guys
I have a 12" subwoofer in the back of the car that I use to get bass. Its powerful enough for me but I'm wondering if I'm making optimal use of the amp/sub-woofer combination. I feel the bass goes down a little bit at high volumes but its not a big issue. I just want to make sure I'm wiring this in the best way.
Equipment I have:
- Subwoofer: 1 12" DVC (dual voice coil) Subwoofer, with each coil of 4 Ohm. RMS 300W (its an entry level sub). I have this one: Hifonics HFi12D4 (HFi12-D4)12" Dual 4 ohm HFi Car Subwoofer . User manual: http://maxxsonics.net/manuals/hifonics/pdfs/HFi%20Subwoofer%20Manual.pdf
- Amp: Two channel amp, Load impedance: 4 Ohm (2-8ohm allowed). Bridge connection: 4-8ohm allowed. Max power: 760 x 1 watts, or 250 x 2 watts. Continous power output: 125 watts x 2, 380 watts x 1. Pioneer GM-X962. Specs on this page: Pioneer GM-X962 (gmx962) 2-Channel Car Amplifier Power Amp
- Bass pre-amp: Takes input from the Front right speaker and outputs it to the main amp. This is an awesome unit (MTX re-q) used for stock radios. It restores bass at higher volumes. I still have less bass at high volumes and that may be due to weak equipment or wiring configuration.
The connection diagram is: View image: amp wiring
So you can see, I take the right front speaker output, put that into the pre-amp and from there it splits and goes to the L and R of the amp inputs. This is so I can make sure of all the available power in the main amp.
Then the main amp has a L and R output for each of the coils in the sub-woofer. The coils are thus getting the same exact signal and bass is doubled. Sometimes there's audio differences between the L and R channels (stereo). That's why I used only one channel (right).
The subwoofer coil ohms are optimally matched to the amp recommendation (4 ohm).
Can I do anything else that would be more powerful? For example:
- Get a left channel instead of splitting the right one. Again I don't want to do that unless there will be more power output. The sound quality is fine.
- Connecting speakers/amp in a bridged configuration. Will that be more powerful? If so, why?
- Use just one coil of the sub-woofer? No, that would half the powerful output, I assume.
- Series/parallel the coils and do something else?
I'm thinking this is already the best setup. Is that right? I just need to use better wires. I'm currently using regular speaker wires for both channels of the sub-woofer and that may be causing power loss at higher volumes. I saw cheap 12 gauge wire at Lowes and I might buy that.
I've seen people saying 12 gauge is fine for sub-woofers.
Also a question: Is the amp more powerful or the sub-woofer?
I have a 12" subwoofer in the back of the car that I use to get bass. Its powerful enough for me but I'm wondering if I'm making optimal use of the amp/sub-woofer combination. I feel the bass goes down a little bit at high volumes but its not a big issue. I just want to make sure I'm wiring this in the best way.
Equipment I have:
- Subwoofer: 1 12" DVC (dual voice coil) Subwoofer, with each coil of 4 Ohm. RMS 300W (its an entry level sub). I have this one: Hifonics HFi12D4 (HFi12-D4)12" Dual 4 ohm HFi Car Subwoofer . User manual: http://maxxsonics.net/manuals/hifonics/pdfs/HFi%20Subwoofer%20Manual.pdf
- Amp: Two channel amp, Load impedance: 4 Ohm (2-8ohm allowed). Bridge connection: 4-8ohm allowed. Max power: 760 x 1 watts, or 250 x 2 watts. Continous power output: 125 watts x 2, 380 watts x 1. Pioneer GM-X962. Specs on this page: Pioneer GM-X962 (gmx962) 2-Channel Car Amplifier Power Amp
- Bass pre-amp: Takes input from the Front right speaker and outputs it to the main amp. This is an awesome unit (MTX re-q) used for stock radios. It restores bass at higher volumes. I still have less bass at high volumes and that may be due to weak equipment or wiring configuration.
The connection diagram is: View image: amp wiring
So you can see, I take the right front speaker output, put that into the pre-amp and from there it splits and goes to the L and R of the amp inputs. This is so I can make sure of all the available power in the main amp.
Then the main amp has a L and R output for each of the coils in the sub-woofer. The coils are thus getting the same exact signal and bass is doubled. Sometimes there's audio differences between the L and R channels (stereo). That's why I used only one channel (right).
The subwoofer coil ohms are optimally matched to the amp recommendation (4 ohm).
Can I do anything else that would be more powerful? For example:
- Get a left channel instead of splitting the right one. Again I don't want to do that unless there will be more power output. The sound quality is fine.
- Connecting speakers/amp in a bridged configuration. Will that be more powerful? If so, why?
- Use just one coil of the sub-woofer? No, that would half the powerful output, I assume.
- Series/parallel the coils and do something else?
I'm thinking this is already the best setup. Is that right? I just need to use better wires. I'm currently using regular speaker wires for both channels of the sub-woofer and that may be causing power loss at higher volumes. I saw cheap 12 gauge wire at Lowes and I might buy that.
I've seen people saying 12 gauge is fine for sub-woofers.
Also a question: Is the amp more powerful or the sub-woofer?