Optimal config for more bass with one sub-woofer?

alan-31
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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?

 
use the search feature an read alot a 300w sub isnt going to get very loud on that pioneer 760 especailly since its only getting 200w or so and im betting the box isnt right.

to put it simple u need a bigger sub with a bigger amp and a custom box

i recommend the ab xfl 12 and ph2500md with a nice custom box around 2cubes tuned to the mid 30s

i have the ab hd12 and the ph4000md in a 2cube box tuned to 32hz and its just amazing.

of coarse u can get louder for less but i have/had both systems above and i loved the both.

 
Bottom line is a 300 watt RMS sub isn't gonna get very loud bro.. Im a little confused though. Are you running the sub off the pioneer 2 channel amp, and is that ur only amp? That amp isn't pushing 300wrms as wired.. If you run the voice coils in parallel It will see a 2 ohm load and increase ur amps output. look at the specs on the amp to make sure it'll handle it though.. also Crutchfield has a nice little chart to show you different sub wiring diagrams and the resulting load in ohms. It's a good basic reference chart.

 
Bottom line is a 300 watt RMS sub isn't gonna get very loud bro.. Im a little confused though. Are you running the sub off the pioneer 2 channel amp, and is that ur only amp? That amp isn't pushing 300wrms as wired.. If you run the voice coils in parallel It will see a 2 ohm load and increase ur amps output. look at the specs on the amp to make sure it'll handle it though.. also Crutchfield has a nice little chart to show you different sub wiring diagrams and the resulting load in ohms. It's a good basic reference chart.
ignore this dipshit before you fuck anything up. 300w is plenty for a sub and anyone who says otherwise is ignorant to car audio in general. But you bought the wrong amp for the sub. If you had a 2ohm DVC, you could wire it series to the amp bridged for a 4 ohm load. You need a better amp, a momoblock Class D.

 
Your converter box/pre amp only has 1 side input? Usually they take +/- from left and right than convert those into left and right rca. Me personally HATE pioneer amps!! My buddy had 760's always trying to get more out of them with different subs and i always told him what i'll tell you, Get a new amp! They are distorted low power sh1t! LOl. If it sound good to you than that's all that matter. But if you want better sound and hit harder than save up for a better amp. GL Very nice job on the diagram.

 
He said he wanted louder bass and I told him 300 watts is only gonna give so much, THEN I SUGGESTED HE LOOK AT DIFFERENT SUB WIRING DIAGRAMS ON CRUTCHFIELD AND TO CHECK THE SPECS ON HIS AMP TO BE SAFE, AND IM A ******* THATS GONNA F UP HIS SYSTEM!? Your a douche bag.

ignore this dipshit before you fuck anything up. 300w is plenty for a sub and anyone who says otherwise is ignorant to car audio in general. But you bought the wrong amp for the sub. If you had a 2ohm DVC, you could wire it series to the amp bridged for a 4 ohm load. You need a better amp, a momoblock Class D.
 
A subs (rated) rms power handling doesn't have as much to do with how loud the setup will be as people tend to think...

 
Guys stop the fighting. We can have a debate on the setup or what can or can not be louder with out dropping to such a low style of conversation.

With that said, you can get a 300 watt driver fairly loud if you are using a high efficiency enclosure with proper power.

 
Guys stop the fighting. We can have a debate on the setup or what can or can not be louder with out dropping to such a low style of conversation.

With that said, you can get a 300 watt driver fairly loud if you are using a high efficiency enclosure with proper power.
this is true, and I do agree that more than 300w would be even better for a well designed sub stage, BUT, to try and wire the sub to that Pioneer 2 ch amp bridged mono at 2 ohms as another here suggested is ill advised....

 
this is true, and I do agree that more than 300w would be even better for a well designed sub stage, BUT, to try and wire the sub to that Pioneer 2 ch amp bridged mono at 2 ohms as another here suggested is ill advised....
Quackhead is right on this one. I ran this exact amp bridged at 2 ohm for about 3 months. I knew better btw but I did it anyway. DO NOT do this OP. I kept my gains down and got lucky but it's good way to fry the amp or your sub. Best bet right now for you is to run it off 1 channel giving it around 190 rms or so... Just get a better enclosure and a cheap little monoblock and you'll be happy....

 
Thanks for all the input, guys!

I decided to work on it last weekend, got 12 gauge wire from Lowes and replaced the speaker wires. They were really flimsy basically (regular car speaker wires). I actually felt them warm up sometimes because they weren't able to carry the amps. I felt that made a slight difference. The new wire is awesome.

It still slightly distorts/reduces at very high volumes but that's OK. Its still a good setup because without that subwoofer, there is no bass and with it, its pretty nice, if not perfect. I don't listen to very loud music any way. But if I do need to improve the system I'll come back to this thread to read the advice to see what I should do next.

So yea, for now all I did is replace the wires. If I need to do more, I'll probably have to pay to have it checked out/diagnosed by an audio expert at the shop, because of the number of variables (Quality and setup of the: amp, subwoofer, enclosure, bass restoration unit, audio from the stock unit).

Its still running both sides of the amps at 4 ohms, which is the recommended ohms. Yea I would think running the amp at its recommended would be better than hitting the boundaries (2 or 8ohms), which are accepted but maybe not as good. I guess I would have to do an audio test to check that and check the temperatures too.

If I listen to fairly loud music on the highway, the amp gets really hot after 30 minutes - too hot to touch other than a brief brush. So yea it may be that I need a better amp. I had gotten this for $40 used on Craigslist. What I had been using before was a "Pyramid PB440X Super Blue Series", which was new for $25 and that was a really weak amp (got what I paid for). This Pioneer is much more powerful than that one and is good enough for me for now.

I also did a test to make sure powering the 2nd coil is making a difference and yes it does. If the coils are wired oppositely, they cancel each other out and there's silence. I guess that could be a test to find out if the signals going are identical or not. If they are not, I would hear something. Its a cheap setup, most likely much weaker than what most of you have but its fine for me for now.

I bookmarked this thread.

Bottom line is a 300 watt RMS sub isn't gonna get very loud bro.. Im a little confused though. Are you running the sub off the pioneer 2 channel amp, and is that ur only amp?
Yea, thats my only amp. I have the bass restoration unit first though, which is sort of a pre-amp (nothing powerful, it just improves the bass level in the smaller original signal). It tries to fix the action of stock units reducing the bass at higher volumes and I feel that definitely makes a difference.

Your converter box/pre amp only has 1 side input? Usually they take +/- from left and right than convert those into left and right rca.
It has both left and right but I wanted identical signals for both coils of the speaker so they act in perfect sync with no difference in the audio signals. Yea I need to get a better amp if I want more power.

 
I was just saying if you did what i said than put rca splitters on and an L/R one side of amp L/R other side you got same signal to both sides the way your supposed to. Good luck with it.

 
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