Car Audio: New sub and amp = no bass?!?

[mztykal]

Ok here's the situation, I picked up a sealed box with a 12" Kicker Competition VR (dual voice coil) and a MTX 6152 amp.

I have the subs wired into a 2-ohm load. The amp, I have bridged how the diagram on the amp say's to have it bridged.

I'm not getting any bass, the Kicker sub handles 400-watt's max and the amp supposedly pushes 352-watt's max. How come I'm not getting any bass?

Is there a better way to wire the subs and or amp to get the full power unleashed? Cus right now it's sucking major ass, no bass only in the car.

Thanks!

 

[Lithium381]

wattage means not much regardless in the amount of bass you're getting......watts his how much power it can handle and not blow up! i could find a tweeter that gets 400w probably.....then you'd really get no bass!! it's about frequency response and what we perceive as bass, which is most stuff below about 50-60hz......generally a 12 incher should hit 40 eaisly though....PM me if you wanna talk! good luck

 

[brxndxn]

sounds like your amp isn't turning on... did you wire both the negative and the ground to the car's frame?

also, make sure you run that little blue wire to your head unit..

You're gonna hafta be a little more detailed in your description... is there lousy/little bass? or is there NO bass whatsoever?

 

[mztykal]

LOL!

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I mean the sub runs fine and the amp runs fine. I just want someone to tell me the best way to "tune" it to make it push the most air possible.

This is the first DVC sub I've had and it's bothering me that my 10" Polk Audio EX10 pushed harder with less watts than this Kicker does.

 

[HydroStream6]

How high do you have the gain set on the amp? What's the crossover set to?

 

[mztykal]

I have no idea. The crossover is set to "LP" and the gain I didn't touch.

I never set my amp up before...

 

[Phunktion]

Gain should be set at full volume on the deck keep upping the gain until distortion is heard then lower it accordingly till it sounds good and as loud as it can be without distorting..

 

[mztykal]

The sub preamp thingy is already set to the max (8) on my deck...

 

[phatcow]

make sure your gain is set to the max... too bad sq will suffer tho... and ummm 2ohm load is good, but make sure your amp can handle that level.....

 

[blahblah99]

hmm.... make sure you don't have the polarities reversed on the voice coils (ie, + goes to + on BOTH voice coils)

if that's set correctly, try to do the following:

turn up your gain on the amp a little,

increase the bass in the headunit,

change your crossover point and make sure its on low-pass and not high pass or band-pass,

are your power cables able to deliver the proper currents?

 

[mztykal]

Argh!

It's not loud enough! I need more power! I want "ghetto" bass! :|

 

[Viperoni]

Ok, is the problem your not getting ANY bass, or your not getting enough bass?
You sound like the sub's wired correctly, it should be moving a LOT.
Also, sealed box or vented box, and what's the box volume?

 

[mztykal]

Sealed, 1.0...

I'm not getting enough bass. I had more bass with one 10" with less watts.

 

[Viperoni]

Well 1.0cf is really on the small side of what you should be going with...
I just modeled it in my software, and @ 1.0cf, you're running a Q of 1.1........EXTRORDINARILY high. That's why the bass isn't deep or tight.....just kidna pingy. The response is pretty sad......get to decent response, you really need a 2.5+cf box.

But just to make sure, your amp should be set to lowpass (to let the bass through to the sub), frequency as low as possible (to keep the mids out of the sub).......and gain turned up at least 1/3 of the way up.

 

[mztykal]

Sorry, I was guessing the cubic feet of the box. But I just measured it to be more accurate...

The box is about 16" wide, 16" high, and about 17" indepth.

I dunno what that comes out to, but the box is pretty big, made with 3/4 MDF, sealed with silicone.

 

[Viperoni]

So after you take out the subs voume you're still left with roughly 1.5cf......still way too small.
I'd recommend either going to the 3cf sealed box.....OR you could go with a 4cf vented box tuned to 25-30hz with a pair of 4inch ports....
That would get you a LOT more bass, easily enough to shake your CRX down to pieces

 

[mztykal]

Hehe, it's not in my CRX. My CRX was sold awhile ago. I got this in a brand new Neon.

I was wondering, if I add a couple 4" ports, will that help?

 

[Viperoni]

Nope, in fact, you'd be much worse. vented boxes *always* need to be bigger than sealed boxes.
Neon's have a fair bit of trunk room, be a man, build the big box, and shake down that license plate!

 

[mztykal]

Sheesh, this box already takes up half my trunk...how big of a box do I need? LOL!

 

[Viperoni]

Hey, dont blame me for the sub needing a big box!
If you would have posted before buying, I would have recommended either the Parts Express 12inch DVC, or the Peerless 12inch XLS carsub.....both need a 1cf box (as in, they WILL sound good in a 1cf box).
Or even the 15inch DVC from PE, which would only need ~2.5cf with stuffing, but it would kick you @55 with bass

 

[flot]

Ok, like somebody said - make sure you actually have everything wired up correctly. If need be, go back and connect the amp to just ONE set of terminals (only use one voice coil) and make sure that's not better.

Other than that, if you don't want to build a new box - you should experiment with the positioning of your current one. Sometimes you'll get better response having the box face forwards, or backwards, etc. Car cabins have very strange acoustic properties, I had a hatchback once and I built a box to sit in the center directly behind the front two seats... somehow I managed to choose the exact worst spot, the bass was almost *entirely* cancelled out. I threw the box in the very back of the hatch, and whammo - fantastic response. It'll vary from car to car though, so you just have to see what works.

 

[Emulex]

you always want the sub to point to the tail of the car for reflection. You sure you don't have the polarity backwards? Try inverting the polarity and seeing if your bass magically comes alive.

 

[calpha]

And another piece of advice is to get rid of the POS MTX Amp. They suck. You get what you pay for, but the Rockford Fasgate line of Punch Amps really really rock.

Also, orientation does matter. And, you're in a trunk, and not a hatchback. I had an older system (two Ported 10" Subs in a custom Box) that sounded great with my 400W amp in my old MustangGT, but when I hooked it up in my Grand Prix, it really really made a difference.

Also be careful with setting your gain too high. It will make your sound dirty if you don't have enough mid-range. In other words, try to split your sound between Highs Mids and Bass. What you'll get is a much clearer and cleaner sound, and then you can Crossover your Sub to only hit on the lower frequencies.

 

[Viperoni]

<< And another piece of advice is to get rid of the POS MTX Amp. They suck. You get what you pay for, but the Rockford Fasgate line of Punch Amps really really rock.
>>



LOL Rockford!
I'd take a MTX any day over a RF.

 

[Pikachu]

You need to do a couple tests to see if the sub is functioning properly. Put it on a bench and connect the car's battery positive terminal to the positive speaker terminal. Put your ear up next to the speaker and connect the negative battery terminal to the negative speaker terminal. The cone will move forward and should stay there. Listen for any hum. It should be free of any noise at all. Now reverse the terminals. It should draw back down and stay there. Listen carefully again for any hum. If there is any you should return the speaker.