Some laugh, most don't...

[AdamF]

Here's my kickass system in my 4Runner. (actually i removed it since someone stole my head unit) Consists of 2 $10 RadioShack 10" 2-way truck boxes, held to the roll bar by some big *** hose clamps, and a soundstream lil' wonder amp just sort of sitting there, not bolted down at all! It was the loudest setup in Cincinnati. You could hear it from space! HA! Just kidding, it was one of the worst sounding setups I have ever had, but it was a whole hell of a lot fun to take the top off and blast some music while wheeling, or playing some George Carlin at the campsite by campfire, drunk off your ***!

 

[AdamF]

Oh and here's the mp3/dvd/video/gps computer system I had installed in my 96 4Runner. It was kickass, but I sold the truck and never put it back in any other vehicle. Too many theives. :roll:

 

[92on35s]

that's my box i built for behind the seat in the YJ.. I never finished it cause i ripped the whole thing out and sold it, cause my **** was gettin slammed around in the woods.

 

[bigdogrod]

adam f:

where did you get that setup? i've been planning the same sort of thing.. there's a place in canada that sells the whole deal for like 2500.. but all i need is the monitor and software, i can handle the rest

i was working with a company in michigan on a 7 inch touch screen.. i even found all the parts in the digi-key catalog for them, but their engineer said that he didn't have time to look at what i picked out

eeepee:

if clipping is audible, what does it sound like... a pause in the bass? that's what i'd guess from the wave.. my subs never sounded different from day 1 until they blew.. i did hear some distortion with the amp and sub level all the way up, but i backed it all down to halfway and it was gone

nova:

my dual 10's were jl, and i had something like 800w to the box... but a bp box projects a lot more sound energy than any other anyways...

a friend of mine had dual fosgate 12's in a bp box, and a punch 250 in the back seat of his cavalier.. it felt like a kid was kicking the seat every time the bass hit.. lol

bdr

 

[Mad Scientist]

Am I the only one who is not impressed by audio systems? I'm not trying to put anyone down here - if car audio is your thing, cool. I just don't see the point :?

 

[Elway358]

I'm far from obsessed with it, but the "point" to me is that if I'm gonna listen to music, I want it to sound like it's meant to sound. Not like it's coming out of a tin can. Now the guys that put it in just to listen to a buncha freakin rap crap or just to hear nothing but bass, I don't get either...

I don't go near to the extreme with it as when I was younger. I'm more worried about my home system now

 

[badhoopty]

There is no meter to tell you if there is clipping...

BAN HIM...

there is most definitely a meter to tell if the signal is being clipped, its called an OSCILLOSCOPE.

and a clipped signal is FAR WORSE for the drivers than the amplifier. the amp just passes on the signal info to the driver, and if its a clipped signal that driver will try to reproduce a squared-off wave instead of a nice smooth non-clipped one. just about the only thing that a clipped signal going thru an amp will do is produce heat. and i'd much rather have a hot heatsink on a quality amp than a hot voice coil...

anyway...

i guess i'll have to keep the power down.... it's only turned up halfway on the amp, bas boost is under half, and the sub setting on the head unit is usually 3 to 5 out of 15...

is there a meter or something i can get to tell if it's clipping?

bdr

it may just be me, but i can sure as **** hear when a sub distorts when using test tones, it may not be as easy to notice as a tweeter under a 1khz test tone but if you have a test cd with just test tones you should use that to tune pretty decently. i use bass mechanix, its a pretty good one. a sub can take alot more abuse than a smaller driver like a mid or a tweet, but they will get hot and blow if pushed to hard.

if you want my 2cents, you have everything adjusted the complete opposite way. whatever the specified pre-out voltage is on your headunit, its at that rating when your sub level is at the 'max' setting. by only having it at 3-5 you are asking your amp to produce your desired spl with a waaaaay low pre-out voltage. that in itself is a source of distortion and the reason why head units with high pre-out voltages are desired. also, with that weak signal coming from the deck and being over-amplified you are inducing an unnatural bass boost to it as well. not good.

get a test tone cd like bass mechaniks, turn the amp gain all the way down. turn the head units sub setting to 10 or so, (mine is usually at 12-13) turn bass boost and loudness off, e.q. (if you have one) flat, turn your headunits volume to about 70-75% or whatever you have established as the loudest number you can listen to it at, and then adust the gain on the amp while you play tones within your crossover range. (you didnt mention using a crossover or its settings btw)

after you get the bass mechaniks cd sounding good pop in one of your favorite cds that has alot of low end. by adjusting your amp gain with the head units sub setting at 10 you have allowed a little more voltage to be sent to the amp with cds that have less impact than one with just test tones. you should be able to just dial up the sub level on the deck, play with the e.q./bass-treble controls or enable the loudness feature and have it sound good but you can fudge a little bit and slightly crank the gain up a tad as well.

imho, i would use that bass boost only as a last resort, i would try absolutely everything, including a different amp before i resorted to using bass boost, especially in a vented enclosure.

i guess since everybody else is pimping pics heres one from my install early on. if you know enough to appreciate how damn good of a sound deadening job that is imagine the rest of it being done with the same level of craftsmanship and attention to detail. ;-)

 

[badhoopty]

by the way i am far from an expert in car audio, but my rig sounds pretty darn good...

 

[Nova]

I'm officially out of this thread, you guys have fun flamin me on the whole thread I've started cuz now I wont post in it again. No one knows my situation, and no one seems to listen to anything I've stated. You cock lickers have finally made me feal bad for even being a part of this website, infact, I am suprised there is this many people here on a daily basis due to the fact no one wants to spend time thinking instead of posting withing the first 2 seconds.
Not only that, but when I was banned from the classifieds, I had a specific Private Message that said that I'll be out of there a while, not 3 months. Just needing to get it off my shoulders...

 

[AdamF]

When your a few years older you will understand. Untill then, have a nice life.

 

[Cake Eater]

Awwwww... Here you go.

http://www.kleenex.com/us/

 

[EeePee]

eeepee:
i did hear some distortion with the amp and sub level all the way up, but i backed it all down to halfway and it was gone

That's it. Gotta make sure your input level is matched to your head's output too.

Bad Hoopty pretty explained it all, actually.

 

[bigdogrod]

thanks for the help guys.. i don't mean to jack this thread...

so i shouldn't use the sub level to control the volume of the sub? the only reason why i ask is that i listen to morning drive time radio and it sounds like crap with the sub up.. so my setting is like at -1 or -2 in the morning, then when it's time to switch to radio.. ( satellite not fm ), i turn the sub level back up to 4 or 5.. and on amps (rockford ?) that have the external knob that controls the level.. isn't that the same thing i'm doing?

then if a punk with a bazooka tube (no offense) and a stock system pulls up next to me thinking he's thumping.. i'll turn the level up to 10.. but it makes my eyes hurt from the vibration after a little while, so it goes back down to 4

this is all with the amp gain set at half, it does have a bass boost feature which is at half too

on the headunit: loudness control is on, crossover settings are sub lpf: 60 (lowest it can go), f/r lpf: thru f/r hpf: thru (the main amp and eq take care of that)

i'm just curious as to why i pounded the crap out of the original 12w3 for years, but the v2 died almost instantly.. i thought it might have been wired backwards, but it still sounded good, and when i checked the wiring, it was fine..

bdr

 

[EeePee]

The bass boost, and loudness are KILLING it.

Loudness is for low volume listening only. It's used to overcome the ears natural tendency to hear midrange tones better. So they boost the low and high tones to try and match the midrange. Again, only at low volumes.

 

[badhoopty]

wait, if its a remote amplifier gain thats a little different than bass boost.

maybe i didnt read well enough on your setup, but if you have a remote gain on your amp that you control from the drivers seat, i would max-out your headunits sub-volume control and use the remote gain adjustment to control sub volume. that way the amp is recieving the highest voltage possible at all times from the rca's coming from the deck.

the sub level control feature that alot of head units have is a little misleading. really, you would want the strongest signal coming from the deck to the amp as possible at all times.

like i said, i am far from an expert on car audio. but if you have your head units sub volume control set at a very low setting and then try to compensate for the lack of output by turning the amps gain up that will create a heck of alot more distortion than if you had your head units sub volume at its max and have the amps gain set at a lower setting.

 

[badhoopty]

i should really read posts before i make comments....

ok, has any settings changed since the previous sub (the one that lasted 3 years)?

if nothing has changed i'd be willing to bet you probably got a junk sub or the amp has developed issues.

but to answer your question, the head units sub volume is not the same as the amps gain in regards to output. the better (stronger & cleaner) signal your amp recieves from the head unit the more the amp has to work with. if you barely give the amp any signal from the h.u., then you have to turn the gain on the amp higher and the amp has to work alot harder to produce the same spl and it will be alot more junky a signal.

i would just try maxing out your headunits sub-level and then turn the gain on the amp all the way down, put in a cd you know hits real good and dial the gain up. leave the loudness off while tuning, and if you have it cranked and feel it needs more put it on and if you like it keep it on.

again, i aint no expert. i just know what i know from asking alot of people and tweaking my system.