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johnMZ24 · 07-25-2010, 08:03 AM

idk if i can ask this is but il give it a shot, theres 2 questions here and ones kinda long. 1st, i have a 12" kicker l5 in a ported enclosure, which way do you guys face the sub, pointing backwards, up or towards you to get the most bass? 2nd, along with my sub i have a kenwood headunit and a quantum audio 1800 class d amp,now the sub i have has dual 4ohm coils and i have it wired for 2ohms, my amp is 1ohm stable, my amp at 2ohm i believe runs 900rms, my sub can handle 600rms. my prob is i can smell my sub when i listen to sum heavy rock or rap. i have my gain set at like a quarter from the lowest position,i also have the bass on my headunit down alllll the way and my amp gain settings on my headunit at 0. Should i turn the amp all the way down and the bass up on the headunit? or should i turn it all the way up on the amp and turn the gain settings on my headunit all the way down?

**stamp** · 07-25-2010, 12:31 PM

0.o this is why i dont have a system in my cars and trucks ... my head hurts now

to me it sounds like you should wire up the sub differently

**CT99XJ** · 07-25-2010, 02:15 PM

Face the sub towards the hatch. I'm only running a 10" Pioneer at ~400rms and it shakes the truck. As to the wiring... Try it with the unit set at neutral (the flat setting) and the amp at ~a third volume and a third bass amplification. tweak the settings a little bit from both head and amp, until you get the sound you're looking for.

johnMZ24 · 07-25-2010, 10:23 PM

thats what i did, but if i run it at an 8ohm load, theres bass but it would sound like a 10. now when i put it to a 2 ohm load, its crazy bass but i always turn it down on my headunit so everything sounds good and if im in the mood i juss turn it up and get the **** kicked outa me. i think tomorrow imma call jerman and see what he thinks.

**WJCraig** · 07-25-2010, 11:17 PM

I would keep the gain on the am at the lowest level that it is effective. Also, do you have a lo-pass filter on the amp?

Another place you might want to check out for any stereo related info is The 12 Volt

Later.

**littleblackxj** · 07-25-2010, 11:42 PM

It really doesn't matter, but I usually set the volume on my headunit about the loudest i would normally listen to it, set the gain on the headunit to zero, and adjust the amp. Then later you can tweak it here and there from the headunit.

**rob-xj** · 07-26-2010, 01:12 PM

whats the peak wattage of the sub. if its 1500 n the amp as u say is 1800, the i would turn down the gain on the amp and put the bass at half n work from there. what ur smellin is the voice coils of the sub takin abuse, its not a bad thing but at long periods of time it could really hurt the sub. as for the radio, keep the bass for the sub at 0 and u should be fine. also try to invest in a 1 or 1.5 farad cap for saftey to insure u dont drain your batt with all the bass you run. hope this helps out

johnMZ24 · 07-26-2010, 03:51 PM

yea i have the amp at 1/2 gain, the bass on the headunit at -8 (lowest it will go) and its still crazy loud when i turn it up. im juss gunna stick with it i guess and get either 1 15, 2 15's or 2 12's..idk yet tho il figure it out. how bout the bass boost on the amp... shoul di keep that turned up or all the way down? i did that cuz if i turn my bass up on my headunit my speakers crack n stuff and i juss got them.

ebowerman · 07-27-2010, 09:40 AM

Does your head unit offer a hi pass filter for the full range speakers? This will take all the low end out of your full range speakers and clean up the sound a little bit.

**littleblackxj** · 07-27-2010, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnMZ24

yea i have the amp at 1/2 gain, the bass on the headunit at -8 (lowest it will go) and its still crazy loud when i turn it up. im juss gunna stick with it i guess and get either 1 15, 2 15's or 2 12's..idk yet tho il figure it out. how bout the bass boost on the amp... shoul di keep that turned up or all the way down? i did that cuz if i turn my bass up on my headunit my speakers crack n stuff and i juss got them.

yeah, adjust the gain so that when your headunit is at zero gain, it is enjoyable to listen to. Does your headunit have a high pass filter? Most decent ones do and what it allows is for you to be able to do is to set a cutoff frequency so your door speakers don't play the lows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob-xj

whats the peak wattage of the sub. if its 1500 n the amp as u say is 1800, the i would turn down the gain on the amp and put the bass at half n work from there. what ur smellin is the voice coils of the sub takin abuse, its not a bad thing but at long periods of time it could really hurt the sub. as for the radio, keep the bass for the sub at 0 and u should be fine. also try to invest in a 1 or 1.5 farad cap for saftey to insure u dont drain your batt with all the bass you run. hope this helps out

eh, capacitors are no bueno imo. They actually drain more power. If you are having voltage drop, run a heavier duty wires to the amp, from the battery to the ground, alternator to the battery, and battery to the engine block. If you are still having voltage drop, its time to upgrade your alternator/battery.

greenneck · 07-28-2010, 04:26 PM

Id suggest selling your sub and buying a couple 10s. 12s are a little over powering in cherokees imo. A couple 10s would not only sound better than one 12, but they should use your power more efficiently imo.

jerman75 · 07-28-2010, 06:50 PM

i was trying sooo hard to avoid this thread. i knew it was going to get me into writing a novel.

First: a bit o advice for everyone. the bass and treb controls should be kept at 0 or center as much as possible. changing them effects the way the radio reproduces the music and sends it to the speakers. you want to do that as little as possible. the music is record with the levels the way the artist wants them to be and if you change that too much your not hearing the music the way it was meant to be heard. the adjustments are there to help compensate for poor acoustics inside the vehicle due to speaker size and location restrictions. for example: the treble from the door speakers hitting our legs instead of our ears. treble doesnt travel well like bass.

second: the size of the sub and the enclosure you want is determined by the sound your looking to get and the space you have available for it. the larger the sub the more air it can move. in most cases in an open cabin like we have in our jeeps 10 are more than sufficient. throw those same 10s in the trunk of a Honda and you lose enough sound to be noticeable. as for the enclosures, they have the most effect on how the sub sounds. the cleanest tightest and in most cases most desirable sound comes from a sealed box at the minimum spec for the sub. as you increase the air in the box the pressure decreases as the sub pounds and you get slightly more volume but not as tight bass. the other end of the spectrum is the bandpass box. these are the boxes with the sub inside the box usually with a plexi window. these boxes give you the most volume with the worst sound quality. kids prefer these cause you can get enough sound to be heard in the next county from a $20 sub with less power needed from the amp. the ported box is the middle of the road. it looks like a sealed box but slightly bigger with a hole or slot in it. the choice as to how many subs? adding a second sub will add about 4 db to the overall volume. as a comparison, an increase of 10 db is doubling the volume.

third: when your music hits a deep low and needs the sub to hit hard in an instant it needs the amp to push as much power as it can as fast as it can. car batteries are designed to deliver large amounts or amperage but they cant deliver it fast. a capacitor on the other hand can. they are designed to discharge all the power they have in an instant then recharge very very fast. in a HIGH wattage system they are a must for the amps to function properly.

fourth: dont forget the little guy. low frequency from a sub is only about 10 - 30 percent of the music. if you have too much low end it will drown out the mids (approx 60%) and the highs (the rest). having lots of bass is all well and good but if you want your tunes to sound right make sure you get the full spectrum to the same level. this falls back to the first point i made about the bass and treb controls on the radio.

fifth: AMPLIFY EVERYTHING! the amp inside a headunit is little more than a few small capacitors and micro chips. in comparison to the abilities of an external amplifier (even a very small one) you will never get decent sound at high volumes from just the radio.

sixth: the amp you need is determined by what the amp will be pushing. the MAX power rating means very very VERY little. The RMS ratings are whats important. This is the amount of power the device can supply/handle at a minimum. as a rule if you have a sub the requires 600 watts RMS you want an amp that can push at least 700 watts RMS. this way you can have the power on the amp turned down a bit so your not working it to the max of its ability yet your still getting the most from the sub without damaging it. you dont run that 4.0 red line every time you step on the skinny peddle right? (Stamp excluded) The ohm rating your running has a direct effect on the power output of the amp. if you drop it too low and force the amp to push harder than its suppose to it will fry the amp and the speaker(s) pretty fast.

there are tons of other things that go along with all these things so if anyone wants me to elaborate on this info in any way feel free to ask. the only stupid question is the one that wasnt asked.

jerman75 · 07-28-2010, 07:02 PM

oh and anyone is welcome to call me with questions if they want