Not getting enough bass

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doombious

Member - Posts: 37

Joined: March 21, 2003

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 1:59 PM / IP Logged

2002 Ford zx2 - Pioneer 45x4 HU 2v output - Coustic 200w 4ch amp on HPF - 6.5 Blaupunkt Graphites in front - 5x7 Kove in rear - American Legacy 600w 2ch on LPF - 2 10" Pioneer 500w 250rms subs in sealed enclosure

I have had alot of trouble making this system sound good. I did have nice bass at one time then I finally set the gains right for the Coustic amp and it affected it. I have my gain all the way up on the sub amp and it is way too low. Now does adjusting the gains on one amp affected what the other amp gets? The sub amp is hooked off the other amp. The sub amp only goes to 2.5v sensitivity could this be a problem or do I need more watts? If it is the volts I was thinking of getting a new HU with 4v outputs will this make any difference or is it the amp? Is it true that the higher the volt number on the HU output it will lower the volt number that you use on the amp?

Another problem I seem to have is the voices/singing is most dominant and the music part seem so low like it is being muffled any ideas? I actually recently had the opposite problem and the highs were just making my ears bleed but the music and the bass were pretty good. I don't seem to be able to find the right settings. I can make an adjustment and if I don't like it I put it back to where it was and it is totally different. I don't understand that.

One other thing I don't like is I am so used to having full range in the front from my other system I had I can't stand not having that bass right there next to me. Any ideas on how to remedy this? Would component speakers help here?

dragonrage

Copper - Posts: 193

Joined: March 15, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 2:35 PM / IP Logged

Perhaps you're having power issues, if one amp is drawing too much, the other amp wouldn't get anything. Do your headlights dim? Also, Legacy is probably worse than Pyramid even..

2009 Pontiac G8 in planning stage

HU: ?

Speakers: ?

Amps: ?

thepencil

Gold - Posts: 1,526

Joined: December 16, 2002

Location: Canada

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 2:45 PM / IP Logged

I didn't see a capacitor on your list. Investing in one would really help out with your sound.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Not getting enough bass -- posted image.

doombious

Member - Posts: 37

Joined: March 21, 2003

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 5:19 PM / IP Logged

No, nothing dims. How would I determine if one is drawing more power? I did have part of this system pretty good at one time. I had blaupunkt overdrives (which i had to glue the rubber back together because they're not made very well so I put them in my old car to rust away) in the front and my old 100w pioneers in the rear and 2 8" 80 subs and they were all on the coustic amp. If it is a power issue how do I solve it? Would the cap do that and what size? I can't afford to change the alternator so that is out of the question. New amp?

doombious

Member - Posts: 37

Joined: March 21, 2003

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 6:43 PM / IP Logged

Actually I forgot I had replaced the 2 8's with the 10's and that was running pretty good on the coustic amp along with the fronts and rears. But I wanted to try to do it right and get an amp for the subs. I guess I made a mistake on my choice. At this time I wasn't able to play any metal type music but everything else was sounding great. To high sounding but I think that was my mistake on the settings on the amp. I also forgot that if I use the bass boost on either amp I do get some dimming but on the HU only.

Big Purds

Silver - Posts: 574

Joined: November 25, 2002

Location: Canada

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 7:15 PM / IP Logged

a cap is not the answer to an electrical problem...ever...

why dont people investigate these things? a cap, despite what any salesman will tell you, is not really a good thing for your ailing charging system...it is a tool used in SQ cars to regulate voltage to the amps and keep the power supply steady and even...

thomas_51c

Member - Posts: 20

Joined: October 25, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: March 21, 2003 at 9:16 PM / IP Logged

to doombious

I don't think a cap is going to help this sys. any. To me it sounds like a tuning issue. Or possibly the way you have daisey chained the amps together.

to Big Purds

I believe you are a little outspoken about the use of power capacitors as a fix for "ailing charging systems." Granted to many of us use them as a cure all for worn out batteries and under powered alternators. The fact is that the correct capacitor can be a useful line of defense between hard hitting amps and factory alternators. Even if you don't hear a huge difference they can take a strain off of your factory electrical sys. by absorbing the imediate draws demanded by a big amp.

Big Purds

Silver - Posts: 574

Joined: November 25, 2002

Location: Canada

Posted: March 22, 2003 at 5:24 AM / IP Logged

they dont take any strain off of your alternator whatsoever, they create more of one...

when a cap discharges (which doesnt take long at all when you are pounding out the bass notes...) it needs to be recharged...what recharges that cap you say? THE ALTERNATOR!!!

so now your poor little factory alternator has to not only power your car, and then your stereo, but it has to work to recharge that POS cap that you were told would actually help the very problem you are making worse...and at the same time, robbing your stereo of even more power and making it labor because there is even less current available to run it than there was before you put that oh-so-clever band aid in...

caps work great in their role as a regulator in an ultra SQ system that will never see the cap fully discharged like in an SPL system...it maintains a constant voltage to everything and evens out the spikes and dips in power...

look around at the guys who compete in dbDrag...how many of them use capacitors? NONE! you would think that if a cap would REALLY help that some of these guys would run them...but no, they dont...

but hey, they just win SPL competitons, what would they know about it anyway, right?

Big Purds

Silver - Posts: 574

Joined: November 25, 2002

Location: Canada

Posted: March 22, 2003 at 5:28 AM / IP Logged

thomas, as a little experiment, take a fully charged cap and hook it up all on its own to a big amp...now, turn that big amp on and up really loud, like the average kid would with his system...now, time EXACTLY how long it takes before the amp shuts down...

now tell me that it is good for your charging system...

doombious

Member - Posts: 37

Joined: March 21, 2003

Posted: March 22, 2003 at 9:20 AM / IP Logged

I think I have tried every position possible to tune this. Is there an easy way without all the fancy equipment? I noticed last night that when I turned the gains down on the coustic amp as in like turning the sound down I got more sound from my subs. I don't know the proper way to say but I think you know what I mean. But then I'm turning up the volume on my HU all the way just about to get the same volume I got at 22 and it goes to 30. I have a distribution block that splits to both amps. The sub amp is then connected from the output of the coustic amp to the only input on the other amp. They are both grounded in different spots. I would like to take it somewhere but I don't trust them. When I first had problems noone could hear it probably because they sold me the stuff and another place I went to heard what I was talking about before I even told him (this was before the bass issue) and he said I needed better speakers. He never even looked at my amp settings. Just tried to sell me some $300 component speakers and some rears. So I think I'm on my own here unless you guys can help me.

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