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jl 500/1 doesn't sound right


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soundnsecurity 
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Joined: November 10, 2008
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: December 23, 2010 at 12:48 PM / IP Logged  
well, at least we're getting somewhere now. first, if im not mistaken, all JL HO boxes are ported. so you went from two subs ported in a hatchback with 500W to a single sub SEALED in a center console of an F150.
as far as you amp cutting out all you can do is make sure all the wiring is correct and the sub is good. a couple things to check are: is there any voltage drop at the amp when the system is playing and shutting off, is your ground good and is it in a good spot, make sure the ground is not just on a seatbelt bolt or screwed to a metal sheet that only glued to the frame and not actually part of the frame. make sure the sub is good and that the amp is seeing a good ohm load, that amp is rated to give you 500W between 1.5 and 4 ohms so if your sub is sitting above or below that range then that could be part of your problem.
also, check your RCAs to make sure they are not smashed or damaged somewhere along the way. if you have a spare set then you can run a temporary line from the radio to the amp and check if it still cuts out
jmannieus 
Member - Posts: 12
Member spacespace
Joined: December 18, 2010
Location: Florida, United States
Posted: December 23, 2010 at 5:07 PM / IP Logged  
The HO box I had was sealed. But, as for the spot in my truck being good, the jump seat/center console was replaced with the current sealed box. It has 1.1 cu ft of space, which is double what is suggested for that driver. In my experience, a little more room is good so that you can get some of the lower tones that you might not usually get. But, the sub is down-firing directly onto the driveshaft tunnel, which may be part of the problem.
As for the ohm load, I removed the sub from the box and visually verified that it is wired at 2 ohms. I don't think the RCA's are smashed or crimped at all, I ran them through the factory spots for wiring. And they are shielded from all the other wiring, I used that plastic wiring covering that you can buy from Lowes/Home Depot. The grounds are behind the seat belt mounting bolts on the back wall of the cab, below the window. I made sure to remove any paint from the metal to ensure a good ground. The ground wires are the same size as my power wire coming in, and when I fully wire up the 4g kit I will be replacing the ground wires with some of the 4g.
I seriously thought that my power wires were the problem, and I will have to post pics of my setup so that you can take a look at everything once I get some time to install the 4g kit. If there is anything else I can cover to help you help me, let me know. But I think we have gone through just about everything! Haha. I will make sure to do some voltage and ohm checks tomorrow while it's running and post my findings for review.
Thanks again for helping me figure this out, it is driving me nuts and the wife is getting mad that I am spending all of this money and it still isn't doing what I want.
soundnsecurity 
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Joined: November 10, 2008
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: December 23, 2010 at 6:03 PM / IP Logged  
you cant assume that giving any given sub more or less (especially double or half) airspace will work better than the box in the specs. in some cases it works out good but others not so good. its funny that you mention poor output from a sealed box and a JL sub. when i first got my 8W7 i was in a hurry to hear it so i built just a plain ol box that was originally spec'd to be ported but i got lazy and ended up with a sealed box that was close to 1 cubic foot more or less and it sounded horrible. way too much airspace, the output was low and distorted on heavy notes and this is their top of the line W7 we're talking about!
about a week goes by and i get the time to make the right box which was still about the same rough size externally but i added the port that i originally planned to have and the difference in output was amazing. it went from sounding like a typical 8 inch sub to sounding like i had a pair of 12's and it didnt distort on heavy notes anymore.
also, having your amps grounded to the back wall is not a good ground. the back wall is one of those places i mentioned that are really just glued on and might have a few tack welds. try moving the ground to the floor and try to keep them as short as possible, more the amps lower if possible.
oh, and did your HO box look like this? if it did then it IS ported, just not how you would think
jmannieus 
Member - Posts: 12
Member spacespace
Joined: December 18, 2010
Location: Florida, United States
Posted: December 23, 2010 at 9:33 PM / IP Logged  
No, my box looked like the one pictured in this ad:
http://www.lancerregister.com/showthread.php?t=314026
I'll change the placement of the grounds since I bought some wood today to change the position of the amps. They will be closer to the floor of the cab. I guess I will disassemble the box and remake it to change the position of the woofer and get the space right as well.
soundnsecurity 
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Gold spaceThis member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.spacespace
Joined: November 10, 2008
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: December 23, 2010 at 11:57 PM / IP Logged  
oh ok, that style box is pretty old i used to have one with 2 original W6's but that was at least 6 years ago. and i still wouldn't go off building another box until you get your amps straightened up because they still could be the problem. if you can get it to not cut off anymore and it still sounds like that then you might have a real problem.
jmannieus 
Member - Posts: 12
Member spacespace
Joined: December 18, 2010
Location: Florida, United States
Posted: January 06, 2011 at 4:18 AM / IP Logged  
Ok, well I finally got everything wired up in the truck. 4g kit to distro box, distro to cap and 2 amps. Amps are grounded through the cap and I have a good ground on the floorboard of the cab where the lower portion of the back seat mounts to the floorboard.
After wiring everything up, the JL amp wasn't turning on. I thought it may have been the 12v ACC wire since I had spliced it off of one source. So, I ran a new wire from another 12v source that I know is good and it still doesn't turn on. So, I ordered the Sound Ordnance M-1350 from Crutchfield, I will be wiring it in this weekend.
I appreciate the help from everyone and I apologize that it took so long to get back on and update. If anyone wants the old JL for parts or whatever, hit me up.
i am an idiot 
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Platinum spaceThis member consistently provides reliable informationspace
Joined: September 21, 2006
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: January 06, 2011 at 6:38 AM / IP Logged  

The ground wire on the amps needs to be as short as possible.  Each amp and the cap should have their own separate ground for optimum performance. 

Do you have the Signal Sense switch set to on or off?

jmannieus 
Member - Posts: 12
Member spacespace
Joined: December 18, 2010
Location: Florida, United States
Posted: January 06, 2011 at 6:36 PM / IP Logged  
Signal sensing is off, I don't have that connector. I bought the amp used.
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