subwoofer barely emits any bass
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=114905
Printed Date: July 09, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Topic: subwoofer barely emits any bass
Posted By: jrusso628
Subject: subwoofer barely emits any bass
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 4:47 AM
I have a 4ohm dvc kicker 10" solo baric sub ran in parallel to a mtx tc4001 monoblock amp which is 2ohm stable... had the amp bench tested so i know it works, powers on properly turns on and off with head unit so good remote lead, good ground... i have rca's running from the subwoofer outs on my alpine cda 9853 head unit to the rca's on the amp... i have the subwoofer output on in the head units settings, but even with the amps gain most the way up and the head units sub output up i get just a tiny bit of output to the sub... loosing my mind any help would be great thx...
Replies:
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 6:24 AM
Play it with only one voice coil connected. Does it play now? play it with only the other coil conected, does it play now?
------------- Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: drew454u
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 7:22 AM
also your rca from your head unit could possibly be bad.
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 7:49 AM
I hooked each voice coil up to the amp in a 4ohm wired method as if it was a svc sub to a mono amp... each voice coil played but it was the same... barely any bass with the gain way up on both voice coils...
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 7:50 AM
originally i was getting no output so i bought brand new rca's now i get week output...
Posted By: drew454u
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 9:49 AM
not your rca cables that runs from the head unit to the amp the actual output rca cables from the head unit itself. Do you have another head unit to test or a friend to test the amp for you??
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Sounds like you either have a defective head unit or a defective amp. Go visit your friendly neighborhood stereo shop and pay a few bucks to get them tested. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 10:21 AM
i had the amp bench tested at a shop it works... i've determined the problem to be the settings of the head unit they're extremely complicated... i used high level inputs to see if it was the rca jacks of the head unit still not very powerful... but while i had the rear speakers unhooked i turned the fader all the way rear and turned the head units volume up and was able to get good power... my problem is that the factory speakers only allow me to turn the decks volume up to 12-15, but the sub doesn't start showing it's power till around 25-28, max volume is 35... what settings on the head unit do i need to adjust to equal out the volume levels of the factory speakers and the sub???
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 10:27 AM
See page 29 of your owner's manual. The best setting for the sub output is "ON-MONO-SYSTEM 1." You can also try SYSTEM 2 if you do not want the subwoofer level to change with the volume control. And the fader has nothing to do with the subwoofer output - I suspect you have the sub connected to the rear line level outs not the subwoofer output if the fade control is affecting your sub signal. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 10:34 AM
The fade control only affected the sub when i had the high level output hooked up... unfortunately the manual was misprinted the cda9853 doesn't have the mono/stereo selection it's printed in the manual corrections section... i do have it set to system 1 also... i'm assuming i need to change the x-over settings and eq settings?
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 12:01 PM
jrusso628 wrote:
i'm assuming i need to change the x-over settings and eq settings?
I don't know, what do you have it set to? ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 12:31 PM
i just can't get the amp and head unit to match... i turn the head units volume to max before distortion, then i turn gain all the way up and it's still not pushing the sub very hard...
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Do you have a portable MP3 player? Go to Radio Shack and purchase a cable that will plug into the headphone jack of your MP3 player and has RCA jacks on the other end. Turn the volume all the way down on the MP3 player, connect it to the amp and turn the volume up. If it plays, you have a problem with signal not getting to the amp. If it does not play, you have a problem with the amp or the wiring, or the woofer.
------------- Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 2:10 PM
well got it goin much better now... changed the crossover settings High and Mid Filters set at 200hz Low Pass filter set at 100hz... eq settiings hi and mid down lower to give better volume swing... Amps crossover set to 80hz... thx vada!!! putting the sub in a new custom box tomorrow so might have to make some adjustments then...
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 2:36 PM
jrusso628 wrote:
well got it goin much better now... changed the crossover settings High and Mid Filters set at 200hz Low Pass filter set at 100hz... eq settiings hi and mid down lower to give better volume swing... Amps crossover set to 80hz... thx vada!!! putting the sub in a new custom box tomorrow so might have to make some adjustments then...
If I'm reading your post correctly you still have a crossover issue. Your main HPF and your sub LPF should be set to the same frequency. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: jrusso628
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 2:47 PM
i have the head units high and mid filters set at 200 to keep the bass they put out minimal allowing me to turn the head units volume up louder...
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: July 07, 2009 at 4:36 PM
jrusso628 wrote:
i have the head units high and mid filters set at 200 to keep the bass they put out minimal allowing me to turn the head units volume up louder...
Then you should set yout subwoofer LP to 200Hz or else you have a huge hole right through a critical bass region. ------------- Support the12volt.com
|