Increase in sound with more watts?

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=67716
Printed Date: May 11, 2025 at 1:51 AM

Topic: Increase in sound with more watts?

Posted By: ford_lightning
Subject: Increase in sound with more watts?
Date Posted: December 05, 2005 at 3:45 PM

Hello everyone,

Right now I have a Kicker L5 in a wedge truck box being pushed by a kicker zr240 amp. Its not as loud as I expected.

The amp is:

RMS Power at 4 Ohms 60 W x 2

RMS Power at 2 Ohms 120 W x 2

The problem is Im not sure if the L5 is the dual 4 ohm or dual 2 ohm. It just has a red and black wire coming from the back.

Any suggestions? I have the amp bridged.

Replies:

Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: December 05, 2005 at 4:21 PM

A bad marriage. Divorce is imminent.

The L5 is a SPL sub that likes a lot of power and a big enclosure. You have neither of these, so you should consider a high efficiency subwoofer that doesn't mind a small box. And you should also consider using that amp to power a set of speakers and buying a more powerful mono amp for subwoofer use.

Find out what amp you will use first, then pick a sub based on the above criteria PLUS its impedance (which means you'll have to find out what the coil(s) is rated at).

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: December 05, 2005 at 4:22 PM

Take the sub out of the box and let us know the proper model # of it and how it is wired. I ask this as I am presuming that you do not have a meter to measure the dcr of the speaker.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

Posted By: ma1302
Date Posted: December 07, 2005 at 8:02 AM

I think you should get a vented single box for the sub , that way the sub will act if it was in a larger enclosure. Being behind the seat of the truck it's limited to how much air the sub can move in that tight space. Your results should be better if you try this.

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: December 07, 2005 at 4:04 PM

ma1302 wrote:

I think you should get a vented single box for the sub , that way the sub will act if it was in a larger enclosure. Being behind the seat of the truck it's limited to how much air the sub can move in that tight space. Your results should be better if you try this.

Not trying to slam you or anything but that is not correct. A "vented" enclosure does not make a speaker act like it's in a larger enclosure. Bass Reflex (vented or ported) enclosures simply function differently from sealed ones, with a 3-6db bump in output at the port tuning frequency and a loss of enclosure-related speaker damping below the port tuning frequency. Vented enclosures act much differently and must be used differently (such as adding subsonic filters) from sealed enclosures. And mounting a sub in a tight space may or may not have any effect whatsoever on output, as long as the woofer can move unimpeded to its excursion limits and the port (if used) is not blocked, the air space clearance required is very small indeed.

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