Yamaha Rhino Sound System

I have been installing a sound system in a 2006 Yamaha Rhino ATV. I am a professional certified tech, and this install has me totally baffled. With extremely limited space for a subwoofer, we made a sealed enclosure under the drivers seat that is .75 cu. ft. with a 10" driver that is 300 watts RMS, powered by a 300 watt amp bridged mono. If you stand outside the vehicle, the bass sounds great. It's tight, clean and sounds awesome. If you get in, and sit down inside the vehicle, the bass sounds muddy, and you can barely hear it. I own a car audio store, and have tried 5 different subwoofer lines, as well as several different enclosures, firing every direction possible. At first I though it could possibly be a power issue, because the battery is only about 300 amps. After adding a 1.7 farad capacitor, as well as another battery wired in series, and having a battery charger on the entire time, it still has the same problem. I have tried several different head units, amplifiers, etc... and still can't seem to get any bass response inside the vehicle. I have tried a high end free air marine subwoofer in a baffle, and this probably sounded the worse of all. I would appreciate any suggestions, or feedback.

My bad... I meant parallel (the other battery)!

I have tried relocating the box(es) everywhere on this vehicle. 7 to be exact! Every box I have made I tested thru the sound display in my store, where I have two 500 watt 25 amp power supplys. All of them sounded tight, until I put them in the Rhino. The only way I can describe it, is muddy sounding. They seem to bottom out easily like they are starving for air. I am using the same amp on my display, that I have installed in the Rhino, and tried several others, as well. If you are standing anywhere outside and around the Rhino, the bass is clean and hits hard. Step one foot inside, it sounds like an oatmeal box. I am going to pull my car into the bay, and hook the Rhino system up to my battery, and see what happens. I totally appreciate your posts, more than you will ever know. Thank you very much. Anything else you guys can think of...let me know, please. This thang is making me crazy!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Ms. Ms. Terri Fisher, Owner/MECP Installation Tech

Audio XTC Mobile Electronics/Page-Lake Powell Arizona

xtcaudio1@cableone.net

This is certainly one of the most interesting problems I've heard of in a long time.  Since you haven't spoken of the rest of the sound system, I'm wondering how the midbass and highs sound inside.  And is this an open vehicle like this pic (from link )?

The pic is a Rhino, and looks pretty much the same. I pulled my car in the bay this am, and hooked the Rhino sound system up to my battery while my car was running. It solved the problem, and the systems hits hard, clean and tight. FINALLY! I knew it had to have something to do with power. My customer is out purchasing a much bigger battery for it, and we will need to buy a bigger plastic battery case to put it in. There is not alot of room, but we have to choice since the sound system seems to be priority to my customer. I never really went into the details of the equipment I used in the system. My customer didn't want to buy high end equipment for it, because it will be subjected to alot of dirt, water, shock, alcohol, etc... (He has a two stroke margarita blender that mounts on part of the roll bar, between the seats.) The headunit is a Logic CDX-260r. It has sub out, wireless remote, and is a nice head unit in that price range. The subwoofer is an Audiobahn AWC10T. It's in a sealed enclosure that is .75 cu.ft.. I tried every 10" subwoofer in my store. I am an authorized JL Audio Dealer, and tried their MC-10lB5-4, which is a 10" infinite baffle marine subwoofer. I specialize in marine installations since I live here at Lake Powell, and I use the new JL Audio Marine equipment often. Their subwoofer is incredible, and sounds good in almost any application. It's 150 watts rms. The amps are Swiss Audio, which are small, perform halfway descent, and I have the SMA-2125 bridged mono at 350 watts @ 4 ohms running the Audiobahn sub, which is rated 400 watts rms. The mids and highs are in a sound bar from Vertically Driven Products. There are 2 six inch mids, 2 three inch whatevers, and 2 small mylar tweeters. The sound bar screamed, and was extremely bright sounding. We removed the speakers, deadened the plastic inside, and put in some fiberfill. Changing the crossovers helped alot and it sounds mucho better. I have a Swiss Audio SMA 2050 amp, which is running at 75 watts x 2. I also installed a 1.7 farad cap, which is absolutely a must. EFX 4 ga power/ground wires, cables, platinum distribution/fuse holder, etc... Thats it.  It sounds good, and should bring my customer alot of enjoyment...I hope! Thanks for your help on this, and input. This forum is great, and car audio people rock! Thanks!

Ms Terri Fisher, Owner/MECP Installation Tech

Audio XTC Mobile Electronics/Page-LakePowell AZ      xtcaudio1@cableone.net

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