ok, i gots a pioneer 760w amp with one 750w jensen (the other one blew some how?) i doesnt hit hard at all. in the car it puts out good bass but you can barley hear it outside. should i get some better lower wattage subs to increase the bass? a friend of mine has a 760w Xplod amp on two 12 and you can hear it from good ways away
I NEED TO GET SOME MORE BASS TIA
<edit> i have a crappy sony 140w cd player from mid-early 90's that doesnt want to play the eminem cd, probably has better taste than i do :P

As far as hearing it outside, I don't know. My subs hit pretty hard, and I can barely hear it outside when the windows are up. It was parked in my driveway once, I could barely hear it outside, and my wife comes out yelling and me to "turn that shit down!" The whole house was vibrating. Pretty cool...heh heh :)

If you want it to hit harder, you need at least 2 speakers.

heres the secret. it doesnt matter what speakers you have, the box and the positioning of said box make ALL the difference. true, certain speakers might not have great reliability, but most cheaper subs can still sound great with the proper install.

box selection:

if you want reliability and a good "tightness" for techno/rock music, go with a sealed box. the bigger the box, the lower it will play with a higher amplitude. the smaller the box, the louder it will play at higher frequencies (like kick drums). i generally tend to take the manufactuers specs for a sealed box and add about 30% extra volume to them. this works well for rock/rap/techno/etc., as it is a good comprimise. this is just my personal opinion though. if you dont have much experience in box building/selection, this is the way to go.

ported/bandpass/etc.: these are harder to build/find pre-fab, but CAN yeild greater results in SPL. talk to someone knowlegable at a local car stereo place about these, as it is difficult to explain why and how they work without a serious study of the physics involved. too much typing for me at this late hour.;)

you mentioned you had two subs, one blew, and now you only run one. was the enclosure a "common airspace" one? if so, theres no wonder it sounds like crap, you are geting all kinds of destructive interference from the -180 degree backwaves. iof each sub was sealed, ignor this.

placment:

ive tried six different positions for subs in our cars.

1) backseat, facing forward
2) backseat, facing backward
3) rear trunk, facing forward
4) rear trunk, facing upward
5) rear trunk facing backward
6) wall, subs sealed into forward cabin facing forward

with each increase in number (1-6), there is an increase in SPL, due to the lack of cancellation (destructive interference). if, for example, you box is in the front of the trunk facing forward, try moving it to the back of the trunk facing backwards. youd be VERY surprised at how much of a difference this makes.

well..thats about all i can think of now. good luck!

Greetings!

As far as subs go, the Jensens were probably a good choice. You have a lower powered amplifier and need a more sensitive sub. I would suggest a MTX 4000 series or a set of Pioneers. These subs are more sensitive and will produce more spl with the lower power that your amplifier provides.

As far as placement, our cars do the best if you fire the subs straight up towards the hatch. Because of the angle of the glass, it makes the rear of the vehicle, in essence, a band-pass box, thus giving you more bass.

As far as hearing it outside the vehicle, the goal of sound is to keep the bass inside the vehicle, and produce higher spl (sound pressure levels). Keep in mind that you will lose exterior volume if you dynomat the car, but it will sound much better inside.


Good luck to you!!!

Well, he's right ^^^^^ but there is a lot more to it then that. First off, the CD player you are using probably only puts out less then 2 volts which will definitely effect the amount of output. Next there’s your amp. Where are you gains set to? How are your subs wired? Then there are your speakers. Here is where the enclosure and placement is key. I would bet that both of your subs are sharing the same air space (not good). Not quite sure how “better lower wattage subs” would make a difference. I think what you are referring to is the efficiency. The more efficient the subs are the more output you will get with the less power. My advice, get better speakers and make sure they are in a proper enclosure. If you use a sealed or ported enclosure, I would always make sure that each sub has it’s own sealed chamber. I would then upgrade your CD player.

well i have a jensen dual enclosure quad ported box. And the gain is set at full as of now. Everything is accurately wiredwith the proper equipment (wires)

ahhhh..i know exactly what box/subs youre talking about now. get rid of that thing and go with some better subs in a simple sealed box. i promise youll be much happier.

Do i need to get a new box?
heres a pic i took a while ago before i blew a sub and bolted the amp to the back seat

yes, you have to get a new box, that thing is horribly designed. to make a comparison, its like a motor that detonates all the way up to 8000 RPMs and then starts making usefull power (dont ask..just the first comparison that popped into my head). the box has been your problem the whole time. go buy a medium sized sealed box for the remaining sub and slap it in there, then listen to it and im 99% sure youll probably be more impressed.

this was the best compromise between sq and spl, plus, it never rattles. the box is kinda big, but with the jl audio 12w3's they need a box that big.
later
chris

buy another enclosure like i have now?, or go buy a couple of wooden boxes at Walmart?

look into a q-logic premade box, theyre not that expensive, and they are sealed really good. please dont buy your subd or boxes at walmart.
later
chris

I agree ^^^^^ The best boxes are custom made, but Q-logic makes pretty good pre-fab boxes. Stay away from particle board boxes. Only get a box that is made of 3/4 MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) I would still recommend getting a new head unit, preferably one that puts out 4 volts.

where do they sell Qlogic or whatever boxes? And i would get a new head unit but i cant stand having other people work on my car, plus i dont have the time to install it or drop it off for an install

i think you can get q-logic at best buy (used to WORK there and i dont really remember, LOL).

im going to have to play devils advocate here and say you will be fine with one of the 1/2" particle board boxes from wal-mart......for now. that jensen doesnt have the highest bl or x-max, so i think youd be safe from an flexing. if you ever decide to upgrade the sub though, its new box time as well, so you might as well get a good box the first time and not have to deal with it down the road, but its good to have options ... i understand budgets, my life is one huge budget.;)