crr1612

this is continued from Wiring a Sub. my problem is that my sub isnt really loud, for what i think is a lot of power im putting into it

i checked the wiring and my bass is a bit better now. the polarity was reversed somewhere along the line. anywa, i still think i shoudl have more bass with the system. the amp for the sub is a Punch 501x(specs here)
and the subs are Punch XLC's(specs here) they are both Rockfords. also i have a parametric eq, a DEI EQ4000(review here) the head unit is a Clarion of some kind. sorry but i dont have my manuals or anythign, so this is the best i can do for specs. what do you guys think. thanks again. also, not that it matters, but my other amp is a Series 1 4060x hooked up to 2 sets of JL Audio component speakers.

ashman

Are the subs dual voice coil?

Is the amp bridged?

How thick is your power cable and ground for the amplifier?

Is the box for the subs properly sized for the woofers?

ptoro01

did you adjust the sub setting on the headunit

I also had to mess around with the gain before getting proper sound, on my rockford 360 gain matters a whole lot.

crr1612

i believe the subs are single coil, the amp is bridged, the power cable and ground are very thick, the box is hte correct size for the woofers. my headunit does not have a sub setting. ill get a pic of my setup up soon

YNVDIZW124

You have to set the eq setting on your head unit to make your system bump. Also make sure you connected the rca cables to the sub output on your headunit.

denim

You do not need to mess with the EQ setting. You have to understand these sealed trunks on the W124s are bass traps. If you have a sealed enclosure, a move to a ported one would provide a theoretical 3db gain in output. To counter act some of the loss of bass being trapped in the trunk, I cut ports under the 1st Aid Kit cover to vent the bass a little into the cabin. With the cover down noone knows the ports are there. Like ashman mentioned, you need to make sure you have the proper level of current getting to your amplifers.

I hope that helped some.

YNVDIZW124

I don't think his problem is the trunk since I think he already said that he did cut a hole under the first aid kit on another post. His issues i think have to do with wiring of the sub or settings on the amp or the headunit.

denim

Here is a good link to read. Big3 should be a must when upgrading your car audio equipment.

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/f...?showtopic=200

crr1612

ok here are some pics of my setup. give u an idea of what my wires are like.

denim

looks to be hooked up ok, but I cannot tell from here which wire is running where...

for durability and safety reasons, I would reccomend cleaning up the wires a little, less chance they will get snagged by something

Bigpete123

werd. zip ties are your friend.

crr1612

im gonna get on the whole zip tie thing. but back to the sound, will i notice a huge difference with a different box? like i said, this is the way i got the car last week and havent done anythign to it really. i dont know anything about the box really

YNVDIZW124

First thing i would do is remove those old school speaker grills.

Second, you have to check the ohms on your subs if they are 4ohm or 8ohm.

I think the problem is with your amp. Let's say the subs are 4ohms. Since you have a 4 channel amp you wired each speaker to the two bridge channels. Your amp is rated at 65w x4 @ 4ohms and 125w x4 @ 2 ohms. Since the sub is a single voice coil sub it gives the resistance of 4ohms on the bridged channel so your only putting out 130w x 2 channels @ 4ohms. If you have 8ohm subs the wattage will be even less.

So what does all this mean. If you had a 4ohm dual voice coil sub on each channel you can wire them parallel and make the amp see a 2ohm load which gives you 250w per channel.

I would either change the amp or the subs. If you want to keep the subs i would get a 2 channel mono amp and wire the two subs together on a single channel to get a 2ohm load. You can also get 4ohm dual voice coil subs and that's it.

denim

If you have a well built box that is built to the cars specs, it will make a difference.

koskesh

I agree with YNVDIZW124. Your configuration does not allow the amp to put out more than 125 watts per channel (assuming subs are 4 ohm) and if the subs are 8 ohm which is not very likely that will cut the power to half.

So with the above information your total system power is 250 watts. Putting these subs in a sealed box and putting it in the bulletproof mercedes will cut down on your system efficency.

Improvements you can make:

1. Take off the grills
2. Change your speaker wires for thicker ones (they look too thin in the picture) and make sure connections are clean and strong with plenty of wire surface touching connectors. Also make sure polarity is the same on both speakers as if one is reversed the sound from the subs will simply cancel each other out.
3. Add ports to the box. To do this measure the box, calculate volume per sub (or total volume if it's just one chamber) and cut ports in the box. To find the port volume you can either call rockford fosgate or look up the specs of your sub and somewhere it should tell you different port sizes for different box volumes and find the closest match for your box. Then you simply cut 4" holes in the box (doesn't matter where, not too close to the sub) and use 4" pipe (card board pipe or pvc) and some glue to make the ports.
4. The more expensive route as YNVDIZW124 already mentioned would be to get a better amp. the amp you have is not that good for powering subs, it would be ideal for mid range speakers though. get a 2 channel amp that is bridgable to 1 channel and has a lot of power at 2 ohm. This way you can put the subs in parallel, running at 2 ohm. To figure out the ohms on your subs either take them out or use a multimeter and measure the resistance between the + and - of the sub. Changing the amp should not cost you alot and will give you very impressive results.
I hope that helped, let us know the results.

One more thing, if you can sit up the box so that the subs are facing the rear lights and slide the box all the way to the gas tank. the bass bounces off the rear of the car then comes back into the room. This will give you much louder bass and much better sound.

YNVDIZW124

Yeah koskesh is right! You need better wiring and since you have your subs firing up all you will get is the trunk rattling. You should take everything out and re-plan the system. I've rushed in installing my sound system just to show off but you should take your time with everything so you won't have problems in the future.

e320newbie

take that fire hazard out of ur car and spend around $800 and ull love it all

hellah fresh

your car looks hella good!

HeadTurning400E

I also believe that you should cut the port holes in the rear deck. I have two Alpine Type R 15's and they didn't sound like they were making any thump when the trunk was still sealed; with the ports it was a world of difference. Not to put your setup down, but the way you have it set up with the single coils will cost you a great deal in order to power to the street cracking bass you want.

denim

thanks!!

but the system is a mess at the moment and the doors are not finished

crr1612

the problem is solved for me, atleast for when my ipod is hooked up. thats most of the time anyway. for anyone else who thinks that their ipods bass isnt up to par, i highly suggest you do this

http://dapreview.net/e107_plugins/co...hp?content.133

i now have enough bass not just to annoy the neighbors, but the whole block

crr1612

wait, i just reread koskesh's response...even with the ports cut in my rear deck its still best for the sub to face the rear rather than the ports?

koskesh

yes, when the subs are facing up they cause the trunk door to rattle and for some reason the bass response is not as good. Try it and see for yourself.

crr1612

will do. ill report as to the difference tomorrow

crr1612

u were right, the sub facing the back is better