Cbird

So here's the problem, My HU has a Subwoofer volume feature that lets me crank the sound of the subwoofer up (Or down) as you would see fit. Well the issue is when I have the music up loud (3/4 volume) the sub just wont get any louder and the bass becomes almost inaudible.

The sub is a diamond D6 12"
The amp is a Kicker DX1000.1
I'm using a Kenwood KDC-mp34u HU


I mean, that is quite a bit of wattage right there. That thing should be bumping! Actually the weird thing is at low volume levels, if I crank the SW volume up to +15 it gets loud as hell, much louder than the music, but if you start cranking up the volume of the music, the bass slowly starts to blend in with the music, and then at a point becomes very quiet.

I am using all of the right sized wires for my amps, but, I'm kinda wondering how big the main power wire should be (The one running back from the battery). The reason I ask is because it doesn't look that much bigger than the wire running to the amps(4awg).

I don't get any headlight dim, even though I only have a stock battery. You would think 1400 (combine) wattage would make them dim wouldn't you? Something doesn't seem right with that.

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate the help

Edit: Hey I just got thinking, could the size of the wire that the sub is wired with be the cause? I think it's only like 12 awg or something. Would that be the cause?

VWdude

that subwoofer control through your head unit adjusts the voltage out on your subwoofer RCA line from your head unit. another way to increase the voltage (on all lines) is to increase your volume. what it sounds like you are doing is you are maxing out the voltage of the signal to your sub amp, but then when you increase your volume the rest of the speakers are catching up.

you dont have a way to increase your amplifier gain from your head unit. what you need is either an amp with a bass ****, a bass processor with a **** (like the bass cube) or you need to have your amplifier gain readjusted.

Cbird

That would make sense, but my gain is already pretty high. I know the amp came with a like bass knoby thing that you can install somewhere. Would that help?

Also, my HU is only 2 volts preamp. Would getting something with say, 4 volts, be a better choice for me? Would it help in this case?

Sonic

iTrader: (1)

Keep the subwoofer volume to 0 for now and check on the amp there is an input level button, set it to low level, set bass boost to off, set hi pass x-over to approx 25, set low pass x-over to approx 80, set gain about 1/3 and try again.



I need more info on your amp, sub, and box:

Do you have the dual 2 or dual 4 ohm sub?
How is the sub wired?

Which Kicker DX1000.1 amp do you have? there is one that is one ohm stable and one that is only 2 ohm stable. let me know what is the colur of the dx writing and the stripe?


What type of box do you have sealed or ported?

Cbird

I will try that here in a sec. Is "sub sonic filter" the high pass filter?

I am using the one that is 2 ohm stable. My sub is a 4 ohm sub wired up for a 2 ohm total load to the amp.

The DX1000.1 has the red stripe. Its the 2 ohm stable one.

Using a sealed box.

Sonic

iTrader: (1)

Yes the hi pass filter is the sub sonic filter.

The DX1000.1 with the red stripe is one ohm stable !

So if your sub is dual 4 ohm then if it's wired in parallel it would have a final load of 2 ohms.


And off that amp it will be receiving 550 watts rms, which should be enough for that sub to get going. make sure its wired for a 2 ohm final load and not 8 ohms final load.

Recheck wiring and report back.

If possible can you post the link of the manual for that hu if you can find it?

Cbird

Hey sorry I meant to say it has a yellow stripe not Red. Kinda scatter brained today.

I did what you told me about setting the gain to 1/3. It works. Its much louder now. What gives? I guess I just turned that gain **** to where my last amp was before I upgraded. Guess I should of broke out the multi-meter again.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/UserFiles/.../kdcmp342u.pdf

I read it and I am using the Subwoofer option and have the HU's LPF set to 80hz . Do you see anything else in the manual I might need?

Can you think of anything else I might need to do at this point to get her all hooked up right?

Edit: My sub is wired up like that. I even got rid of that tiny wire that come pre-attached to the box terminals and replaced it with bigger wire =)

Sonic

iTrader: (1)

I think your input voltave selection was set wrong, it should be at low.

Hook up your bass remote to control the bass amp volume when needed.

And yes, read up on how to set your gain with the multimeter and set appropriately, should get louder.

You may want to consider a ported box, which would get louder.

I will read up the manual later and see if you need to any other settings.

Also, if you can set your low pass filter on hu to off or through it would be good and just use the low pass on your amp, if not keep the lpf on the hu at 80Hz and the one on the amp to the highest.

Cbird

Well I hooked up the bass remote. Time to go take a test drive and see what I come up with. Still have the gain set to 1/3 for the time being until I can get another 50 hz tone.
Speaking of that does it have to be on a CD or can it be on a MP3 player?

Would a ported box make the bass sound bad for rock music though? I mean I like loud but I like it sounding good too haha

Sonic

iTrader: (1)

Cd would be better.

Depends, if the box is built properly to suit your listening taste, then it should not sound bad.

For now, just play your music at about 3/4 volume, then turn the gain up slowly until you hear distortion, then turn it down back a tad.