Installing my first ever sound system myself in a project '94 Jeep Wrangler. No much room. I tried putting a JVC Arsenal 10" DVC 4ohm sub in a .70 cu foot box because it's the only one I could fit in the back. The sub called for like 1.2 cu. It's running off an Alpine MR500 mono sub amp wired at 2 ohms. Well now it sounds worse than when it had a 20 dollar Boss sub with a 20 dollar Boss amp. I put 2 lbs of Polyfill in there. That made it worse. ZERO and mean ZERO bass. I thought the polly would make seem 40% larger but it made worse. I had the tiny box FILLED with polly. This sub is huge, it was completely surrounded by poly. Either way no bass. Is that just because the box was so small? This sub is MASSIVE. Thought this would be an easy swap, but it's been 22 hours of work so far. Everything is set right on the HU, minus some tuning. Any ideas would be so helpful as I'm about to lose my mind.
The enclosure is entirely too small to move air mass for the sub. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news. Back to the drawing board and re fabricate a new one. Remember, 1.2 cu this time.
Sounds like you wired the daul voice coils out of phase with each other, check your wiring carefully.
In a box too small, the sub will be fighting to move and while you won't get the proper output, you will certainly get some serious movement from it. When the internal box volume is too low, there is not enough air cushion to allow the sub to move inwards, and outwards movement will be forced by the lack of breathing room.
Make sure the sub wiring is right, then test it at different polarities to see which one provides more bass output in your vehicle. Most of the time, this will be out of phase with the front stage, but NEVER out of phase between the 2 voice coils.
Is it dual voice coil? Does the sub even attempt to move?
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It is DVC. It has two 4 ohm voice coils. The sub has a jumper for either series or parallel. I'm put the jumper to parallel. I then connected the + on one coil to the + positive on the other coil. Then the - on one coil, to the negative on the other coil. Then went from one the the coils to the enclosure connector. I checked it with a DM and it came back at 2.2-2.4 so i thought I did it right.
It does move. With the amp at factory settings... +/- 0 gain, 150hz, xover, etc. If I crank everything to the right it gets at least louderish... but certainly not where it should be.
I have a relative cheap Kicker Comp 10 single voice coil that runs at 4 0hm. I guess I could try that but I wish the DVC would work since it doubles my amps.
By Out of Phase. Do you mean if I wired the + of one voice coil to the - of the other voice coil? I will double and triple check it now, but I don't think that's what I did. Googling it now. LOL.
By Out of Phase. Do you mean if I wired the + of one voice coil to the - of the other voice coil? I will double and triple check it now, but I don't think that's what I did. Googling it now. LOL.
What "Switch" on the subwoofer?
Or is the switch on the amp?
Wiring depends on paralel vs. series connection.
Paralel=Both coils get the same signal, + to +, and - to -
Series= + from amp to coil1 + / coil1 - to coil2 + / Coil2 - to amp -
Series will get you an 8ohm load which may actually work better since you have an undersized enclosure.
The crossove set at 150hz is going to cut most of the bass from the sub right there. Try it at 60-80hz 24db/octive
What "Switch" on the subwoofer?
Or is the switch on the amp?
Wiring depends on paralel vs. series connection.
Paralel=Both coils get the same signal, + to +, and - to -
Series= + from amp to coil1 + / coil1 - to coil2 + / Coil2 - to amp -
Series will get you an 8ohm load which may actually work better since you have an undersized enclosure.
The crossove set at 150hz is going to cut most of the bass from the sub right there. Try it at 60-80hz 24db/octive
The sub itself has a jumper/switch. Looks like a fuse really. You flip it one direction and it's series. you flip the other way it's runs in series. Honestly the jumper/switch thing is what's throwing me. I know if I had a regular DVC with 2 4ohm coils; i would jumper them, and run leads to the amp. That would be 2 ohm load. The jumper seems redundant and manual kinda sucks. Really I only trust the DM.
There's a misprint on the specs for wiring the voice coils in parallel. It's marked as 4+4 ohms = 8, but then in the picture it shows 2 ohms, which is correct.
From what I can tell you've done everything correctly. As mentioned, it could be the enclosure is just too small. Just curious, did you check the fuses in the sub to make sure they're OK? I know you checked the DC resistance, but ya' just never know.
It could be a bad patch cable (RCAs). One channel may be bad. My step-son just recently had that happen in his car.
Also, check the speaker wire. It could have the same problem.
Use your DMM set to AC voltage and check how much is coming out of the amp. You'll have to use a test tone. It may be bad. Measuring amplifier Output Power
Last, but not least, the sensitivity of those subs is ~83db 1watt/1meter (if I guessed the correct model #). The Boss sub you had may be more sensitive. It takes more power to make sound with less sensitive subs.
That's a common problem with subs that can handle more power. Generally, the more power they can handle, the less sensitive they are.
Last edited by amalmer71; 03-19-2012 at 01:17 AM..
There's a misprint on the specs for wiring the voice coils in parallel. It's marked as 4+4 ohms = 8, but then in the picture it shows 2 ohms, which is correct.
From what I can tell you've done everything correctly. As mentioned, it could be the enclosure is just too small. Just curious, did you check the fuses in the sub to make sure they're OK? I know you checked the DC resistance, but ya' just never know.
It could be a bad patch cable (RCAs). One channel may be bad. My step-son just recently had that happen in his car.
Also, check the speaker wire. It could have the same problem.
Use your DMM set to AC voltage and check how much is coming out of the amp. You'll have to use a test tone. It may be bad. Measuring amplifier Output Power
Last, but not least, the sensitivity of those subs is ~83db 1watt/1meter (if I guessed the correct model #). The Boss sub you had may be more sensitive. It takes more power to make sound with less sensitive subs.
That's a common problem with subs that can handle more power. Generally, the more power they can handle, the less sensitive they are.
Hmmm. I feel a little stupid now. While checking all the speaker connections. I inadvertently bumped into the rca plugged into the amp and the output immediately doubled. So either I have crappy rca (likely), or the connectors on the Alpine amp. If I sort of put up or downward pressure on the rca the sound is fine. As soon as I remove my hand the output drops again. Gonna report back tomorrow after I find some RCA's. Any tricks of the trade of the if the RCA pick-ups on the amp are less than ideal?
If that doesn't work I'll use the N4 Massive Audio 4000W amp I have in the garage. Just kidding. Going cheap in the jeep cause it's probably gonna get stolen at some point.
take the sub out of the box and play it... if it gets moving, you know the box is way too small, if not, other issues...
Guys, you have to understand sealed boxes are SUPER, and I mean SUPER forgiving...
He's talking .75cf vs 1.2cf... or roughly half volume... I've got a cheap set of Kicker's in my GF's car in roughly 1/2 volume(box) and it's retarded the bass..
Quote:
The years passed, mankind became stupider at a frightening rate. Some had high hopes the genetic engineering would correct this trend in evolution, but sadly the greatest minds and resources where focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections. - Narrator: Idiocracy
take the sub out of the box and play it... if it gets moving, you know the box is way too small, if not, other issues...
Guys, you have to understand sealed boxes are SUPER, and I mean SUPER forgiving...
He's talking .75cf vs 1.2cf... or roughly half volume... I've got a cheap set of Kicker's in my GF's car in roughly 1/2 volume(box) and it's retarded the bass..
exactly. it is not ideal, but will still make bass, it just wont be as efficient or play as low as the bigger box. more than likely he figured it out. bad rcacable or bad solder on the rca connection on the amp.
Original post whore!
Disclaimer:Opinions of the above are the property of the poster
Stock Sync HU |AC LC2i | Phoenix Gold EQ215i | Soundstream SA120 -> ID CD1eMH | JL 300/2 -> ID X65 | JL 500/1 -> (2) 15" Pyle PL1590BL in IB
exactly. it is not ideal, but will still make bass, it just wont be as efficient or play as low as the bigger box. more than likely he figured it out. bad rcacable or bad solder on the rca connection on the amp.
I'm gonna try some new RCA. Which of course I don't have. I have a sinking feeling it's the solder on the amp. I am gonna end up doing surgery on the thing I think.
I'm gonna try some new RCA. Which of course I don't have. I have a sinking feeling it's the solder on the amp. I am gonna end up doing surgery on the thing I think.
if you have a simple 25W iron, can be fixed pretty easy if you have even a little electronics experience. just reflow the solder with a some nice no-clean flux.
Original post whore!
Disclaimer:Opinions of the above are the property of the poster
Stock Sync HU |AC LC2i | Phoenix Gold EQ215i | Soundstream SA120 -> ID CD1eMH | JL 300/2 -> ID X65 | JL 500/1 -> (2) 15" Pyle PL1590BL in IB
So confused. NO bass from sub in sealed.
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