[NiteTrip]

Hi everyone,

I recently came across what I thought was a pretty good deal on some car audio equipment from a pawn shop so I picked it up. I'm poor so I installed it myself. It sounds really nice but i feel that the bass isn't as pronounced as it should be.

I am hoping that maybe you guys could help me out to get more out of this system.

What I have is as follows:
Lightning Audio b2.300.2 amp - I found this about it on the internet - 2 Channels, 100w x 2 @ 4ohms, 150w x 2 @ 2ohms, 300w x 1 @ 4ohms

Blaupunkt PCA460 amp - 80 W x 4 @ 2 ohms, 60 W x 4 @ 4ohms

2 Max Pentivent PV-1050 10" subwoofers - 4 ohms, 240 Watts RMS

Pioneer TS-A6972R 6x9's - 4 ohm, 300W max, 40W nominal

and for door speakers, they are stock and unknown for now (I can't get the window crank off the door to get to the speakers just yet. I do have a replacement set of speakers for the doors that I forget the exact stats on at the moment)

I will start by saying that I read that these subwoofers need a ported enclosure and when I bought them, they came in a regular sub box with no ports. Possibly this is my whole issue, but the speakers don't seem to do a lot of movement.

So for my setup, I have the door speakers and the 6x9's running off the blaupunkt up at 80wx4 @ 2 ohms (assuming the door speakers are 4ohms)

For the sub, I bridged the Lightning Audio amp and tried wiring them in series and in parallel and neither really made much of a difference in the output. These are single voice coil subs, so my understanding is I have only these two options and this makes a 2 ohm or a 8 ohm load on the amp. Tomorrow I will try wiring only one sub to the amp and see if i can take advantage of the [email protected] ohm as listed for this amp.

Any thoughts on what I could do here to improve this set up? I just don't think I'm getting the wattage out of the amp to drive the bass. It really pounds at high volume, but at low volumes there is just no bass.

Another question also - I have a pontiac sunfire (1999) and it has the battery terminals on the side. I replaced the battery and it also has the terminals on top. I could not fit the amp power wires on the side terminal where all the car's electronics were connected, so I bought a top terminal clamp and connected the amps' power wires there, will this make a difference since the alternator is not hooked directly to the power wires?

These are the speakers I have for the doors: The tweeter was originally attached to them, but I unscrewed it and this sliced the wire that was going to the tweeter. I just soldered some speaker wire to them and I now have mids and tweets I like them better separated anyways because the sunfire has a little spot for a tweeter that these will fit in nicely.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give this (obviously) novice car audio enthusiast!

 

[J0ne]

build a new box man.
cheapest option for your subs to sound more like you want.

 

[NiteTrip]

Thanks, I'm really not sure how to build a box - tho I know there's a lot of information online so I can learn how to. Is it possible to just add a port to my box?

Here is a pic of the subs -

 

[NiteTrip]

Any thoughts about how I have the power going to my two amps on the top terminal rather than try to hook it up on the side terminal? I couldn't fit two of those connectors on the side screw and still screw the terminal in place. Is this going to harm anything?

 

[Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX]

First off, you should be fine with the power set-up that way... If I were you I would consider getting something a bit larger than the 10ga you have there.. You aren't running a lot of power, but an 8ga or a 4ga would do you better... BUT, for now, if it ain't broke don't fix it, you can worry about that later...

You never mention what sort of head unit you are using? Stock? This could be part of the problem, yet to be determined..

AFA the subs, you need to try and find some info on them in terms of box volume required... once you know, you can measure the box, subtract material thickness and determine volume (the box is more important than the sub to be honest) once you know the volume of the INTERIOR of the box, then you will know better what you have there... Also, where is the gain at on the amp, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4...??

The window crank... it's so easy, I didn't even think about it till someone posted it on a TOTALLY non-audio forum of mine (recently even..lol).... and old T-shirt.. slip the edge of the shirt between the door panel and the crank, catch the clip with the shirt and pull... just make sure you catch the clip, they fly, and far to...

There is a lot more, but a few things need to be worked out first...

 

[ccdoggy]

That looks like a fine connection to the battery, as long as its solid and secure.

Try putting stuff inside the sub bod to take up room and see if you can achieve the sound you want with a smaller box. anything solid will work just to displace air inside the box, nothing squishy (foam, pillow, cotton as it reacts differently in a box). This wont improve output but the quality of the sound (assuming they could be in a box thats way too big i have no idea, worth a shot)

Adding a port is complicated (more or less) and takes some forethought on what you are aiming for and what will happen.

 

[Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX]

Try putting stuff inside the sub bod to take up room and see if you can achieve the sound you want with a smaller box. anything solid will work just to displace air inside the box, nothing squishy (foam, pillow, cotton as it reacts differently in a box). This wont improve output but the quality of the sound (assuming they could be in a box thats way too big i have no idea, worth a shot)

Great idea... I like to use 4x4's, they are easily mesured for volume so you know an exact figure...

I was thinking, if the subs are designed for a ported box, which are usually bigger than a sealed box AND the subs aren't moving much, the box may very well be too SMALL..

 

[NiteTrip]

Great, thanks for the responses i really appreciate any help I can get. When I was younger I bought 3 or 4 $2K+ car stereos (talking 15-20 years ago). I could never bring myself to bring it to a professional installer, always wanted to do it myself. The thing is I NEVER had good bass. had 1 12" sub one time, and twice had two 10" subs, never did the bass rock the car like I hear on some people's stereos. That's what I want to hear.

So now that I'm older and have kids and more bills, I never really had anything past what came with the car. Well I got all this stuff for about 300 bucks taxes included so i figured what the hell and tried again. The mids and highs in my car sounds so good, i dare say that this is the best sounding stuff I ever heard.

So about my head unit, that could be the problem. Its an Autosound Ce-3040MP3. I never heard of this brand and it looks like a Chinese knockoff. It only has one output as well. I will upgrade this sometime, but for now its all I got. It does seem to play pretty good.

The subwoofers are the PV-1050 listed on MAXspeakers.com

That is where it says it needs to be ported. It also says it need 0.7-1.4 Cu.Ft. So my box is made out of 3/4" wood, it is 13.5" high x 13.5" deep x 30.5" wide. There are two speakers in the box and in the middle it is separated by another piece of 3/4".

I read that you need specific numbers to make the proper port. I really don't understand what they all mean but they are on that website. I know making a new box would be the best bet, but right now I don't have the money to even buy the materials, so modifying this box would be best.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX]

Ok, so you have one set of RCA outputs, how are you using them?

AFA the subs again, i'm not sure, there is a program called WinISD that is made for box building, I've only used it a few times though, others here have a LOT more expierence with it.. you input the Theil Small parameter (all the subs specs) and it will model the enclosure and response for you.. That's the best thing for an "unknown" sub like that... maybe someone else could model it for you??

 

[NiteTrip]

I did download and run the WINISD program> I only looked at it for a few minutes, but its all greek to me.

The Outputs - I send them to the sub amp, the lightning audio amp. It has an output and I put two Y-Cables on the output and put the 4 rca plugs into the blaupunkt inputs.

I would love it if i could just buy a couple of ports, drill some holes and have the subs start pounding. This stereo sounds so good except there's no bass!

 

[Fiercetimbo17]

Are both of your power runs fused? It only looks like one is, if thats the case get a 30-40 amp fuse inline with that wire

 

[NiteTrip]

They are both fused, the fuse for the other one is a few inches out of the picture.

I got lucky today, a friend had an Alpine 8115 mobile security system (not sure how old this thing is) still in the box, never used and gave it to me for FREE. It was missing the remote, but i think I should be able to find another. Installing this should be fun!

 

[Lanson]

Time for car audio bootcamp, me thinks...


Basic Car Audio Electronics


This will give you the basics, so we're no longer speaking "Greek" to you.

 

[NiteTrip]

Thanks a lot fourthmeal, that's a great site!