Amp and Sub

[2.2Lude]

Hey guys i just got a 600w pioneer sub and a 800w RF amp,
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/lil_tech209/CIMG1291.jpg


I'm just waiting on the box now, that one of my friends is making for me. I was wondering is there something i need to do to tune it properly?

Thanks for any and all input in advanced.

[sfields]

as far as I know all the tuning is in the gain knob on the amp and the headunit's EQ

[Creole.Kid]

si. :werd:

[2.2Lude]

you guys think that this set up will hit hard?

[Mdtdnb]

It will most likely hit pretty hard. It depends on what type of box is made; sealed box will cause it to hit very hard and firm and will catch hold of the 45-70 Hert frequency range the best (since it is a 10" the more pressure will cause higher frequencies). If it is a ported box, the air space will be larger and will cause your sub to hit lower frequencies and will "carry" further as oposed to "hitting" harder. ported box will bring out the 20-45 Hert range more so than the other freqs. Either way, it will sound good as long as the box is made to the recommended specs.

As far as tuning it:
I recommend turn your amp's gain down all the way first, then tune your inside speakers to the loudest you like to hear them (should be the point just BEFORE they begin to distort). You can get a little bit more volume out of the internal speakers by turning the head unit's bass down some since you are no longer depending on the insides for your bass. Once you are satisfied with the inside speakers, turn them up to that level and begin increasing the gain on the amp.
You will want to use several songs to tune it as you will need different basslines for proper tuning. I recommend a bass cd. With your trunk OPEN, tune the sub to the proper gain the same way you did the internals; as soon as it begins to distort or bottom out, turn the gain back just a bit. You want the trunk to be open b/c it is harder to hear it bottom out with it closed and you dont want to have a blown sub just b/c you couldn't tell if it was tuned right.

Two last things:
If your amp has frequency control, you will get more gain out of the sub when your frequency is cutoff at the lowest levels. If you add a wider range of hertz (i.e. 20-110 Hz) your sub will bottom out and distort faster b/c it has to try much harder to hit all of them. Remember, subs are designed for the lowest freqencies. Finally, if your head unit has a separate subwoofer output, use it. it will put less stress on your internals and gives you better tuning options. hope this helps.

[twokexlv6coupe]

^^^^ rep for an awesome post!!^^^^

[vabapesta]

pioneer subs arent the greatest subs however for the money you probaly paid they are worth it...it will be plenty for the lude....me personally cant stand crazy bass neways so i think it will be ok...

[2.2Lude]

It will most likely hit pretty hard. It depends on what type of box is made; sealed box will cause it to hit very hard and firm and will catch hold of the 45-70 Hert frequency range the best (since it is a 10" the more pressure will cause higher frequencies). If it is a ported box, the air space will be larger and will cause your sub to hit lower frequencies and will "carry" further as oposed to "hitting" harder. ported box will bring out the 20-45 Hert range more so than the other freqs. Either way, it will sound good as long as the box is made to the recommended specs.

As far as tuning it:
I recommend turn your amp's gain down all the way first, then tune your inside speakers to the loudest you like to hear them (should be the point just BEFORE they begin to distort). You can get a little bit more volume out of the internal speakers by turning the head unit's bass down some since you are no longer depending on the insides for your bass. Once you are satisfied with the inside speakers, turn them up to that level and begin increasing the gain on the amp.
You will want to use several songs to tune it as you will need different basslines for proper tuning. I recommend a bass cd. With your trunk OPEN, tune the sub to the proper gain the same way you did the internals; as soon as it begins to distort or bottom out, turn the gain back just a bit. You want the trunk to be open b/c it is harder to hear it bottom out with it closed and you dont want to have a blown sub just b/c you couldn't tell if it was tuned right.

Two last things:
If your amp has frequency control, you will get more gain out of the sub when your frequency is cutoff at the lowest levels. If you add a wider range of hertz (i.e. 20-110 Hz) your sub will bottom out and distort faster b/c it has to try much harder to hit all of them. Remember, subs are designed for the lowest freqencies. Finally, if your head unit has a separate subwoofer output, use it. it will put less stress on your internals and gives you better tuning options. hope this helps.

Exactly what i was looking for thanks!:smile: Great post the only question i had was when i tune my inside speakers should i have the sub running also or tune the inside then hook up the sub and tune it, again thanks that helped alot.







pioneer subs arent the greatest subs however for the money you probaly paid they are worth it...it will be plenty for the lude....me personally cant stand crazy bass neways so i think it will be ok...

Yeah i know pioneer subs aren't the greatest but i bought two of them for $50 a pretty good deal to me. I'm not a fan of LOUD A$$ BASS either, thats why i'm only puting in one of the 10's, i like clean well balanced sound

[Mdtdnb]

Exactly what i was looking for thanks!:smile: Great post the only question i had was when i tune my inside speakers should i have the sub running also or tune the inside then hook up the sub and tune it, again thanks that helped alot.




Have everything hooked up and powered on when you begin your tuning, just turn ALL gain/variable controls on your amp down completely. you may hear a little thumpage even with your gains all the way down when you are tuning your internals too...that's pretty normal.

[Mdtdnb]

keep us updated too!

[2.2Lude]

will do, im just waiting on the box for now I'll probably take my car over to his house tomorrow after work today so he can get the measurements.

[genxx]

Here is some additional info on sub enclosures in general.

A sealed enclosure will generally provided you a tighter bass response or known as more accurate music reproduction this does not mean it will not play the lower octaves. However, it is possible to accomplish the same thing with a ported design but takes alot more work. A ported box is tuned a specific frequency at this freq you will gain additional output. So saying a sealed box plays x=frequencies and a ported box played x=frequencies is not totally accurate. I have ran the same sub before ported and sealed, was able to achieve the same frequency response.

In sealed config it also depends on the cu. ft. of that box. A larger sealed enclosure will usually play lower than small sealed enclosure. It depends on what your preference is and if you are trying to achieve a specific QTC. A sealed box is less efficient than a Ported enclosure due to the pressure and less motor cooling in a sealed enclosure.

One thing to remember is a ported enclosure requires more airspace this means giving up alot more trunk space, if its a concern.

Also on box design you have to take into account what the sub is designed to do. Is it a high x-max, high power handling sub or a lower x-max, lower power handling. Is it designed to produce max SPL or accurate musical reproduction.

The manufactures recommended enclosure size is based on the T/S parameters. It is a base line of where to start.

What causes a sub to bottom out is not that its playing a wider freq. range. A sub bottoms out due to the suspension reaching its limits. This happens in the lower octaves usually 20hz or below. If your amp has a built adjustable sub sonic filter you can prevent this from happening. The amp will keep anything from x freaq from being played through the speaker. You can look at the T/S parameters to help you determine the limits of the sub. Look at the FS under the T/S specs. this is the limitations of the driver at full suspension travel or max xmax.

[vabapesta]

you should also turn your high pass filter on your headunit on too if its after market.. that will take the bass out of your interior speakers and give u nice clean sound

[2.2Lude]

Ok guys first thanks for all the advice it really helped when i tuned my amp. Second I decided to change my 600w pioneer subs for a RF 500w p2 sub(that i picked up brand new with the box and 1 year warranty for $85!!!!!) , i just finished installing it and heres what it looks like, one RF 600w P2 Amp and one RF P2 Sub:

P2 Sub
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/lil_tech209/Subbox2.jpg

Sub and Amp
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/lil_tech209/Subbox1.jpg

I mounted the amp behind the box
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/lil_tech209/amp2.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/lil_tech209/amp.jpg

[Creole.Kid]

i don't like RF amps.

KENWOOD FTW!

[2.2Lude]

they're under rated and sound really good to me.

but on a side note did you get my PM?

[Creole.Kid]

yeah i got the pm, my mom gets paid tomorrow, so i'm gonna try to coax the moo-la out of her.

cuz i know fa DAMN sho my broke ass can't pay for it. stupid best buy.

but we'll see.

[90Lude2.0s]

I got two RF p2's 12''s and they poundd

[thomas97]

i have a dual and a dynex? crazy subs i know, but my head unit has a sub button so i can turn them on and off, so im gonna throw them in an enclosure in the trunk, put the vr3 amp back there and have a boost controll basically, so if im playoing a really heavy song then i can enjoy some bass, im 15, i knwo theyre crap, gimme a break! :biggrin:

[2.2Lude]

its all good 97 i the system was my christmas present

[90Lude2.0s]

your running two different kind of subs??
they might sound a little off

[thomas97]

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i95/Thomastk/Prelude/DSC00722.jpg
i made my own ****!
cheap bass ftw!
[no comments welcome on my cheap subs lol]

edit to the guy who asked;
sure itll sound off,
theyre crappy enough and theyre also the same model and everything, they even look the exact same but with a different label in the middle.

[90Lude2.0s]

not tryin to make fun of you buttt
it might not sound like hella nice, it might ding a little bit
especially if you didnt put a splitter inbetween the two

[Mdtdnb]

^^ that plus the fact it is dynex and dual :tongue:

[90Lude2.0s]

yeah lol
that adds to the problem

[DJ Prelude]

hey bro i recently did my subs and everything too. j/w what you think about replacing the POS cardboard for a piece of wood shaped to the cardboard. the sub really makes the cardboard concave and i dont want it to fall on my amps (which are where the spare should be) so what u all think

[2.2Lude]

that would be a good idea since my sub also makes that piece fold downward

[Mdtdnb]

i did that on my 96 accord. i had the crossovers and power distributers mounted to the floor of the spare tire well. then there was a peice of 3/4" MDF fiberboard right above that supporting the sub amps. Then right above the original cardboard floor I replaced it with the same 3/4" MDF. It work out REALLY well, just get some carpet so it looks nice and make sure you have someway to have ventilation to your amps. I actually had a a huge rectangular hole in the rear of the trunk near the seat so it could only be seen if the seat was folded down. it actually looked cool because you could see the amps from there.

[DJ Prelude]

alright cool, thanks for the tip man.

[thomas97]

Yes, i put a spliter, i caucked it everythings to spec. noone ever said it was requiered to buy aftermarket parts, if you have the skill and talent to make something yourself you feel that much great then a joe schmoe who just went a bought it from a store.

the dont sound bad at all thanks ver much guys*
laugh and make fun ofthem all you want, i still got the whole setup for free
and if i ever feel like it ill take them out, you sieze t remember that im a 15 yr. old with out cash.

sheesh, i told you i didnt care but you had to say something.....

[PreludeBoy95']

ay bro where did u ground urs 2?

[2.2Lude]

you want a pic bro

[PreludeBoy95']

yeah dude...that would be lovely lol

[nevrdun]

Hey thomas are both those subs 4 ohm? Is your amp mono or 2ch. Ghetto sh!t works if it is properly engineered....(oxymoron!? lol) If you have the wrong impedence sub or subs then your amp's gonna fail and I dont wanna see you be out of bass entirely.

2.2Lude youve got a good economical setup. I have installed more than a handful of those setups in cars and trucks. Couple things to remeber and check out on your install.
Make sure youve got a good bare metal ground as close to the amp as possible like straight down the amp and to the trunk floor.
I see you didnt mount the amp to the box which is a good thing the vibration of the box can cause the amp to fail prematurely.
genxx gave a gereat description of adjusting properly and the big thing to keep in mind is you have an entry level sub and amp and they will preform great as long as you understand this and dont try to get more out of it than it can safely perform. That is the big reason or sub failure.

Enjoy! if you have any questions let us know there are a few capable audio guys here including myself:wink: