how do you make a sub sound better???

[dr_dohc]

alright, i'm having some problems...i got a JL 15w3 from a friend...works, not blown...he's had it for a year...got it cheap...$100...I'm using a HCCA 225R amp from him too...got it for $50...

the amps suppose to put out 400@ 1 ohm mono...the JL's a dual 2 ohm so i got it bridged at 1 ohm...

I got a poineer 6 something series with the animation and poineer 3 way speakers all around...I got the gain at half way right now on the amp and the bass boost all the way down to nothing...

I belive you're suppose to put the gain at lowest, turn your head unit all the way till your confortable, turn it down alittle, turn the gain on the amp all the way till it starts to distort, turn it down alittle, and then turn the bass boost up after that...which i haven't yet...

MY PROBLEM: my problem is that i'm kinda dissatisfied with my sound right now...i was expecting my sub to be alittle loader...its not that load right now...how do i really tune with my bass boost??? do I just turn that baby all the way? I dont want to do any harm to the sub...

what kind of tunning can i do to get some loader perfomance from the sub?

[dr_dohc]

ok, i just read a post two seconds ago about frequency...maybe this could be a problem too...my HCCA's got a low pass from 40-500...which is pretty shitty cus you cant be too accurate...but:

if i want some slightly muddy bass that is also somewhat tight and accurate, where should i be at? 100? 80htz? 50?

[GSteg]

bass boost will only distort the bass even more. if u want loud change box. if u have a sealed box, i would highly recommend you getting a ported box and tune the port around 30hz for a mix of SQ and SPL.

what makes that "tight" bass is the midbass region. thats generally about 70hz-250hz. i would highpass the subwoofer at about 100hz-120hz.

cliffnote: don't use bass boost

[rcurley55]

Originally posted by GSteg
what makes that "tight" bass is the midbass region. thats generally about 70hz-250hz. i would highpass the subwoofer at about 100hz-120hz.

please lay off the drugs...

[GSteg]

Originally posted by rcurley55
please lay off the drugs...

i mean lowpass. lol.

[dr_dohc]

alright, i'm gonna try to put the low pass at 100 then...or around there...I got a sealed box right now with only 2sqft of space...using about a lb of poly fill...

I dont think i'm gonna get a ported box till next spring...got full time school right now and finals are coming up and working quite a bit...maybe i'll look something up on ebay

and i'm gonna lay off the bass boost then...thanks...

[vteccoupe]

enclosure is EVERYTHING, well maybe not everything , but a very big part of the puzzle. change out the box. 2 cube ft box seems pretty small for a 15w3, but i never liked jl anyway so i'd ditch the sub and the box but thats just me.

[what the...]

Everybody's got good ideas here. Your enclosure is definitley important to the muddiness/tightness of your bass. I've never owned any fifteens, so I don't know if 2cu.ft. is right or not. Go to rockfordfosgate.com or something and they'll have plans up there. If it turns out that you need more than 2 cu.ft., put some hollowfill or something in there. If you need less than 2 cu.ft. you're gonna need some board.

As far as bass boost goes, it's all about the way you like the sound. You want to stay away from it in general, because boosting signal is not going to improve the quality of your sound, it's going to magnify distortion as equally as it magnifies the rest of the signal. IMO, turn all the boost (on the head, on the amp, wherever) all the way down. Then tune the bass with your EQ to get a better sound. You wanna find someplace in the middle so that when a really 'bassy' track comes on, you can tweak your boost just a little to get more oomph without distortion. My fingers are tired.

[slvrcoupe]

just make sure you use a good amp and a box with the right specifications and it will sound good. the box does matter a lot and amp.