so i recently upgraded my old budget setup and it still doesn't sound right.
i now have alpine x-ref 6.5 inch components in the front, alpine r 5.25inch in the rear shelf and an alpine S 10 inch sub in a sealed box in the trunk. all are powered by an new alpine PDX-5 amp. the test certificate on the amp said it was getting 109w each to the 4 speakers and 412watts to the sub.
the speakers sound great, but the bass is lacking. the gain on the sub is set almost all the way up, and i have the speakers gains set a little lower than half. crossover for sub is around 90-100 and the speakers crossovers are around 80-90.
my old setup just had the r components in the front and the same sub in the trunk with the trunk only getting 200w from a bridged 4 channel amp at 70Wx4.
i thought i'd see a big improvement but had barely noticed any. the amp even over heated and went into protect mode today, even though it wasn't too hot to touch.
i basically have two questions.
1. could the heating be caused by the sub gain being too high? can i lower the gains on the speakers to get the subs relative volume higher without damaging the speakers?
2. would buying a different sub in the same box get louder. does the alpine S sub simply max out volume no matter the watts. i was thinking of buying a alpine R 10'' sub.
i have no fold down seats but i did punch out the metal where a ski pass would be, i didn't notice any difference.
Ok here it goes. Your amp is only 4 ohm stable in bridged mode. My guess is you have a 4ohm DVC sub and are running it at 2 ohm. Plus, you have your gains probably too high and are clipping the **** out of the signal. THis is causing it to overheat/go into protect.
1. Reset your gains using the tutorial on JL Audios website.
2. Verify your wiring. If you have a DVC 4 ohm sub, you might need to rethink your setup. You need a Dual 2 ohm sub wired to 4 ohm.
3. 400wrms will not make you beat the block down, especially in a sealed box. If you dont think youll be happy with the output, you need more power, and better gear.
i havent taken the sub apart in a while, but im pretty sure i have a DVC 2ohm sub wired in series. so it should be 4 ohms to the amp. the sub is rated to put out 300w minimum at both 2 or 4 ohms. the test certificate on the amp said the actuall wattage was 109 per channel for the speakers, and 412w for the subwoofer. i'm not looking to rattle down the block. this same sub, only getting 200 watts in a previous car used to shake the hair on my head it was so loud. i know the BMW trunks are way more sealed. my issue is that with a new amp that is significantly more powerful than the old one, i hear no noticeable difference in volume.
1 option is to set the gains on my speakers lower, so that the sub volume stays higher to a relatively lower speaker volume, i am worried that having my gains set too low will damage my speakers. i may be wrong for worrying, i just don't know about this.
the 2nd option would be to buy a better subwoofer. i don't know if getting a better sub would have better, louder, or more accurate sound under the same wattage. i have been considering buying an alpine R series 10inch sub to put in the same box. i haven't measured but i'd guess the box is around 1 cubic foot or so.
again, i am looking for sound quality here, not earth shattering bass, i had this in my old car with the same sub and it sounded great, but the BMW sounds nothing like what i used to have.
Setting gains too high damages the speakers. Lower your gains on the sub channel. Use the tutorial on jl website. If fronts over power the sub, lower the gain on the mids
First off, your equipment is really good, so I don't think that's the issue unless somehow you got a bad sub. Check the wiring on the sub, and if it's in bridged mode. You shouldn't need it bridged. This could be causing extra draw on your amp's power and causing the clipping you're talking about. I know this cause I had a professional install in my last car and it sounded good, then on the way home it started cutting out the sound. I found they just bridged the amp. Some amps may have a switch for the bridging. I can't remember how they do it, but I think to bridge they probably have your amp wires going to one side or the other and not both the L and R?
I'm trying to do the same thing in my car, different amp and speakers though. How did you tap into the Turn On Lead? Do you have to go through the head unit?
ok, so on a hunch i took my sub apart and checked exactly which one i had. turns out the shop i bought the sub and box from a few years ago gave me a different sub than i ordered. no problem, it turned out to my benefit. they also wired it in series, which was better for my old amp(parallel would overheat). anyways, it works better with my new amp than my old one. i have a DVC 4 ohm alpine S 10''. i rewired the sub to parallel so it is now presenting a 2 ohm load to the amp, instead of the previous 8 ohm. i believe the PDX-5 is only recommended to work with 4 ohm or 2 ohm loads, providing at least 300w for each. anyway. it sounds killer now, you can't hear it too loud outside the car, but the sound is huge inside. i couldn't be happier. i can't imagine owning any other amp in the future.
as for the turn on lead, i just looked up the wiring diagram in the sticky linkson this forum, tapped into the turn on lead at the factory amp in the trunk using heat shrink crimp barrel connectors. i forget which color it is, i think its a singe white or blue wire. got it on the first try.
another note, and this doesn't make any sense, but it happened... when i got the pdx-5 amp delivered i was anxious to hook it up even though i only had 8 gauge power and ground from my previous amp, not the recommended 4 gauge. i figured it would work just fine until i could buy new wiring. for some reason, every time i hooked up the power, the amp fuses blew instantly. total pain in the ass. so i went to a local audio shop and paid waaaay too much for wire. after some major pain crimping the 4 gauge battery leads on, everything worked just fine.
Glad you got all that sorted out. 99% of the problems I see are usually wiring problems. I believe the pdx-5 has a fifth channel for the sub. You can't bridge this channel anyways, so you should not have any problems running your sub at 2 ohms.
ZZROCOOL, sound preferences are largely based on personal perceptions and spamming with comments like your previous post doesn't help anyone. i'm glad that after being a forum member for almost a year you found something worthy enough for you to post on with that eloquent comment.
choosing a manufacturer that specializes is not 'always' the best, especially when price point is a concern.
you missed my point in the previous post. this forum is dedicated to helping people make the most out of their systems with whatever resources they have. someone that makes a living in the audio industry should know that people have a wide variety of tastes, whether it be based on misconceptions or not. i would hope you would bring a helpful demeanor to this forum, just as you must do when working with customers in any service industry.
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