My sub is to "boomy"
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 74
From: East Brunswick, NJ
My sub is to "boomy"
For my setup, i have an alpine 7893 and 1 jl 12W3 and a jl audio 250/1 amp. My sub is in a sealed enclosure and is really "boomy", meaning that instead of quick, tight bass, the bass is really loud and drags on. My friend has 2 12 inch W3's in his car with a sealed enclosure, and his is nice and quick, not so loud and boomy. Any suggestions on how to make my bass quicker and tighter? The reason it bothers me is that it vibrates my entire car because the bass drags at the same frequency. It is not the songs, since i tried them in my friends car and they sound fine. Thanks guys.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 825
From: Stamford, VT
It could be a bunch of things. Even if you've got the same enclosure, it could still sound different. The style of car has a lot to do with it. A hatch-back tends to have a strong transfer function around 50hz. If you've got the gain too high, and especially if your mid-bass from your coaxes/components is a bit lacking, there will be a large separation between the bass and the upper frequencies, which will make the bass stick out like a sore thumb. If the bass is properly attenuated and flows smoothly into the midbass, it will sound a lot more natural.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 752
Check the GAIN setting on your amp, it may be too high.
Also check your box for leaks, make sure the edges on teh inside are sealed with silicone or some type of glue.
Another way to keep the bass tighter is to get some polyfil, ( the stuff pillows and stuffed animals are mode of, you can get a big bag of it for like $5 at walmart) Stuff the box with polyfil, dont pack it too tight but not too lose either, jsut dont let it be so packed it puts pressure on the backside of the subwoofer.
Polyfil will help it alot. It causes the bass waves to slow down so it acts like your sub is in a larger encloser giving you more bass with less " BOOMY" sounds. But to me it sounds like lowering your gain setting to less than HALF of its full range would help alot too.
Also if your amp has a crossover on it make sure you are not sendingany signals higher than 100Hz to it. If you have it too high it will try and amplify all the MID RANGE bass that your normal car speakers are producing causing a horrible " BOOMY" resonance.
Also check your box for leaks, make sure the edges on teh inside are sealed with silicone or some type of glue.
Another way to keep the bass tighter is to get some polyfil, ( the stuff pillows and stuffed animals are mode of, you can get a big bag of it for like $5 at walmart) Stuff the box with polyfil, dont pack it too tight but not too lose either, jsut dont let it be so packed it puts pressure on the backside of the subwoofer.
Polyfil will help it alot. It causes the bass waves to slow down so it acts like your sub is in a larger encloser giving you more bass with less " BOOMY" sounds. But to me it sounds like lowering your gain setting to less than HALF of its full range would help alot too.
Also if your amp has a crossover on it make sure you are not sendingany signals higher than 100Hz to it. If you have it too high it will try and amplify all the MID RANGE bass that your normal car speakers are producing causing a horrible " BOOMY" resonance.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,119
The gain **** is marked "input sens." on your amp. Directly between the "input voltage" and "signal sensing" switches. Turn it counterclockwise a little a see if it fixes your problem. Also, your crossover is marked "Amp LP filter". You want to set the switch to 12db (the middle position) and set the **** to about 75-80Hz. And check your box for air leaks....