Help Me Car Audio

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
13,214
2,586
It's been probably 15 years since I've needed to add a subwoofer to a car to round out the sound but alas, here I am, this time with a Maserati that apparently already has premium sound.

I bought a 600w 10" kicker and a 300w Kicker Monoblock amp because I'm not looking to blow the trunk off the car. I just want to fill in the missing frequencies.

So I wire it all up and it works out of the gate but lows are really muddy. The Tesla accomplishes more with an 8" subwoofer stuffed in the side of the trunk than this thing does. At first I thought it was a matter of it not getting enough power but at half volume it doesn't sound good either. The lows are just really loose.

I don't know what to do. I do have a shitty wiring kit for the amp but given the fact that this is happening at lower volumes too I'm assuming that's not to blame here right?

The way I have it wired is the single subwoofer speaker high output is going into a high/ low converter then into the amp. Gain on the converter is all the way up and gain on the amp is at about a 1/4 way up. No bass boost turned on on the amp. Crossover is all the way up to 120 but moving it has no affect as I'm using the signal from the stock sub which is already frequency capped I'm sure.

WTF am I doing wrong?
 

Chester Copperpot

Unvaxxed Untermensch
TCG Premium
May 7, 2010
39,411
40,188
Blanco el Norte
Wire the sub directly into the amp itself. The amp should have a built in crossover, not sure why you would need a high/low converter between the amp and the sub.

For example, my truck had a "700w" sub that I replaced with a 400w mono amp and a 500w sub. I used one of the stock sub wires to connect directly into the amp with it's own crossover and then directly connected the sub. Kicks HARD.

You are correct in assuming most factory EQ'd systems have a lot of funky frequency cut offs to "protect" the factory junk speakers. Ford did this with the Sync and it's infuriating trying to unfuck it. You may also need an amp that takes both high level and low level inputs. High level is a signal that has already been EQ'd through a factory amp, such as both of our cases. A low level signal is directly from the headunit with no EQ/amp, just a pure signal ready to go.
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
TCG Premium
May 24, 2007
122,225
87,879
Niche score of 2,363
Wire the sub directly into the amp itself. The amp should have a built in crossover, not sure why you would need a high/low converter between the amp and the sub.

For example, my truck had a "700w" sub that I replaced with a 400w mono amp and a 500w sub. I used one of the stock sub wires to connect directly into the amp with it's own crossover and then directly connected the sub. Kicks HARD.

You are correct in assuming most factory EQ'd systems have a lot of funky frequency cut offs to "protect" the factory junk speakers. Ford did this with the Sync and it's infuriating trying to unfuck it. You may also need an amp that takes both high level and low level inputs. High level is a signal that has already been EQ'd through a factory amp, such as both of our cases. A low level signal is directly from the headunit with no EQ/amp, just a pure signal ready to go.


it is setup how you're saying.
 

Chester Copperpot

Unvaxxed Untermensch
TCG Premium
May 7, 2010
39,411
40,188
Blanco el Norte
I thought the hi/lo converter was some kind of crossover. I see now that it's what I described.

If there's a factory amp in the mix, that would likely be your issue. My point still stands on the terribly EQ'd signal going into the converter. It's a big issue with the Ford systems as well when guys start trying to change speakers and add amps.
 

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
13,214
2,586
Damn, I'm not sure I can grab the signal before the amp. I'd have to check wiring.

I agree that the fuckery is afoot here though. I can turn the crossover in the amp all the way up and it doesn't change anything at all which means the frequency cutoff on the stock subwoofer was ridiculously low which means that there's a gap in frequency between what the door speakers can handle and what the sub is being given. Which means that from the factory this could have never been more than utter shit even on it's best day.
 

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
13,214
2,586
By the way, here's the stock "subwoofer". It's a 6x9 woofer with a 2" magnet and it weighs 1lb 4oz. Trollolololololololololololol

tfpsJkk.jpg
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,015
coal city
Don’t turn the gain up all the way on anything it makes speakers clip, distort whatever, there is a proper way to set gains but I usually just do it by ear turn the volume way up and adjust the gains until it dosent distort anymore, if changing the frequency doesn’t do anything it’s probably an issue with the incoming signal
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,015
coal city
But would you guys agree that low volume, low frequency muddiness wouldn't be a symptom of my inadequate power wiring to the amp? It shouldn't be anywhere near max output there yeah? In fact, if anything is sounds better as you turn it up.

No the power wire shouldn’t make it sound different unless you have a bad ground then it pops and messes things up
 

Flyn

Go ahead. I'll catch up.
Moderator
TCG Premium
Mar 1, 2004
68,052
27,984
Selling homes on the Gulf Coast of Florida
Most likely signal and crossovers/gains. Take it to a decent shop, pay them the big bucks and be done with it. Regardless of how much effort I used to put into my systems, some 16 y.o. at a good shop could do it better.

Also, the higher quality sub/amp you use, the better the sound quality. (obviously)
 

smug

Please go back to eating crayons
TCG Premium
Aug 4, 2007
8,087
3,751
Cedar Lake, IN
Real Name
Dan Erickson
You need to figure out what kind of signal you are feeding your new amp. Obviously it sounds like it very heavily EQ’d after your factory amp. You could try a door speaker but it’s probaly EQ’d to holy hell. I am not sure if those cars use a fine optic loop like most German cars do. They use a Mo Bridge to tap into the factory signal before the factory amp. Honestly your best bet is to have a shop put a meter on the signal wire or an RTA to see what’s going on after the amp
 

Mr_Roboto

Doing the jobs nobody wants to
TCG Premium
Feb 4, 2012
25,677
30,577
Nashotah, Wisconsin (AKA not Illinois)
My question is have you checked voltage at the amp with sustained load on it, and what power feed do you have. If the voltage is "sagging" it can cause muddiness as well. While it could easily be the crossover, just something basic worth noting. 300W even with a class D amp is hack estimate 25-27A input at 12V. You'd likely want a #10 or so running to it but may be able to get away with smaller due to the shortness of the run. Still never hurts to overkill that part.
 

Mike K

TCG Elite Member
Apr 11, 2008
13,214
2,586
didn't you buy it boxed already? one would hope it be accompanied with the right size for the sub.

maybe you can grab something else and run another input to it to confirm the frequency/crossover diagnosis

I did. It's a 1 footish low profile ported enclosure with a 12" speaker. I can turn it down so that it doesn't distort but then the bass level is pretty low. Am I expecting too much? I really don't think so. The Tesla sticks a very small 8" bandpass enclosure in a corner of the trunk and it works great. The Q5's subwoofer is so small that it fits in the center of the spare tire and it's output is sometimes oppressive. I have to turn it down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIeL6w2JDDc

So I don't know. If it were a car that was solely mine to enjoy I might actually be tempted to drop a few thousand and have the entire system upgraded. For me a big part of the overall enjoyment of any vehicle is it's sound system and my upgrade brought the system from mediocre to just passable but with the amazing systems in the Q5 and Tesla I still find myself wanting a lot more out of it.
 

Bru

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
TCG Premium
May 24, 2007
40,504
10,201
I dunno. The Audi’s system was designed with SUV space in mind and an open passenger area. It might not work the same in an enclosed trunk. On the better systems, audio engineers are brought in very early during the development to design the system specifically for the car.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant. Consider starting a new thread to get fresh replies.

Thread Info