Weak bass when driving?

by **drndrn** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:44 pm

Just finished the installation of my new amp and sub, and I've noticed that while driving, my bass dies, almost as if the subwoofer isn't getting any power, but as soon as I'm sitting at idle again or while the engine isn't on, the audio is fine.

I assume it's because the amp isn't getting enough power from the battery? Perhaps time to replace for a better battery?

Anyone else had the same problem? Ideas?

by **NoOzL47** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:32 am

have someone look into your boot while your driving, my 4chan was doing that for a while. it was going into protect. Get someone to watch if its going into protect

by **drndrn** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:41 am

what does it mean if its going into protect? not enough power?

by **gtspec** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:13 am

drndrn wrote:what does it mean if its going into protect? not enough power?

protect mode may be happening for a number of reasons..

you could have a wire shorting out.. or your amp is overheating

by **NoOzL47** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:07 am

it can also be caused by bad earth, voltage drop, bad connection in fuse (i learnt that 1 the hard way)

by **XRC15T** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:08 am

check battery/voltage drop, check all your connections are secured, check your gains, check wire guage, check your ohm loads, check earth, check if your speaker wires are running near power wires. If none of the above then isolate if hardware fault, subs, amp, alternator.

by **drndrn** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:25 am

oh lord, any one in melb care to come by and help? i'm a mega car audio noob so i really dno what im doing. i know for sure though that the protect light isn't coming on.

so yeah, im pretty sure all connections are fine, i dont see how driving/being idle would make any difference. as far as i've checked they're all secured.

power cables and speaker cables are not close to each other, and by close i mean they're about.. 1 foot away fro each other.. speakers run down right side of the passengers seat, while power runs down the left side of the seat.

it is definitely not overheating.

check battery/voltage drop, check all your connections are secured, check your gains, check wire guage, check your ohm loads, check earth, check if your speaker wires are running near power wires. If none of the above then isolate if hardware fault, subs, amp, alternator.

how on earth do i check all them?

also, how did you all stop vibrations, especially in the boot and around the parcel shelf?

by **Ric** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:06 pm

drndrn wrote:oh lord, any one in melb care to come by and help? i'm

Where are you? I live north west (Gladstone Park/Tullamarine), and work down in Oakleigh.
I'll be at work this coming Mon-Wed, then at home until Jan-5.

by **drndrn** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:14 pm

I'm in Glen Waverley, but I'm on holidays and only work a casual job so I should be able to drive just about anywhere.

Would I be correcting in saying that it most likely isn't a problem with my signal (speaking level inputs) cables?

by **Ric** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:29 pm

drndrn wrote:Would I be correcting in saying that it most likely isn't a problem with my signal (speaking level inputs) cables?

If it's fine when you're not driving then I'd say they are fine.
(or do you have to turn it up when you're driving to drown out the engine

)

by **drndrn** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:12 pm

haha ah i've tried leaving it at the same volume level. it sounds like the bass is underpowered or something i dont know. but my bass just disappears as soon as i drive!

by **nytrojen** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:48 pm

drndrn wrote:haha ah i've tried leaving it at the same volume level. it sounds like the bass is underpowered or something i dont know. but my bass just disappears as soon as i drive!

Loose connection maybe? I know my Silvia had some issues with the connection inside the amp coming loose from taking too many corners just a little too briskly.

by **Sentinel** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:37 pm

Bro - it's your suspension! You're Lib is so dammmnnnn looooowwww that all the vibrations of those massive twin 12" subs are being lost with the bumps of the road!! :lol:

by **cpitts** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:16 am

Don't mean to be silly but, where's the sub mounted and how's the bass firing into the cabin?

It could simply be road noise stopping you hearing the bass once moving at a certain speed. Positioning and porting makes all kinds of differences when mobile. But this is also why I fire my subs directly into the cabin rather than like a PA system into the boot.

As a test, push the sub up agains the ski port and pull the pass through port down in the back seat and see if you still hear no bass. If so, it's more likely a shorting of wires fault than anything. Who installed it?

by **Boxer** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:01 am

cpitts wrote:Don't mean to be silly but, where's the sub mounted and how's the bass firing into the cabin?

It could simply be road noise stopping you hearing the bass once moving at a certain speed. Positioning and porting makes all kinds of differences when mobile. But this is also why I fire my subs directly into the cabin rather than like a PA system into the boot.

As a test, push the sub up agains the ski port and pull the pass through port down in the back seat and see if you still hear no bass. If so, it's more likely a shorting of wires fault than anything. Who installed it?

Being a wagon, I find firing my 12" sub (sealed box) backwards into the boot window and set it out of phase gives a nice reflection and much more defined bass than the stocker.

(yes still powered off the Mac amp, but found the most efficient 12" I could (eclipse) works well for a simple addition.)

Weak bass when driving?

Weak bass when driving?

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