Need some help.

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:25 am

Hello, I just want some opinions on how to get my car audio system louder.

Would it be any louder inside if I point the subs into the cabin? How hard would it be to seal it off from the trunk? And what would I have to do? Would it make a big difference? I can't buy or get anything online right now because it won't be here on time.

I have a spare battery but I don't know if its going to make my stereo any louder. I only have 4guage wire right now. And I also have a trunk car. A 2001 sunfire 4 door. The rear seat folds down.

Thanks

Post by **Rold Gold** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:38 am

What are you runnin??????

Have you deaden'd the car yet? Doing that keeps alot of the sound INSIDE yer car.

If all else fails then you'd better start adding woofers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:43 am

I have a Jbl Gto1201.1 amp and two Phoenix Gold 10" Rsdc's. I just sprayed my trunk with rubberized undercoat. A couple of days ago. My bass went up a bit. I just want it louder because of a sound competition coming up in a couple of weeks. So I want some ideas of how to make it louder.

Post by **Rold Gold** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:02 pm

2-10's aren't gonna give ya earth shattering bass or bleeding ears...... They get loud for sure.............but why do you think you see 20 12's in a van with 30,000 watts........? Cone area and power makes for higher DB's.

You might try a different box or firing them into the car but I really only ever played with JL W6-10's and I ran 3 dual 6ohm's in a ported box that was designed by JL and was pushed with a bd1000.

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:44 pm

Yeah I know that, but there probably are other ways to increase the db rating. Like would installing a extra battery in the trunk help? By putting the subs towards the cabin how would I seal the trunk off. I heard sealing it off gives more bass because there is less volume in total in the car.

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:09 pm

sealing it off can help...do your seats fold down? or arm rest pass through?

you could use some blue tape to mask off your trunk carpet, then use expanding foam to seal in your box so the air is pushed right through the ski-pass.

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:20 pm

the whole seat back seat folds down. Probably turn this right around, so the subs face forwards and this amp rack facing the trunk. Seat folds down like this:

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:06 pm

yep, that would work.

i might not sound as good for dialy listening. the seats can be the source of lots of rattle. i went trough this in my car and finally admited defat and turned my subs back aorund.

but they will gain some pressure in the cabin

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:28 pm

I just want it to sound louder by ear. There is quite a bit of pressure the way I have it now and thats the box pointed to the rear. You could fear your hair move. And I give some people blurred vision when I turn it up. I just want it louder so would it sound better and louder if I seal the trunk off and have the subs pointed towards the cabin?

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:38 pm

better? it might. it all depends on the car's dynamics. you will have more pressure, but any cone noise is also easy to hear now.

it should defenetly be louder though....also depends on your car. never know how it will react until you try

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:41 pm

I think I may try it. Whats the easiest way to seal the trunk off? I don't want a mess on the actual carpet or anything though.

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:25 pm

I faced the subs forward but didn't seal it off yet. There is now a buzzing sound that changes tone when I accelerate. Why does this happen? Didn't happen before.

Post by **Rold Gold** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:40 am

You sir have interference. Are you using high-end RCA's? Did you run all yer wires next to each other? You might not have heard it before but there is a chance it may have just started.

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:19 am

to seal it off, buy a couple rolls of that blue painters tape.

mask of everything around the box (and your box itself if you don't want to ruin the carpet/paint etc )

get a can or 2 of the great stuff expanding foam and go to town.

keep in mind...that crap will not com off whatever it touches (including you) so don't skimp on the tape

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:19 am

I turned my subs around yesterday and pointed them into the cabin. But didn't seal it off yet. The bass doesn't seem as loud as it was before. When it was pointed to the rear. Should I just point them to the rear again?

Post by **Rold Gold** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:33 am

Mic it both ways....

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:01 pm

the subs wont sound louder until you seal them up. the reason is notes are bouncing back and canceling each other out (there is a really nice diagram about his somewhere. if you are going to try firing them forward, you have to seal them in too. that is why people fire them backwards to begin with

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:07 pm

Ok then I think I understand now. So it will be louder when I seal the trunk off. And will be louder then how I had it before with them backwards? Because there was some sound waves going into the trunk with them faced forwards. And how would I seal off the rear deck? I have my 6x9s in there and the magnet and wires come down into the trunk. There are quite abit of holes in the rear deck.

Post by **Bfowler** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:33 pm

you seal it into the back seat fold down area, so it is isolated away from the rear deck. you wont have to do anything with the rear deck or 6x9's

dammit, does anyone have that ad that shows the waves and cancellation!

i can't find the damn thing and it would be extremely helpful right now

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:06 pm

Yeah I don't know if I'm going to seal it off now. The expanding foam I was looking at said it has pretty bad fumes. All the different brands said the same thing. And it takes about 8 hours to fully cure. I don't know if it stinks at all though. Do the fumes harm my car audio equipment in anyway? And would adding the other battery help with bass? I only have 4guage to use.

HoseHead · Post by **HoseHead** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:01 pm

No, adding a battery will do nothing for bass. Increasing your B+ wire to 0ga from 4ga will improve current feed to the amp, but again, will not provide you an audible improvement in bass.

I'm an SQL guy. I have qty 3 XMax12's facing into my trunk cavity. I turned the box around one time (all woofs directly into the cabin) and it sounded like doggy dog crap to me. The trunk space is required to allow the lower frequencies to develop all sweet and clean.

You are looking for maximum SPL so you need to COMPLETELY seal your trunk from the woofer so that no air from the trunk space is displaced when the woofer "moves". You want ALL the displaced air (from woofer excursion) to be within the cabin of your car, therefore you need to seal the trunk from the cabin to make this process efficient. To make it perfect, you'd need to seal every minute hole in your cabin. Think of how a woofer sounds free air. Crap, right? That's why it's in a box, so there's less air to displace. Same concept.

If that damn Fowler could find that damn diagram that depicts that damn wave cancellation effect, then you understand the damn concept, dammit.

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:32 pm

I was just thinking it would give a more consistent current to the amp. And the bass would be louder. Because the amp would be hooked up right next to the battery. When I did the big 3, the bass increased by quite a bit. So I though this would do the same.

Post by **Rold Gold** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:01 pm

Are you running 0/1 gauge power wire to the trunk?

You said yer using 4 gauge...........????????

Juice0723 · Post by **Juice0723** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:46 pm

I'm using 4 guage. The biggest wire I could get in my city is 4guage.

Post by **Bfowler** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:38 am

Juice0723 wrote:Yeah I don't know if I'm going to seal it off now. The expanding foam I was looking at said it has pretty bad fumes. All the different brands said the same thing. And it takes about 8 hours to fully cure. I don't know if it stinks at all though. Do the fumes harm my car audio equipment in anyway? And would adding the other battery help with bass? I only have 4guage to use.

the expanding foam doesnt really have bad fumes (at least any that i have used) and after it kures, it doesnt smell like anything. i used lots of it in some of my installs. and it wont damage the gear at all unless you get it on the gear....then it will be stuck on there. it is sort of a pain, but if you want a couple extra DB's, then don't be afraid to do it.

the only reason i went away from it is because it caused the latches in my seats to vibrate and i could stop it from rattaling