For the Rockford - put a voltmeter set on auto-range, dc volts, on your B+ and ground at the amp, and see what variation you get when playing. Some is acceptable (like 11.5v to 14.00v), more will generate audible distorsion in output signal (choke the amp). Hope you used a no. 4awg wire, or greater, to run power to the amp.

 

wow, lol. alright. well i dont have a whole lot of money at the money to really go through all that, especially after just payin for the subs and amp. but i was lookin into gettin new speakers and HU. i was talkin to a guy at a car audio place and he said getting a new HU would help a bit, so im goin with that for now, then will probably work on speakers.

and what do you mean about the ranges and response curve with the sealed and ported boxes?

 

The post above you is only to check if your straining your electrical system causing the voltage to drop too much. Really not complicated, all you need is a voltage meter. With a 7th gen unless your well over 1000w you won't be straining it, and if your voltages are dropping below 11v you have an electrical problem. But that is pretty much irrelevant to this thread and your issues. Why he mentioned it? I don't know... Your problems have to do with having bone stock speakers and the stock HU, nothing to do with chocking your amps.

Ok I'm going to try and explain this as simply as possible so it's not going to be 100% accurate, but the general idea is true. The bass range we want from our subs is from about 40hz to about 60-80hz depending on the sub. A ported box's output (volume) is tuned to peak at the lower range, and have a diminished high range output. While a sealed box is going to have relatively the same output throughout the range. For accurate, clean, tight bass which is necessary with rock, you really need a sealed box. I listen to a lot of metal, and with a ported box it's just no good. Ported boxes are only really good for showing off. Now it is possible to build a perfectly tuned box, with a sub designed to run in a ported box to sound nearly as good as a sealed, but that is professorial level stuff. For what we do, stick to the sealed. I only mention that so someone doesn't come on here defending their ported boxes. 99% of the time a ported box will not sound as good as a sealed, and will never surpass it in accuracy.

 

alright cool. well then i guess i'll have to look into getting a sealed one then.

 

Im glad that I dont know too much other than to know how to turn on my stereo and put in my cd's..all this hurts my head

That's why t00fatt is my stereo guru...

WheelBrokerAng

 

LOL Angelo this is all real basic stuff, heck I really only know the basics.

Hey how can I get in contact with you Angelo? I see you've disabled your PMs, could you PM me your e-mail or something?

 

No, that is not accurate. You may have 11VDC at the amp and have no car electrical problem, it's just the voltage drop on the power wires of the amp. That's why they have those wiring kits, and you need that 4 gage wire for this application - OHM's law.
And another thing: you do not measure anything on the rca outputs (my first reply), unless you have the amp on the bench and use the signal generator and the scope for power ratings, etc.
And also, the capacitors on the power line (my first reply) do not smooth anything in this case, they just store some energy for the peak current when the bass hits. And if installed correctly by the amp, they actually protect the car's electrical system. How? They form a RC circuit with the power wires, which now smooths out the current demands of the amp from the battery/alternator side.
But then again this was not the question.

Back to the question, if you do get a new hu you can drop the rca converter providing you new head unit will have rca pre outs.

 

When using a LOC you should check the voltages of the RCAs, this how you set the gains on the LOC. While a cap does supply extra current to the amp, what it is doing is stabilizing the voltage, the current fluctuates constantly this is normal. A cap is good for you amp, but not necessarily good for your alt. A cap is not a power source, right after feeding the sub, the cap surges current from the alt and battery, putting a bit of an extra load on the alt and battery.

 

Also I don't at all understand why you keep coming to the conclusion he is choking his amp. It is only a 400w or so amp, even running 8awg won't exactly choke it, but it would like a 4awg-6awg. Second he's comparing a small woofer to a subwoofer, stock car's don't come with subwoofers, in reality they are woofers. Which will reproduce the higher notes much more clearly. On top of that he is running a ported box, which is quite sloppy. Tight clean bass requires a sealed box or an IB set up. This was the point of this thread. He says everything but these notes sound good. The lower notes require more power, and from what he is saying it is only the higher bass tones that don't sound right. So this is obviously not a power issue, but a driver and enclosure issue. You seem to know what your talking about, but you really have to look in detail at what they are saying before coming to a conclusion. Most people don't ask questions with great detail, so it is up to you to read between the lines to really see what is going on on their end.

EDIT: He could also have his crossover set too low, but that still won't make a ported box sound right in the higher range. Double bass requires speed, and high frequencies. Ported boxes are sloppy and do not respond as quickly to fast bass beats. Nor do some drivers, I think this is a combination of driver an enclosure. Subs designed with SPL in mind are not going to move fast enough to change bass quickly, especially in the high notes, combine that with a ported box and you can have a very muddy sounding sub.

 

what do you mean by driver? is that the amp or the HU?