Need some help with my powered sub install.

[FLORIDAST]

Ok, I installed my Alpine PWE-S8 and I'm not convinced it's working properly. I have the unit in the hatch area with the right rear speaker line feeding into it. Issue is it's not making an appreciable difference, the door speakers seem to hit just as hard and I'm not sure what the deal is. Is there anything I'm missing?

I tried the phase switch both ways, fiddled with the gain and filter pots and there's no improvement. The remote gain is currently not hooked up.

Maybe this unit needs a stereo input and I should also tap into the left rears? Maybe I should tap into the front speakers? Maybe I need a good LOC to improve on things? Please let me know what I can try.

 

[maestromaestro]

Ok, I installed my Alpine PWE-S8 and I'm not convinced it's working properly. I have the unit in the hatch area with the right rear speaker line feeding into it. Issue is it's not making an appreciable difference, the door speakers seem to hit just as hard and I'm not sure what the deal is. Is there anything I'm missing?

I tried the phase switch both ways, fiddled with the gain and filter pots and there's no improvement. The remote gain is currently not hooked up.

Maybe this unit needs a stereo input and I should also tap into the left rears? Maybe I should tap into the front speakers? Maybe I need a good LOC to improve on things? Please let me know what I can try.

Well, maybe all of the above. Try the easiest first and see if there's an improvement. People reported that hooking the sub to the fronts makes a difference.

There's also the fact that the Sony head unit trims off the lower frequencies at higher volume, as I understand. To get that resolved, one needs a FORSCAN code change and some (limited) rewiring to retain some voice features (which may not matter if you are using AA or CP) - there's a thread on this latter subject.

Also, an 8" sub is not all that powerful - I have an underseat 8-incher, and the performance is somewhat underwhelming (that's what she said).

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[LedRobster]

I have a Rockford unit running off the rear passenger speaker and It gets plenty of signal (sub is under the hatch floor). Are you running straight line level or are you converting to RCA? I converted to RCA, might help some. Also, I'd hook up the remote bass boost, play with that and see what you get.

Also, double check your crossover setting, If you have it set too low it may be blocking frequencies you want to hear, I notice there's a lot of variation in streaming/digital music. Alot of classic rock and such doesn't seem to reach down to the low frequencies with the bass drum and such. Maybe get a test frequency cd/mp3.

When in doubt, RTFM, there may be different settings you need to use for line level vs RCA.

 

[FLORIDAST]

Thanks for the replies. I adjusted the crossover and the gain a bit more and played a "bass" track from youtube and the sub definitely works and actually produces strong bass. I think the issue I was having was playing music that really didn't have that much bass, that plus the likely less than ideal speaker level inputs aren't helping.

So would installing a line output convertor like a LC2i make a good difference? I will look into the Forscan thing as well. Thanks all.

 

[HBEcoBeaST]

The LC2i has 'accu bass' which is supposed to restore the bass that our head units filter out. I've heard good things and my buddy has one hooked up for his sub on his otherwise stock Honda system, it sounds great.

I am not sure but I think the fronts get a fuller signal in our cars since they have the component speakers with the seperate tweeters. I've read that getting the max signal to the sub as possible is best.

Good luck and keep us posted.