Fi Q 10 - Not incredibly loud

[ayssius 0]

Hello there audio enthusiasts!

I have a single FiQ 10, stock options except it has the High QTS.

I am running it in a sealed box with 0.7 cuft of total volume, minus the Q's 0.12cuft of displacement. Sub Box

It is powered by a Alpine MRP-M500, It is a Dual 1 Q with the voice coils in series for 2 Ohms.

Ok, this sub is beautiful. I really do like it aesthetically, and it is a terrific sounding sub. My only real complaint is that I can't seem to get any real oomph out of it. I realize it is a SQ, but i have had 90$ subwoofers at a fraction of the power pound louder. When I first installed the sub and amp, I couldn't even get any noise out of it hardly until the amp's gain was maxed. At top volume it does thump, and the bass range goes nice and low. The volume is just lacking, nothing shakes on the car at all hardly. Its audible out of the car, but only just.

I'm fairly certain power is a non-issue. I have a 2000 watt wiring kit, 1 Gauge to a distro block, then four gauge to the amps. Also its worth noting that the sub really looks like its working hard. It uses its whole xmax (phrasing?), as in i mean to say that when its playing it covers its whole range of motion. Perhaps some subsonic noise?

Am I stupidly underpowering this thing? or was I just expecting too much volume from a single sealed 10?

Any input welcome. Thanks all!

EDIT :

I only mentioned the volume outside of the vehicle as a means of expressing volume level without knowing the actual decibels, not because I am trying to shake the block.

The sub has also been running for about a month and a half, I was hoping also that breaking it in would help, but alas, still the same.

Also I knew sealed would not be as loud. I really wanted something that had flat frequency response, but a little more boom than what I got.

It looks like I am off to buy a more powerful amp!!

Thanks for all the input guys!

Edited September 20, 2011 by ayssius

[NDMstang65 403]

You have..a 500 watt amp on it.

It's not going to get loud with a 500 watt amp on it.

[Julian 641]

Hello there audio enthusiasts!

I have a single FiQ 10, stock options except it has the High QTS.

I am running it in a sealed box with 0.7 cuft of total volume, minus the Q's 0.12cuft of displacement. Sub Box

It is powered by a Alpine MRP-M500, It is a Dual 1 Q with the voice coils in series for 2 Ohms.

Ok, this sub is beautiful. I really do like it aesthetically, and it is a terrific sounding sub. My only real complaint is that I can't seem to get any real oomph out of it. I realize it is a SQ, but i have had 90$ subwoofers at a fraction of the power pound louder. When I first installed the sub and amp, I couldn't even get any noise out of it hardly until the amp's gain was maxed. At top volume it does thump, and the bass range goes nice and low. The volume is just lacking, nothing shakes on the car at all hardly. Its audible out of the car, but only just.

I'm fairly certain power is a non-issue. I have a 2000 watt wiring kit, 1 Gauge to a distro block, then four gauge to the amps. Also its worth noting that the sub really looks like its working hard. It uses its whole xmax (phrasing?), as in i mean to say that when its playing it covers its whole range of motion. Perhaps some subsonic noise?

Am I stupidly underpowering this thing? or was I just expecting too much volume from a single sealed 10?

Any input welcome. Thanks all!

Why does that matter? if it sounds good in the car then you're good. You chose a 10 sealed it's not going to get super loud.

[XxedgarxX 2]

You have..a 500 watt amp on it.

It's not going to get loud with a 500 watt amp on it.

my 2 18" loaded bl's where laughing at my kx2500.1

you need more power on that sub

[C4W18 0]

there's no such thing as underpowering a sub...."underpowering" only becomes a problem when people go crazy with the gains (which it seems like you're doing) trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents...however if you want to get it to its full potential, push it with something along the lines of 1000-1500 rms. And like Julian said, you chose a sealed enclosure...a enclosure which requires more power to get the same amount of output as a ported enclosure.

[cloud77 28]

500 W @ 2 ohm is that amps max, if you're gain isnt all the way up, which you dont want it to be, think about how much wattage your putting to it. That sub probably isnt even loose yet, yet moving much at all and putting out great sound. Get a new amp, your electrical and wiring looks like you're ready for one. I would reccomend a mmats d series. They put out great wattage at 2 ohm, half gain and you'll be putting out about 750 W

[Hzd Skizzy 27]

500 W @ 2 ohm is that amps max, if you're gain isnt all the way up, which you dont want it to be, think about how much wattage your putting to it. That sub probably isnt even loose yet, yet moving much at all and putting out great sound. Get a new amp, your electrical and wiring looks like you're ready for one. I would reccomend a mmats d series. They put out great wattage at 2 ohm, half gain and you'll be putting out about 750 W

Full gain doesn't mean full power. You can have full power at half gain. It's not a volume knob like some people recognize it to be. Plus you can never tell how many watts your amp is putting out without clamping and testing. Gain is all about matching the h/u signal to the amp.

@ OP

It's probably still tight give it a few weeks and come back. It's sealed, 10" sub, and 500w.

[steveo50 3]

About hearing it out side the car: I'm not sure y but I think it kinda depends on the car. My bmw you could hear it out side of the car very well but my new trailblazer you can't hear it as well out side; even tho its way louder inside the car. (I kinda like not being able to not hear it out side cuz I won't get pulled over and I won't bother people)

[slim2fattycake 85]

do you have it wired right and are you sure you got dual 1 ohm? you could have gotten dual 2 ohm and wired it for 4 ohm.

[Bob345 39]

i think you just need to break in the sub. i have an 18" q and it wasn't that loud at all, but after a couple hours of playtime it started sounding even better and louder. and one more thing

[duanebrow 6]

Have you checked out your setup with a DMM? You can check your work that way. Both that your wired to 2 ohms and your amps output.

Also, higher power handling and being able to work in small boxes normally costs efficency. As others have said - more power! I added this because cheap subs will be louder than the higher powered ones; until they cannot handle the power and poop!

Duane

Edited September 20, 2011 by Duane

[ayssius 0]

do you have it wired right and are you sure you got dual 1 ohm? you could have gotten dual 2 ohm and wired it for 4 ohm.

It never even occured to me that they may have shipped me the wrong type. Is there any easy way of checking the impedance of the coils?

[///M5 2,833]

Why o why did you buy a Q? I am sure there is more in it, but if you even ask that question it confuses me on your selection. I see it over and over and just flat out don't understand. Wanting something loud and SQ aren't something you can have both of. Hell SQ hardly has anything to do with the sub in the first place and is all front stage.

Like how you make a thread about a sub short on output and tell us what gear you have, but not how you set it up. Not so easy to help...

[duanebrow 6]

do you have it wired right and are you sure you got dual 1 ohm? you could have gotten dual 2 ohm and wired it for 4 ohm.

It never even occured to me that they may have shipped me the wrong type. Is there any easy way of checking the impedance of the coils?

Use a dmm. Set it to impedance, with the system off put the leads in the ends off the speaker wires. This should be less than or equal to 2 ohms

[Freshh 11]

I say MORE POWER, but I'm curious, what kind of vehicle do you have it in?

[ayssius 0]

I say MORE POWER, but I'm curious, what kind of vehicle do you have it in?

It is a fourth gen Honda Prelude, 1995. I installed sound matting in the trunk and the doors.

Why o why did you buy a Q? I am sure there is more in it, but if you even ask that question it confuses me on your selection. I see it over and over and just flat out don't understand. Wanting something loud and SQ aren't something you can have both of. Hell SQ hardly has anything to do with the sub in the first place and is all front stage.

Like how you make a thread about a sub short on output and tell us what gear you have, but not how you set it up. Not so easy to help...

Apologies, I really tried to include as much information as I could so you all could give some constructive feedback. What did I miss?

I had recommendations towards Fi Audio, and the Q was suggested a few times. I had originally narrowed my choices down to the JL-10W7, JL-10W3v3, RE SSX19, Alpine Type X.

I was told that it had a good balance between sounding good and still being able to get loud, and several youtube videos and forums indicated that this was indeed the case.

I know loud and SQ are contradictory, my point wasn't that the sub didn't shake the whole neighborhood, that is fine, I didn't want that at all anyways. Its that the sub even turned all the way up is kinda pathetic at the moment. My mids and tweeters can almost entirely drown out the bass. I can talk over the sub just fine at full volume.

I wasn't trying to insult this sub, it was my thought that it was defiantly something in my setup or expectations that was at fault. I'm not incredibly experienced, but I can learn from what people explain.

[ayssius 0]

do you have it wired right and are you sure you got dual 1 ohm? you could have gotten dual 2 ohm and wired it for 4 ohm.

It never even occured to me that they may have shipped me the wrong type. Is there any easy way of checking the impedance of the coils?

Use a dmm. Set it to impedance, with the system off put the leads in the ends off the speaker wires. This should be less than or equal to 2 ohms

Thank you for this, like I said, I never even thought to check that the sub was the correct Impedance. I'm sure I have the voice coils wired right, but perhaps I was shipped the wrong sub type.

[Julian 641]

whats your settings at?

[mendon99 0]

ported box, letting it break in will make a huge difference

[Duran 387]

Don't port it. It is a High QTS woofer.

[ricksi30 923]

ported box, letting it break in will make a huge difference

High QTS and ported won't work well.

EDIT: Duran beat me to it!

Edited September 20, 2011 by ricksi30

[Duran 387]

I'm always watching.

[ayssius 0]

whats your settings at?

Low Pass Filter at 140hz, no Subsonic Filter on this amp. Gain 100%, Bass Boost 0%.

Equilizer on the headunit is flat/off.

Had to raise the LPF really high since my components really lack on the midbass, I tried it down at 60-70hz and it didn't really increase the power output anyhow.

Also, Bass Boost seems like the obvious choice, but like we all know, turning that crap up even a little distorts the hell out of the output.

Edited September 20, 2011 by ayssius

[ricksi30 923]

whats your settings at?

Low Pass Filter at 140hz, no Subsonic Filter on this amp. Gain 100%, Bass Boost 0%.

Equilizer on the headunit is flat/off.

Had to raise the LPF really high since my components really lack on the midbass, I tried it down at 60-70hz and it didn't really increase the power output anyhow.

Also, Bass Boost seems like the obvious choice, but like we all know, turning that crap up even a little distorts the hell out of the output.

Gain 100 percent??

[Duran 387]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.