Dcon 15 install, my first taste of ssa.

[ssh 924]

What headunit are you using? I know with my headunit I have to turn the gain way up on the amplifiers to get it near max output.

[accordwithbass 2]

Heres your problem, well from my experience. I had a Fi Q 15" in a 3.5 cube sealed box off 500 watts also. I had it in my trunk facing the rear of my car and it slammed. I then started building my wall and I had my false floor in, I put my sub and box in my cabin (on the false floor facing forward. so like 2.5 feet more towards the front than your sub.) and without changing any settings I cranked it up and it SUCKED!!! It was still flexing like hell but there like NO bass output. So I faced the sub up, nothing, sideway, nothing, There was no bass what so ever. But as soon as I put it back in the trunk, it slammed once again. You need to build a box to fit in your trunk with the sub facing the rear of the car. After hearing the sealed box in my cabin, I will never run sealed unless its in a trunk. I don't think its your head unit or amp, just make sure all the settings are correct, make it face the rear of the trunk, and I guarantee it will get way louder.

Idk why sealed boxes in cabins suck, but they do most of the time. My dad got an 8" sealed sub in his truck and it sucked, I told him to get one ported, so he got an 8" in a ported box and it was wayyyy louder. So no start giving me crap, im stating this all from experience.

Edited March 4, 2012 by accordwithbass

[accordwithbass 2]

I think your car is a hatchback, port it. It will make a hell of a difference. My 15 sealed had so little output it was terrible, when I was testing a 12" Memphis sub in a ported box in my cabin it was wayyy louder than the sealed 15.

Edited March 4, 2012 by accordwithbass

[ssh 924]

If the driver itself is barely moving, then I wouldn't blame the vehicle characteristics yet.

In a perfect situation a ported enclosure is roughly 3dB louder then sealed, but the actual alignment will vary will this number.

[Micah Horton 0]

i dont have room for a good sized ported. i do though have a 6 inch pvc pipe 20 inches long. its displacement is .33 cubic feet. if my calculations are correct i would have net 2.9 cubes at around 30HZ if i were to drop in the pvc pipe ported up. would this be a BAD move? and yea i went and showed my buddy who is ex-car-audio-pro and he said i should have faced it back. but i was afraid for the subs health facing back and hitting the hatch.

[pro-rabbit 64]

The sub level on the headunit adjusts the voltage of the RCA out on the sub side. This means when you have it on 0 you have it at the minimum the unit will produce. In order to generate volume you have to adjust the sub level out on the headunit to get a decent rca voltage.

I disagree with this post.

The sub level on a hu should be at zero. All six RCA outputs should have the same output voltage then. I say should because not all hu's are the same but by design this is how they work. I never adjust the sub level on the hu. But if I would it would be to turn it down not up. An separate eq or sub processor would be better to use in this case.

That is how I do it but I know that everybody does something different.

If the op does not understand the adjustments on the equipment he using then that is definitely an issue.

I have never used a DCON. But I would suspect that if all adjustments are done correctly then possibly the enclosure is at fault or the driver just isn't the right one for him.

That is relative to the unit itself. Overall all sub level controls will adjust the rca output. At the lowest level the unit will be using 1-2 volts in most cases. All though again, it does depend on the unit and overall design of how that company wanted the sub level control to operate with the other features.

Overall though, most source units work in this way.

[ssh 924]

I don't see why anyone is arguing against the use of the subwoofer level on the headunit, afterall it's there for a reason.

As long as the gain on the amplifier is set accordingly while the subwoofer level is at max on the hu, then I don't see what the issue is.

I don't see why someone should buy another device so they can simply adjust the subwoofer level.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

With a subwoofer level on the headunit set to 0, there will be no output voltage.. With the subwoofer level all the way up, the output voltage will be at norm, as if there were no level control at all. It'd be producing the HU's regular output voltage. This is how EVERY single HU I've used with a built in Sub level control has been anyway..

[lithium 358]

i dont have room for a good sized ported. i do though have a 6 inch pvc pipe 20 inches long. its displacement is .33 cubic feet. if my calculations are correct i would have net 2.9 cubes at around 30HZ if i were to drop in the pvc pipe ported up. would this be a BAD move? and yea i went and showed my buddy who is ex-car-audio-pro and he said i should have faced it back. but i was afraid for the subs health facing back and hitting the hatch.

throw on a grille like this, http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=262-866, and try aiming the box in different directions. only way to find out which direction is best. rule of thumbs are useless in car audio, you have to experiment with everything.

as for ported, i would wait for now until you max out your current install before making serious changes.

[mikebingham34 7]

ugh, the one time someone gets a dcon 15, they dont know how to get anything working... awesome lol. im considering getting one, but I want some input or a review.

[edouble101 314]

I set my amplifer gains with my hu at 75% max volume. That is the highest it will ever play it to. If I then jack up the subwoofer volume level on the hu I could be sending a clipped signal from the hu to the subwoofer amps.

Every hu I have ever owned that had a seperate subwoofer volume level was adjustable from -10 to +10. A setting at 0 is not equal to no volume. It is equal to the same ouput level as the other rca outputs on the hu considerin that all other adjustments are nominal.

If I want to boost my bass freqs I will use a seperate processor for that to help eliminate hu clipping.

[pro-rabbit 64]

All the units I have had over the years were 0-15 on the sub level controller.

What units are you referring to exactly as I do not know of any.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

All the units I have had over the years were 0-15 on the sub level controller.

What units are you referring to exactly as I do not know of any.

This is what I' talk about.. it went from 0 to whatever the max was for that particular HU. Never owned one that went into the negatives..

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

ugh, the one time someone gets a dcon 15, they dont know how to get anything working... awesome lol. im considering getting one, but I want some input or a review.

Here is a recent topic on the Dcon 10: http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/topic/53161-dcon-10-omg/

[ricksi30 923]

ugh, the one time someone gets a dcon 15, they dont know how to get anything working... awesome lol. im considering getting one, but I want some input or a review.

I have had a ton of different subs, and the DCON has one of the best performance to price ratios out of all that I have had. It is a very solid subwoofer. I owned the 15's and I was very impressed with them.

[swift 501]

Start over...

The Sub Level on the head unit should be at the max (on 15)

The Bass Boost on amp should be at 0 (or all the way down)

Subsonic should be at around 25hz

Low pass should be at around 65-80hz

Put you head unit volume at around 75% (example my Alpine head unit will go to 35, but volume will never see above 26. (Thats what I consider full tilt if demoing)

Now with the loudest most banging song you have or even better a test tone.

Then with the gain on amp down low, slowly turn the gain on the amp up until you hear the absolute slightest sign of distortion or clipping and then back it down until that is gone. (unless you have a DMM) This will normally happen about halfway up or alittle past.

Now your amp and sub are fine and you know what your safe full tilt volume and gains are gonna be. If you want to turn the sub level (on head unit) (I do this with my amp remote knob) down and back up at this point to match up with certain music you can do so. As long as you remember not to turn your volume on the head unit past the loudest volume level you matched the gains to you should be ok. But always listen for any distortion.

My mids and highs are set this same way.

Edited March 5, 2012 by swift

[edouble101 314]

All the units I have had over the years were 0-15 on the sub level controller.

What units are you referring to exactly as I do not know of any.

You are right. I am wrong. My hu subwoofer is not -10 to +10 it is -15 to +15. I never adjust it but I did know it was there. Instead of running a clipped signal to my amplifier I will either upgrade my equipment until I get the sound I want or use a separate processor for adjustments if my equipment is sufficient. I prefer a mix of both, good equipment and a sub processor, I use a ZED RA.

I snapped a couple pics for you. I also uploaded a page from the manual that I highlighted. I do not know how much more proof you need

[jcarter1885 995]

All of the head units that I owned there subwoofer control went into the negatives as well.

[ricksi30 923]

All the units I have had over the years were 0-15 on the sub level controller.

What units are you referring to exactly as I do not know of any.

You are right. I am wrong. My hu subwoofer is not -10 to +10 it is -15 to +15. I never adjust it but I did know it was there. Instead of running a clipped signal to my amplifier I will either upgrade my equipment until I get the sound I want or use a separate processor for adjustments if my equipment is sufficient. I prefer a mix of both, good equipment and a sub processor, I use a ZED RA.

I snapped a couple pics for you. I also uploaded a page from the manual that I highlighted. I do not know how much more proof you need

That is how mine is as well, except I think mine is -24 through +24. I keep it at 0, as that is where I have it when I set my gain.

[Micah Horton 0]

this sub is a tank but im still confused as to why this class d amplifier rated for 350-500w rms at 4 ohm is not keeping up with my door speakers. if i crank the sub control all the way up it pounds....but i fear a distorted signal with that. i want it to be clean and loud. my door speakers still shred through the bass. i need new ones because these are cheap sonys. Any suggestions for components? i am going shopping for them tomorrow.

[edouble101 314]

Maybe the dcon doesn't have the output you are looking for.

Have you considered a different brand sub?

[ShagggDiesel 25]

I really don't think the sub or amp isat fault here. I have a feeling that something just isnt set right or something is missing. Have you checked all RCA connections? You could always get an oscope and see if turning the sub control up is actually sending a distorted signal, I think? Maybe that's just for setting the gain on the amp.. It seems it would work in the same concept though.

[pro-rabbit 64]

I really don't think the sub or amp isat fault here. I have a feeling that something just isnt set right or something is missing. Have you checked all RCA connections? You could always get an oscope and see if turning the sub control up is actually sending a distorted signal, I think? Maybe that's just for setting the gain on the amp.. It seems it would work in the same concept though.

If he has his amp setup up correctly now, then he needs to asdjust the sub level control. Regardless what has been said, most units require the use of this to be off of zero to produce voltage.

[ShagggDiesel 25]

I really don't think the sub or amp isat fault here. I have a feeling that something just isnt set right or something is missing. Have you checked all RCA connections? You could always get an oscope and see if turning the sub control up is actually sending a distorted signal, I think? Maybe that's just for setting the gain on the amp.. It seems it would work in the same concept though.

If he has his amp setup up correctly now, then he needs to asdjust the sub level control. Regardless what has been said, most units require the use of this to be off of zero to produce voltage.

Yes, and that makes sense, but... If the HU doesn't produce any voltage at 0, then why would it go into the negatives all the way to 15? You can get any less voltage than 0..

[edouble101 314]

I really don't think the sub or amp isat fault here. I have a feeling that something just isnt set right or something is missing. Have you checked all RCA connections? You could always get an oscope and see if turning the sub control up is actually sending a distorted signal, I think? Maybe that's just for setting the gain on the amp.. It seems it would work in the same concept though.

If he has his amp setup up correctly now, then he needs to asdjust the sub level control. Regardless what has been said, most units require the use of this to be off of zero to produce voltage.

Lol. So my pictures are fake and I made up the manual?