FI Q12 sounds horrible

[jman21 0]

Hello everyone, new to the forum and looking for a few thoughts or ideas.  i have a brand new FI Q12 basic sub that sounds horrible in my opinion. I have had my hand in car audio for 15 years or so and this sub is driving me insane.  its installed in a 2004 ram 1500 hemi and powered by a new kicker zx1500.1 in a box around 1.25  i know thats just outside the sub requirments. the speaker sounds as if its bottoming out or not getting the needed power, plenty of movement but no sound at high volume.  low volume (scale of 1-20 lets say 10) the bass is clean 18-19 bottom out sound little bass 2-4" flex.  i have a rockford p3d12 powered by a kivker 1500.1 in another ram it slams.  if FI is so great why the horrible sound. i contacted FI and they wont respond.  any help is appreciated

[///M5 2,833]

And you've done what to verify the installation?

[Sencheezy 689]

Who is the installer? Have all connections been verified? How wel built is the enclosures? What else does the install consists of? Any pics?

[SpeakerBoy 64]

Sounds like your box is the issue, not the woofer.

Edited March 10, 2014 by SpeakerBoy

[altoncustomtech 773]

We definitely need more information in order to help you out but I can speak from personal experience that these subs can perform, so there's definitely an issue with your installation no matter how much you don't want to hear that.

 

It sounds to me like the enclosure is way off.  1.25cuft isn't just a little outside the minimum requirements it's quite alot.  The other problem is most likely your tuning is off.  Those things coupled together equals fail on the performance of the sub and if you keep running it to it's mechanical limits the failure of the sub itself.

 

The number one thing to do right NOW is determine the tuning of the enclosure.  Get some test tones, start in the area of 50hz and turn it up enough to get the sub moving a bit.  Start going down through the frequencies until you notice the sub moving the LEAST amount and that will be your tuning frequency, let us know what that is.  Your amp has an unadjustable subsonic filter which is NOT ported enclosure friendly and adds to the problems you're having.

 

With an enclosure size of 1.25cuft I would HIGHLY suggest plugging the port and running it sealed until which time you can either build a better ported enclosure or do something more fitting along the lines of a sealed enclosure.  What HU are you using?  What is all the specifications on the enclosure?  Where did the enclosure come from?  You very well may need to get yourself an SSF to put in front of the amp to protect the sub if you keep a ported enclosure.

 

Answer all these questions and we'll be much more informed to help you out with the issue.  You've bought a very nice subwoofer that has a long standing reputation for it's quality.

[Sencheezy 689]

No more information? 

[Fi 4 life 0]

Maybe he was kidding? Never had a problem with my Q. Not one in 4 years, sounds better and better everyday

[jcarter1885 995]

Or maybe he doesn't get on here everyday all day like some of us, ill sure he will check back soon.

[THX_Elite 26]

These are horror stories as I wait for my highly anticipated Fi BL 12", that I ordered 6 days ago.   But I know with out a doubt my power will be ample, my enclosure will be to spec down to centimeters : ) and ALL my amp settings especially SSF will be set properly and set ONLY by my own hand, as I trust no other!

[Shogen 325]

These are horror stories as I wait for my highly anticipated Fi BL 12", that I ordered 6 days ago. But I know with out a doubt my power will be ample, my enclosure will be to spec down to centimeters : ) and ALL my amp settings especially SSF will be set properly and set ONLY by my own hand, as I trust no other!

Down to the centimeter... Someone likes living life on the edge.... Lol

[Shogen 325]

Or maybe he doesn't get on here everyday all day like some of us, ill sure he will check back soon.

He must check the thread he made every 30 min. This is unacceptable... Smh

[THX_Elite 26]

 

These are horror stories as I wait for my highly anticipated Fi BL 12", that I ordered 6 days ago. But I know with out a doubt my power will be ample, my enclosure will be to spec down to centimeters : ) and ALL my amp settings especially SSF will be set properly and set ONLY by my own hand, as I trust no other!

Down to the centimeter... Someone likes living life on the edge.... Lol

 

Well...lol, It's a great box built by Fatbox USA and is spec built for the BTL 12 "but the BL 12" calls for specs that fall right into that same box,  I did not use the cut sheet for the 12" BL and get that precise but this enclosure will be perfect at 2.5 cubes AFTER sub, brace and port values, and also tuned right at 32hz..I am sooo excited to upgrade out of my prefab box with my T1 in it.

[jman21 0]

sorry everyone for the week late response from me. normally i check a thread every 10 min.  i can answer some questions.  the head unit is an alpine ina-w900bt.  i made the box, 3/4 mdf liquid nailed together and 2" screws every 4" all sealed no port.  box was sprayed inside with rustolium rubber to seal all corners and leaks.  just fyi i own a contrustion company so theres no DIY building and im 15 years into car stereo.  on the other hand though im not perfect or an expert at car audio. internally the box is very well sound and solid. 

 

here are the specs for the sub

 

Q12
(D1/D2: Dual 2 Ohm, Cooling: No, Dust Cap: Fire, P Chamfer: No, High QTS: No, Spider: No, I Heat Ring: No, Internal Lead: No) Sealed box: .8-1.5 High QTScuft

[jman21 0]

And you've done what to verify the installation?

we took the sub and placed it in a fiberglass box made for the rear on a 1500/2500 ram different truck completley, still sounded bad.  redid the wiring of the sub to lower the ohm giving it the more power. ill be building another box soon that is a traditional square and see how it reacts to that.

[jman21 0]

Sounds like your box is the issue, not the woofer.

how do you say 1.25 is way off

 

Sealed box: .8-1.5 High QTScuft is what the website says

[jman21 0]

thanks to all of you for the replies sorry it took so long getting back

[nem 2,019]

Being you have the high qts option you will want to keep it in a sealed box, with some play time (couple weeks) it should loosen up and sound better.

[SpeakerBoy 64]

I didn't say way off, as my quote will corroborate.

However I'm a happy Fi owner and am not so easily sold on the idea that bad sound is automatically the woofer's fault. They are dumb, they do what we tell them to.

I've seen it happen, however not with 95% of what I've dealt with, car audio wise.

Edited March 12, 2014 by SpeakerBoy

[lithium 358]

what are the amp settings? what does it actually sound like when you say bad? 

Edited March 12, 2014 by lithium

[cloud77 28]

Build your own BOX!!!  a sealed box literally would take 2 hrs with a jigsaw and a drill !!

[altoncustomtech 773]

Well you didn't say it was it a sealed enlcosure, just that it was 1.25cuft and not within spec so I assumed it was a ported enclosure because 1.25 is right in the middle of the sealed recommendation.

 

Since it's a sealed enclosure AND it appears to be unloading the sub at high volumes I would still highly suggest going over the enclosure with a fine tooth comb to make absolutely certain that it doesn't have any air leaks.  Any kind of air leak affects the performance of a sealed enclosure.  Surprisingly I've found over the years the most common places for air to leak from is where the sub mounts to the enclosure and around/through where the screws go through the frame to mount it and around/through terminal cups when they're used.  Enclosure carpet doesn't always work very well to help seal where the sub or terminal cups mount.  I've also seen air push right through cheap terminals and through the sub mounting holes when the hole was cut out with a jig saw and a little ob-longed.  Hell, on the enclosure I built for my XCON it had air pushing right through the screw threads.  I had to pull all the screws and put sealant on them to keep the air from pushing through them.

 

It's a sealed enclosure, there's not many more things to check.  Just because you put the sub and it's current enclosure in another vehicle and it did the same thing doesn't mean the sub is at fault.  If nothing else, with that you've proven it wasn't an issue with the amp or settings and have pretty well singled out the enclosure or the sub itself and my money is still on the enclosure.  The best way to test whether or not it's the sub itself is to try it in another enclosure.  Also you said you used liquid nails when building the enclosure which I've never had luck with.  Titebond II is the only glue to use when building enclosures in my opinion.  You also wouldn't believe the number of times I've heard someone complain about the noises coming from their subs thinking they were the problem only to find out what they were hearing was a panel on the enclosure knocking against another one because it was poorly built.  I'm not saying that's the exact problem with yours, but more often than not when it comes to an issue like the one you're having the enclosure is at fault and not the sub.  

 

Fi does make fantastic subs however the people who HAND BUILD these things are still human and can make a mistake.  There was a thread not too horribly long ago of a person who had an issue and it turned out to be something with the leads, or coil but it had to be one of the first times I've ever actually seen a manufacturing mistake.  Take into account the shear number of subs they sell through the Fi brand and the brands they OEM build for that have rarely ever had any problems at all and I think they do pretty damn good myself.  Testing in another enclosure is the sure fire way to know for certain.  If it still does it in another enclosure then the likelihood of the sub having a problem becomes much more prevalent, if it plays flawlessly then you know there has to be an issue with your enclosure.  That will be the fastest way to tell what's really going on.

[jman21 0]

Build your own BOX!!!  a sealed box literally would take 2 hrs with a jigsaw and a drill !!

Edited March 15, 2014 by jman21

[jman21 0]

Build your own BOX!!!  a sealed box literally would take 2 hrs with a jigsaw and a drill !!

have you read anything on here at all...........jigsaw and drill huh

[jman21 0]

what are the amp settings? what does it actually sound like when you say bad? 

bass boost is all the way down but controlled by knob up front, gain is around .75 and xover about .25

[jman21 0]

Being you have the high qts option you will want to keep it in a sealed box, with some play time (couple weeks) it should loosen up and sound better.

this was my thought as well but i read FI didnt need a break in