hey everyone! i just finished building my first box today for my ssa icon and couldnt be happier. i bought the sub and amp used and i believe that the settings on the amp are off a bit. the sub hits the lows great (i tuned the box fairly low) but when it comes to even remotely high notes that should rattle my teeth out there is almost nothing there! and example is white girl but usda...it hits that low note like a champ but when it comes to the high one the door speakers are louder than the sub. i did some research and am thinking it has something to do with the low pass frequency and high pass frequency? also i have the gain turned all the way up...that was the only way it was even remotely loud but im worried about clipping and what not. any help would be extremely appreciated!!

Andrew

what it tuned too.

it might the lpf

its tuned to 32hz. 37.5 sq in of port area, 2.5 cubes.

have it bridged at 4ohms.

put your lpf to like 50hz and SSF to 29hz

how bout bass boost.

alright i changed my settings to that. and yup its at 4 ohms. my amp says bass eq...is that the same as bass boost? if it is its full blast...i just assumed that was the gain? sorry im new to this car audio thing but im trying to learn everything i can! thanks!!

bass eq is bass boost the gain is the thing that says level.

I'd set the lpf to 80hz, not 50hz.

I would advise turning the Bass EQ down, it can cause the amp to clip and ruin the subwoofer. Basically it is a 1 band eq centered at a fixed frequency and when turned up can cause the woofer to be overdriven.

alright i changed my settings to that. and yup its at 4 ohms. my amp says bass eq...is that the same as bass boost? if it is its full blast...i just assumed that was the gain? sorry im new to this car audio thing but im trying to learn everything i can! thanks!!

Did the problem go away after changing the settings? Do you have a high pass filter? Maybe you need to adj. that... I would turn your gain down until you solve this problem

I would advise turning the Bass EQ down, it can cause the amp to clip and ruin the subwoofer. Basically it is a 1 band eq centered at a fixed frequency and when turned up can cause the woofer to be overdriven.

Kinda OT, but what is the Bass EQ good for then? Seems like it's pretty pointless?

Do you have the cross over set to hpf, full, or lpf?

I would advise turning the Bass EQ down, it can cause the amp to clip and ruin the subwoofer. Basically it is a 1 band eq centered at a fixed frequency and when turned up can cause the woofer to be overdriven.

Kinda OT, but what is the Bass EQ good for then? Seems like it's pretty pointless?

Imo it is pointless. It's similar to the "Loudness" feature on some older HU. It can be used, make sure you can tell when the subwoofer is starting to stress (Smell hot, distort) so you can turn it down.

I would advise turning the Bass EQ down, it can cause the amp to clip and ruin the subwoofer. Basically it is a 1 band eq centered at a fixed frequency and when turned up can cause the woofer to be overdriven.

Kinda OT, but what is the Bass EQ good for then? Seems like it's pretty pointless?

If your gains are set correctly, then it's not going to boost the bass anymore, it's only going to clip the signal.

On this amp the bass EQ is centered at 45hz, counter-clockwise = 0db, full clockwise = 12db, it's not going to magically add 12db in bass and not clip...

I would advise turning the Bass EQ down, it can cause the amp to clip and ruin the subwoofer. Basically it is a 1 band eq centered at a fixed frequency and when turned up can cause the woofer to be overdriven.

Kinda OT, but what is the Bass EQ good for then? Seems like it's pretty pointless?

Marketing to unknowing young'uns.

To the OP, turn the bass EQ all the way down. Turn the low pass filter to around 70-80 hz, and if it has a subsonic, turn that to 28 hz or so. I imagine that amp has a switch for high pass/low pass crossover? Make sure it's on low pass.

Are the RCAs from the head unit on a dedicated sub output? Does the head unit have a subwoofer level control setting (like 0-15, etc.)?

i will try to hit all those points..thanks for all the replies guys! it has an option for the cross over to be high full or low it is currently on low. i will turn the bass eq all the way down but then its not very loud. my head unit has a sub out that is at +10 (highest it can go) and a 3 band eq (low mid high) the low is set to -10 (the lowest it will go). i havent checked the level (this is also the gain as i understand it?) but i will and report back. thanks again for the help!

What headunit do you have? Find out the pre out voltage of the output rca's and match the level on the amp to that voltage, for example if the preout voltage is 2volts for the headunit then that is where you match the gain/level knob on the amp.

No bass boost/bass eq, can be used in some situations but in most cases it can cause harm to someone who doesnt understand its use or how to use it.

the level appears to be on the middle setting...and the amp has a hpf adjuster.

I dont see a hpf level adjuster on the .pdf"]amp owners manual, just got done looking at it. These are how your settings should be

Level = 30-40% (until you find out your pre-out voltage and set it more accurate)

Subsonic = 50% or a little higher, if sub is reaching its excursion limits to much then turn it up (28/29Hz should be were you want to be around)

HPF = 0% (you dont have to touch it)

X-Over Switch = LPF

LPF = 60-80/90Hz depending what sounds good and where you have you midbass crossed at.

Bass EQ = 0%

This current model?

http://www.audiosavings.com/viewer/images.aspx?item_guid=8e687f69-54d4-4cc5-9b99-40e3f7a43558&image_guid=d87ba9b5-e09d-412a-895c-de63215bc57e

i will try to hit all those points..thanks for all the replies guys! it has an option for the cross over to be high full or low it is currently on low. i will turn the bass eq all the way down but then its not very loud. my head unit has a sub out that is at +10 (highest it can go) and a 3 band eq (low mid high) the low is set to -10 (the lowest it will go). i havent checked the level (this is also the gain as i understand it?) but i will and report back. thanks again for the help!

Here is a lot of your problem I bet. Set this to flat (0). What you were doing with that was cutting the signal at the head unit, then using the bass boost on the amp to effectively try and ramp it back up.

This current model?

http://www.audiosavings.com/viewer/images.aspx?item_guid=8e687f69-54d4-4cc5-9b99-40e3f7a43558&image_guid=d87ba9b5-e09d-412a-895c-de63215bc57e

its an older model but has identical settings as that one

i will try to hit all those points..thanks for all the replies guys! it has an option for the cross over to be high full or low it is currently on low. i will turn the bass eq all the way down but then its not very loud. my head unit has a sub out that is at +10 (highest it can go) and a 3 band eq (low mid high) the low is set to -10 (the lowest it will go). i havent checked the level (this is also the gain as i understand it?) but i will and report back. thanks again for the help!

Here is a lot of your problem I bet. Set this to flat (0). What you were doing with that was cutting the signal at the head unit, then using the bass boost on the amp to effectively try and ramp it back up.

i thought of that also but all it seems to do is turn up the bass on my door speakers and make them sound muddy while only slightly increasing the bass of the sub

i also found the pre out voltage to be 2 volts. the level setting goes from 0.1 to 6.0v im guessing 2 would be somewhere close to the middle? its kind of a large variance in there.

sorry for all the replies guys...i think that if i played the volume higher the sub would eventually get louder but about 20 is where im playing it at and even then its almost to loud for my ears. i dont know if this has anything to do with it.

at that level the sub is not moving much at all..maybe half an inch tops. if i have the gain set close and all the other settings somewhat close would it be safe to start messing with the bass eq bit by bit? that was the only way that the sub actually got loud and moved some air. again i cant thank you guys enough for the help!