My dcon 15" S4 just came in the mail right in time for my birthday. Decided to pick up some mdf with a few extra bucks and head to my good friends huge shop. The enclosure is i believe 3.3 cubic feet sealed with gorrilla glue. Amp is an eclipse 500w rms monoblock. here is the pictures of how it went. If you wouldnt mind giving me some advice i am slightly confused and worried, because the amp is 500w rms but with sub level at 0 and the amps bass boost around 1-2 decibals i can barely hear the dcon. i have the bass boost on the amp turned all the way up at 8db and it has awesome sq bass at all levels but i cant get slamming bass unless i crank the sub control on my deck. is this abnormal...anyways. here is my masterpiece so far.

Havent decided if i want to paint it or try and carpet it.

Do not use the "bass boost" on the amp. The sub level control on the head unit(assuming it has sub level RCAs) will raise lower RCA voltage to the amp and is a nice way to adjust the volume for when you have passengers or just don't want to be at full volume.

Best bet is to read some "how to's" on how to tune/adjust your amp to help save your sub from being damaged do to distortion.

Congrats on the great purchase! There's gotta be something off somewhere, that sub should be pounding hard without having to touch bass boost at all. How did you guys set the gain? Are you sure the amp puts out 500wrms @ 4 ohms? Try getting an RCA to headphone adapter cable and connecting an MP3 player to the amp and seeing if maybe the RCA's you used between the HU and amp are bad.

With the power you should have on tap that sub should EASILY be beating the hell out of ya....

its not distorted audibly at all. i dont have a dmm to do this now. but the amp does not have a gain dial. to even hear the bass. i have to crank my sub control to 12 out of fifteen if the amps bass boost is on 1-2

What's the model # on the amp? EVERY amp has a gain dial...

eclipse xa1200 i have the manual and i think the gain knob is the...input adjustment?

Great sub choice, but something seems screwy about this amplifier as every Eclipse amplifier I have used has been quite good.

"because the amp is 500w rms but with sub level at 0 and the amps bass boost around 1-2 decibals i can barely hear the dcon".

If I understans right, the amp has a sub level? If so then, crank it up a bit and see what happens.

eclipse xa1200 i have the manual and i think the gain knob is the...input adjustment?

That is a very nice amplifier, shame they stopped making that series. Yes, the "input" is the gain. Where do you have the low pass set?

it has a bass boost, and input adjustment.

low paww on amp is around 150. low pass on deck sub out is at 100 i believe

as alton said. i took 3.5mm jack to rcas. plugged in my phone and at full volume, the sub is loud but not moving much. seems like the amp could push way more

Edited March 4, 201213 yr by Dubstepz

The input adjustment is the "gain" you alter it per what the output of the headunit is volt wise. Turn the bass boost off, there is no need to use it as it will generate distortion and it will damage your sub.

I readjusted the low pass...that helped a good bit but still sub control is on 0 and its not keeping up with my door speakers...i guess i should just turn those down anyways. thank you all for your great help

Did you turn the gain (input) up?

the "gain" is turned all the way up, the manual says this is the proper setting for sub preouts.

i guess my frustration is a bit of OCD not wanting to leave my sub control turned up. i feel like im pushing it too hard for music then

Bass boost : (freq & level control) turn all the way down

low pass : 50 to 80 hz

Input level : slowly turn it up ( volume should increase) assuming head unit settngs and all wiring are correct..

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.

the "gain" is turned all the way up, the manual says this is the proper setting for sub preouts.

i guess my frustration is a bit of OCD not wanting to leave my sub control turned up. i feel like im pushing it too hard for music then

Do not have the input setting all the way up on the amp. That will also generate distortion by clipping the signal thus damaging the driver.

Your "OCD" is misplaced. The sub level needs to be adjust in order to produce a signal.

Edited March 4, 201213 yr by pro-rabbit

i guess i just crank my sub control, thanks alot

i guess i just crank my sub control, thanks alot

I highly suggest you do some research to better understand the settings on your head unit and amplifier. All though it may seem tedious and useless it will pay off when you have a fully functional setup for a long time with out need repair or replacement.

i guess i just crank my sub control, thanks alot

I highly suggest you do some research to better understand the settings on your head unit and amplifier. All though it may seem tedious and useless it will pay off when you have a fully functional setup for a long time with out need repair or replacement.

That amp does 350rms @4ohms. Ihe gets his adjustments set right. He should be good to go.

Once set up correctly, the Dcon 15 should be overwhelming the door speakers with ease.

How much is the sub moving when its playing?

now it moves with decent excursion. my 6.5s in my doors are on a 100 watt 2 channel amp. i turned it down a bit but my sub level is still at +7-9 to keep up with the 6.5s

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.

the enclosure is within spec. we have had this trouble before in the previous car on a different sub. in a different box...this subs settings are confusing