New box, over double the port area, sounds the same :/

[RooTxBeeR]

The amp is a M4, never said ti was returned. Only mentioned how it was blown and fixed if that. Krill, are you refering to the subwoofer lvl? From the last I checked, all that does is increase input voltage, not magically make a amp louder. If you tune with sw lvl at 0, then again sw lvl at 15, the output power will still be the same, the amp just reacts to the input voltage differently. Unless I know it wrongly then. I was under the assumption that, using a 0db will put out the power the amp says it will, and the lower you go, the more and more it will put out. So with using the 0db, should be putting out around 3500 watts.

[reedal]

No, that's not how it works. Music is attenuated. By setting your gain to -0dB, you're not accounting for the attenuation of the music.

[RooTxBeeR]

I have yet to tune with anything other than the -0 currently. I will try that today if I can but. The last box, I had tuned with even up to -10 so we will see how loud it is when I tune with the others

[Vice03]

Here - this little article is about overall loudness of music. Sub bass is only part of this, so depending on the song, it will be likely less loud than the total volume (rebassed stuff like decaf excluded). There are some great youtube videos on the topic, but when you are listening to music, the average loudness is going to be much lower than 0dB. There will be peaks at 0db, but those are fine. Setting gains at 0dB is so conservative that you are losing tonnes of output. It depends what kind of music you listen to and how you want to be playing your system where you will ultimately want to tune from.

http://musicmachinery.com/2009/03/23/the-loudness-war/

Newer pop type music and modern EDM will all have higher average volume than older music but -5 on bass should be pretty safe. With self-control you can definitely set even more aggressive.

[Vice03]

Arg double post.

[RooTxBeeR]

Here - this little article is about overall loudness of music. Sub bass is only part of this, so depending on the song, it will be likely less loud than the total volume (rebassed stuff like decaf excluded). There are some great youtube videos on the topic, but when you are listening to music, the average loudness is going to be much lower than 0dB. There will be peaks at 0db, but those are fine. Setting gains at 0dB is so conservative that you are losing tonnes of output. It depends what kind of music you listen to and how you want to be playing your system where you will ultimately want to tune from.

http://musicmachinery.com/2009/03/23/the-loudness-war/

Newer pop type music and modern EDM will all have higher average volume than older music but -5 on bass should be pretty safe. With self-control you can definitely set even more aggressive.

I am not confident in the persons ability to self control, nor are they knowledged on anyhting of this so I will not go to high

[kirill007]

The amp is a M4, never said ti was returned. Only mentioned how it was blown and fixed if that. Krill, are you refering to the subwoofer lvl? From the last I checked, all that does is increase input voltage, not magically make a amp louder. If you tune with sw lvl at 0, then again sw lvl at 15, the output power will still be the same, the amp just reacts to the input voltage differently. Unless I know it wrongly then. I was under the assumption that, using a 0db will put out the power the amp says it will, and the lower you go, the more and more it will put out. So with using the 0db, should be putting out around 3500 watts.

The headunit will not put out the full voltage without subwoofer level at maximum, it can distort before it reaches full output voltage if the subwoofer level is too low.

I'm guessing the headunit is a Alpine?

[Joe X]

I am definitely going to retune. I just don't understand, how with every variable being 100% the same, except port area. There is absolutely no difference in loudness. That's what really puzzles me. The sub in both cases, barely moved at all.

Barely moving sub hardly needs great port area. You are looking at a bad amp, bad recone, bad settings somewhere (maybe subsonic too high), bad power, bad wiring.

[RooTxBeeR]

I am definitely going to retune. I just don't understand, how with every variable being 100% the same, except port area. There is absolutely no difference in loudness. That's what really puzzles me. The sub in both cases, barely moved at all.

Barely moving sub hardly needs great port area. You are looking at a bad amp, bad recone, bad settings somewhere (maybe subsonic too high), bad power, bad wiring.

Amp is fresh from the factory after he blew it. Has a mechman alt and 2 XP3000's as well as stock battery. All the wire is sky high wire 1/0 all around.

The amp is a M4, never said ti was returned. Only mentioned how it was blown and fixed if that. Krill, are you refering to the subwoofer lvl? From the last I checked, all that does is increase input voltage, not magically make a amp louder. If you tune with sw lvl at 0, then again sw lvl at 15, the output power will still be the same, the amp just reacts to the input voltage differently. Unless I know it wrongly then. I was under the assumption that, using a 0db will put out the power the amp says it will, and the lower you go, the more and more it will put out. So with using the 0db, should be putting out around 3500 watts.

The headunit will not put out the full voltage without subwoofer level at maximum, it can distort before it reaches full output voltage if the subwoofer level is too low.

I'm guessing the headunit is a Alpine?

No it's a kenwood, a shitty one too, has such bluetooth issues.

[jfoodstamp]

I think there are 2 issues that need addressed. First DD woofers need time to break in for real. Both of the times I ran them. One was a Soundqubed hdc 18 and another time it was a DD9518. Both woofers needed about a wekk of listening to at a decent volume and then they became alive. After you have the woofers broke in I would retune and add more gain