Low sub output

[aBav20]

Okay here is a list of my equipment. I have stock speakers so i won't list them.

-Pioneer FH-X720BT (2V preouts)

-Hifonics Brutus Elite 1700 (BEX1750.1D)

-Soundqubed HDS312 4 ohm DVC (4 gauge wired in parallel for a 2 ohm final impedance in a 2.5 cubic feet ported box tuned to 43 hz)

My installer originally tuned my amp without changing the settings on my HU. My settins were (hopefully some of you are familiar with pioneer decks) equalizer: vocal, loudness: med, phase: nor, sub ctrl or lpf: 200 hz +6 output -12 slope, bass boost: 0. I believe the installer used the lpf on the amp instead of the HU. My amp settings were gain or level: 2v (matched to my HU's 2v preout), phase: 0, bass eq: 5 Db, subsonic filter: ~25 hz, lpf: ~100 hz. Bass knob up front is at halfway. It sounded great at first and i was satisfied. I just didn't like the way the bass would somewhat drown out the speakers so i did some research about amp and HU settings. I found out that certain settings like loudness and bass boost don't do anything but introduce distortion. So now I am under the impression that if you use the right equipment and tune the amp correctly it should sound great without having certain settings on. I experimented with my settings and set my equalizer to flat, turned loudness off, and turned my bass eq potentiometer all the way down to 0 Db. I cranked the volume and my speakers sounded louder and clearer than ever before, BUT my subwoofer was basically nonexistent. The bass just is not there like it used to be. I turn my volume up loud and look in the trunk to see my sub BARELY flexing. I don't want to have to use loudness or my bass boost if i don't have to because i read bad things about those settings everywhere i look. What can i do to get the bass back that i had before without turning up a bunch of settings that people commonly misuse? Could it have something to do with using the lpf on my HU instead of the amp or vice versa? Does it have something to do with my bass knob? My possible solutions are

- Upgrade charging system

- Turn up those settings again and risk clipping my amp

- Get a better amp

- Unplug my bass knob

- Say "F" it and sell my stuff (don't want it to come to this)

Please help me out me out here. Anybody feel free to chime in.

P.S I already plan on upgrading my charging system with a mechman high output alternator, big 3 upgrade, and an optima yellow top battery. Oh yeah, i bought and installed all my audio equipment less than a month ago.

[ALPINE408]

your system is tunned incorrectly

get with someone that has the tools and the knowledge to tune the system properly

from your description it has never been tuned correctly once it has it should wang like never before

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

Welcome to SMD! The easiest thing to do would be to turn the bass knob back up. You are on the right track. But now you have asked the question and now there is no going back. There is not a simple solution and setting the gain by ear can put you at risk of distortion by overdriving the amp. The best thing to do is take it back to the shop and have them remove the bass knob and then set the gain again. IMHO

[Jake Miles Mckeehan]

i would say check your tuning, see where your gain is set up, and check power and ground wires. it just might be out of tune and that would be a problem.

[ericholmes408]

check the simple things first. unplug the rca's one at a time to make sure both channels are working. then check the polarity of the subs.

[aBav20]

Thank you everyone who responded. I checked all my wiring and it was good. I unplugged my bass knob and it definitely made a difference. My gains are set with a DMM and everything on my HU is set to flat or zero. No loudness, no bass boost, no nothing. So that must have meant that since my bass knob was halfway i was only using half of my amp's potential right?

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

Normally the gain would be set with the knob all the way up but I'm not sure if yours is an EQ type boost or a gain attenuator. If the gain was set with the knob turned up and then you turned it down, that's where your bass went.