Car Audio Question

[bassfacekevin]

Hello all,

So I've finally gotten all the pieces together for a nice little car audio setup. Nothing very fancy, but something that will give a little punch to my sound when I'm driving.

I have a cheap-y VR3 head in the dash, and I have a "subwoofer" RCA jacks out that I run back to my amp. The power-cord is plugged directly to the battery, with no Cap. running. The amp is an 800W pioneer that is running to a sealed box with 2-12" directed Blackface subs.

Before, I had an extremely cheap little 200W amp with the exact same setup and it hit much harder than my current setup is now. Also, with the new pioneer amp, every time the bass hits, my lights and gauge-lights dim, which would make me think that I am in need for a capacitor, if not for the fact that I am running everything rather low, and even when I TRY to push the bass, it never gets very loud.

What confuses me is that my buddy has a similar setup only he is running a 2,000W amp, and his lights give nary a flicker when he is pushing his subs LOUD (you can hear them down the block) and his car is a much older model than mine is. (1989 Mitsubishi exlipse vs. 1998 Subaru Forrester.) Is there something I'm doing wrong? Any ideas?

Thanks for the help!

~K

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Watts are not created equal , remember that.

Chances are that the old setup had the sub crossover and f3 points higher than the new setup.

As for the flickering, how's Your battery and alternator, are those top notch?
The cap will help some, but unless there's enough juice to begin with it'll be only a crutch, not a cure.

Just my 0.02€
Sam

Edit.Check Your grounding too, the weak point can usually be found there.

[bassfacekevin]

thanks! The battery was replaced last year, so that really shouldn't be a problem. I guess what's confusing me is (to me) it feels like the amp is drawing a lot of power, but then when it get's sent to the speakers, all of a sudden, it disappears. I have the amp crossover set around (ballpark) 80Hz, though it's a little dial, so I can't be sure. Mostly, the amount of sound I'm getting out of an 800W amp and 2-12" subs just does not seem right. Anything else it could be?

[edit: the ground from the amp?]

[T-Bird]

Hi.

The grounding between the battery and the chassis.

Any chance that the subs are out of phase?

Sam

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Connect the + power wire as close as possible to the alternator's output. Connect the - power wire to a really good chassis ground.

[Georynn]

It sounds like a ground issue. What do you have the amp grounded to?

I often find that a tight mechanical bond to the car frame is sometimes not enough. I have even taken large diameter galvanized washers and spot welded them in place to provide a solid connection to ground... ( but I used that ground for a lot more than just a power amp)

Try roughing up the area where the amp connects to ground with some sandpaper or steel wool, then re-attach the connection...

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

When the engine is running, the alternator is providing power for all the systems in the car. Or it should be. That's why you take the power from the alternator output and thus bypass some voltage drop in the battery cable.

The chassis ground connection should also help, but the connection from chassis to engine block (the alternator's ground connection) might need help. If there is no ground strap from the block to the chassis, or if it's in bad shape, that could be something you should attend to.

[bassfacekevin]

Hmmm, ok, I'm going to go out to the garage now and check on the grounding/where my amp-powercable is attached to. If I'm not back in a bit, my car has decided to kill me instead of letting me fiddle with this stuff.

[Trevorus]

Definitely check the wiring, and also, make sure your gain is set properly on your new amp. I have a 760 watt Pioneer into a single 10 sealed box, with a 1 Farad cap, and I have no issues at all. I can easily overpower the 10, but I make sure I'm not.