@@CarAudioFabrication in all the cars that I've owned. I've been able to put subs in them but I've now got myself a Volvo and I really don't want to modify the unit up front is there anything on the market that you know of ? Trying to change it makes you lose other functions within the car head unit 👍🏿
Bro, big big tip. Pre drill your mount holes, the drill only pops off because the screw isn't catching correctly. If you pre drill, and start the screw by hand, you don't need to push to get the initial bite, cuts out the whole motion that causes that drill to slip.
I had just came back from deployment and bought two kicker L7 12's the guy at audio sound (Jacksonville, fl) said I'd only be able to use 1 kicker because of the speaker box space needed. Then he up sold me on some new tweeters, door speakers, and rear panel speakers. I had a brand new Infiniti G35 and it had its own amp... but somehow he got me sold on another amp and new speakers for the entire car... but when I asked for my factory speakers back and my factory amp he said they were in such bad shape he discarded them. This was 2008, the car was a 2006. Next my speaker kept going out. The voice coil kept coming apart and he said I had to contact kicker. Kicker being awesome sent a replacement without question. 3 months later same thing happened again. A 4200 system that sounded amazing when it worked was now dead... the dealer who installed it long gone. Kicker finally sent me to a place called shades of tent (RIP Richard Bass) right away he knew the guy messed up the specs on my box and rather than admit to his own mistake he took off with my perfectly good tweeters, 6.5's and 2x 6x9's with my stock amp. Richard also put dynomat in every place he could (roof, floor, side panels, all in the trunk, trunk lid, even behind my license plate) plus he did it at a fraction of the cost the original guy did... took me 3 years and lots of court dates but I finally got my money back but all the crappy sound place did was change their name to "Rolling Sound" so anyone in the Jacksonville, FL area looking for a good car audio place please make sure to stay away from Rolling Sound. They will steal your perfectly good stock equipment, then blame the manufacturer when in reality they just hire terrible installers.
@@No_Transitory this is why we research and inform ourselves as much as we can, so we're not taken advantage of by shady business practices that don't have our best interest in mind.
Dude... what are the chances that I find this. I live in Jacksonville and was planning on getting a quote for a sound deadening job from this exact shop. Small world.
Poor choices when selectring the equipment ive seen it multiple times people blowing all of their money on really good quality speakers and subwoofers eg. JL and Focal and powering them with fleamarket garbage amplifiers
The problem I have is I grabbed a factory subwoofer from a fully loaded chevy hhr ss model and I don't want too get a amplifier that'll over power the sub. I also have JL door speakers and I want too tie them together with the sub instead of running them separate from the sub. I'm a newbie too subwoofer setups and my dad hasn't done a setup in quit a while.
Make sure you have a good Chasis Ground with a short cable from the bass amp to the chasis this will help the amp run with greater efficiency and stay cooler by lowering the resistance, and Run signal “RCA”wire away from communication or power wires as much as possible this prevents EMI from pulsing in the bass signal
Yeah that sucks especially when you have a sleeved screw holder and probably looked at it and said, I don't need it I got this, 45 seconds later.🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 😫😖🥺☹😟😬
Ported or sealed(acoustic) suspension) should be respected by manufacturer recommendation. Neglecting this will not only cause havoc to the drivers..movement..air displacement..but will also alter impedance. Great content as always!
I have seen a 500w rms sub wired with 18 awg wire. It was a buddy of mine who was complaining about not having enough bass. He asked me if I could adjust his amp and I saw the thin wire. After replacing it with 14awg I had on hand and adjusted the amp,he was happy.
The first thing I learned when I got my 1st system was if it's in a trunk use an enclosed box, if it's in an open back like suv or hatchback than ported box is needed
You are by far the best car audio channel here on youtube. Your knowledge, skill and honesty makes you one of the best. I find myself coming back to your channel over and over again for all of my car audio needs. Thanks for all that you do for all of us.
Old school here lol been building car/truck systems since 1988. My first real amp was a Kenwood 1020 with 2 cooling fans, it would get so hot it would fry an egg. But anyhow, we built our systems according to sound, we dialed everything in by ear. No need for this new fangled way. You build your systems according to what you like to listen to. Me and most of my friends liked metal, so when we decided to build we all had an idea of what it was to sound like. And most guys who listened to metal wanted their car stereo to sound like a home stereo. Lows, mids and highs amp to subs and a passive eq to mids and highs. Its all the dial in equipment you need!!
Yeah - I was seriously gonna say the same thing ... Need to Dump all those pathetic grounds for some REALISTIC Cables, ZERO gauge is preferable, 2g or even 4g is OK. Consider the Big 3 Upgrade and go get yourself a better Battery (you can also add on an Auxiliary) NO POWER - NO PUNCH
I learned that the hard way! Back in 92 I was getting a system installed, but didn't have enough 8guage left over to make a ground, after a couple of days went by and I didn't hear from the guy who was doing the install, I decided to run a 16 Guage wire from my deck ground to the amp, wire is on the passenger side floor up the seat the on my back seat, nevertheless 20min in the whole car filled up with smoke and everywhere the wire was left a burnt indentation on the floor, front seat and across the whole back seat. That learned me. To this day I never skimp on Wire, stinger is the only thing I advertise on my vehicle
Not necessarily bass output, but sound quality, not using sound deadening. I just pulled apart the plastic panels around my sub box and deadened everywhere I could reach on the sheet metal and the panels to kill rattle and resonance. Now, the bass sounds like bass.
You don’t always have to use sound deadening because if your vehicle is sound deaden from the factory an you add more your bass will sound like shit or want barley hear it
@@CarAudioFabricationI have a Lexus, with around 1k in it, punch 500 for interior speakers 4 6x9 & 2 10in mid bass and a kicker 500 watt mono block on 2 p2 dvc, and the factory sound dampening is so good that you can only feel me coming, but not hear me. I had a 92 park Ave with two 15 and 4 6x9 rear and 2 6.5 up front with a Kenwood 921 on the interior's, but with only a 100 watts PC on 6 speakers you could hear me with the windows up. All factory sound dampening is not the same
I missed 12s. I got 4 of 10” JL with 1,000 watts amp JL fixed nicely in my dodge mega cab truck 2500 HD. I’m great with it than 12s. 👍🏻 Btw 4 of 12 won’t fix in my truck, said it’s too big. Each speaker of 10 worth $150.00
@@nicowallace6409 sheeesh I kinda fucked up recently by tryna add a second battery I’m missing a fuse or 2 but for the budget it’s nice. I have a 3500W ds18 amp in the backseat and a hifonics d class 1500W amp in the trunk 4 12inch kickers 2 COMPr 2 COMPvr. I got 2 6x9 baby kickers for the doors and 2 infinity speakers for the rear. My boombuggy is a 2001 mustang drop 🤤😎
The biggest mistake people make is pumping more audio to a sub woofer than to midrange and tweeters. This in my opinion completely illuminates the upper and mid tonal range
Depends on witch way you point your box in the trunk, for different box.my air tight box sounds better facing towards the back trunk instead towards seats.
I have 4 of 10” JL with 1,000 watts amp JL in my Dodge Ram truck mega cab 2500 for 4 years. Not a problem, great bounces for some bass and great sounds. I recommend JL 👍🏻
Also, besides the SIZE/TYPE of box, just using a really cheap quality or flimsy box, and/or having one with air leaks will definitely destroy your bass performance also!
Always point the subs to the rear of the car went in the trunk.. It takes basewaves like 15' to develop and putting the speaker's facing backwards helps add Space to develop the base waves
@SC_2QUICK if you were to connect an oscilloscope to your signal output, you would see a nice alternating current sinewave. A clipped signal is when the nice round peaks of that sinewave are clipped off and it starts looking more like a square wave. Really bad for inductive loads like the voice coil in the subs.
I have twin kicker 15s …my worst mistake was believing what ppl said..if you’re a basshead like me then ppl’s opinion doesn’t matter to you..if you want good quality cuz your car has blown up shiddie paper cone speakers then listen to the crowd..if you’re a basshead like me don’t spend 700 dollars on voices only cuz that’s gonna leave you with no tremble..my first car was like that, brand new jbl 250watt mid ranges no plant with a pioneer radio, sounded awesome but i was missing the most important part..a bass..i just had good song quality , invest first in the subs you want and don’t install them, wait till you have your whole setup to install and buy them not by price but by quality, buy what you want and don’t settle for stores, import them if you have to, my speakers were good when i got my car but i still imported my mid ranges from brazil, cuz I didn’t wanna settle for 4 little shiddie 300 watt mid ranges😂now i have the best setup in my town…
Overpowering and crushing the coil when you can hear the snap back. Also melting the coil from overheating doesn't help either. I like this comment thread, it's fun.😊
I realized that in my car immediately, because as soon as I turned the system up on a fresh install I got a horrible noise thru the speakers due to the ANC system.
i was, and still am, a very budget person, and using bad materials is a big issue for performance, especially too little thickness of wood or soft wood types, since some very soft types of wood will ruin the bass completely,
Efficiency of lowering the resistance of driver to coupling to the air is where horns shine. "Voice of the theater" was proof. RAFTER RATTLING BASS from 10 watt tube amps of the 50s was the result. Thoughts? ✌️✌️✌️
Wire Gauge. Had a buddy running 2 15" subs on 20 gauge wire for like door speakers that was 6ft long. I installed 12 gauge that was only 2.5 feet long, just enough to get from amp to subs. Watts went up and so did the boom. He won the next Bass meet he went to by 20dBs just from the wire.
@@SimRacingVeterannope, it was a part of a philips 2.1 soundsystem that my grandma had, which she gave to a friend but forgot to include the subwoofer
1. Too high of tuning 2. Not enough power 3. Port noise 4. Not having a correct LPF 5. Certain speakers or subwoofers act differently depending on the environment they are in! So make sure you know where your frequency response is best in the trunk or in the room
Always put a board over the sub surface when screwing the sub to the box so you don't slip and put a hole in the sub. I learned the hard way. Also put a rag on the backside connection when soldering the wires so it don't drip and put a hole into the foam.
Is it possible to go too big on a sealed box? I mean, we always pay a lot of attention to the minimum volume required, but what about the maximum volume possible? Any thoughts on that? I want a sealed box for a vw bug, but I want to get the best out of the sub as humanly possible. I know that a bigger sealed box will let a subwoofer get better low end (like sub 30hz), but I'm not sure how much is too much.
You want the correct size box. If you want to get super low you need a subwoofer with better low end response not a bigger sealed box. The idea of a sealed box is to minimize peaks in the response not to artificially create one.
I’m an English teacher that knows basics…. I’m learning so much from you and want to thank you for a consistent clean presentation. I started attending an AP Physics class on campus that my friend teaches for ohms law and such - you got me hooked. Thanks brother …. 🤙🏾 PS Sometimes I buy equipment to help her teach- good sound comes from quality - and it’s expensive. You were right on both counts.
Not sanding the paint down to bare metal for the ground screw. Also, using a ground screw that wont tighten up enough, causing sparks, and sporadic amplifier performance.
Improper tuning and overloading of power if you push a subwoofer too hard it's not that you distorted it it stops pushing you get it at the right peak and that frequency of sound will slam
My own personal error was using 2 subwoofers of differing max wattage(1000W and 500W), and differing RMS ratings(250WRMS and 175WRMS). The speakers were competing for power and never hit the way I was hoping. Am ditching the 500W speaker. It is still good, but there's no place for it in my new setup. Will be running 2, 1000W max, 250WRMS, 12" subwoofers at 4ohms, a 3.5Farad capacitor, and a 1500W amplifier. I'm currently awaiting the 2nd subwoofer to ship to me, along with an I/0 gauge "Big 3" upgrade kit from Skar Audio. Should take care of many of my previous issues, especially after I get the head unit wired up the way it should have been(idiot previous owners had no idea what they were doing when they butchered the audio harness the way they did, x4 butt connectors for each wire they cut into, as opposed to just buying the stock-to-aftermarket adapter harness...).
Not having the rj11 volume knob option, AND also not putting an in line volume control on the RCA cords. Gots to have the volume control. It makes all the difference.
Having them face the wrong way is one of the most common mistakes that I have seen. I have schooled a few people on this. If you have your speakers facing you, wrong. Unless you're in competitions and are pushing 10,000+ watts turn that shit around, you can thank me later. Holler at your boy if you didn't know this and tried it. Tell me what you think and how much difference it made.
So true about the windows. Never see that mentioned much. Box placement is such a huge aspect. I've got a downfire box for two shallow Skar 10s in my crewcab. Those little bastards hit so dang hard. But when I slid the box about an inch and a half forward and to the passenger side, it's like it almost doubled in volume. Found it out by mistake when my box just slid. But once I looked at it and saw what happened, it gave more space for the sound to travel backwards and off the rear cab , plus to the driver side of my truck , it obviously gave more avenues for sound to reach my ears. That's my take on it anyways
So true about the windows. Never see that mentioned much. Box placement is such a huge aspect. I've got a downfire box for two shallow Skar 10s in my crewcab. Those little bastards hit so dang hard. But when I slid the box about an inch and a half forward and to the passenger side, it's like it almost doubled in volume. Found it out by mistake when my box just slid. But once I looked at it and saw what happened, it gave more space for the sound to travel backwards and off the rear cab , plus to the driver side of my truck , it obviously gave more avenues for sound to reach my ears. That's my take on it anyways
Wouldn’t out of polarity make them work with each other? Correct polarity works against each in the same box. That resistance of air flow gets them tones. Somehow I think this only makes sense to me.
They cancel each other out! What happens when you take a playing sub out of the box, does it get quieter? Because any air from the front of the sub mixes with any air from the back of the sub they cancel each other out= no sound. Phasing is the same, they both must push or pull together. The air from one sub will cancel air of another. Been old schooled you have by a 48 yr old who still probably out bumps you with one 12" SPL soundstream ran off a PPI 2050m. Both over 25 yrs old. Old school rules!!!
@@Eastsidegeorgiaboy i have install voltage regulator and also add in addition 2 ground cable for the monoblock alone...i have change both subwoofer new and use new monoblock...but it is still happening... I'm using 2 boston g2 12 inch woofer
If you have a 90s Lexus Ls400 the trunk is built like a brick house.Not to mention that the gas tank □ plus a metal firewall is behind the back seat.The rear panel was cut by the previous owner.So the bass enters the car.I am going to cut the rear panel even more.
Depending on how you count the mistakes, this is either 2 mistakes or 4, not 3 lol. Polarity, DSP, air volume, box type. Or polarity/fix with dsp and air volume/fix with right box
It's been a long time since I've done a custom sound system. I speak very highly of my little Digital Designs 8 Inch Sub with its enclosure that I used to have. Absolute beast in a family sized car.
So I have a red sony Xplod 1100w paired to a boss 1200w amp with the gain only about between half and a quarter to half, I dunno exactly how many watts I have it running at I wanna guess around 500 to 800 watts, now my question is should I change the sealed box out for a vented enclosure if I'm using more low end bass that's not just a quick boomey note?
running the sub at way too low power for what its made for. make the sub inverted (outside the box) without reversing the + and - from amplifier and therefore will hit wrong.
Done every one of these things...block vents ✓ add weight to cone ✓ add rubber silicone to surround ✓ paint cone ✓✓✓ A heavy painted sub is better than a busted f'd up one any day.
I have twin 6 inch subs for my ute (pickup) I made a box with four ports and sounds like I made it quite change the ports or the box I can double the size of the box I have the room
Thats only competition subs honestly, and you should free air hertz sweep at 60% for an hour or so to break them in. However Walmart kickers, pioneers and any other garbage sub, shouldn't need to be broken in, they won't last through a proper break in.
@@dbongoloid9541😮Are kicker bunk?? I always thought it was pretty good mid range gear...( haven't got kicker installed, but was considering..) so a no yeah ?...?.. Slate Audio in the UK do some beautiful , solid slate woofer boxes & speakers . Man ...the tightness & clarity is probably the richest I've ever heard,👌💯 though I'm no expert 🤷... Looking forward to you're reply pls 👍
Seeing and hearing my friends mom's Klipsch home speakers with a passive radiator and decided to make a custom box for the rear of mustang GT. Knocked the magnet off an old sub I had and went to work. Everything was ok, box fit good looked ok but was totally unaware of the weight added to a passive radiator needed to make it work properly. Needless to say I had a lot of distortion although it pumped pretty well
I like running a single dvc 12, I have a sundown 12, the 750 rms one, dvc 2ohm, I have it ran to 1 ohm & it is is a QBomb bandpass box, but I personally like it in a sealed box, but everyone says run it in the ported box? I just like the way it hits in the sealed box, but I just don't want to mess it up. But I have 1 cubic foot of air space in the sealed box. But my question is, does a sealed box tear up subs?
Tip to everyone that works on speakers if you’re worried about the drill, slipping and smashing into the cone or the woofer just get a piece of metal or a metal bucket and put it over that way if you slip all you’re gonna do is hit the “cover” and not the speaker
This was about 25 years ago. A Polk Audio dB12 in a 1 cubic foot sealed box "ejected" or "blew" the voice coil and part of the spider and cone out of the box. Polly fill was on fire and blew out with the voice coil and half the speak and melted the carpet on the back of the back seat of the hatch back. The fill in the box was smoulder and releasing lots of gas. I guess I had stuffed way to much polly fill and it melted and gassed and created enough pressure to destroy the speaker.
Mistake #1: Not knowing what this 'phase change of Mid-rangewoofer to Subwoofer'. (?) I tried working with a box, it made a woof sound when I broke the sealed box.
Biggest mistakes I see are on the head unit, people cutting the harness instead of getting the correct adapter. But for subs I think using cca instead of ofc, I guess its ok for low powered systems but ive seen 18 gauge cca speaker wire from 1200 watt amps same with power wires.
One thing that made me pissed (more than once) is that I accidently rammed a screwdriver through the surround, when tightening the woofer screws! By looking at the thumbnail, I thought this might have been one of the 3 mistakes. 😅 Always put a slight outward force on the screw, just in case it slips off the screw. 😅
have you ever combined 8-in subwoofers and 10-in subwoofers in a speaker box designed for a back end of a Dodge Grand caravan what would the sound be like wondering and around with designs got any 8-in speakers are already in the box and close didn't speakers square out of box.????? how do you think I should pursue that for sound.
too much port, too much volume can cause speaker unloading as well as too low of notes given wooder size and other volumetric perameters, its not just too little volume, not enough backpressrue can destory a subs spl and efficency
My mistake was when i married my wife instead of buying a dsp!
Hahahahah
We all make mistakes... 🤣🤣🤣 jk 😜
Only thing I can tell you is Men do what they want , boys do what they can , 24 years in and I’m a man that buys what I want
@@beerman9807 does that mean your divorced now😂😂 👍🏿
@@CarAudioFabrication in all the cars that I've owned. I've been able to put subs in them but I've now got myself a Volvo and I really don't want to modify the unit up front is there anything on the market that you know of ?
Trying to change it makes you lose other functions within the car head unit 👍🏿
My mistake was dating somebody for 8 years that hated bass...
How did that go?
Dam 😂 I would have left her
Oh helll no I couldn’t lol
🚩 🚩 🚩
I can relate. My ex-wife was a pre-madonna musician who was convinced it would ruin her "Perfect Pitch"....
When i screw the Subwoofer in and the drill decides to go through the actual Subwoofer
Oof
Bro, big big tip. Pre drill your mount holes, the drill only pops off because the screw isn't catching correctly. If you pre drill, and start the screw by hand, you don't need to push to get the initial bite, cuts out the whole motion that causes that drill to slip.
I thought this was going to be number one
@@dbongoloid9541 didn’t get the joke
Ooh I've done that before when I was younger. 😬💀🤦🏻♂️
I had just came back from deployment and bought two kicker L7 12's the guy at audio sound (Jacksonville, fl) said I'd only be able to use 1 kicker because of the speaker box space needed. Then he up sold me on some new tweeters, door speakers, and rear panel speakers. I had a brand new Infiniti G35 and it had its own amp... but somehow he got me sold on another amp and new speakers for the entire car... but when I asked for my factory speakers back and my factory amp he said they were in such bad shape he discarded them. This was 2008, the car was a 2006. Next my speaker kept going out. The voice coil kept coming apart and he said I had to contact kicker. Kicker being awesome sent a replacement without question. 3 months later same thing happened again. A 4200 system that sounded amazing when it worked was now dead... the dealer who installed it long gone. Kicker finally sent me to a place called shades of tent (RIP Richard Bass) right away he knew the guy messed up the specs on my box and rather than admit to his own mistake he took off with my perfectly good tweeters, 6.5's and 2x 6x9's with my stock amp. Richard also put dynomat in every place he could (roof, floor, side panels, all in the trunk, trunk lid, even behind my license plate) plus he did it at a fraction of the cost the original guy did... took me 3 years and lots of court dates but I finally got my money back but all the crappy sound place did was change their name to "Rolling Sound" so anyone in the Jacksonville, FL area looking for a good car audio place please make sure to stay away from Rolling Sound. They will steal your perfectly good stock equipment, then blame the manufacturer when in reality they just hire terrible installers.
@@No_Transitory this is why we research and inform ourselves as much as we can, so we're not taken advantage of by shady business practices that don't have our best interest in mind.
Dude... what are the chances that I find this. I live in Jacksonville and was planning on getting a quote for a sound deadening job from this exact shop. Small world.
@@JamDoggie same now ik who to stay away from 😂
When I bought my first sub I watched the employee slip the impact driver off the screw and straight into the cone
Did he get u a new one?
That’s sucked!!! Go talk to owner about it.
Hell no, I’d slip my cash right on back from the register
Most have been there…ouch ☠️
😭
Biggest mistake was believing the advertized 1600w amp before knowing what RMS was
Common mistake for newbies it took a few years for me
i put 1,100 watts into a 300 watt sub all I have to say is i made the fire blue
Explains this because i dont wanna make this mistake
@@cheeseburger577can put 15k on it, just don’t allow distortion
@@danisss8718 Real watts are “rms” watts, ignore the rest.
Rattles! #1 way to way to kill the sound quality of a system.
For sure. Got to have the sound treatment
Lol.#1 has to be no sound.
fact
Most definitely lock everything down insulated cushion that. You want to hear the signal.
that don't matter on a SLAB
Poor choices when selectring the equipment ive seen it multiple times people blowing all of their money on really good quality speakers and subwoofers eg. JL and Focal and powering them with fleamarket garbage amplifiers
Are the people who paid someone for the great equipment a great looking installation but it cancels all of its frequencies out.
@@esundproductions cant wait for a better Amp, shame about the owner.
@@dbongoloid9541 what happened to the owner?
The problem I have is I grabbed a factory subwoofer from a fully loaded chevy hhr ss model and I don't want too get a amplifier that'll over power the sub. I also have JL door speakers and I want too tie them together with the sub instead of running them separate from the sub. I'm a newbie too subwoofer setups and my dad hasn't done a setup in quit a while.
We're looking at you Boss and Pyle lol
Make sure you have a good Chasis Ground with a short cable from the bass amp to the chasis this will help the amp run with greater efficiency and stay cooler by lowering the resistance, and Run signal “RCA”wire away from communication or power wires as much as possible this prevents EMI from pulsing in the bass signal
#4 - not having a subwoofer in your car
@@CajunTaco that’s me😭😭😭
A mistake is also punching a hole in the surrounding when screwing it or unscrewing. That’s the worst feeling :(
Yeah that sucks especially when you have a sleeved screw holder and probably looked at it and said, I don't need it I got this, 45 seconds later.🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 😫😖🥺☹😟😬
@@FuctByTheGovernment oh that’s the worst.
Doesn't hurt the performance by much, but yes I have done same mistake before 😅
@@freeair7292 Poking a hole in the surround doesn’t hurt performance by much? Bruh what?
@@kylesmith9048 mans probly puts all his groceries up against the playing sub and hears no difference lol. all jokes over here
Ported or sealed(acoustic) suspension) should be respected by manufacturer recommendation.
Neglecting this will not only cause havoc to the drivers..movement..air displacement..but will also alter impedance.
Great content as always!
I have seen a 500w rms sub wired with 18 awg wire.
It was a buddy of mine who was complaining about not having enough bass. He asked me if I could adjust his amp and I saw the thin wire.
After replacing it with 14awg I had on hand and adjusted the amp,he was happy.
Also important is making sure you use sound deadening in places where the vehicle may experience rattling.
The first thing I learned when I got my 1st system was if it's in a trunk use an enclosed box, if it's in an open back like suv or hatchback than ported box is needed
You are by far the best car audio channel here on youtube. Your knowledge, skill and honesty makes you one of the best. I find myself coming back to your channel over and over again for all of my car audio needs. Thanks for all that you do for all of us.
I’m assuming you’ve never watched Meade916 way more better content
Old school here lol been building car/truck systems since 1988. My first real amp was a Kenwood 1020 with 2 cooling fans, it would get so hot it would fry an egg. But anyhow, we built our systems according to sound, we dialed everything in by ear. No need for this new fangled way. You build your systems according to what you like to listen to. Me and most of my friends liked metal, so when we decided to build we all had an idea of what it was to sound like. And most guys who listened to metal wanted their car stereo to sound like a home stereo. Lows, mids and highs amp to subs and a passive eq to mids and highs. Its all the dial in equipment you need!!
This guys designed a subwoofer box for my Avalanche about a year ago and i could not be happier
You make such quality content. Thanks
If you guys keep helping me out with dropping comments and sharing I'll keep making it. Thanks! 😊
@@CarAudioFabricationlllll
Stabbing the foam when the drill slips off they screw is pretty common lol
Wire gauge is important I've seen friends cars catch fire from red hot sub wires because he used normal speaker wire lol
Natural selection
So...you can't use 16 gauge speaker wire...?
@@redman7540me personally I like to use atleast 12 gauge unles it’s like a 2000 watt sub or more
4g power cable and 18g ground. I see it all the time. Ridiculous. Haha
That’s terrible!! But in tgat guys favor it would have been better to have that gauge if cable switched as ground basically becomes a positive!
Yeah - I was seriously gonna say the same thing ... Need to Dump all those pathetic grounds for some REALISTIC Cables, ZERO gauge is preferable, 2g or even 4g is OK.
Consider the Big 3 Upgrade and go get yourself a better Battery (you can also add on an Auxiliary)
NO POWER - NO PUNCH
I learned that the hard way! Back in 92 I was getting a system installed, but didn't have enough 8guage left over to make a ground, after a couple of days went by and I didn't hear from the guy who was doing the install, I decided to run a 16 Guage wire from my deck ground to the amp, wire is on the passenger side floor up the seat the on my back seat, nevertheless 20min in the whole car filled up with smoke and everywhere the wire was left a burnt indentation on the floor, front seat and across the whole back seat. That learned me. To this day I never skimp on Wire, stinger is the only thing I advertise on my vehicle
Electrons flow from negative to positive so for people that undersize the ground…….god help them lol
Not necessarily bass output, but sound quality, not using sound deadening. I just pulled apart the plastic panels around my sub box and deadened everywhere I could reach on the sheet metal and the panels to kill rattle and resonance. Now, the bass sounds like bass.
Sound treatment definitely helps the bass!
You don’t always have to use sound deadening because if your vehicle is sound deaden from the factory an you add more your bass will sound like shit or want barley hear it
@@CarAudioFabricationI have a Lexus, with around 1k in it, punch 500 for interior speakers 4 6x9 & 2 10in mid bass and a kicker 500 watt mono block on 2 p2 dvc, and the factory sound dampening is so good that you can only feel me coming, but not hear me. I had a 92 park Ave with two 15 and 4 6x9 rear and 2 6.5 up front with a Kenwood 921 on the interior's, but with only a 100 watts PC on 6 speakers you could hear me with the windows up. All factory sound dampening is not the same
How can I tell if my sub/midrange phase relationship is correct without a dsp?
MY MISTAKE WAS GETTING 2 12s INSTEAD OF 4
I missed 12s. I got 4 of 10” JL with 1,000 watts amp JL fixed nicely in my dodge mega cab truck 2500 HD.
I’m great with it than 12s. 👍🏻
Btw 4 of 12 won’t fix in my truck, said it’s too big. Each speaker of 10 worth $150.00
I GOT THE 4 12s YALL
@@kappnassdough7242 👏 let’s see a build video
@@nicowallace6409 sheeesh I kinda fucked up recently by tryna add a second battery I’m missing a fuse or 2 but for the budget it’s nice. I have a 3500W ds18 amp in the backseat and a hifonics d class 1500W amp in the trunk 4 12inch kickers 2 COMPr 2 COMPvr. I got 2 6x9 baby kickers for the doors and 2 infinity speakers for the rear. My boombuggy is a 2001 mustang drop 🤤😎
I got 2 12s then added 2 15s, I'm thinking about upgrading the 12s now.
I’ve had my 12s longer than I’ve had both my kids.
same I have a pair of Duals (dont laugh) that i bought in 07 that are still hitting like new.
The biggest mistake people make is pumping more audio to a sub woofer than to midrange and tweeters. This in my opinion completely illuminates the upper and mid tonal range
Depends on witch way you point your box in the trunk, for different box.my air tight box sounds better facing towards the back trunk instead towards seats.
It takes like 15 feet to develop a good bass wave and facing them backwards helps add space to help develop the waves better.
@@Chromedome-ss6mg nice,thank you for the tip.
Mistake #29 : installing 18 inch subwoofer for listening podcasts.
Why what did you experience?
I have 4 of 10” JL with 1,000 watts amp JL in my Dodge Ram truck mega cab 2500 for 4 years. Not a problem, great bounces for some bass and great sounds.
I recommend JL 👍🏻
A mistake I’ve made was a bad ground and undersized wires and I struggled with bass cutting out for 6 months
what are you guys think about putting two 12s in the cab of a truck
Do it man don't let anyone stop you
Also, besides the SIZE/TYPE of box, just using a really cheap quality or flimsy box, and/or having one with air leaks will definitely destroy your bass performance also!
Most common mistake I believe is that people buy enormous subwoofers for their cars. But that a small subwoofer sounds better for in there car.
Always point the subs to the rear of the car went in the trunk.. It takes basewaves like 15' to develop and putting the speaker's facing backwards helps add Space to develop the base waves
Do you recommend an open type of box?
What's a open type? Free air? Or do you mean ported?
Hard clipping even with an under powered amplifier will damage your subwoofer.
Clipping?
@@SC_2QUICK distortion is called clipping
@SC_2QUICK if you were to connect an oscilloscope to your signal output, you would see a nice alternating current sinewave. A clipped signal is when the nice round peaks of that sinewave are clipped off and it starts looking more like a square wave. Really bad for inductive loads like the voice coil in the subs.
Nobody has money to buy a car these days, let alone to put a subwoofer in it.
Can you link me to a video that explains the mid/sub phase relationship? I’ve always wondered what the phase switch setting actually does.
I have twin kicker 15s …my worst mistake was believing what ppl said..if you’re a basshead like me then ppl’s opinion doesn’t matter to you..if you want good quality cuz your car has blown up shiddie paper cone speakers then listen to the crowd..if you’re a basshead like me don’t spend 700 dollars on voices only cuz that’s gonna leave you with no tremble..my first car was like that, brand new jbl 250watt mid ranges no plant with a pioneer radio, sounded awesome but i was missing the most important part..a bass..i just had good song quality , invest first in the subs you want and don’t install them, wait till you have your whole setup to install and buy them not by price but by quality, buy what you want and don’t settle for stores, import them if you have to, my speakers were good when i got my car but i still imported my mid ranges from brazil, cuz I didn’t wanna settle for 4 little shiddie 300 watt mid ranges😂now i have the best setup in my town…
Subs usually have reverse phase, and facing rear. Try it and listen
Overpowering and crushing the coil when you can hear the snap back. Also melting the coil from overheating doesn't help either. I like this comment thread, it's fun.😊
Didn't realize car had active cabin noise cancelling or designed to eliminate cabin noise.
Agreed, also sound treatment is a God send.
Those anc mics are the worst!
I realized that in my car immediately, because as soon as I turned the system up on a fresh install I got a horrible noise thru the speakers due to the ANC system.
Whats the difference between open hole in subwoofer and putting membrane instead so its sealed?
i was, and still am, a very budget person, and using bad materials is a big issue for performance, especially too little thickness of wood or soft wood types, since some very soft types of wood will ruin the bass completely,
Buying speakers and amps without considering ohm loads. There is a big difference in performance between speakers wired to 1 ohm and 4 ohms.
Efficiency of lowering the resistance of driver to coupling to the air is where horns shine. "Voice of the theater" was proof. RAFTER RATTLING BASS from 10 watt tube amps of the 50s was the result. Thoughts? ✌️✌️✌️
Wire Gauge. Had a buddy running 2 15" subs on 20 gauge wire for like door speakers that was 6ft long. I installed 12 gauge that was only 2.5 feet long, just enough to get from amp to subs. Watts went up and so did the boom. He won the next Bass meet he went to by 20dBs just from the wire.
By 20db!!! Did 2nd place even have a subwoofer!!!! Thats embarrassing😅!!!
Not having subwoofer enclosure mounted solid or if nothing else atleast ratcheted solid against vehicle
those jl audio speakers are so nice
My worst mistake is almost overpowering my old 50w sub because i accidentally read it as 500w lucky i saw the mistake before i played any songs!
what happens if you overpower it?
@@thomasgully3574 sub will go KaBOOM
Or overheat then coil will get damaged/melt
👁👄👁 maybe I wont swap my old amp out with 1 thats 4times as powerful
Where in the world did you find a 50W sub? Was it ten dollars?
@@SimRacingVeterannope, it was a part of a philips 2.1 soundsystem that my grandma had, which she gave to a friend but forgot to include the subwoofer
1. Too high of tuning 2. Not enough power 3. Port noise 4. Not having a correct LPF 5. Certain speakers or subwoofers act differently depending on the environment they are in! So make sure you know where your frequency response is best in the trunk or in the room
Using small gauge wiring for high power application's
Or do the first thing Controlled for insane depth in base 😩
I think i missunderstood, lol nvm
Always put a board over the sub surface when screwing the sub to the box so you don't slip and put a hole in the sub. I learned the hard way. Also put a rag on the backside connection when soldering the wires so it don't drip and put a hole into the foam.
Can I install 4 door speakers to my factory stereo with a 2 channel line output converter? It had RCA outputs for “main L and R” and “bass L and R”
How about sub location where reflection cancels out the wave.
What box is best for 2 10" w7
when talking about "phase", what is your explanation about the isobaric system
Is it possible to go too big on a sealed box? I mean, we always pay a lot of attention to the minimum volume required, but what about the maximum volume possible? Any thoughts on that? I want a sealed box for a vw bug, but I want to get the best out of the sub as humanly possible. I know that a bigger sealed box will let a subwoofer get better low end (like sub 30hz), but I'm not sure how much is too much.
Wouldn't the extreme version of that just be a sub running without a box?
You want the correct size box. If you want to get super low you need a subwoofer with better low end response not a bigger sealed box. The idea of a sealed box is to minimize peaks in the response not to artificially create one.
Taramps 800.1 with a 400w 10" sub. They say always go with more power. It melted the VC. Sounded amazing for the 5 minutes it worked.
I’m an English teacher that knows basics…. I’m learning so much from you and want to thank you for a consistent clean presentation. I started attending an AP Physics class on campus that my friend teaches for ohms law and such - you got me hooked. Thanks brother …. 🤙🏾
PS Sometimes I buy equipment to help her teach- good sound comes from quality - and it’s expensive. You were right on both counts.
Something that will destroy bass? Sitting in a 50,000w subwoofer build, then driving home in a 1,000w subwoofer build.....
Not sanding the paint down to bare metal for the ground screw. Also, using a ground screw that wont tighten up enough, causing sparks, and sporadic amplifier performance.
From this video I have learned that my polarity could be off from the mids and sub thank you
Improper tuning and overloading of power if you push a subwoofer too hard it's not that you distorted it it stops pushing you get it at the right peak and that frequency of sound will slam
My own personal error was using 2 subwoofers of differing max wattage(1000W and 500W), and differing RMS ratings(250WRMS and 175WRMS). The speakers were competing for power and never hit the way I was hoping. Am ditching the 500W speaker. It is still good, but there's no place for it in my new setup. Will be running 2, 1000W max, 250WRMS, 12" subwoofers at 4ohms, a 3.5Farad capacitor, and a 1500W amplifier. I'm currently awaiting the 2nd subwoofer to ship to me, along with an I/0 gauge "Big 3" upgrade kit from Skar Audio. Should take care of many of my previous issues, especially after I get the head unit wired up the way it should have been(idiot previous owners had no idea what they were doing when they butchered the audio harness the way they did, x4 butt connectors for each wire they cut into, as opposed to just buying the stock-to-aftermarket adapter harness...).
Not having the rj11 volume knob option, AND also not putting an in line volume control on the RCA cords. Gots to have the volume control. It makes all the difference.
Having them face the wrong way is one of the most common mistakes that I have seen. I have schooled a few people on this. If you have your speakers facing you, wrong. Unless you're in competitions and are pushing 10,000+ watts turn that shit around, you can thank me later. Holler at your boy if you didn't know this and tried it. Tell me what you think and how much difference it made.
I don't a have subwoofer in my car.....so, I just turned my gf around. Much better, thank you!!!
Dont forget to crack those windows🙃
So true about the windows. Never see that mentioned much.
Box placement is such a huge aspect. I've got a downfire box for two shallow Skar 10s in my crewcab. Those little bastards hit so dang hard. But when I slid the box about an inch and a half forward and to the passenger side, it's like it almost doubled in volume. Found it out by mistake when my box just slid. But once I looked at it and saw what happened, it gave more space for the sound to travel backwards and off the rear cab , plus to the driver side of my truck , it obviously gave more avenues for sound to reach my ears. That's my take on it anyways
So true about the windows. Never see that mentioned much.
Box placement is such a huge aspect. I've got a downfire box for two shallow Skar 10s in my crewcab. Those little bastards hit so dang hard. But when I slid the box about an inch and a half forward and to the passenger side, it's like it almost doubled in volume. Found it out by mistake when my box just slid. But once I looked at it and saw what happened, it gave more space for the sound to travel backwards and off the rear cab , plus to the driver side of my truck , it obviously gave more avenues for sound to reach my ears. That's my take on it anyways
Don't forget to send that mf till you end up walking the rest of your journey 😎😈💪🏾
What are your thoughts on using dielectric grease on the connectors to the bass, amp, dsm and such?
Wouldn’t out of polarity make them work with each other? Correct polarity works against each in the same box. That resistance of air flow gets them tones. Somehow I think this only makes sense to me.
They cancel each other out! What happens when you take a playing sub out of the box, does it get quieter? Because any air from the front of the sub mixes with any air from the back of the sub they cancel each other out= no sound. Phasing is the same, they both must push or pull together. The air from one sub will cancel air of another. Been old schooled you have by a 48 yr old who still probably out bumps you with one 12" SPL soundstream ran off a PPI 2050m. Both over 25 yrs old. Old school rules!!!
I'm not sure if it is a mistake or error...my subwoofer is having like power cut whenever i jack up bass volume...
Probably a poor ground.
@@Eastsidegeorgiaboy i have install voltage regulator and also add in addition 2 ground cable for the monoblock alone...i have change both subwoofer new and use new monoblock...but it is still happening... I'm using 2 boston g2 12 inch woofer
If you have a 90s Lexus Ls400 the trunk is built like a brick house.Not to mention that the gas tank □ plus a metal firewall is behind the back seat.The rear panel was cut by the previous owner.So the bass enters the car.I am going to cut the rear panel even more.
Depending on how you count the mistakes, this is either 2 mistakes or 4, not 3 lol. Polarity, DSP, air volume, box type. Or polarity/fix with dsp and air volume/fix with right box
I'm glad that's what you took away from this video
Can u have a phase problem with different active speakers?
It's been a long time since I've done a custom sound system. I speak very highly of my little Digital Designs 8 Inch Sub with its enclosure that I used to have. Absolute beast in a family sized car.
So I have a red sony Xplod 1100w paired to a boss 1200w amp with the gain only about between half and a quarter to half, I dunno exactly how many watts I have it running at I wanna guess around 500 to 800 watts, now my question is should I change the sealed box out for a vented enclosure if I'm using more low end bass that's not just a quick boomey note?
I have interest in these Subwoofers for home use. Short & sweet video valuable information. 🔈🔊🔉✅👍
running the sub at way too low power for what its made for. make the sub inverted (outside the box) without reversing the + and - from amplifier and therefore will hit wrong.
Don't block vents.
Don't paint woofer cone & foam. It will minimize xmax ===> to less bass.
Don't paint spider.
Don't add weight to the cone.
Done every one of these things...block vents ✓ add weight to cone ✓ add rubber silicone to surround ✓ paint cone ✓✓✓
A heavy painted sub is better than a busted f'd up one any day.
@@aninjacalledshank2278 😄 well, it's up to you
How can I pick up signal for the subwoofer from the back of the multimedia unit?
Can I parallel two subwoofers with different RMS ratings?
eg :- 100W RMS sub + 200W RMS sub with 300W RMS rating amplifier
Using any kind /type of drill made
I have twin 6 inch subs for my ute (pickup) I made a box with four ports and sounds like I made it quite change the ports or the box I can double the size of the box I have the room
Are Skar sub boxes any good?
All I can say is I own a dual 12 box and now I’m looking at vids on how to replace one of them
Shiza
You should talk about how you have to break in your subs before you play them full blast youll blow them
So going full volume as soon as you hook them up is bad no wonder mine didn't last lol jk
Thats only competition subs honestly, and you should free air hertz sweep at 60% for an hour or so to break them in.
However Walmart kickers, pioneers and any other garbage sub, shouldn't need to be broken in, they won't last through a proper break in.
@@dbongoloid9541😮Are kicker bunk??
I always thought it was pretty good mid range gear...( haven't got kicker installed, but was considering..) so a no yeah ?...?..
Slate Audio in the UK do some beautiful , solid slate woofer boxes & speakers .
Man ...the tightness & clarity is probably the richest I've ever heard,👌💯 though I'm no expert 🤷...
Looking forward to you're reply pls 👍
Building way too big of a box is a common mistake I make. Then I have to trim the box to fit sub. Think of it like tuning the hard way XD
Seeing and hearing my friends mom's Klipsch home speakers with a passive radiator and decided to make a custom box for the rear of mustang GT. Knocked the magnet off an old sub I had and went to work. Everything was ok, box fit good looked ok but was totally unaware of the weight added to a passive radiator needed to make it work properly. Needless to say I had a lot of distortion although it pumped pretty well
I like running a single dvc 12, I have a sundown 12, the 750 rms one, dvc 2ohm, I have it ran to 1 ohm & it is is a QBomb bandpass box, but I personally like it in a sealed box, but everyone says run it in the ported box? I just like the way it hits in the sealed box, but I just don't want to mess it up. But I have 1 cubic foot of air space in the sealed box. But my question is, does a sealed box tear up subs?
Tip to everyone that works on speakers if you’re worried about the drill, slipping and smashing into the cone or the woofer just get a piece of metal or a metal bucket and put it over that way if you slip all you’re gonna do is hit the “cover” and not the speaker
This was about 25 years ago. A Polk Audio dB12 in a 1 cubic foot sealed box "ejected" or "blew" the voice coil and part of the spider and cone out of the box. Polly fill was on fire and blew out with the voice coil and half the speak and melted the carpet on the back of the back seat of the hatch back. The fill in the box was smoulder and releasing lots of gas. I guess I had stuffed way to much polly fill and it melted and gassed and created enough pressure to destroy the speaker.
Mistake #1: Not knowing what this 'phase change of Mid-rangewoofer to Subwoofer'. (?) I tried working with a box, it made a woof sound when I broke the sealed box.
The biggest mistake I see more times than I can count is people insisting on having an epicenter without actually know what an epicenter does.
What size speaker wire should I use for my Rockford Fosgate 4,000 watt amp into 3 Rockford T-2 s Please
use knukoncepts they have pure ofc 10 gauge speaker wire for 90 cents a foot best quality wire out there
Biggest mistakes I see are on the head unit, people cutting the harness instead of getting the correct adapter. But for subs I think using cca instead of ofc, I guess its ok for low powered systems but ive seen 18 gauge cca speaker wire from 1200 watt amps same with power wires.
One thing that made me pissed (more than once) is that I accidently rammed a screwdriver through the surround, when tightening the woofer screws! By looking at the thumbnail, I thought this might have been one of the 3 mistakes. 😅 Always put a slight outward force on the screw, just in case it slips off the screw. 😅
Blocking the port. However wide the port is, you need that much clearance in front of the port as to not obstruct the air flow.
I have a warzone 12 3000w with a power acoustic 2500w amp dose the amp also has to have 3,000 or is it fine I just gotta have a fan running on the amp
have you ever combined 8-in subwoofers and 10-in subwoofers in a speaker box designed for a back end of a Dodge Grand caravan what would the sound be like wondering and around with designs got any 8-in speakers are already in the box and close didn't speakers square out of box.????? how do you think I should pursue that for sound.
When the subwoofer is loose or something and you hear rattling wood everytime.
too much port, too much volume can cause speaker unloading as well as too low of notes given wooder size and other volumetric perameters, its not just too little volume, not enough backpressrue can destory a subs spl and efficency