I've had bass in three of the four cars that I've owned...
Usually I've gone with two 12's or 2 10's....
They generally all had the same reprocussions.
After listening to music with lots of Bass for a few months, I'd start to notice small little squeaks, peeps and rattles from the interior trim when the CD player was off. Just driving down the road with no music, you would hear these little noises that will iritae the hell out of you while you're trying to talk to someone riding with you. This is one of main reasons I sold my Grand Am. It sounded like I was driving around with screws and peices loose in the dash and in the doors.......
Has anyone ever related this directly with having Bass?
Or am I a fruitcake?
(you don't have to reply to the latter part)

 

Actually I've had the problem in a couple of my older cars, what you did to do is insulate your trunk, with that spray foam, the bass will even hit harder and you wont have any rattle.

 

yes ... fruitcake just kiddin man, I have had the same kind of an experience in my grand am actually. Now that I am in college I am selling my car (which if anyone is interested in ) and I took my stereo out, my subs consisted of 2 12" infinity kappa perfect subs, with a 1000 watt (realistically ~475rms into each sub) and when I took everything out I noticed hellacious rattles like I had loosened the moldings and the screws, I don't think it is that unusual that if you put in lots of bass that it will affect the interior, note LOTS of bass don't know if that was what you really wanted to hear but it's my experience

 

Well, we know that nothing sounds better than a new sound system in a brand new car... Thing is, we all want to keep it that way. I totally enjoy how quite the interior is with no music on and I'd like it to stay that way. I noticed there was not a forum on this subject, so hopfully some other people with this problem will pipe in.....

 

Fruitcake, no. Basshead, yes.

Listen people. Your system does not have to be heard a mile a way to be good. In fact, most that can be, AREN'T!

I have a single 10 in my OZ, and it sounds great.

**********IMPORTANT TIP!**********

Regardless of how many, or how big subs you have, RUN THEM IN REVERSE PHASE! Some nicer head units (like the pioneer 8400 and 9400), give you this option on the deck. Or, you can simply hook up the wires from your amp backwards.

WHY DO THIS?!

Because normally, you have 2 speakers sitting on the rear deck firing UP the same time the sub is firing OUT. You are LOOSING sound pressure this way. If you set it up in reverse phase, the sub is firing IN when the speakers are firing UP, and THEREFORE, you have a higher SPL (sound pressure level) in your trunk.

Trust me on this one.

D

 

One more thing...

Cars aren't meant to be vibrated all the time. If you have a heavy bass system, you will get rattles, and I will laugh at you when you drive by. Of course, you'll be so deaf from the bass you won't be able to hear me, so you'll just see this .

D

 

i kinda agree. a lot of people just put tons of bass in the car, and when you listen to music, it sounds like ****. cause all you hear is rattle rattle rattle, vibration, and no music. if you are gonna put 1000 watts in your car, first make sure it is sound deadened. then make sure that the rest of the music is balanced and is adequately powered. otherwise it's gonna sound like your listening to music from outside a dance hall.

 

but i disagree with your reverse sub wiring and rear speakers. having them in phase means the sub would push the speakers out MORE in the direction they are going, which is good. and the difference (because the rear speakers have such small excursion) is so negligible.

 

Ok, Let's not get too far away from the subject here....
You mention that people have tons of bass,...Rattle....Loud....Etc.
But, we all know that one 10" woofer with a few watts to it is going to cause some vibration..... What steps can be taken to ensure that by 2004 your 2003 lancer doesnt sound like the inside of a 1984 bronco?

 

dynomat? i'm putting a 10" with 180 watts in, i'll tell you in 2 years how it sounds

 

I second the dynomat. Or a less stinky, and less expensive alternative from Cascade, available at http://www.mmxpress.com
Just look for Cascade (Audio?) in the manufacturers list on the left.


As far as the whole phase thing goes, you DON'T want your rear speakers to be pushed out farther; that's what we called distortion. Do a little research on ISOBARICS and CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE (or take a physics class), and then get back to me. Reverse phase in a closed trunk is the way to go.

D

 

Actually,
Reverse phase is perfecly OK.
What you want to avoid is having one channel in reverse phase and the other connected normally....
This causes phase cancelling and it makes your subs work against each other. You see 'em hittin', but they ain't bassin'.

 

pushing speakers in the same direction they are going is not called distortion. it's called added power. it won't work like a passive radiator setup. those need to be tuned very finely to sound good. the amount of so called "distortion" or loss in SPL is so negligible that it is laughable.

Out of Phase - when your speakers are mounted in reverse polarity, i.e., one speaker is wired +/+ and -/-
from the amp and the other is wired +/- and -/+. Bass response will be very thin due to cancellation.

Phase - Refers to the timing relationship of two or more signals or soundwaves. It's especially important to be
sure that your stereo speakers are playing "in phase." This means that the drivers (cones and domes) of your right
and left speakers are moving in and out at the same time. If your speakers are "out of phase" you'll hear significantly less bass, and instead of producing a strong center image, the sound tends to stay localized at the speakers.

taken rom caraudioexpert.com

 

I have to agree with the definitions, but its like this.

Essentially, your trunk is acting like a sealed environment (like a big sub-box). If the speakers in your rear deck are firing out the same time your sub is, then they are out of phase, plain and simple. And when it comes to sounding good, are you saying it will sound worse if you reverse the phase? Or that you think the difference is so small you just don't care?
:endsrant:
D

 

BTW, I'm not trying to start a flame war... I've just done myself, and corrected others installs where this has made a huge difference. Does anybody else have any say on this?

D