Amp settings ?--BL 15"

[rob682e 0]

Hey all, I just got my car back today from the shop. I have a Kicker ZX1000.1 hooked to a BL 15".

I looked at the settings the shop owner left the amp at and was just wondering if he left them low or what. He has the Gain at 50% and the Bass boost at 3, goes up to 18.

It was pretty loud on the way home and I still had not got the radio all configured so I'm just wondering here.

[jonbearsmt 919]

turn that bass boot down.... all the way down.

[rob682e 0]

Sooo...just was out for about a hour ridin around. I turned the bass boost on the amp all the way down. I had the EQ set to a preset of Super Bass or something like that, that didn't really sound too good so I set it to "Powerful" which sounded alright.

There's also Bass Boost on the deck settings which I set to +6, not sure if I should have that turned down or not.

I have the Bass knob up front for the amp and I didn't really didn't feel comfortable turning that up passed about 20%, it was really loud and kind of shaky sounding.

I don't have more than 2 hours on this sub yet so maybe it just needs that 15-30 hour break in period I've read about. I'm pretty much a nub with most car audio stuff...there's a few frequency settings I don't understand on the deck and they aren't explained the manual. I have a Pioneer DEH-P3000IB. From all I've read on these forums, I'm sure this sub can take more power than I'm able to throw at it but me being a nub and all, I don't want to blow up my new toys.

Thanks,

Rob

[jonbearsmt 919]

i would turn the bass boost all the way down on the H/U too... then turn the bass on the h/u down to like -4 of 6

im not sure if thats a bass knob or a remote gain.. lemme seach it.

kicker says it is indeed a 18 db octo bass remote.... so.. i donno.. maybe someone that owns a ZX amp will jump in.

[rob682e 0]

Yeah so must be I'm just completely not educated enough to run my own equipment, it seems :-p.

I think one of the frequency settings was like a cutoff for the sub, pretty sure I put that at 64hz, lowest it goes it 50.

[jonbearsmt 919]

Yeah so must be I'm just completely not educated enough to run my own equipment, it seems :-p.

I think one of the frequency settings was like a cutoff for the sub, pretty sure I put that at 64hz, lowest it goes it 50.

just go sit some where like an empty parking lot... and play with your settings.. and find what you like.. the sub will talk to you in a way... you can read a sub to a point.. you shoulf be able to see or hear it stressing.. with that amp the only way you will blow that sub is clipping it to death.... so keep your bass controls down on your deck and your amp... and never use pre sets like " powerful" or SUPER BASS" or what ever IMO.

[nick_19 1]

agreed.

Bass boost, knobs, etc should be turned down.

Pretend like they are not there....

Then turn your radio up and set your gain... that is the only knob (as far as volume is concerned) you should be using.

Gain is NOT volume... if you push an amp to far, it will clip and (many times) blow your sub.

The frequency is the low pass filter. It "filters" out the high frequencies. keep it around 64-65. that's just fine.

Just keep the boosts down and try to keep your eq as flat a possible.

Good luck!

[rob682e 0]

Thanks a lot!! There is a preset EQ of "Flat" so I'll go out where I won't bother anyone tomorrow and get all of these settings right.

I don't know if this was some of my settings but I was kind of surprised when I listened to the song "Three Six Mafia - Late Night Tip"--There's some points in some of the bass lines that it actually went too low for the BL and it just kind of went from BOOOOM to sounding really dull and quiet for that low point, then it would go back up.

Thanks again for the help.

[jonbearsmt 919]

Thanks a lot!! There is a preset EQ of "Flat" so I'll go out where I won't bother anyone tomorrow and get all of these settings right.

I don't know if this was some of my settings but I was kind of surprised when I listened to the song "Three Six Mafia - Late Night Tip"--There's some points in some of the bass lines that it actually went too low for the BL and it just kind of went from BOOOOM to sounding really dull and quiet for that low point, then it would go back up.

Thanks again for the help.

not low for the sub.. low for the tuning.. what is your box tuned to,

[rob682e 0]

I honestly couldn't tell you...when I went to pick the car up yesterday the store owner went to come outside with me to check it out and all but a little incident happened and he freaked out on his wife and got all pissed. The box appears to be 3.5-4 ft^3 and maybe a 3 inch port but that's all I can visually see.

[ford302redneck 15]

i would turn the bass boost all the way down on the H/U too... then turn the bass on the h/u down to like -4 of 6

im not sure if thats a bass knob or a remote gain.. lemme seach it.

kicker says it is indeed a 18 db octo bass remote.... so.. i donno.. maybe someone that owns a ZX amp will jump in.

The knob is for the gains.

Not bass boost.

[ford302redneck 15]

I honestly couldn't tell you...when I went to pick the car up yesterday the store owner went to come outside with me to check it out and all but a little incident happened and he freaked out on his wife and got all pissed. The box appears to be 3.5-4 ft^3 and maybe a 3 inch port but that's all I can visually see.

Holy no port area batman.

That sub can't breath.

[rob682e 0]

Yeah...when I first was getting this all setup at the shop, I made it clear I wanted to build a custom box for it but I think the guy underestimated the sub so he went ahead and ordered one....

I went out for a bit this morning and messed with the settings. With the Bass Boost at 0 and the EQ Flat it sounded a lot better, However, it didn't sound loud enough so I had to turn that bass knob up. I ended up with it at about 75% and it was still very clear sounding while shaking my car. I tried Late Night Tip again and it did hit that low note ok but I think this prefab box may have been a mistake...still louder than anyone in this area when I get it all set right.

Some pics..

Sorry they are so big, I hope your browser resizes them as mine does.

Edited August 22, 2008 by Rob682e

[jonbearsmt 919]

i would turn the bass boost all the way down on the H/U too... then turn the bass on the h/u down to like -4 of 6

im not sure if thats a bass knob or a remote gain.. lemme seach it.

kicker says it is indeed a 18 db octo bass remote.... so.. i donno.. maybe someone that owns a ZX amp will jump in.

The knob is for the gains.

Not bass boost.

heres a copy and pase stright from kicker.com\

does best

[rob682e 0]

Had to go the hardware store...Correction...still doesn't hit the low note on Late Night Tip, ganna have to talk to the guy at the shop I guess.

[rushnrun 14]

your box appears to be (after displacement) 3.5 cubic feet tuned at roughly 40hz (assuming the port doesn't make a 90 with more length) I'd guess the measurements to be 3x16x10 for the port and 32x18x14 for the box (external), the 40ish tuning frequency is the reason you have very little output at the low notes (anything below that frequency could potentially damage your woofer).

If there is no 90 with more port length you can always try to add more length to it (you need at least 10 more inches of length to even get to 35 hz, but with more length you lose more volume increasing the need for more length..)

BTW the kicker "bass knob" is a gain adjuster, it only allows you to control the gain up to the setting that you have on the amp. So if your gain is set at 50% the knob will adjust it from 1-99% of the 50%. leave the bass boost at zero, turn on the subsonic filter on the amp, don't take the bass on the deck over 0, never use the preset eq settings...

You'd enjoy you sub more with a larger/lower tuned box personally for street beating I tune at 30 or lower

*you can always measure everything and get exact specs on the box, I'm just guessing the measurements from the pics.

[rob682e 0]

That sounds about right...when I was planning my own box I had it a bit longer at about 3.8 after displacement with a 32hz port. I'm really not sure how to go about this with the guy at the shop, I don't want to like offend him or something...it's my money and now it's my money wasted. I don't have the time to build a box, I'm leaving for college next week and won't have the resources to do so there.

Thanks for all the help.

[rob682e 0]

Just got off the phone with him...he said the box is pretty close to 4 cubed and the port is tuned to 35. Changing the box out for a 30hz probably isn't worth it so I guess I just need not play Late Night Tip.

[rushnrun 14]

measure out the box, exterior dimensions, thickness of wood, widthxheigthxlength of port and we'll see what it is. I doubt the box is tuned 35, most prefabs are tuned 40-45

going from 35hz to 30 will give you about a 2db gain from 40-30hz

if it's tuned at 40hz you'll see about a 4 db gain from 45-30hz big difference

*note that this isn't fact, just a rough estimate