Fi Q 10 - Not incredibly loud

[ricksi30 923]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.

No, but it isn't a good thing.

[Duran 387]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.

No, but it isn't a good thing.

Depending on the application and equipment, it might not be a bad thing either.

[ricksi30 923]

I understand your point but chances are someone who starts a thread like this isn't very knowledgeable and wouldn't be able to judge whether it was good or bad. And the scenarios where cranking the gain literally all the way up is okay are few and far between. Not arguing with you, just trying to better explain what I meant.

[jesseadkins187 5]

Hello there audio enthusiasts!

I have a single FiQ 10, stock options except it has the High QTS.

I am running it in a sealed box with 0.7 cuft of total volume, minus the Q's 0.12cuft of displacement. Sub Box

It is powered by a Alpine MRP-M500, It is a Dual 1 Q with the voice coils in series for 2 Ohms.

Ok, this sub is beautiful. I really do like it aesthetically, and it is a terrific sounding sub. My only real complaint is that I can't seem to get any real oomph out of it. I realize it is a SQ, but i have had 90$ subwoofers at a fraction of the power pound louder. When I first installed the sub and amp, I couldn't even get any noise out of it hardly until the amp's gain was maxed. At top volume it does thump, and the bass range goes nice and low. The volume is just lacking, nothing shakes on the car at all hardly. Its audible out of the car, but only just.

I'm fairly certain power is a non-issue. I have a 2000 watt wiring kit, 1 Gauge to a distro block, then four gauge to the amps. Also its worth noting that the sub really looks like its working hard. It uses its whole xmax (phrasing?), as in i mean to say that when its playing it covers its whole range of motion. Perhaps some subsonic noise?

Am I stupidly underpowering this thing? or was I just expecting too much volume from a single sealed 10?

Any input welcome. Thanks all!

EDIT :

I only mentioned the volume outside of the vehicle as a means of expressing volume level without knowing the actual decibels, not because I am trying to shake the block.

The sub has also been running for about a month and a half, I was hoping also that breaking it in would help, but alas, still the same.

Also I knew sealed would not be as loud. I really wanted something that had flat frequency response, but a little more boom than what I got.

It looks like I am off to buy a more powerful amp!!

Thanks for all the input guys!

yeah biggest problem is that amp i knew someone with the 1000 watt one and it didnt even do 1000 especially after box rise etc.. and you said it was in a sealed box thats your second problem i mean you cant get decent bass from sealed too

but put that thing on some real power how far is it moving with that amp like quarter of an inch?

[jesseadkins187 5]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.

No, but it isn't a good thing.

Depending on the application and equipment, it might not be a bad thing either.

i didnt think any amp at full tilt was a good thing.. ahhh i can smell the clipping from here

[Duran 387]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.

No, but it isn't a good thing.

Depending on the application and equipment, it might not be a bad thing either.

i didnt think any amp at full tilt was a good thing.. ahhh i can smell the clipping from here

Clipping will do nothing, the only thing that will damage a subwoofer is too much power.

[NDMstang65 403]

..you still have 500 watts on a speaker that has significantly more suspension then 500 watts will ever do anything to...

If I remember correctly I spoke to you via email about this 500 watts on a Q and i told you I did not suggest you spending the money on the Q and doing it because it will not be anywhere near its full potential output wise...but you insisted that it would be fine.

What you are trying to do is get to 4 seconds at the race track at over 300 mph by using a skate board and a leaf blower duct taped to the back of it...and that is not going to work out so well..there is no replacement for displacement, you have the smallest amount of displacement that we make, and half of the rated power that we suggest and you are expecting significantly more then what you should expect especially with the way the suspension is built on them.

In order to do what you want to do...(4 seconds at the race track at 300+ mph) you need one of these.

Bottom line...

[AllenH427 10]

When you say you think the subwoofer is reaching its safe mechanical limit, xmax, not xmech, could you show a video of it playing?

[swift 501]

Put 1000-1500 watts of good power to it, let it break in and I highly doubt you will have the same opinion about your sub.

You also need to make sure you have a nice front stage going as well. If you have one 10 sealed and a shitty front stage or factory setup your system will still not sound good. I had one 10in Rockford P2 sealed in my truck before my 15 and people couldnt believe how loud and good it all sounded. But the mids and highs were very well rounded and the entire setup was loud and very clear. This gives a whole different perspective when listening to your system. When you decide to go with one 10 in a sealed setup you need to follow through and get the most out of your entire setup, but if bass alone was your goal you need more power, more cone area and a ported setup.

[lamontp1 0]

whats your settings at?

Low Pass Filter at 140hz, no Subsonic Filter on this amp. Gain 100%, Bass Boost 0%.

Equilizer on the headunit is flat/off.

Had to raise the LPF really high since my components really lack on the midbass, I tried it down at 60-70hz and it didn't really increase the power output anyhow.

Also, Bass Boost seems like the obvious choice, but like we all know, turning that crap up even a little distorts the hell out of the output.

Whoa!

[ayssius 0]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.

No, but it isn't a good thing.

Depending on the application and equipment, it might not be a bad thing either.

Any less than 100% on the sub amp, leads to all the other components overwhelming the subwoofer, even with the component amp at only 10% gain.

The sub amp doesn't get warm even at 100% gain for a long period. It doesn't even really seem to be working that hard to be honest.

yeah biggest problem is that amp i knew someone with the 1000 watt one and it didnt even do 1000 especially after box rise etc.. and you said it was in a sealed box thats your second problem i mean you cant get decent bass from sealed too

but put that thing on some real power how far is it moving with that amp like quarter of an inch?

I wouldn't be surprised to find that I'm not getting anywhere near the 500 watts its rated at.

Although as far as your movement question I can't get a ruler up to it, but I would say easily 20mm of the 28mm rated xmax.

i didnt think any amp at full tilt was a good thing.. ahhh i can smell the clipping from here

On certain bass hits, low drops it defiantly clips, it does good for like a few seconds, nice and clean... then it loses it. I assume this is the lack of output from the amp.

Put 1000-1500 watts of good power to it, let it break in and I highly doubt you will have the same opinion about your sub.

You also need to make sure you have a nice front stage going as well. If you have one 10 sealed and a shitty front stage or factory setup your system will still not sound good. I had one 10in Rockford P2 sealed in my truck before my 15 and people couldnt believe how loud and good it all sounded. But the mids and highs were very well rounded and the entire setup was loud and very clear. This gives a whole different perspective when listening to your system. When you decide to go with one 10 in a sealed setup you need to follow through and get the most out of your entire setup, but if bass alone was your goal you need more power, more cone area and a ported setup.

I have a semi-decent front stage, I have 2x Infinity Reference 6030cs in the front, 2 More in the back.

They are powered by an Alpine MRP F-300, I ran 12 Gauge wire from the amp to all of them.

The gain on the fronts are 30%, and the gain on the backs are 10%, they are HPF at 70hz.

Not big bucks, but not factory either.

Bass alone was never the plan, I wanted it to sound nice and good, my only beef was that the components can outdo the sub easy.

When you say you think the subwoofer is reaching its safe mechanical limit, xmax, not xmech, could you show a video of it playing?

I had to take it with my cell so apologize if the quality is poor. Also the sound will be terrible. This is literally as much power as my amp can push.

Obviously I've seen ones with much more motion, but it seems modest enough.

Video

..you still have 500 watts on a speaker that has significantly more suspension then 500 watts will ever do anything to...

If I remember correctly I spoke to you via email about this 500 watts on a Q and i told you I did not suggest you spending the money on the Q and doing it because it will not be anywhere near its full potential output wise...but you insisted that it would be fine.

What you are trying to do is get to 4 seconds at the race track at over 300 mph by using a skate board and a leaf blower duct taped to the back of it...and that is not going to work out so well..there is no replacement for displacement, you have the smallest amount of displacement that we make, and half of the rated power that we suggest and you are expecting significantly more then what you should expect especially with the way the suspension is built on them.

In order to do what you want to do...(4 seconds at the race track at 300+ mph) you need one of these.

Bottom line...

I never emailed. But you can be assured if I had, I would have followed your advice =)

In previous stereo builds, I usually just have one 100watt amp powering some cheap POS sony sub, and I've had much more volume.

That's not to imply the Q is any less than a spectacular sub, Just that past experiences have steered me wrong.

I fully expected a 500W amp to at least get it going.

----

I have a MB Quart ONX 1.1500D on the way, and today I am going to put the DMM on it to see what the sub's impedance is.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, appreciate it!

Edited September 20, 2011 by ayssius

[cobra93 47]

I've never heard a Q in person, but I'd like to.

Have you tried firing the Q in directions? Cancellation maybe?

I've had some great/loud-n-clean subs in the past and pushed them pretty hard in my opinion only to have the salesman/friend tell me I needed more power.

I had a hard time believing that as much as the cone was moving, more power was the right answer.

Holy crap was I wrong. It came alive and put a smile on my face when I upped the power, it sounded better/cleaner as well.

As I said, I have no experience with the Q, but when NDMustang says you need more power as well as others, I'd take their advice to heart.

I'd also give myself some headroom if I'm going to upgrade my amp.

[jesseadkins187 5]

So what if his gain is at 100%? That does not lead to a lack of output.

No, but it isn't a good thing.

Depending on the application and equipment, it might not be a bad thing either.

i didnt think any amp at full tilt was a good thing.. ahhh i can smell the clipping from here

Clipping will do nothing, the only thing that will damage a subwoofer is too much power.

Clipping will do nothing... ummmmm ok if you say so ask nick if clipping is hard on a sub

[Shogen 325]

getTHIS Audiopipe and call it a day broski....

[ricksi30 923]

Clipping will do nothing... ummmmm ok if you say so ask nick if clipping is hard on a sub

Clipping causes a spike in POWER, thus it is the spike in POWER that causes the subwoofer to fail. The extra power is to blame for the excess heat which causes damage.

Edited September 21, 2011 by ricksi30

[Duran 387]

What you guys aren't understanding is his "500 Watt" amp, even if it is a full square wave, can supply a maximum of 1000 watts to the driver, IF the power supply is able to do so, therefore clipping is NOT the problem in this case.

[ricksi30 923]

What you guys aren't understanding is his "500 Watt" amp, even if it is a full square wave, can supply a maximum of 1000 watts to the driver, IF the power supply is able to do so, therefore clipping is NOT the problem in this case.

I am supporting you're statement that clipping doesn't directly cause damage it's the increase in power. I also agree that you aren't going to blow a Q with a 500 watt amp no matter what you do.

[///M5 2,833]

it's the increase in power

Please add the word average in front of power.

[merzbow 0]

Problem seems obvious to me... if you are jacking the gain to 100% and still volume is much lower than you expect, the problem is with the RCA input voltage from your HU to your amp - it's not high enough. Double-check the wiring between the HU and your sub amp, and your HU's settings (sub channel turned on? sub channel level set to low? EQ issues?). Check the voltage on the RCA itself while playing a 0db sine wave at 50hz at 3/4 volume on the HU, it should be anywhere from 1-5v.

[ayssius 0]

Problem seems obvious to me... if you are jacking the gain to 100% and still volume is much lower than you expect, the problem is with the RCA input voltage from your HU to your amp - it's not high enough. Double-check the wiring between the HU and your sub amp, and your HU's settings (sub channel turned on? sub channel level set to low? EQ issues?). Check the voltage on the RCA itself while playing a 0db sine wave at 50hz at 3/4 volume on the HU, it should be anywhere from 1-5v.

I replaced my Headunit, because indeed the output voltage was very low. The new one resolved a lot of the volume issues.

I also changed the amp to a MB Quart ONX 1.1500D, The sub is much much louder now.

Problem resolved, this sub now has a big smile on my face. Easily twice or perhaps three times the output now.

Thank you everybody for all your suggestions and wisdom.