55Hz sounds a bit too low to me, are they the 7" dyn set?
if so 55Hz wouldn't be too bad, otherwise i'd raise it.
Making the FS play lower than optimum can cause control issues.
drums would have very little "sound" under 55Hz, so i doubt it has anything to do with your sub.
my fronts are HP'd around 70Hz, so my sub would play some harmonics.
Maz: i actually won street class (not the whole SQ comp )
i'm sure the sound deadening had alot to do with it. over 100Kg of the stuff
it cost more than $1000, it was also serenity max, and that was at bulk rates

Beaver, i don't think an RTA will help you attack and control aren't measured on an RTA, only spectural balance.

you may benefit from time alignment, depending on where your problem is.

one thing i learnt early in my entry to car audio, is that the first thing most amateurs do with their new sub-box, is crank it up as hard as it will go. i did this myself, wanting to get value for money and all i drove around with my first subbox, and i thought to myself THIS SOUNDS TERRIBLE! i couldnt believe everyone was crazy over subs, when they made a system sound this muddy, boomy, with so much drone and flabbiness. before long, i realised that balance was the key, integration many call it - and have had infinitely better luck since.

so anyway, one of the problems with the forums is that advice is sought from people, without knowing those peoples particular habits, preferences or system sound. so what one person regards as tight, may be very different to the person offering advice. i know none of this answeres the question, but one thing i DO know is that whan it comes to bass, everyone's views are different

very valid point T-Bro...IMO that is where you are going wrong

you seem to have everything else right, ie big front stage, small boxes, lots of deadening material, so i think its just the power ratio you've got wrong

you say the subs are running off 600WRMS, how much is then going to the front stage? i would be feeding at least 200W per side to the dyn 3 ways...and you may even be able to go lower with the LP point for the sub or raise the HP point for the dyns a touch

Thanks for the replies ppl, bob my dyns are the 7" , i dont play them loud and dont listen to bass heavy music, so i might get away with it.

I think i have my power right, around 200rms at the front and i think that a bridged 1505 alpine 'çan' produce around 900 rms on a good day( levels are down a fair bit ) .

I think my box volume may be the issue, i am going to bring it down to 1 cuft and see how this goes. Also i found that adjusting the crossover points an q factor did the subs some justice. The biggest effect was the gains, increasing the gains gave the more precision. I spose it comes down to the saying trial and error.

Time alignment might be an issue, but my pxa is outta action. Ordered a control from japan 2 months ago, still no sign.
Thanks everyone
The Beaver

[ May 11, 2003, 20:41: Message edited by: beaver429 ]

Your doing what i would suggest and thats reduce the volume of box. An easy way to reduce box volume is to use polystyrene foam blocks, which wont add much weight, and can be cut etc easily. Just add enough to reduce volume to desired level (1 cube sounds about right with that sub in my experience).

peace
Cyberpunky

which way should i face my SUB

Just a casual opinion, but i think if tighter bass is your ultimate objective, at all costs, then the easiest(but by no means the best) way i think would just be to use a subsonic filter and filter out all the really low subbass frequencies which will never sound 'tight'. Though in the interests of musical accuracy, i wouldnt use such a filter unless it was to filter out only the inaudible frequencies

smaller sized enclosure from stats and fill it with pillows or similar