hey everyone hows things , well bassically i got my system setup in my 89 calais. with my new headunit. its a pioneer with a 3 rca so i can control my sub . but im afraid the power of the sub is pathetic weak .. ive got a 800 watt kenwood amp and one of those 1500watt dual voice coil kenwood subs and a aerpro box 6gauge wiring kit and stuff and on the headunit you can control the sub from -6 to +6.. well i heard my cousins sub today which is a 1000watt boss with a 1200watt amp but the thing is so damn powerful unbelievable. I cant WORK out for the life of me whats wrong until i relised i didnt do the install and trusted the bloke who did it for me... His got speaker wire running from the amp to the sub... just speaker wire shouldnt it be big thick stuff? I dont know.. its just not powerfull and its on +6. it should be breaking windows? whats going on.!!

Not really a thread for the SQ forum, but anyway....

What are the model numbers of the gear that you are using? To me it sounds like that your sub is underpowered. What is your box size, sealed or ported?

for short runs between the amplifier and the sub, thinner wire should be fine. Do you know what gauge it is? Something like 14AWG cable should be fine.

You also state it is a DVC sub.

Might be wired in series but yeah, some specs would help

Kenwood KFC-W3514DVC
12" subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coil.....

Details:
» 12" subwoofer with two 4-ohm voice coils
» titanium-coated Deep Design cone with rubber surround
» sturdy steel basket
» rubber magnet cover
» power range: 90-380 watts RMS (190 watts per voice coil)
» peak power: 1500 watts
» frequency response: 25-800 Hz
» sensitivity: 93 dB
» mounting depth: 6-13/16"
» sealed box volume: 1.20 cu. ft.
» ported box volume: 1.70 cu. ft.
» Recommended Q-Logic Box Type: 1, 2, 3


kenwood amp.

Features Highlights

* Aluminium Die-casting Heat Sink
* Detachable Aluminium Dress Plate & Top Panel Control
* Power MOSFET Switching Power Supply
* Built-in Bass Boost
* Built-in Variable Low-pass/ High-pass Filter
* Gold Plated Input/Output Terminals
* Line Output Terminals (RCA) for Extension
* Speaker Level Input
* Single Side Exposure of Terminals for Multi Installation

General Features

* Aluminium Die-casting Heat Sink
* Detachable Aluminium Dress Plate & Top Panel Control
* Power MOSFET Switching Power Supply
* Built-in Bass Boost (Off/ +6dB at 90Hz, for B Channel)
* Built-in Variable Low-pass Filter 50-200Hz (18dB/oct, for B Channel)
* Built-in Variable High-pass Filter 50-200Hz (12dB/oct, for A/ B Channel)
* Variable Input Sensitivity (0.2-5V)
* Gold Plated Input/Output Terminals
* Line Output Terminals (RCA) for Extension
* Speaker Level Input from OEM Car Radio for Easy Up-grade
* Single Side Exposure of Terminals for Multi Installation
* Power Indicator with Red Triangle LED
* Size: W 380mm x H 61mm x D 286mm


Power Features

* Maximum Output Power
o 800W
* Rated Output Power (14.4V )
o 70W x 4 at 20-20kHz 0.08%THD (4Ħ)
o 200W x 2 at Bridged 1kHz 0.8%THD (4Ħ)
o 100W x 4 at 1kHZ 0.8%THD (2Ħ)

...


PLEASE NOTE im not using back speakers.. im only using the two stock 17 year old 4 inch holden speakers which are running off the headunit so bassically. just the amp and sub.... okay.. yeah there is bass. alright bass actually. but wouldnt you be thinking the bass would be coming out would be insane.. Okay also theres a hidden panal with the all this gain control hpf stuff i dont know much i know this LPF? or what ever ... maybe theres a setting i need to change also theres a button that says MAX BOOST = which is default off. before i start playing with this stuff should i disconnect power from the battery or it doesn't matter. oh yeah and im saving up for speakers lol

Nothing personal dood, but based on this statement, I would book it in at a shop, explain what you think is wrong and let them have a play with it. Ask some questions of them though and try and learn a bit

on the amp what is the low pass filter set on?.. is the sub bridged?.. what way do you have it facing in your boot? what car does your friend have which is ment to have more "bass".. what gain is set ect ect

The sub is a dual 4ohm voice coil and you have it running off two channels of a 4 channel amp that would put out 200wrms @ 4ohms, however you are either running it at 8ohms ( and getting about 100wrms ) or at 2ohms and you amp wont like that too much at all.

You would be getting more power for your sub if it were a single 4ohm voice coil but still nothing that would "break windows"

800 watts is the peak power of that amp, not the amount of power that the sub is actually getting. If you want more bass I would suggest getting a pair of single 4ohm voice coil subs and run each one off a bridged pair of channels.
or
Buy a mono amp for your sub and use your 4 channel to run your front and rear speakers when you upgrade them.

4 channel amp and your only running 2 channels to the sub?
bridge all 4 channels so you have 200 x 2 one to each coil.... easy!
make sure all settings are correct and gains will need to be the same on both bridged channels... you may need to add another speaker connection posts to your sub box, and re wire the sub inside...
also upgrade your power cables to at least 8awg, 4awg if ya can..
thin speaker wire to the sub will do, but some thicker stuff like 12awg wont break the bank as you'd only need a few metres...
all settings on the amp should be identical for channels 1+2, and 3+4 since it will all be running the single sub.

there was no mention of fronts being run off the amp, but if this is the case then get another amp to run the sub...class d with 400rms or more (always look for rms values for power) peak power is what they usually display which is double the rms value, but rms is the true power rating.

Both the last two posts - "dual mono" and "TRD1JeeZy" are spot on.

Your sub is not 1500W. Your amp is not 800W.

Please get it looked at by a shop, your knowledge level is probably not the best to be doing this stuff yourself. If you want to learn, ask them if you can hang around and watch while they do what they do, and ask lots of questions. Better to ask a stupid question and be stupid for 20sec, than to not ask and be stupid for a lifetime.

Your problem could be due to many different problems.

If you bought your gear from a local store, drop in and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to solve the problem

I'd say the problem would be either the xovers (LPF, HPF) are messed up, sub is running at 8ohms, and/or the sub is placed in an unsuited box.

Well i checked out the settings on amp last night and like all the LPF, HPF are off.. like theres a setting just to turn them off. its off. when i turn it on. theres little bass) when i turn the knobs around and put on ---> LPF theres more bass but i think just as much as it would be turned off. I dont have enough cash to get it checked out If anyone wants to post up on here how i could improve the bass. Like changing knobs around to whatever hz.

Is there any guides on this tuning stuff? thats what i think it really is.. and theres even more options on the headunit that i was messing around tonight with. I just dont fully understand it I will start reading guides..
Also. Why isnt there many people with kenwood on here? did i choose the wrong brand?? if so why?

Read through these.
http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=35875
http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=70757
http://www.caraudioaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=77525

For a quick run down; wire each voice coil to a pair of bridged channels on the amp (it will be marked on the amp how to bridge it, connect to the positive on one side of the pair of channels and the negative to the other channel, then do the same for the other voice coil to the other pair of channels). As for the settings; set the LPF to on (HPF will be off), set the dial for the LP (low pass) to around 100Hz. Then you'll need to set the gains (keep the two dials the same), this takes a bit of mucking around so read through the tute linked.

(Hopefully that's right )

If you get stuck perhaps take some pics so we can try to help, of course if you're completely stumped take it to a pro as suggested).