EBinMT

Me either! I was stumped. It was a trunked car with fold down rear seats. The owner wanted the use of her trunk using the hatchback box she had so we mounted it facing forward behind the rear seat. Something about the acoustics of that vehicle with that box placement.

It isn't common, but it is a simple thing to try.

WorknProgress

What differences exist between the old enclosure and new one?

Just doing a quick read through, it sounds like it could be the processor. Since you obviously want to run one, play with it. It takes some time to tune, but take a notepad with you and just make notes to yourself as you go along playing with the filters and slopes.

I ran into a similar problem whenever I ran a separate processor for my sub. It went from being punchy and tight, to sloppy and muddled. All I did was take the time to properly tune everything and it came back better than before.

Also, I've never heard of inverting your wire connections to match the car's resonant frequency....so yeah probably wouldn't do that.

amick218

My system sounds different also after building this.



Ik I need a box for the sub's specs but it doesn't sound the same as before when I had the box in the middle behind the arm rest...does it sound different because its hitting the back of my seat? It seems to be moving a lot if air though. The bass is also much louder at a lower volume compared to when my components are screaming.

Sorry not trying to hijack, just seems like my problem is similar to yours.

WorknProgress

Anytime you change the orientation of a speaker you will get a change in sound, that's just a fact. Now if you've changed the airspace or even the design of the box itself, it can also have an effect on the sound.

If you're getting more low end it could be due to the different amount of airspace. Typically what I've found is that the bigger the box, the more low end output you get. Either that, or because the speaker is now loading off of the seat it's producing a different response (which ties back to speaker orientation). This is due to the distance between the speaker and the loading surface.

For the quick and easy, try moving the box around to see if you can get that sound back. If that doesn't work try tuning it, and if that fails to satisfy just build a new box similar to your old one. Hope that helps!

Good looking setup btw...

amick218

Thanks man. Box is the same haven't built a new one yet, only variable is the location so ill move it and see how it sounds.

WorknProgress

Oh I must have misunderstood, I thought you changed up boxes. For sure it's the location then.

Guinness68

Back to me...?

It's DSP and Sub (and possibly one door driver inverted.)

I spent time (and money) Friday by bringing my truck to an installer in town. The guy who helped me was an Alpine expert. He had Greg, his Apline rep, on speed dial. After messing with my system, he was baffled at how crappy it sounds. No mid bass. He did tune everything and we could not get my sub to sound good.

Regarding the sub, I tested Hz. It thumped hard from 10 - 50, then rolled off. There is NO punch in my sub. It goes REALLY low, but no high end to it. We pulled the sub and played it in the shop, same crappy sound. Brought a Pioneer shallow sub out to my truck and it was nice and punchy. It is the sub enclosure.

that night I added more poly fill, at their suggestion. (One owner recently attended a training where they discussing poly fill and it's use.) So, I added all I had. It sounded better. Still not good enough, but the sub was punchier. Then in the afternoon, same exact song, it sounded like crap again. Did the DSP change it's own settings? I will say this: Alpine DSP H660 is a POS, for me. I'm pretty technical when it comes to sound and I can't get the system to sound anywhere near good, sub aside. Neither could the guy at the shop in town.

It sounded good in a .90 box. He told me if it sounded good in a .9 box, why did you go smaller?! I was trying to hit the optimal side (as per RF's spec sheet.) He explained they always go smaller to protect the driver. Smaller = more dampening = less wear on the driver. So, my new option is to build a bigger box.

If that doesn't work, then I will purchase a loaded sub and be done with it (DSP withstanding).

I need to somehow check all four door drivers for polarity. There's a JL Audio iPhone app that's supposed to do it, but I can't find the file I'm supposed to play for the test.

One tell tell sign to me that this DSP is a POS is that the voice for sync sounds like she's in a tin can. explain that to me??

GATORB8

Can you see the cones? You can always do the old trick of connecting the speaker wire to a 9V battery.

Guinness68

I can see the cones with a flashlight maybe.. otherwse, I'd have to disassemble the door.

9v battery test?

Problem is, it MAY be inverted somewhere between HU and DSP. Testing from speaker wire out, but not give me a good test.

JoeBoost

The grills will come out from the front. Pull up and out on the bottoms and work around the perimeter.