I have 2 300rms type r subwoofers in a professionally ported box in my car, hooked up to a digital line converter. But now that I realize that I should switch the stock deck in my car I got a dpx500bt kenwood head unit to replace it. I replaced the head unit myself and it was super easy and breezy because it fit into my dash without an adapter and I just plugged it in to the harness I bought. After installing it, the sub worked great, even better then before (still on the digital line converter) but I wanted to switch it to the subwoofer output coming straight from the deck. Once I plugged the rca from my subwoofer output on my deck into my amp it moves much much less then it did with the digital line converter. Why is it that the pre amp levels coming from my deck are much much less powerful then the ones coming from my dlc, I checked to make sure everything was plugged in right multiple times and I know the sub and amp is wired right because I’ve been bumping them for months before this. I’ve researched it for a couple hours and can’t find anybody with a similar problem so I was hoping someone here could push me in the right direction, thanks
Subs sound worse with new deck?
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swechsler
Frog Whisperer
I guess it would depend on the DLC. This one says it's got a 10V output, while your Kenwood is spec'ed as 2.5V. This would explain the discrepancy. I assume you're no longer using the DLC for anything after disconnecting the subwoofer. Presumably your subwoofer (or subwoofer amp) has a gain control, and the Kenwood certainly has a subwoofer level control (probably buried in a submenu somewhere - check the manual). You'll have to adjust them until the level of the subwoofer is even with that of the main speakers. You will probably also want to adjust the crossover frequency to as low as the main speakers can reliably reproduce (hopefully <= 100 hz).
Ya that would make sence now that I think about it but when I mess with the gain on my amp aren’t I also messing with the possibility of sending clipped signals to my sub, I got a guy at a shop to test it for clipping with the dlc still attached and to properly tune my amp and all that and he said it was not clipping( and it was still putting out lots of bass) but now there’s less bass at the same gain settings and all that, should I just crank the gain?
swechsler
Frog Whisperer
No, clipping is wholly dependent on the amount of power you try to send to the speakers. If the amp played loud and clear at a certain level with the DLC, it will play loud and clear at the same level when connected to the head unit. In your sub amp, the signal goes from the input jacks to the gain control to the amplifier section (in fact, the gain control would be more accurately called an attenuator, since it doesn't actually add any gain, just subtracts level except when it's at its maximum setting).
Back in the old days of car stereo, head units only had two amps (left and right), so the fader was connected after the amplifier to split the amplified output between the front and rear speakers (in some cars, the fader was actually a separate control mounted elsewhere in the car). These days, almost all car stereos have four amps (one for each front and rear speaker) so the fader is now connected before the amplifiers.
Back in the old days of car stereo, head units only had two amps (left and right), so the fader was connected after the amplifier to split the amplified output between the front and rear speakers (in some cars, the fader was actually a separate control mounted elsewhere in the car). These days, almost all car stereos have four amps (one for each front and rear speaker) so the fader is now connected before the amplifiers.
So if I turn up the gain it won’t damage my subs unless I’m overdriving them? I always believed that if I turn my gain past what the guy at the sub shop left it at it would clip
swechsler
Frog Whisperer
Correct.
Well, it possibly could have clipped with increased level setting- with the 10v output of the original DLC.
However- with the new subwoofer preamp output producing only 2.5v- you need to turn up the sub amp gain, to match the same overall amp output, to the subwoofer.
If you can't hear overdriving, and the subwoofer isn't playing louder in relation to the other speakers in the system compared to before- chances are you're fine...
Regards,
Gordon.
The amp isn’t powerful enough to blow the subs or even overdrive them but I’m scared if I turn the gain up it’ll clip like crazy and just cook it up at the top of the excursion, are you sure cranking the gain won’t clip it, I’m very scared of damaging them
Okay so if when I turn it up and it keeps getting louder there’s no problem but when it sounds the same when I’m turning it up then there’s clipping?
Okay I’ll trust you on this thank you very much