How "hard" should I expect an XS-12 to hit?

[BurnMac42]

My current setup is a Kicker 800.5 that is driving two Pro-60's on one channel and the XS-12 on the other. I installed the XS-12 into a sub box and then made a cutout in the drivers side kick panel to slide the sub box into. I have the kicker sub knob that runs to the amp turned all the way up and to be hoenst, I feel like the sub is just plain weak....I have my head unit's (Sony CDX-M60UI) sub setting cranked up to 10 (full).

The only thing I have to compare it too is my stock sound system in my 2007 Toyota Tundra and I feel like that "hits" harder when I turn the bass up than that sub does....Is there something that could be causing the sub to barely work? Weak ground maybe? The in-boats seem to be providing more bass than the sub is....

When I was in high school I had 2 really cheap 12" subs with a cheap amp in my car and that set up would still rattle your teeth out if you wanted it too...I understand the single 12 won't be that loud but I expected a lot more out of the sub than what it's currently doing.....

Chp has been instrumental in making sure I have the amp wired properly and the gains correct so it's safe to assume all that stuff is right but we can definitely revisit if need be...

[chpthril]

Your xs-12 is an older version that has a 4 ohm DVC configurstion. Based on the pics, it looks to be wired parallel and present a 2 ohm load on the amp. Thats going to equal a 400W rms output from the amp. The XS-12 should perform decent at that setup in an enclosure. I cant remember if we got too deep into the subs tuning in our last emails.

1) what are the internal dimensions of the enclosure? There mat be some tuning here that might make an improvement
2) make absolutely sure there are no air leaks around the enclosure joints or woofer. Any air leaks will impact performance
3) Make sure both voice coils are connected and the sub is indeed a 2 ohm load at the woofer. If one of the coils is not working for what ever reason, that impacts the woofers performance, not to mention a reduction in amp output.
4) amp tuning is next.
5) If the head-unit REAR/SUB outputs are indeed being used for the sub chnl RCA inputs, then I would suggest changing that back to its Full-Range REAR output and let the active cross-over in the amp do the work for the sub.

lets address these basics, and then we can get into the detailed tuning of the sub and in-boats.

[BurnMac42]

Your xs-12 is an older version that has a 4 ohm DVC configurstion. Based on the pics, it looks to be wired parallel and present a 2 ohm load on the amp. Thats going to equal a 400W rms output from the amp. The XS-12 should perform decent at that setup in an enclosure. I cant remember if we got too deep into the subs tuning in our last emails.

1) what are the internal dimensions of the enclosure? There mat be some tuning here that might make an improvement
2) make absolutely sure there are no air leaks around the enclosure joints or woofer. Any air leaks will impact performance
3) Make sure both voice coils are connected and the sub is indeed a 2 ohm load at the woofer. If one of the coils is not working for what ever reason, that impacts the woofers performance, not to mention a reduction in amp output.
4) amp tuning is next.
5) If the head-unit REAR/SUB outputs are indeed being used for the sub chnl RCA inputs, then I would suggest changing that back to its Full-Range REAR output and let the active cross-over in the amp do the work for the sub.

lets address these basics, and then we can get into the detailed tuning of the sub and in-boats.

Will do and thanks again for the assist.

The only step I'm not sure on would be #3. How exactly would I go about checking if the sub is indeed a 2 ohm load at the woofer?

[chpthril]

disconnect the sub leads from the amp and them put an ohm meter across the leads. Should read about 1.8-2.2 ohms.

[BurnMac42]

1. The interal dimensions on the box are 1.2 cu ft..

2. I took the sub out and made sure it was completely sealed so should be good there

3. Good to go

4. Lets do it..

5. The HU only has 2 output RCA's....the only other RCA on the back of the HU is a "bus" input...(see below, I don't have a third RCA into the BUS anynmore...I set it up like you told me to in the email with the 2f-1m setup..)

20150501_182328.jpg

I was messing around with the amp while playing some music and when I turned the lo/hi and fader off (button "out" instead of "in" on the amp)..the sub would hit harder but the inboat's/tower speakers sound quality noticably went down...



I guess the next step is to tune the amp and if that doesn't work I might just buy a new sub and that way I know it isn't the sub.....

One last thought is what size power/ground should be run to this size amp?

[chpthril]

1.2 is ok, but reducung it with some 2x4 wood blocks down to .8-1.0 ft3 will peak it up a bit, but lets leave that for later.

The woofer will handle 2x the wattage its getting now and leans more toward the SPL side fo things, so it should yield great output. SO no woofer change needed, but maybe an amp. Again, lets leave that for later

That amp deserves 4ga cabling.

[BurnMac42]

Ok...I'm pretty sure the cable on there now is 8 guage...MAYBE 6 gauge...it definitely isn't 4....I'll swap that out...would that possibly be reducing it's output or just creating heat due to the resistance of the smaller cable?

When able let me know if I need to tweak the settings to see if it's just a tuning thing...

For the power/ground wire is it that important to go with Kicker (or an audio company) or would it be alright to grab a red/black 4 guage set of wires from Lowe's off the bulk wire spools?

[ChrisSnow]

Your probably better off with generic marine grade tinned copper cable than anything an audio company sells.

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