Ok so I got a JL Audio JX250/1 - Mono Amplifier and an 8 inch jl audio 8w3v3 to fit where the stock used to be. Its a little louder then the old one but nothing over the top like what im hearing people say about this sub. Is there something on the amp that im not setting right maybe?

 

Take a pic of your amp and I'll check it.





...not just of the amp. The actual controls..

 

from the JL Audio site

http://mediacdn.shopatron.com/media/...53dbd1ab2e.jpg

 

I meant his actual settings, but that'll work too I guess. Where do you have your x-over ("filter frequency" on your amp) set OP? Also, did you go into the speaker plug or wire up RCA's?


Input Voltage Range @ RCA Inputs: 4V-200mV
Input Voltage Range @ High-Level Inputs: 10V-2V

 

This is how my amp is set up https://i.imgur.com/a8MPu.jpg

I also have my actual subwoofer setting in the dash turned all the way fown to 4 because i noticed some songs are distorted when its higher

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong in thinking this way, but try this..

Assuming you're using the post-amp signal for your sub, turn the x-over to 125 or all way up even. The factory signal is already x'd at I think 80hz, but just to make sure you're getting the entire signal you might as well bump the amp x-over up a bit.

I'd also lower the bass boost for now until you figure things out. That could be the cause of your distortion. Can you take a pic of your gain setting for me? Turn the gain all the way down, put the sub on 0 (middle setting for nav). Turn something on with some bass 80hz and below, crank the volume to around 30, then start upping the gain until you hear distortion or until it's plenty for you.

The bass boost is just a 45hz boost. I'd keep that down/off until you dial in the gain and then you can play with it to see if you need a 45hz boost or not.

 

You have the sub mounted free air. It's not going to be very loud in the stock location no matter how much power it gets. This is why I always recommend against this kind of setup.

Infinte baffle is great for saving trunk space and it's very power efficient down low but it requires the front wave to be separated from the rear wave. If you want better output you would need to seal the rear of the sub from the front of the sub. The holes in the deck would need to be plugged up. The area behind the rear seats needs to be sealed off so no sound can come through the seats. At a minimum you need to have the center armrest shut to plug up the hole. Anytime the rear wave can meet the front wave you get cancellation and a loss in output. What you end up with is a sub that might sound a little better but output is not going to increase much as you turn the volume up.

You can add more power but you're quickly going to hit the mechanical limits of the sub. You can either seal everything off with it in the stock location or put the sub in a box, ported or sealed with ported probably being better for a little 8".

 

Thanks a lot trunk monkey im gonna go give this a try now I appreciate it...I hate cars - your right about the sub not being a free air sub, are there any DIY for how to close off any air spaces?

 

I would not even mess with trying to make it work in that OEM location. This car has been around since 03 and no one has gotten anything good from that location yet . Go to a box or IB setup.

 

The W3 will work fine in free air or IB, all you have to do is separate the front wave from the rear wave. I'm not sure if its worth the trouble though. Be careful with the power, that amp at full power will bottom the sub out in freeair.

 

Is it the camera flash or is the amp protection red LED on?

 

This is part of the reason I got the JL Audio ZR800-CW instead. It has a slightly higher Qts number for this type of application. I'm not saying my cabin rocks, but I definitely feel and hear the difference over OEM night and day.

 

Higher Qts for IB is more of a myth than anything. I remember when it was thought it was needed. When you look at Fs and Qts, the W3 will no doubt dig deeper than the ZR800. The ZR will be a little more efficient in the 50-100hz area. I guess it really just depends on what you're looking for. A little 8" without a port is going to run out of displacement quickly below 50hz anyway and both have about the same displacement so I can see how the ZR might be a better choice if you don't care about below 50hz.

 

An 8 in a ported box would literally take up nothing. Hell the Dayton HO 10" only needs .8cuft ported and supposedly sounds great. Cheap too.

 

That's not a sub. That's a midbass speaker.

 

Dayton 10 needs an external port, though.

 

Crap you're right...didn't think about the port length and the box only being .8cuft. I wonder if you could build it long (rectangular) instead of like a cube and get away with an internal port.

 

If i had to use the dayton, i'd make a beauty panel in the trunk and use an areo port on the top of the box firing through the stock sub hole.

 

I don't see that as a problem for this specific application. JL specifies that this speaker works in this "IB type" application while the 8W3 requires an enclosure.

It's a drastic improvement over the OEM setup and that's all I require.

 

different strokes for different folks.

 

The 8w3 is fine in IB applications. Overall displacement is close between the two. The Qts and Fs differences mean without eq, one will have more of a midbass sound, 45hz and up while the other will play deeper . You can shape the sound with EQ but one will be more power efficient above 45hz and the other will be more efficient below 45hz.

 

If you just dynamat (or the like) up the bottom of the rear deck the best that you can, it will help... maybe not enough, but it will help.

The big issue with the stock location is that the 6.5s will work as radiators since it is really hard to separate the sub from the 6.5s.

 

Another way to add more potential output is to set the subsonic filter higher if the amp has one. Bring it up to at least 40hz and you will be able to feed it more power without bottoming. It will also free up power by not attempting to produce lower material that you will barely hear anyway. A non ported 8" can have decent output from 40-50hz and up but no way it's going to produce the really low stuff with any sort of authority.