I have a big problem that i cant figure out so i would really need ur guys help. I have a problem with my car sound system being much louder when the windows are down then up. As soon as i close all my windows i dont get no low frequency response at all and it really sound muffeld. The funny thing is when i have my windows closed i feel so much air moving my hair and its not loud to the ear but as soon as i put the windows down that pressure goes away and i dont feel it much on the hair but its ten times louder and it sounds perfectly.

My car is a Acura TL 2005 i have 2 12" infinity reference subs facing towards the rear and being pushed by a kicker sx600.2 with about 300 watts rms to each.

what would u recommend i should do the get around that problem ive talked to some people that own the same car with a different setup and they have no complain of this. Could it be my box that is causing this cancelation or is it cause of the cabin size or would i solve it maybe with a different type of a subwoofer....

i really dont know and would really appreciate if someone could help me out with this. I just cant get it right.....

thank you

 

ported or sealed box?

 

its a sealed box

 

thats probably ur prob..my ports sound gr8...try a ported box

 

maybe just my particular box design ended up being made just to do this kinda shit ) im gonna try facing them forward and see what happends. its just that is so much work since the box was built along the trunk lines

 

It's completely normal. Do a search for other threads on this. Mine does it and every car (non TLs) I've been in does it.

 

if thats the case then over 2000 $ worth of equipment is actually garbage if you ask me

 

How much of a difference are we talking about? With mine ( two 12W6s in a factory sealed box, Infinity 1000W digital amp), not much difference at low volumes but it gets bigger the higher the volume goes. The SQ seems to be better with the windows down also. The bass is flat out cleaner, lower, and louder, with the window cracked even an inch. I notice the difference much more in the very low frequencies.

My friend's Mercedes CL65 is the same way and so is a friend's 300ZX and Mustang.

I've seen SPL competitions where there is a very signifigant SPL difference with the car airtight vs doors open.

Do you keep the rear port hole open or closed?

 

I should add that I had a problem I was tracing down (turned out to be the amp) and tried the box facing every direction imaginable. With it facing forward I had to turn the gain from 1/3 of the way to 3/4 to get the same volume level. Interestingly enough, rolling the windows down had no effect but overall bass was worse than the box facing backwards and the windows up.

 

oookkkk its not the box thats ur problem...its called compression. when it gets released the sound waves travel further therefore it sounds louder.

 

sealed or ported theres a big difference but if the ported box isnt done correctly for the sub(s) it wont sound correct n compression is thrown off. I just redid the whole system, in the trunk everything is fiberglassed and i ported the box out with 3 10w7's at 2ohm 3000watts max. in order for it to sound correct at high volume u have to open ur window (regardless if its sealed or ported) the air HAS to go somewhere. if it doesnt ur ears would pop and ur trunk lid would pop open.

 

i understand everything but this is a real big difference im experiencing since when i listen to for example country music at normal volume or even pretty much low volume i still dont hear the sub but as soon as i put the windows down everything comes alive. The punch is the the low end everything sounds the way its suppose to but with windows up all gone. Wich is funny also is when i put the rear windows down nothing changes so by u saying when i realese the pressure it works but why doesnt it work when i do that with the rear windows instead the front

 

I'm sure tripnbeats can help you more than I can but two things come to mind. Make sure + and - on the subs are correct so they aren't fighting each other. Does your amp have phase control?

 

well i decided to go with a different setup wich is gonna consist of one IDMax 12" in a sealed 1.5 ft'3 box shoothing trough the armrest at 900 watts rms. so ill see how that works out if not then i throw it all into the river

 

Agreed. Basically having a sealed box compared to a ported box is really the tightness and accuracy of the bass that you want. If you want tight bass that doesn't sound "fuzzy" then you go with a sealed box. If you want to be like those people that you hear from half a mile away, you go with a ported box. The reason that the bass sounds louder when your windows are down is basically because there is more air to move around.

Have you removed the factory subwoofer? Because, the TLs trunk is sealed pretty well and you would not get as much of the bass sound into the cabin unless you keep that passthrough door open or remove the sub on the rear deck. And also if you open your windows it will sound better because the air has somewhere to travel, rather than staying in the cabin.

I would have the sub rearward facing, so that the frequency bounces off the trunk and fires into the cabin. Another problem is that your box is probably too big! If the box is blocking the entire rear passenger seat then you BETTER remove the factory sub.

Hopefully I didnt confuse anyone, or didnt repeat what someone else said

 

i know everything what u talk about thats stuff is for little kids and yea i know the difference between ported and sealed its not the problem here thoe....

right now i have my seat out my rear deck out and half the covering inside the trunk and belive me there is plenty room for the bass to come inside the cabin. as i said its not pressure since when i roll down the rear windos to release that pressure nothing changes in sound only it does when i do it with the front windows and the change is drastic. so there must be somekind of a cancelation..... and even for people who said they didnt like it firing forward is probably cause they didnt seal the front well or at all. when they shoot forward there should be nothing coming back to the trunk for it to work the best. wich is what they say is the best setup u can do for SQ purposes.

 

IDMax are nice...what kind of amp are you using? Is that 1.5 cf? Let us know how it goes

I've heard systems firing forward, downward, upward, rearward, sidewards, everywards...none of them cut-out the way you're describing...got to be something else...must be frustrating

 

yea it really is. its not that i want it to go krazy loud is just that i want it to sound the way it should .......yea its gonna be in a 1.5cu box sealed of a kicker sx900.4. im gonna brige two channels each for a 500rms each at 4 ohms it should be around 1000 watss if not more. the amp was benched at 1010watts rms.

 

Cool...that should definitely do the trick

I'm having a seperate volume knob installed for just the subs (2-10")...I know it can be done from the HU, but think it will be easier/quicker to do it manually.

Post pics and results when done...good luck

 

its called "trunk syndrome" try turning the sub box around and adjusting the frequency

 

finaly someone with some real info if u dont mind could u explain that a little bit better

 

uhhh.... What is trunk syndrome?!!!

The dude's got a sealed box. how is he gonna tune it?

 

Waited too late to modify my post. But this is what i wanted to add

I had a 12W6V2 in a JL made box which the dimensions were 14.75x24x12.5 it was rearward facing and covered up a majority of the opening into the rear seat area. I had removed the factory sub as well. But then I had a custom box made by Uncald4 from acurazine which angled the sub and was mounted opposite side of the navigation player on the driver side. Once i did that, the sound quality and the "thump" increased tremendously. You have a 1.5cuft box which has to be covering a decent amount of space which is preventing your bass from even entering the cabin area.

I know this may be a dumb question but is your amp connecting to the speaker level input on your sub coming from the input right before the stock sub? If so whats your level of the sub on your head unit? I know your sub is set to speaker level inputs unless you used a converter to convert from speaker level to rca than thats no question.

 

its not that as i told u i took out the rear seat and the rear deck for testing purposes and nothing changed. since my box was bulid acording to the lines of the trunk i couldnt just flip it and have the subs shoot forward so now im almost done with the new box thats gonna be aimed into the cabin insted to the rear lights.... gonna let u know how it works out i hope its gonna do the magic trick.

 

Well hope all that hardwork of building a new box works out!!!!! Let us know how it goes, and also post pics if you can of your old setup and new setup too!!!

 

i finaly set up my box and as of right now im more then pleased..... that effect is still present with the windows down but from reading on all forums around the net i found out it to be normal..But since i turned the box around shooting forward the subs sound much louder even on lower wattage. I hooked them up to two channel on my 4 channel amplifier for testing purposes.. So when i put my dedicated sub-amp wich is 150 per sub more it will be more then enough . The most part that changed thoe is the response of the subwoofers so much cleaner now. Any type of music slow or fast it just hits precise. i can finaly say im happy enough

while doing this kind of setup u gotta make sure everything behind the box its sealed of from the front. u want all that bass move forward otherwise u gonna have a lot of cancelation.... that i found out myself too

ill try to post some pics when i have everything put together

 

right on...that is great definitely post pics when you get a chance...

 

CONGRATS!!!!!

Like ChicoOG said, POST PICS!!!!