Subwoofer help

[Flexez]

RESOLVED!!!
Rockville sub is . Returning it and buying one Skar

————————

I’m new to this audio thing and I need help. I purposely bought a Rockville 12” vented 1400watt sub because it has a built in amp. I’m using an 8 gauge because I don’t really want the max 1400.
I have a 2016 Honda Civic Ex with no amp stereo, hooked up all the wires correctly and to find out my sub is “underpowered”. The gain lfp and gain knob controller is maxed out and I can only here a little it.

I’m using the high input R + - directly wired to the stereo head unit. Do you think I need to wire the L + - to get the proper “power?”

sub with built in amp specs:

• Rockville RVS12A Slim 12” 1400 Watt Amplified Car Subwoofer in Vented Enclosure with Shallow Enclosure
• 1400 Watts Peak power output
• 350 Watts RMS
• 12" Subwoofer with 50 Oz magnet
• Subsonic filter preset to 30Hz
• Vented enclosure plays tight and deep bass compared with the sealed version of this
• The enclosure is a little bit bigger than the sealed version we make but this is still shallow and the sound of this is significantly better and this is still really small
• MDF Enclosure (high quality – NOT particle board!)
• 2” High Temperature Voice Coils
• Ultra-Stiff Composite Pulp Cone with Kevlar Reinforcement
• 3D Molded Acrylic Dust Cap
• Expanded & Rolled Steal Basket
• High Density Laminated Foam Surround
• High Power Strontium Magnet with Ultra Saturated High BL Motor Structure
• Vented Core Magnet Motor Structure
• 8mm Washer & Yoke Plates
• 13.6mm Peak-to-Peak X-Max
• Aviation Grade Black Tweet Carpet with Embroidered Logo
• Black Texture Synthetic Leather Front Panel
• Impedance: 4-ohms
• Frequency response: 30Hz-500Hz
• SPL @ 1w/1m: 89dB
• Dimensions: 26.49" Length x 15.2" Height 6.8" Top Depth x 8.9" Bottom depth
• Unit Weight: 32.55 Lbs.

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[Phy]

What speakers did you tap for your inputs?

 

[Flexez]

What speakers did you tap for your inputs?

I tapped directly to the head unit to get the best outcome~

 

[Phy]

Using RCA? What wires did you tap? What exactly do you mean you "tapped the head unit directly"?

 

[Flexez]

I mean I said I’m using the high input R + - directly wired to the stereo. So the high input

 

[kendall_si]

Do you have pics of how everything is wired up? Without DSP tuning and a pretty high dollar amp it’s going to be hard to get the “best” sound. I run a Rockford fosgate 10” sub in a custom ported box that’s 1.5 cubic ft. I tuned it by “ear” instead of using an oscilloscope, and I tapped into the rear deck speakers with a simple line output converter made by PAC. It sounds great to me. I consider my taste to be “SQL” which is the middle ground of so much bass you can’t hear the song, and bass that is there to improve the overall sound of the music, not to have any real “boom”.
Other factors for sound:
-what frequencies are the low and high pass filter set to?
-what type of music are you listening to?
Also note that the freq range of your subwoofer is 30hz-500hz. 500hz is high for a subwoofer. Tune the low pass filter closer to 120-200hz and that may help.
I’m not an expert but these are just some things to consider

 

[kendall_si]

Also, crutchfield has countless articles online to help with these things. Highly recommend reading up on impedance as well as how the high, low, and subsonic filters work

 

[Phy]

I mean I said I’m using the high input R + - directly wired to the stereo. So the high input

Im lost, what high input?

What wires did you tap?

 

[Flexez]

I’ve set it too max and the sub woofer got “louder” but I just placed mine around 60-100hz. In the trunk is thumpimg but in the cabin I can barely hear it.
* rap music
* electrical
* whatever Spotify gives me

hype songs with bass

Varieties of songs

I feel like I need to buy another amp, well, the built in amp inside the sub is 350rms (idk what that means) and people said if I have 1200watt I would need a 800+ or 1200watt amp. But I don’t know why Rockville will give the customers a under power amp if that was the case…

 

[Fountainhead]

I had an accord once with a sub in the rear deck. I disconnected that and ran it high level input to a small kicker amp advertised as "400W" but likely only giving say 150 to a dual 10" sub cabinet with 2 8 ohm 10" subs in parallel for 4 ohms and it sounded great. SQL only. Cabinet was made for the trunk of the accord and it fit perfectly. Sounded good too. Of course I chose subs that were designed for a sealed cabinet. That's very important for even frequency response. And, the cabinet was sealed. I don't remember any part numbers or particulars.
If you want the sub to sound musical and not be "boom, boom" then you have to have the right woofers for the right cubic volume cabinet and the right "QTS" for a sealed cabinet vs. a vented cabinet. It all matters.

 

[Flexez]

I had an accord once with a sub in the rear deck. I disconnected that and ran it high level input to a small kicker amp advertised as "400W" but likely only giving say 150 to a dual 10" sub cabinet with 2 8 ohm 10" subs in parallel for 4 ohms and it sounded great. SQL only. Cabinet was made for the trunk of the accord and it fit perfectly. Sounded good too. Of course I chose subs that were designed for a sealed cabinet. That's very important for even frequency response. And, the cabinet was sealed. I don't remember any part numbers or particulars.
If you want the sub to sound musical and not be "boom, boom" then you have to have the right woofers for the right cubic volume cabinet and the right "QTS" for a sealed cabinet vs. a vented cabinet. It all matters.

For sure man, went ahead and order some Skar sound gear!

 

[Fountainhead]

For sure man, went ahead and order some Skar sound gear!

Hi Flexez,
The SKAR speakers may or may not be designed for a sealed cabinet, so make sure they are suitable for the cabinet you're going to use.

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