Sub Placement in a 99 4runner

[pnorwood]

Wanted: Input from others about their expereince with sub placement / aiming in the cargo area of a runner.



I just had a new system installed Saturday, and I am saitsified with everything other than the sub, which I am hoping just needs some adjustment.

The sub is an IDQ 10d2v2 (10"). It is in a .6 sealed enclosure.

Originally it was placed with the rear of the enclosure up against the back seats -- firing backwards. This really sounded bad. It was like being in an apartment with your neighbor's sub playing. Low volume and did not blend with the music.

Somewhat by accident, I readjusted the sub by moving it closer to the rear of the vehicle, and aimed it to where it is now firing into the corner toward the brake lights. Much improved sound.

I really have not had an opportunity to try out different setups. I would appreciate hearing what you have found sounds best.

Thanks.

 

[jpless]

I have a 98 with a 12" JL w3 firing backwards as you described at first. It is powered by a mtx amp with a 240w rms rating. I have had MANY MANY MANY sub setups in my car including

1) 12" Sony xplod with a profile baja amp
2) 2 12" Dual subs in Bandpass box with a 460w dual amp
3) 12" mtx thunder6000 with the same dual amp
4) that mtx sub with my current mtx amp
5) my current setup with the mtx amp and jl sub

I have done many different placements. firing towards the rear, towards the front, and to either side. I have not found much of a difference in sound quality in terms of placement but I prefer rear-firing (i have also heard this is the best for suvs and such and produces the most bass).

Having dealt with many different setups my initial thoughts when reading about your poor bass quality were:

1. what is an IDQ sub? never heard of it.
2. what amplifier are you using?
3. How many watts does the amp put out (rms) and same for the sub?

Basically, my thoughts are you either have poor quality sub and/or poor quality amp, maybe you're overpowering your sub (if your amp and sub arent powerful enough and you turn on the bass and gain too much it just sounds hollow and nasty)

My system sounded decent with the different setups. However, when i upgraded to the mtx amp, it was SO much clearer and better than when i was using either the dual or the profile.

When i put in the JL i wanted to cry because it is so nice

(I was in bestbuy replacing battery cable's fuse and some dude just put 2 12s powered by some huge sony amp and it was loud as hell but when mine started pushin again with the new fuse the dude said he had to get a JL now.)

Bottom line:
I have found that placement isn't as much of an issue as the quality of the subs/amp. My first suggestion would be to get a better amp (mtx, alpine, or JL are all great) and from there, a better sub. I've found the amp matters more than the sub.

 

[otterball21]

I understand what you are saying is that it sounds muffled. The problem is the back seats. The sub to get the most SPL should be firing into the rear hatch and there shouldn't be anything blocking it when it resonances off the back hatch to the front of the truck. The seats catch most of the resonance, so the bass sounds muffled. try having the seats down and seeing what happens.

The sub shouldn't sound as muffled, but aiming into a corner will help the sub's resonance come towards the front of the truck.

 

[LBC99]

I'm pretty sure ID = Image Dynamics, which are pretty high quality subs. Rear-firing is supposedly the best. I have 2-10s facing the driver side of my 4runner to save space, which sounds fine.

Maybe you got a bad sub, or the gains on your amp aren't set properly.

 

[Runnin]

I have my 2 12's facing towards the back window in a slotted box and it sounds great. But when i put a full cooler or something like that back there, sounds okay but not great, so i try to keep the back of my runner as empty as possible.

 

[pnorwood]

sub issue

I appreciate all the responses. The sub is a new Image Dynamics, which is, by all accounts that I have seen, a quality sub. It is known for sq over spl, so I wasnt expecting (or wanting) booming, neighbor's windows rattling bass. But the lack of sound goes beyond that. Th enclosure is .6 sealed, which, believe it or not, is on the large side, but still within the recommended specs.

The amp is a JBL 300.4, with the rear channels bridged to the sub. The RMS of the amp/sub match up well. The amp is from JBL's power series, which is also supposed to be very decent. The amp retails for about $450 (although I got it new for under $300).

I still have not had much of a chance to tweak this system, as we are in the middle of moving this week, and for reasons too boring to detail, my wife has been driving the 4runner this week.

I really think it has to be in the setup, but I don't know where. I have just been hopeing that the aiming would be the key, because beyond that I am going to have to delve a little further than my knowledge currently allows.

(BTW, the sub/amp were pro installed, and I do plan on having them take a look at it if aiming does not provide and better results --- i just hate to be clueless).

Thanks again.

 

[jpless]

Check to make sure you have the amp on the low-pass frequency setting. Make sure the frequency response knob on the amp isnt too high (not sending enough lows to the sub) and then check the wiring. Make sure all power wires are in tightly (work better with terminals as well). Also, try switching the audio wires (ie put the one that is going into the red connect on the sub into the black, and the one going into the black on the red...you might not have them matched up correctly). Another possible problem could be your amp power cables. maybe you got cables that aren't powerful enough for what you need, you should be using 8gauge wires.

i think it could be more likely that the low pass frequency and frequency response settings aren't correct (its a 4 channel amp so they might be set up to power speakers and not subs, thus they might have it on high pass filter so you don't blow the speakers with too much bass, but you're using a sub so you want low pass). Also, if you're using an aftermarket headunit, make sure the subwoofer/bass settings are correct.

I've never had a problem with placement. The only times my sound quality has changed with the same hardware has been when i changed the frequency response, gain controls, bass boosts, wiring of speaker wires and power wires, and it also got louder after i blew the fuse in my battery cable and replaced it.

Hope you can figure it out. 1 12" running with 150watts tho isn't all that much. I run 240watts and if i have the settings low enough it sounds like i dont even have a sub.

 

[JamesG]

I'm in the process of building a system for my 1992 4-Runner. My subs are Diamond Audio D612D4 12" subs (600w RMS) and my mono amp is a Kicker KX1200.1 (1490w RMS).

Considering the power I'll be throwing to these subs, do you think I'll need to fire them backwards as well? I was planning to fire them forward. These are SQ subs, but should produce plenty of SPL with the power I'm running.

 

[druuu88]

also have JL W3v2

I also have a single 12" JL W3v2 in my 98 4runner. its running off a rockford fosgate 501s amp in bridged mode at 540 rms. Sounds great, almost to much for my needs. I found that the sub firing backwards was the best IMO. i would consider checking all the amp settings and whatnot before getting a new sub and/or moving it all around and driving yourself craZy.

 

[cdoyle]

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but did you check to make sure you have your subs in phase?

If you have them out of phase with each other, they are going to cancel each other out, causing it to sound pretty bad.

 

[cdoyle]

oh wait, you only have 1 sub.

Nevermind.


What do you have your crossover set at?
How is the gain set?