QuestionHi Jerry,
I drive an E39 BMW(5 series 2001).I have a 12" sub and amp in the boot.the problem is that the bass does not come into the car as much as I like.
Please what can I do to improve things apart from putting the sub in my back seat.
Sub's in a bandpass box and it's a Rockfordfosgate HX2 Power 1000w RMS.The amp is equally rated.
Thanks for your reply
AnswerQuite an ordeal if the area the subs are in is not part of the interior (passenger compartment).
Your installer would be the one to talk to, since they [should] know what the car has to offer [accoustically] at a glance.
You might like more bass than most people and that could be hard to overcome.
I might add that bmw has been a good car for accoustics in the past (prior to 1992). Knowing that, and after careful consideration and research, I choose a new 1989 GTi 16v hatchback for my competition system. If you want it loud, there is no reason to have the subs in a different compartment. I presume that the rear seat will not fold down, as that would be an easy fix.
You may be able to open the backside of the rear seat so that more waves can enter the cars' interior, but that would need to be seen in person by a professional. Even then, the front of the seat will act like an aperiodic membrane which would compress alot of the dynamics. The good thing about aperiodics is that the bass response should sound pretty much the same with the windows up or down.
I might also suggest to get more efficient subwoofers.
1000 watts.. wow.
My competition system had 465 watts RMS (wired at about 800 watts), 17 speakers, and would make yer ears bleed with clear sound (even without the subs it hit over 126 db..and 140 with them on). I only ran the two subs at 1/4 of their RMS rating (a custom folded horn design). Of course, I planned all of this very carefully, so there was very little (if any) luck involved on that one [over 300 hours of R&D).
That said,
If the areas cannnot be united, your choices (in order) will be:
1) A custom enclosure that is tuned to that car and the RF's.
2) A new enclosure custom designed for more efficient new speakers.
I doubt that power is the problem. RF amps are not bad at all and should provide their rated output with ease (though I would never use them in any systems that I design).
Go find a local reputable pro to assist you in this matter, you should hear incredible improvments [if they are reputable]. If you cannot hear a major increase in fidelity for each upgrade, it is not an upgrade worth doing.
I hope this is useful information, Steve.
Good luck and let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
J Mael
