rattling bass

[FiestaR]

ok so recently i put a system in the 3g civic. its now got 4 clarion speakers a clarion sub and a clarion cd headunit. my question is.... i like bass so i usually have the bass boost and loudness on, in the fiesta with stock front speakers and cheap rears there is no rattling but with the civic theres a rattling sound like im putting out too much bass for the speakers. i dont get it? any ideas?


this has nothing to do with the sub btw, im just talking about the 4 main speakers.

[Sniper]

sounds like a whole lot of distortion if you have the 'loud' and bass boosts on....

[Atmos]

thats what i was thinking
or they could be blown and there just kinda rattling

[Ike]

Turn down the "low" on your EQ if you have it (and the bass boost etc.) , and make sure the speakers are secured properly.

[FiestaR]

but my cheap system in the fiesta made more bass, granted the rear speakers were bigger, but the stuff was lower quality.

the rear speakers are brand new and the fronts are ex-demo and one has a small tear in the surround, this makes a little noise but not that much. i know the bass is up too muh my question is why does this system not make nearly the amount of bass the cheap one in the fiesta does. way better quality and treble but alot less bass.

[Civic_Sleeper]

Always tune to zero...meaning...set your bass, mid and treble to zero on the head.

I always tune to a upper mid range of the volume setting (ie, if the head unit goes to thirty, tune around 17-22). The rattling you are hearing may be the frames of the componant speakers rattling against the frame of the car (might want to install rubber washers to seperate it from the frame...I made some out of some old mouse pads from work) or you may be destorting the crap out of the componant speakers.

You Sub should be where most of the low end comes end. Turn the gain (or sensetivity) up to a resonable level (no more than 3/4 full) after you componants are tuned. Depending on the music you like and the type of bass sound you want enhanced you will be modifying the Sub Hz and Boost. For a punchy sound set around 120-180Hz any higher freq. will start to sound muddy any less than 100Hz freq. will start to be all vibration. Start adding boost until you get the boombastic sound you like.

Hope that helps

C_S

[Ritz S14]

you probably have the polarity crossed.

[Civic_Sleeper]

FYI..easy way to tell if the polority is crossed...when the bass hits...the sub should push out...if it is crossed...it will pull in.

C_S

[FiestaR]

theres a switch on the back of the box to reverse polarity on the sub and i checked if it was setup right when i installed it.

EDIT: the sub runs off a high level input from the rear speakers. is it better to have the sub on the lower level rca cables? i was thinking of trying the sub output on the headunit and seeing if it does anything.

[Civic_Sleeper]

If you are refering to the pre-outs of the head unit then yes. If you are running a "high-level" out to your sub amp is like running an amp into an amp...you will end up with lots of distortion.

Let me know the make and model # of your head unit and amp and I'll draw up a schematic of ideal configuration.

[FiestaR]

nah the amps built into the box. theres a high level input on the box too.