Subwoofer basics
 

I'm kinda confused. I pulled the 10" sealed Jl sub out of my truck and installed it in the cabin of my 25zx...same amp. It sounds nothing like it does in my truck...no where near as loud. I tried facing it a in several different directions. Whats the deal here?

I was planning on dropping some coin on a complete JL system with 10"IB subs. Am I going to be dissapointed? how do I get a marine system to sound like the system in my truck...do I have to build a ported enclosure???

A truck is small enclosed area. Boat stereos take a lot more power and speakers to achieve the same results.

Yes I am sure you will be disappointed. It is very hard to get a lot of bass out of a boat. I am pushing 4-12's and a 18" and its loud, but 1/2 of what it would be in a car. Like Griff said, it will also take a crap ton of power to push your amps. It will take double that to make it loud enough to make a noticeable difference outside your boat. Plan on spending some serious dollars.

Open air sterio in a boat is just like the motor. You need alot more than you originally thought and when you get done and are pleased with the setup, someone else runs by you and your mouth hits the floor. JL makes great stuff you just need more of it :musik010:

use a ported enclosure & not infinite baffle

how about this?...Clearly its not marine rated, but.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CP112W0v2-JL...item1e64698d66

So it's in an enclosure now? When I installed 2 10" subs in my boat i used the are under the seat as the enclosure. I was a over the max enclosure area recommended bu Infinity but it was worth a shot. They sounded okay. I built two sealed boxes under the seat and they hit twice as hard, maybe more.

If it is in an enclosure now it should sound pretty good in the cabin as that is enclosed. Did you try playing with any adjustments on your head unit? I know mine has a level adjustment for the preamp outputs that make a HUGE difference. Just a thought.

My head unit also has a control for the sub output. That could be an issue.
When mine was set to the neutral position, the subs were very weak. When I turned it up, it made a HUGE difference.

I used a 10" bazooka sub with 500 watt dedicated amp, Subs really need to be inside specific designed boxes for best effect. Mine will THUMP when I want it to. But my THUMP may be peanuts to what you want. The chairman (Sinatra) doesn't need much thump to sound good.

I put the bazooka under the rear bench, that also has two 6X10's with an amp for them, 6" rounds in the cabin driven by the receiver amp. I think my system sounds fine and that is all that matters. When the sub fires (pointed to the exterior hull of the boat) it vibrates the hull pretty good.

Clarion m309 hu...not too happy w it...just replaced a dual with it. The dual sounded much better. I have turned up the sub output... Emailed jl audio for advise

It's simple really, you get a pressure boost in the sealed cabin of a vehicle, you don't in a boat.

Similar to s small room system compared to a concert hall.

Bottom line you need to move a lot of air in the boat, correctly designed ported enclosures will give you the most output, but the driver also has to be designed for it.

I agree the area of the cabin in a boat may come into play, but it shouldn't make a huge difference. Cockpit can be a different story as it's open. A sub in the cabin will sound best facing toward the bow.

If there was a huge difference, and the sub is in an enclosure, then IMO something else is going on.

Ok I thought he was talking about the sound outside the cabin.
There will be a difference, you get module response At different frequencies even in a car. Shape size, materials make a differance. Head unit output, supply voltage, lots of things to check.

Can you give us a little more detail, same size enclosure?

The sound in the cabin is ok...its the sound in the cockpit that I'm after. Guys on a car audio forum are saying I need a ported enclosure.

The enclosure I used in the boat is the same one that was in the truck.

Refer back to my other post.(11)

Yes ported enclosures are more efficient then sealed but you still need to design it to match the driver.

To bad I sold my Infinity ported with dual 12".

I have a pair of cheap 10 year old RF subs in my car powered by a 100 watt amp and 6 mid level MBQ speakers that run off of head unit power.
In my boat, I have 8 DC Golds which are larger and much better speakers power by a 700rms watt PDX amp and 2 Alpine subs powered by a 450 rms watt PDX amp.

Both systems sound similar when cranked up. You need a lot more power and sound in a boat to match what you hear in a car.

I am planning on running some subs in the boat as well, probably going to go with Solobaric 12s hooked up to my 1000/1 JL monoblock. I have heard those subs in a sealed box, but I plan to run ported in the Nordic. It would be nice to keep up with all those jack ass ski boats playing techno all the time. Time to get to the drawing board on box design with limited space :)

I've heard a Nordic with twelves on each side of the engine in boxes, that thing was ridiculously loud. Awesome!

I was thinking about do that. I was also thinking about running the boxes under the back seat, kind of like straddling the engine bay and bench (solobarics like air space) and having the sub face back, and the port face forward. I guess we will see how ambitious I feel like being next summer lol.

Yea getting bass in the cockpit of a boat takes some work. I personally have three 12" Rockford subs in a custom built back seat in sealed boxes. They are being driven by an Autotek 99 amp. I could have gotten a bit more boom going with a ported box, but it takes a larger box and I like all kinds of music not just rap techno.

Putting the subs in the cabin is not a real good way to get bass in the cockpit.

Everyones idea of bass is different. For some people all they want is to know that it's there. Some people think distortion is bass. I personally like clean tight bass. Thus the design of my system. Mine can go from subtle to makin ripples in the water.

Putting the port in the back of the box is a bit tricky. You have to design the port to be out of phase with the driver. The hard part is the only way to do that is with the enclosure in the boat and a scope. You can design theoretical but it changes once you put it in the boat. The enclose area of the engine bay will change things. That is why you almost always see the port on the same face as the driver.

your talking about an enclosed area compared to open. I would guess with the openess and engine noise you would need 3-4 times what you had in your truck to come somewhat close. Its just a boat man, as long as I can hear it thats all that matters

your talking about an enclosed area compared to open. I would guess with the openess and engine noise you would need 3-4 times what you had in your truck to come somewhat close. Its just a boat man, as long as I can hear it thats all that matters

Thanks for the information. I am searching all possible avenues of approach in this situation. Thinking something sealed on the side of the cockpit, or still with the ported under the bench, lots of debating to do. Nordics arent known for their storage space, so I would like to maintain as much as I can in that regard, so the sealed may be more of an attractive option.

im wondering the same, i have the four stock speakers run off the deck, i wan tot keep them that way. I just bought two 12 inch subs with a 1200 watt rockford fosgate amp to run them, im going to put them up in the cuddy, i bought another 500 watt rockford fosgate amp to run another four speakers that i will hide under the side skirts, i will run the remote wire off a toggle switch so i can turn the amps off when im at the beach and dont want to drain the batteries.

JL makes a FG box for their marine sub. Looks nice.