dr_fosg8

I have the pioneer premium system in my 06 LT and thought I would add a little more bass to my system. I wired in a small amplifier, a Kenwood KAC-625, like 40x2 not sure of the wattage when bridged. Put in an 8" dvc bazooka tube and it just seems too, I don't know, not really loud but echoish.

I have never had a wagon or any other open interior vehicle with a sub before, other than the factory hhr sub. The factory sub other than not being very loud or low hitting doesn't sound like the tube.

Is this a trait of a tube? Perhaps the harmonics of the tube dont get along with the shape of the HHR interior?

In the past I always had sealed enclosures and they were in a trunk. Anyone else experience something like this?

843de

Might be a placement issue, the factory sub is placed in a position that makes it "Corner Loaded", so that the sound waves can propogate without excessive reverberation which can create nodes of destructive interference.

Another preferred sub location is tight to the back of the rear seats, or tight to the inside of the hatch for the same reason, but I'm not at all familliar with Bazooka tubes or their recommended placement.

dr_fosg8

Thanks for the input. The tube was in the passenger side with the driver facing the rear. Should I try it with the driver in the tube facing different directions?

Never thought that direction would make an impact on subs.

843de

It can make a difference, even at the low frequencies emitted by the sub, you can get odd standing waves which will create destructive interference. That can muddy the sound, or even partially cancel it out.

So try varying the placement, even though subs are thought of as non-directional, sound waves most certainly are.

Here's a good article on placement by vehicle type.....

http://www.klausaudio.com/subwoofer-...-placement.php

dr_fosg8

Will try some different placements tomorrow and report back.

I wonder, since the factory sub is sealed and the tube is ported if that will cause issues with the sound?

07azhhr

When trying different locations also try boundary loading the sub. To boundary load the sub, and thus the port too, you want the sub's face several inches from a wall or the back of the seats. Try different spots in the hatch as well as different distances.

One thing though is if you are using the factory HU for the signal be aware that it has a built in bass reduction curve the reduces bass at upper volumes as well as if you fade to the rear.

dr_fosg8

Well after playing around with locations and orientation for a while I have decided that I just don't like the sound of the tube in the HHR.

I think the best sounding position for it, at least to me, was with the driver facing the back seat about 2-3 inches from touching the seat. Any position with the driver rear facing was bad. But no matter what it still sounded like I was sitting in a drum being banged on from the outside.

07azhhr- That is interesting about the declining bass curve in the factory HU. It makes sense now that at low volume the tube was almost overpowering to the rest of the system but balanced out at higher volumes.

MsBecky

Funny you mentioned bazookas . Team member from 1998- 2001 . We could not get them to perform even with the factory install team working on the car . Worked well in a little truck , but in a open cabin , no dice ...
Greg

dr_fosg8

Ms Becky, do you think that a 8 or 10 in a sealed box with the above amp would be suitable?

I ask because you have previous experience with bazooka.

07azhhr

That makes sense. I had two of the 6" ones in a reg cab truck and they did well off of a ADS PQ10 amp. Never tried them in a large area like our cars.

It might be enough for an efficient sub but many of todays subs like a bit more power than the old school subs did. The trade off for the newer subs is smaller boxes. Can't find specs on that amp but even if it can double that 40w x 2 in 2 ohm config it would only be good for 160w. It might be reasonable to expect 125w or so out of it which is normally good for a bazooka but not much for newer subs. But then again you are using this with the factory HU and speakers so it may be enough and there are enough subs rated for only 200w rms that should have the efficiency to use that power decently. Ported would yield more output.