320 Subwoofer rattling everything

[Scuma]

Hey Guys,

My 230 has a sub under the port side seat exactly where I see all the other 320s having it. To me, it sounds like crap though because I can't just hear bass, I hear anything and everything on the boat rattling. I'm guessing I can't be the only one with this issue and wondering what everyone has done to make it sound good. Any info would be appreciated. Want this baby pumping for Memorial Day but right now.......don't even want to turn up the volume haha

Thanks

 

[hack4alivin]

I do not have that problem at all with mine, and the sound is just excellent. Now the seat will vibrate if I crank it up, but that is it. The ladies seem to enjoy that though!

My system is using JL Speakers all the way around, and the sub is a JL infinite baffle 10 inch. What I would do in your case is start with the amp and make adjustment your gain and crossover settings for the best sound. These adjustments will make a huge difference. When I did mine I unplugged the inputs to channels 1 and 2 first and worked the adjustments for just the sub on channels 3 and 4. After getting a good bass tone, I plugged channels 1 and 2 back in and adjusted the gain on my JL 6 inch speakers. It was an easy procedure and produced some remarkable sound.

Good luck,

 

[Lazy Daze]

Is it the physical parts of the boat rattling, or is it the stuff you've brought on board rattling? If it's the boat - let's try and track down what parts are doing what and maybe there's some screws that need tightening. If it's your stuff, try moving them around or packing them differently. In that case, though, the subwoofer is just doing what it was designed to do. Funny... this reminded of a little '90's era Nissan Sentra I saw a few days ago... the kid had the subwoofer blaring, but all I could hear (in my truck, stopped at a red light) was his license plate and trunk vibrating like all get out. Sounded absolutely horrible.

 

[moparlvr4406]

DynaMat is a wonderful thing for deadening vibration

 

[hd2002hd]

I have a 330 and I fabricated a box for a 10" JL W6 w/dual vc that I put in the cabinet under the cockpit sink. I am driving it with a 1000 watt Alpine mono amp. I had to adjust the gain way down to keep it from rattling everything. I bought a vent to install on the aft side of the cabinet but haven't got that done yet. So in the meantime I just unlatch the door to the cabinet and it stays open an inch or 2 and minimizes the rattles. Without adjustments I don't think there are enough screws or glue to keep that thing from rattling everything including your teeth.

 

[Phlorida]

I do not have that problem at all with mine, and the sound is just excellent. Now the seat will vibrate if I crank it up, but that is it. The ladies seem to enjoy that though!

My system is using JL Speakers all the way around, and the sub is a JL infinite baffle 10 inch. What I would do in your case is start with the amp and make adjustment your gain and crossover settings for the best sound. These adjustments will make a huge difference. When I did mine I unplugged the inputs to channels 1 and 2 first and worked the adjustments for just the sub on channels 3 and 4. After getting a good bass tone, I plugged channels 1 and 2 back in and adjusted the gain on my JL 6 inch speakers. It was an easy procedure and produced some remarkable sound.

Good luck,

Bill - I have a similar setup to yours with JL Audio 7" speakers and the JL Audio 10" sub run from a JL Audio Class D amplifier. I'm even running AudioControl Overdrives based on a thread you did early last year. I did the JL Audio 9-step tuning process and I was expecting better sound - I don't hear much bass and the fronts sound "tinny" to me. In this thread you seem to advocate ignoring the voltage measurements of the JL process and just adjusting the gain by ear. Am I interpreting that correctly?

 

[hack4alivin]

Bill - I have a similar setup to yours with JL Audio 7" speakers and the JL Audio 10" sub run from a JL Audio Class D amplifier. I'm even running AudioControl Overdrives based on a thread you did early last year. I did the JL Audio 9-step tuning process and I was expecting better sound - I don't hear much bass and the fronts sound "tinny" to me. In this thread you seem to advocate ignoring the voltage measurements of the JL process and just adjusting the gain by ear. Am I interpreting that correctly?

Yes, that is exactly how I did it on mine.

Knowing my input voltage specs of my amp and using the same output specs from the preamp I knew I could not go over approximately three quarters of the full range of the input gain of the amp. Any more would just be clipping the signal and just amplify noise. So starting in that range I was very close to what I needed. It sounds like you are close, and maybe a little more gain on the bass amp is required and some adjustment to your crossover to add some base to the 7” speakers. Also try tuning the 7” speakers with the crossover adjustment first without the sub online, and then bring the sub online. With the equipment you have there, there is no reason not to have an awesome sounding system.

I did not get the “Class D” amplifier for my application, but I can’t imagine the tuning of it to be much different.

 

[Phlorida]

Thanks a lot Bill! I went with Class D because the space that I mounted the equipment is small and it was easier than working out a venting solution. You will recognize your design. Apologies to the OP for stealing this thread.

 

[Scuma]

Thanks for all the help guys. Def feel better knowing that others systems sound great, now it's just going to take some more work to figuring out what's rattling and how to set it all up for the best sound. I bought a Polk system but I think I am going to return them and go with the JLs. I know the depth of the speakers are a problem, especially with the 7.7s but maybe with some spacing, I can make it work. Can't wait till it's all done.

And Hack4alivin......"The ladies seem to enjoy that though! " haha! I thought the same thing when I was putting it in

 

[HIFI]

Here is my suggestion for setting controls on a system with amp(s) and sub(s) :

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/40568-Maximizing-Your-Multi-Amp-amp-Sub-Sound-System?highlight=

I follow this lead and it has served me well. I want the widest range out of my full range speakers and bring sub(s) in at the level where my main speakers drop in bass performance. There is too much directional information that a sub driver can not serve well. This critical area can be best adjusted with subs disconnected.