Need Advice - Polk DX12

carney115
carney115 Posts: 32
edited July 2005 in Car Subwoofer Talk
Hey,

Whats goin on. I;m havin a problem with my car audio system. At medium volume levels the bass from my sub sounds great but when i crank up the volume it gets real sloppy and doesn't sound clean at all. I have a Kenwood KAC 7202 2 channel amp which puts out 460 watts bridged. I have one polk dx 12 inch sub in a sealed box. The sub can handle 400 watts max and is 4 ohms with a single voice coil. I have all this in a honda pilot SUV. I was thinking that maybe i need to upgrade my subwoofer. If thats the case could someone suggest a sub that would sound good with my amp. I really don't know too much about this stuff. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Kevin
Kevin
Post edited by carney115 on
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Comments

  • CrBoy
    CrBoy Posts: 580
    edited July 2005
    What's the size of the sub box?
    Do you have the amp gain all the way up?

    What about the sub controls in the HU...

    Let us know
    <|>
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    not sure of the size of the sub box - pretty standard 12 inch q logic box though. The gain is about half way turned up and my head unit sub controls are at a decent level. I'm just not getting the hard pounding bass i want at high levels. I expected more out of a 400 watt sub and a 460 watt amp. Could the high pass and low pass knobs on the amp be an issue? I'm also thinking that maybe the sub is just too old, i got it back in 2001 i think. Let me know
    Kevin
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  • CrBoy
    CrBoy Posts: 580
    edited July 2005
    I have one of those... I know they're old but they hit pretty hard... Do you have a built in crossover in you amp (I guess so)...? check that, maybe the low pass is set to high and the sub is trying to reproduce many high freqs (above 80Hz)... do you hear any volcals coming from the sub?

    ... or maybe you're expecting to much from the sub... remember this sub is for SQ not SPL... Did you have this problem in the past?
    <|>
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited July 2005
    You area really overpowering the DX.

    I ran my 7201 bridged to two 12" Infinity Kappas and it hit pretty hard in a sealed enclosure.

    I think you owe it to yourself to get a sub upgrade, or a maybe a pair of subs.
    Never Forget
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    theres no vocals coming from the sub. I'll have to check the low pass though, i haven't really played around with the low pass or high pass yet
    Kevin
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    any suggestions for a new sub to run with my kenwood 7202?
    Kevin
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited July 2005
    Shameless plug:

    http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22951&highlight=Infinity

    :D
    Never Forget
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    haha, nice plug, what is the rms running to each of your in infinities and what was the rms that each sub could handle?
    Kevin
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    whats the differrence between SPL and SQ anyways?
    Kevin
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited July 2005
    Originally posted by carney115
    whats the differrence between SPL and SQ anyways?

    SPL = Sound Pressure Level

    SQ = Sound Quality
    Never Forget
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  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited July 2005
    Sound Pressure Level basically means how loud it is.

    Sound Quality is how good it sounds.

    An SPL sub will make a lot of volume and have greater impact over an SQ sub and will handle more power. The trade off is itll be a lot boomier and not handle intricate music very well. You wont be much seperation of notes on a bass guitar scale for example.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited July 2005
    Originally posted by carney115
    haha, nice plug, what is the rms running to each of your in infinities and what was the rms that each sub could handle?

    The RMS on the Infinitys is 300 each.

    I had them wired in a 4 Ohm configuration so they could share the 460x1 at 4ohm from the Kenwood. (so they get about 230 rms each)
    Never Forget
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    So how rms should my new sub have if i was to get one?
    Kevin
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  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited July 2005
    match it to the amp, so total 460. if you get two subs, keep in mind that's 460 at 4 ohms, so you need either 2 4-ohm-DVCs or 2 8-ohm subs (or 2 2-ohm subs, but that's less desirable).
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    I'd kind of like to stick with one sub, just for budget purposes. But i'd also like that one sub to sound good. Have any suggestions for a new one to buy?
    Kevin
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  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited July 2005
    I wouldnt give up on the Polk just yet. If your gains and everything else are set properly and it still doenst handle it well then move up to the Momo series.

    The Momo subs are about my favorite on the market. I wanted one so bad that even though I didnt think I had the room for the box I went out and bought a MM2104 any so now I HAVE to find the room! :D

    The MM2124 is rated at 400 but with proper gain settings and some common sense, I dont think 460 would hurt one.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
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  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited July 2005
    Originally posted by MacLeod
    The MM2124 is rated at 400 but with proper gain settings and some common sense, I dont think 460 would hurt one.
    that philosophy didn't go over so well with the daddy momos a while back... the baby momos, though, seem to be much sturdier.
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
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  • carney115
    carney115 Posts: 32
    edited July 2005
    how much did you get the momo for? I'm not sure of the exact size of my box but the guy who sold me my DX told me the box was perfect size for it. Would i have to buy a new box as well for the momo
    Kevin
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  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited July 2005
    this has a list of online dealers; take a look around at them, see what you can see.
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
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