DiMSuMbOi Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 Hi all,I had a Sc-900 3 disc changer with the factory external volvo amp powering my speakers. (stock system)I decided to split my 2 dins and put gauges in 1 and an aftermarket deck in the other. In order to do so I had to bypass the factory amp that powered the speakers.So now my speakers are running directly off of the new aftermarket unit. It is a panasonic (CQ-DF802U) touch screen one. However, I found that the bass being produced is way worse than before with the stock setup. This is especially true with lower frequencies since the mid-bass seems the same.I would like to find out if there is a way I can fix this without adding in my own external amp. Maybe something to do with wiring it differently?I don't understand how the factory volvo amp can make so much more bass while my mid level aftermarket deck cant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potroast Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 panasonics come set with a HPF at around 80-120 hz... That'll kill your bass. You can set it lower in the menu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMSuMbOi Posted July 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 panasonics come set with a HPF at around 80-120 hz... That'll kill your bass. You can set it lower in the menu.←I think the only options it gives me is either 80 or 120 hz.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potroast Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 it's possible. It's a higher-end unit, imo, and it's expected for you to be using a sub. Check to see if a setting lets you turn it off, otherwise you'll need either a sub, or a new head unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing_0 Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 how do you have it hooke dup? did you by pass the stock amp?b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMSuMbOi Posted July 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 how do you have it hooke dup? did you by pass the stock amp?b←Yeup I bypassed the stock amp. This was before I found the diagram for the 6 din connector and even when I tried connecting the deck speaker wires to the 6 din, I had a lot of distortion. I don't understand how the stock system with the stock amp can have such a better sound quality than my pretty good aftermarket deck. There must be a way to fix this as I can tell my speakers (especially the rear) can produce a much better lower freq bass sound than it is right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing_0 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 well, acutually, that makes senses, the "amp" in an aftermarket amp is not powrful at all, when they say something like 4x50 or 4x60, you are talking about a real world undistorted output of like 4x15 -4x20, and definetly not a flat response. while the stock volvo amp may really put out around 4x40-4x50 watts...so noticing a dimished bass response going from a stock amp to a aftermarket headunit power chip make sense...b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potroast Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 the volvo amp bench tests at around 20W RMS with a .1% THD... Not great, imo.The panasonic will do 26W RMS with .1% THD... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing_0 Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 well, i may be a bit dated with this, but the last panasonic top of the line headunit we have benched here at the shop put out a whopping 15 watts x4 and and was more htan 5 db down at 30hz and below...not sure ont he volvo amp spec, but with it being an acutal amp module, i would have suspected it put out a little more...did you put a reactive or resistive load on the bench test?b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potroast Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 well, i may be a bit dated with this, but the last panasonic top of the line headunit we have benched here at the shop put out a whopping 15 watts x4 and and was more htan 5 db down at 30hz and below...not sure ont he volvo amp spec, but with it being an acutal amp module, i would have suspected it put out a little more...did you put a reactive or resistive load on the bench test?b←reactive load. It's a pretty accurate way of doing it. And the panasonic heads have really gone up in quality lately, so anyone looking at aftermarket heads in the $250 range should definitely check them out.Panasonic actually has a 1-din head unit with built in Class-T digital amp that puts out a true 60W RMS x 4... Very awsome! Distortion is a liitle high (.1%THD) but that's great for a head unit. I still like external amps (aftermarket, not volvo) because you get better power at lower distortion (such as .05% THD or lower) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potroast Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Forgot to refresh the point:If the head has a HPF set of 80-120Hz, then you're not gonna have bass! You need to check your manual and see if you can change it to "Full Range". If not, then this head unit will not work for you unless you're gonna get a sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Norman Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Amen, everything else is irrelevant until the filter is defeated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMSuMbOi Posted July 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Well I checked the manual and actually it is the LPF that I can set to either 80 or 120 hz... Does that make a difference? The stock deck had a plug that said SUB. I tried putting that connection to the SUB PRE OUTS on the aftermarket deck. It didn't make any difference.... I am thinking that the stock SUB connection isn't an RCA one like on the panasonic. Or maybe the stock sub connection also goes through the amp and since I bypased the amp we have nothing. I am thinking maybe I can still use the stock amp. Since I just bypassed the amp for the 6 speakers, I can still use it to power the sub. Does that sound right?Thanks for the help so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potroast Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 I am thinking maybe I can still use the stock amp. Since I just bypassed the amp for the 6 speakers, I can still use it to power the sub. Does that sound right?Thanks for the help so far.←If your stock setup had a sub, and you bypassed the amp, then the sub is obviously not playing. Stock systems are built to be inexpensive -- not to be great, so it's possible that there's some capacitors in-line with your speakers acting as a HPF. If this is the case, you would need to remove whatever is acting as a HPF, or hook up your sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMSuMbOi Posted July 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Would anyone happent o know the 6-Din connector's wiring diagram? I found one that said which one is which when they were in the plug. However I already played around with the plug/wires in that and only have colours to go by now... The 6 wires are all different colours and I know I only need the +ve and ground for the amp.If anyone knows that would help me out I am certain the sub will work if I hook the amp up properly again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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