Subwoofer issue stumping me

[gknudsen22]

So basically I got a 2003 corolla work beater and felt like installing a sub. I got a skar 800 amp wiring kit and 12 inch JL sub with my kicker 800 watt amp. Bought a Sony touch screen head unit. All hardware has been tested countless times and all work.

I wired everything up and noticed the sub wasn’t playing as hard as it could. It took some serious volume increase on the head unit for the sub to start moving, obviously the speakers were too loud. I re checked the power wire, ground, rcas, speaker wire, got a head unit exchanged since I thought the rca outputs were bad… nothing fixed it. I played with the head unit settings, everything you could think of.

I was just throwing ideas out there trying to figure it out so I got a remote bass control knob and plugged it in, got nothing…. Until I was messing with it and accidentally pulled the 2.5mm jack out of the control knob part and the subs instantly started panning like they should. So basically the only way I got my subs to play right was to have the male 2.5mm jack plugged into the amp and the other end just unplugged from the knob and dangling.

Does anyone have any idea of what is going on and why this is happing? Never heard of an issue like this before. Thanks!

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[chillin 10+ year member]

How did you set your gains? How is it wired? Dual 2 down to 1 or 4 ohms? Or dual 4 possibly wired to 8 ohms?

 

[gknudsen22]

How did you set your gains? How is it wired? Dual 2 down to 1 or 4 ohms? Or dual 4 possibly wired to 8 ohms?

So I’ve done a few installs before but I’m not too savvy with ohms yet. All I know is that the amp and sub do work together. I have another vehicle with amp hookups installed. I had gain and bass boost cranked and amp was on low too, still got nothing.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

got my subs to play right was to have the male 2.5mm jack plugged into the amp and the other end just unplugged from the knob and dangling.

When you plug a remote knob into the jack, the direct audio path is interrupted by said knob. Now the knob controls the volume. I have zero idea of how it is working fine without the knob but I do have a theory of why it is playing good. The jack legs probably have a broken solder joint. When you inserted the pin, it forced that joint to make contact, hence the good playback.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

The Phone type connection Bass knobs are pretty reliable, but those Aux type bass knob connections can be finicky.They are not as reliable. I dont use either any longer. I use a Preamp EQ and that serves my bass increases just fine. Other than that.. I do not use them. as stated.. Quite possible a solder joint broke internally. Did you Force it in??

 

[gknudsen22]

Well I’ve had the amp for years and never had a remote knob until yesterday. I only got it to see if it would fix my issue. I plugged in the same amp and sub to another car to test it and they worked fine.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

make sure its wired correct...

Dual Voice Coil (DVC) Wiring Tutorial

With multi-driver sub systems, which often feature dual voice coils (DVC) on each driver, the level of wiring complexity can be enough to turn-off even the most adventurous of car audio do-it-yours...

jlaudio.zendesk.com

heres the gain setting info. test tones are at the very bottom...

Amplifier Level Setting Guide

Note:The following article describes the Amplifier Level Setting process for most car audio amplifiers, regardless of brand. Specific target voltages for applicable JL Audio amplifiers are included...

jlaudio.zendesk.com

 

[spokey9]

Well I’ve had the amp for years and never had a remote knob until yesterday. I only got it to see if it would fix my issue. I plugged in the same amp and sub to another car to test it and they worked fine.

Is it the knob for that amp?

 

[AnthonyO 10+ year member]

Sounds to me like an internal issue with the amplifier.

 

[gknudsen22]

I don’t know if I explained it well. I’m sorry. I put the same amp and sub into another car that’s wired for an amp. Everything worked as it should. But it won’t work in my car. And I’ve checked power and ground, the sub will only hit like it should with the 3.5mm jack plugged into the amp but not the knob side. Makes no sense.

 

[gknudsen22]

Is it the knob for that amp?

Yes it’s a kicker knob for a kicker 800 mono.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

I don’t know if I explained it well. I’m sorry. I put the same amp and sub into another car that’s wired for an amp. Everything worked as it should. But it won’t work in my car. And I’ve checked power and ground, the sub will only hit like it should with the 3.5mm jack plugged into the amp but not the knob side. Makes no sense.

Get a 3.5mm to RCA cable to plug your phone direct to the amp. Play music to see if you still need the remote cable in place.