# Amp/in turn Subwoofer Volume



## pimpride (Mar 28, 2005)

Is there a way to control amp volume? Like from my HU? I am having problems hearing my music because the subs drown it out completely. I know most people want more bass lol. I have already installed a switch on the remote wire to turn the subs on and off mostly for security reasons (I see a cop or am in a bad neighborhood, or at school). I have all of my EQ's adjusted so my components are really loud with treble but without a ton of bass (subs are more than enough than to have speakers thump too). All of my front and rear components are Pioneer as well is my HU. Here are the models, their specs, and what not-


For front speakers: Pioneer TS-A1670R



> Watts MAX. Music Power	180W
> Watts Nominal Power Handling	35W
> Frequency Response	30Hz ~ 28kHz
> Sensitivity (1W/1m)	90dB
> ...



For rear speakers: Pioneer TS-A1670R



> Watts MAX. Music Power	180W
> Watts Nominal Power Handling	35W
> Frequency Response	30Hz ~ 28kHz
> Sensitivity (1W/1m)	90dB
> ...



Head Unit: Pioneer DEH-1500



> Supertuner
> Supertuner: IID
> 24-Station/6-Button (18FM/6AM) Presets: Yes
> BSM (Best Stations Memory): Yes
> ...


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## captain_shrapnel (Sep 10, 2004)

pimpride said:


> Is there a way to control amp volume? Like from my HU? I am having problems hearing my music because the subs drown it out completely. I know most people want more bass lol. I have already installed a switch on the remote wire to turn the subs on and off mostly for security reasons (I see a cop or am in a bad neighborhood, or at school). I have all of my EQ's adjusted so my components are really loud with treble but without a ton of bass (subs are more than enough than to have speakers thump too). All of my front and rear components are Pioneer as well is my HU. Here are the models, their specs, and what not-


You are evolving from loud bass to balanced sound, its a good thing. There are a few options for adjusting the sub amp..
Some amps have a volume remote that is just for the amp, I think PPI is one of them, possibly hifonics.
An aftermarket signal processor, like an eq or a crossover may have adjustability, you would just need an indash unit.
Some head units have preamp outs for front pair/rear pair/sub channel. Sometimes, they have faders and level adjustments for them.
If none of that is possible, maybe sr20dem0n or someone could explain how to build some sort of level adjustment for the preamp lines to the sub.


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## pimpride (Mar 28, 2005)

I guess I can wait for his response then. I think it is dumb to only have bass. The whole point is to get the whole audio experience. Yea I want to be able to show off to my friends, but when it is just me in the car, I don't want to have to adjust my rear view mirror every five minutes.

So what level is all my stuff at? I have 2 Kicker comps and a MTX Thunder Series Amp.
I know it is no where near top notch, but just looking for room to improve. What would be some good SQ subs?


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## jlee1469 (Dec 4, 2003)

Alpine Type-Rs


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## captain_shrapnel (Sep 10, 2004)

A few subs...
http://www.adireaudio.com/Mobile/index.htm
http://www.imagedynamicsusa.com/index.php
http://www.reaudio.com/html/
http://www.edesignaudio.com/us.php

Heres some amps...
http://www.usamps.com/
http://www.zapco.com/
http://www.arcaudio.com/arc-05/index2.htm

Im sure other people have good suggestions as well. You can always see what gear people are winning sq comps with. No matter what though, this stuff gets pricey...


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Well you could always turn down the gain on the sub amp, but that will be a semi-permanent thing, you won't be able to adjust it from the dash. There are a few things you could do and still be able to adjust it on the fly (other than buying a new headunit or some sort of external crossover), but they're all a little ghetto. Probably the easiest thing is to put a simple dual gang logarithmic potentiometer in the rca cables. You'd need 4 rca jacks, the pot, and a small circuit board with a little bit of soldering, and then a place to mount the knob.









The far right is what you would be doing, and you'd want to use something like a 20k pot. You'd want a logarithmic pot because our hearing is logarithmic (hard to explain without getting into the details), and you'd want a dual gang because you'd want it to attenuate the L and R channels simultaneously. You'd also need to buy some new rca cables, but they would only need to be long enough to run from the headunit to the little circuit in the dash.


You're looking at maybe $20-30, your other options are buying an external crossover (most of them can attenuate the outputs) or a new headunit that has a dedicated subwoofer output with the ability to attenuate it (most of them with a subwoofer output can), which would both be $150+, though certainly less ghetto and with more features other than attenuation.


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## pimpride (Mar 28, 2005)

I think I may just have to end up dealing with it. I have it to a bearable level. I got my EQ down to -6 which considerably lowered my subs volume, but when I get to volume level 12, thats when the subs start to drown out the music. It was at about volume 8 before that happened earlier. I understand the potentiometers, I have used the before with slot cars. If I am reading that schematic correctly, then that means I need 2 potentiometers? Also isn't an RCA cable composed of 2 seperate lines?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Well you would need 2 single gang pots, or one dual gang. A dual gang pot is basically 2 pots that are controlled by the same shaft, it's perfect for attenuating the L and R channels simultaneously with only one control. And yes rcas have 2 lines, each one has 2 wires. The center pin of each is the +, and the outer jacket is the common ground. You would run the two rcas into a pair of rca jacks mounted on a circuit board, have the L + go to the L-in on the diagram, the R + go to the R-in on the diagram, the - on both of them go to that center ground, and then you just do the same thing for the output. In the mean time you can turn down the gain on the sub amp to keep it from overpowering everything.


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## jlee1469 (Dec 4, 2003)

wow SR20 electronics major? I'm learning that shit in my electronics course and its driving me crazy! I'm on series and parallel circuits ><


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Electrical engineering, close enough. Series and parallel eh? I think we did that.....spring semester freshman year? It was something like that, seems like so long ago. What year are you?


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## SE-R_03 (May 27, 2005)

pimpride said:


> Is there a way to control amp volume? Like from my HU? I am having problems hearing my music because the subs drown it out completely. I know most people want more bass lol. I have already installed a switch on the remote wire to turn the subs on and off mostly for security reasons (I see a cop or am in a bad neighborhood, or at school). I have all of my EQ's adjusted so my components are really loud with treble but without a ton of bass (subs are more than enough than to have speakers thump too). All of my front and rear components are Pioneer as well is my HU. Here are the models, their specs, and what not-
> 
> 
> For front speakers: Pioneer TS-A1670R
> ...



There is an aftermarket BASS Attenuator that you can get to manually control the Bass as needed. Here is the website for the Attenuator.
Hope this helps.


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