Your experience is very similar to mine.
Mark Levinson subwoofer poll (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Jesse H
- Start date
I posted this to the large speaker thread, but if anyone comes across this tread, I have a suggestion for you:
I’ve been messing with the settings again, and found some more improvements with adjusting the eq.
I used to have the bass at +4, mids at +1 and treble at -1. I had been hearing some clipping at higher volumes and was wondering if the amp could push better lows if i reduced the total system demand.
I’ve since switched the settings to bass at 0, mids at -3 and treble at -4. Fade is one click back. System sounds much more balanced at low volume nad better bass response in the rear seats. Surround sound is give or take, but I prefer it off. Give these settings a try.
I’ve been messing with the settings again, and found some more improvements with adjusting the eq.
I used to have the bass at +4, mids at +1 and treble at -1. I had been hearing some clipping at higher volumes and was wondering if the amp could push better lows if i reduced the total system demand.
I’ve since switched the settings to bass at 0, mids at -3 and treble at -4. Fade is one click back. System sounds much more balanced at low volume nad better bass response in the rear seats. Surround sound is give or take, but I prefer it off. Give these settings a try.
Hey there, gonna be putting a deposit on a GX tomorrow, and am also an audio guy, racks of home theatre gear, mutiple subs from Power Sound Audio at home, and have been into car audio for decades. Current truck VW Atlas (Execline) came with an upgraded audio system from Fender. Small amp under the driver seat powering the 4 doors and a spare tire mounted sub in a plastic enclosure.
Needless to say, I got bored of that system really quick, and purchased two JL Audio amps, and ran some wires to the amp area under the driver's seat to tap into the signal from the head unit, and then sent it all into a JL Audio unit to remove any factory time alignment, EQ settings, etc to have a flat(ish) curve coming in from the head unit, and then EQ'ed the output to my taste (using an RTA as well).
The key point I want to make is that, no matter how high end an audio company is (McIntosh, Mark Levinson, JBL, etc), they will have a limited budget to work with, else the vehicle will cost thousands more. While technology has come a long way with smaller Class D amps pushing out hundreds of watts, OEM systems can now add a nice small sub to add a bit of kick and round out the low end, but that's about it.
For most of my previous (and current) vehicles, I have always dealt with a custom subwoofer enclosure company called Wicked CAS, they do custom fibreglass boxes that fit right into those back trunk corners, and blend right in with the surroundings.
The one I have now in my Atlas houses an Infinity Kappa Perfect 10" sub powered by a 600w JL Audio amp. I can control the output of the low end from a rotary knob in the front. I did also upgrade the door speakers as well, and powered them off of another JL Audio amp.
My point to all the blabber stuff above, the GX front doors most likely has the bigger mid-bass, and the factory amp may even be pushing more power to the front door speaker set. The rear doors are usually considered fill, meaning speakers are usually inferior, do not go as low, and are there to simply round out the sound, likely with less power sent to them. All four doors will be crossed over at the factory amp to remove low bass from all 4 doors.
The sub will get the lower frequencies, however it requires an enclosed space to create some decent volume, hence the rear hatch closed. And the trunk lid is not an ideal enclosure either, so much of the output is not very controlled (unless it is in a sealer box and even then, box will be tiny back there).
The first thing I will be doing when I get this GX, is getting in touch with Wicked CAS, and getting them to make a fibreglass carpeted box for the back of the trunk, not a big ass box, but a custom one that will fit into a space somewhere back there. Then grab the signal going to the factory sub, and run it into my 600w JL Audio amp, and run a control wire to the front, and Bob's your uncle, tons of bass to back up the rest of the system. That will also allow you to turn down the bass setting to not overdrive the door speakers or factory amp, and let the aftermarket sub and sub amp do all the heavy lifting. And you only need an 8" or 10" sub, does not have to be a 12", to get some serious output, if you feed it with enough power from an external amp.
I will conclude for myself what the factory door speakers and amp are capable of, once I get my hands on a GX, might even run the RTA on it to see what they can output, and see if I swap out the door speakers, but my guess is that ML did a decent job with the front doors, and I will only touch the rear doors if I care about my rear passengers down the line, if not they remain as filler. Looking forward to making the ML system hit a bit harder and blend it with the factory setup (initially).
Btw, thanks for this thread OP, good discussion and valuable testing !! Appreciate it !!
Needless to say, I got bored of that system really quick, and purchased two JL Audio amps, and ran some wires to the amp area under the driver's seat to tap into the signal from the head unit, and then sent it all into a JL Audio unit to remove any factory time alignment, EQ settings, etc to have a flat(ish) curve coming in from the head unit, and then EQ'ed the output to my taste (using an RTA as well).
The key point I want to make is that, no matter how high end an audio company is (McIntosh, Mark Levinson, JBL, etc), they will have a limited budget to work with, else the vehicle will cost thousands more. While technology has come a long way with smaller Class D amps pushing out hundreds of watts, OEM systems can now add a nice small sub to add a bit of kick and round out the low end, but that's about it.
For most of my previous (and current) vehicles, I have always dealt with a custom subwoofer enclosure company called Wicked CAS, they do custom fibreglass boxes that fit right into those back trunk corners, and blend right in with the surroundings.
The one I have now in my Atlas houses an Infinity Kappa Perfect 10" sub powered by a 600w JL Audio amp. I can control the output of the low end from a rotary knob in the front. I did also upgrade the door speakers as well, and powered them off of another JL Audio amp.
My point to all the blabber stuff above, the GX front doors most likely has the bigger mid-bass, and the factory amp may even be pushing more power to the front door speaker set. The rear doors are usually considered fill, meaning speakers are usually inferior, do not go as low, and are there to simply round out the sound, likely with less power sent to them. All four doors will be crossed over at the factory amp to remove low bass from all 4 doors.
The sub will get the lower frequencies, however it requires an enclosed space to create some decent volume, hence the rear hatch closed. And the trunk lid is not an ideal enclosure either, so much of the output is not very controlled (unless it is in a sealer box and even then, box will be tiny back there).
The first thing I will be doing when I get this GX, is getting in touch with Wicked CAS, and getting them to make a fibreglass carpeted box for the back of the trunk, not a big ass box, but a custom one that will fit into a space somewhere back there. Then grab the signal going to the factory sub, and run it into my 600w JL Audio amp, and run a control wire to the front, and Bob's your uncle, tons of bass to back up the rest of the system. That will also allow you to turn down the bass setting to not overdrive the door speakers or factory amp, and let the aftermarket sub and sub amp do all the heavy lifting. And you only need an 8" or 10" sub, does not have to be a 12", to get some serious output, if you feed it with enough power from an external amp.
I will conclude for myself what the factory door speakers and amp are capable of, once I get my hands on a GX, might even run the RTA on it to see what they can output, and see if I swap out the door speakers, but my guess is that ML did a decent job with the front doors, and I will only touch the rear doors if I care about my rear passengers down the line, if not they remain as filler. Looking forward to making the ML system hit a bit harder and blend it with the factory setup (initially).
Btw, thanks for this thread OP, good discussion and valuable testing !! Appreciate it !!
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