radio not much bass.

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crownvicjim

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I have a 97 lsc and didnt like the bass output from the stock rear speakers. i replaced them with oem sized rockford fosgates and there is no real difference. got me to thinking. when i turn the radio up the bass will increase evenly with the volume, but once i get to halfway, the bass doesnt get any louder. it doesnt distort or sound like the speakers. the midrange and treble will continue to get louder, but not the bass. half volume has as much bass as nearly cranked. is this normal? i have never had a stereo that does this. you would think the speakers would be distorting if there was a power overload and it does not sound like that. any ideas? the speakers are hooked up properly and everything else seems to be working great.
 
While speakers are very important, the amp and head unit decide the ultimate in clarity and sound. The stock speakers actually did well with the alpine amp I had but were quickly replaced before they would have been shredded.
 
unity said:
While speakers are very important, the amp and head unit decide the ultimate in clarity and sound. The stock speakers actually did well with the alpine amp I had but were quickly replaced before they would have been shredded.
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so do you think that the stock amp is just maxxed out? but why does the mid and treble still get louder?
 
all mark VIII's act this way when turning the volume up, the louder you go, the less bass you get, its like a built in bass gain in the stock amp, it does it so the speakers dont blow. you can put in the best speakers in the world to replace the stock one, you are not going to get much sound difference. the only way to get what you are after, is go all aftermarket like so many of us have.
 
jamie97lsc said:
all mark VIII's act this way when turning the volume up, the louder you go, the less bass you get, its like a built in bass gain in the stock amp, it does it so the speakers dont blow. you can put in the best speakers in the world to replace the stock one, you are not going to get much sound difference. the only way to get what you are after, is go all aftermarket like so many of us have.
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Thanks. but do you mean all? amp,headunit, and speakers? or just the amp? i saw a kit that allows you to splice into the rear speaker wires to send the signal to a aftermarket amp and then all you need to do is run the power to the back. will this work? i reallly dont want to switch out the headunit or the cd changer. but maybe ill have to.
 
crownvicjim said:
i saw a kit that allows you to splice into the rear speaker wires to send the signal to a aftermarket amp and then all you need to do is run the power to the back. will this work? i reallly dont want to switch out the headunit or the cd changer. but maybe ill have to.
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This is what I have done cause I wanted to keep the stock head unit
 
the stock head unit and cd chaner 10 disc are buns, just do it right and youll thank yourself.
 
yeah i agree^ throw the stock head unit in the garbage, along with the ever problematic cd changer, if your changer works now, it wont in a few months i'll promise you that! just replace it all, i couldnt imagine listening to the stock set up after having all the stuff i put in mine, the stock system doesnt even come close to it now.
 
crownvicjim said:
cool. did you just splice in, run wires to amp, run amp wires to sub, power, ground, and thats it? what about the remote wire?
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I used a output adapter used T taps on the L and R speakers as the wires exit the amp so I was shure that I got the right wires
It was very easy and adds bass that is very clean
and I used a hot in the trunk that is with the delayed accessory realy
so the sub works along with the radio.
I also used the stock tweeters and alpine type S 5X7s with good 10" sub, amp and cap.
sounds GREAT!
 
I have no complaints with the factory jbl premium system. My deck works as it should & so does the factory amplifier & 10 disc changer. I have even added an additional amp & a pair of 10" subs to the stock system & it sounds really good.

If you are looking for more volume & bass through the factory system then there are 3 supressor thingys in the factory jbl amp, you cut the diode side of the contacts off & this will allow more volume. I forgot the numbers on them, maybe I can take a look later & let you know exactly what they are called.
 
turborich said:
I have no complaints with the factory jbl premium system. My deck works as it should & so does the factory amplifier & 10 disc changer. I have even added an additional amp & a pair of 10" subs to the stock system & it sounds really good.

If you are looking for more volume & bass through the factory system then there are 3 supressor thingys in the factory jbl amp, you cut the diode side of the contacts off & this will allow more volume. I forgot the numbers on them, maybe I can take a look later & let you know exactly what they are called.
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That would be great. thanks.
 
JBL amp mod

OK, I took a few pics, hopefully I can explain it.

Your amp is located underneath the rear deck in the trunk, you access it from underneath. once you have it out you will want to flip it upside down & remove the screws, it uses a small torx bit. after the cover is off you will see the main board with another smaller board attached to it. You need to remove this smaller board & set it aside. It should pull straight up, you may need to wiggle it a bit. You will now be able to see the 3 black thingys that are circled, they say vactech on them. you need to clip the wires on the LED side. It will say LED on one side of it. That is what you clip. Do it to all 3 of the black thingys. After that place the board that you removed back onto the main board & screw it back shut.

I did this to my friends Mark VIII & you could tell the difference. His volume was not suppressed after the half way point. If you try turning the bass up too high the speakers will get a bit distorted just like a normal stereo would. Over all he is happy with this little mod. It's not going to sound like a whole new stereo system, but it will give you added volume.

Please do this at your own risk! It worked for me, but you know how things can happen in life.:p

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turborich said:
OK, I took a few pics, hopefully I can explain it.

Your amp is located underneath the rear deck in the trunk, you access it from underneath. once you have it out you will want to flip it upside down & remove the screws, it uses a small torx bit. after the cover is off you will see the main board with another smaller board attached to it. You need to remove this smaller board & set it aside. It should pull straight up, you may need to wiggle it a bit. You will now be able to see the 3 black thingys that are circled, they say vactech on them. you need to clip the wires on the LED side. It will say LED on one side of it. That is what you clip. Do it to all 3 of the black thingys. After that place the board that you removed back onto the main board & screw it back shut.

I did this to my friends Mark VIII & you could tell the difference. His volume was not suppressed after the half way point. If you try turning the bass up too high the speakers will get a bit distorted just like a normal stereo would. Over all he is happy with this little mod. It's not going to sound like a whole new stereo system, but it will give you added volume.

Please do this at your own risk! It worked for me, but you know how things can happen in life.:p
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wow. thanks turborich. appreciate the time you took to help me. time to see what happens. oh , hey..... when i clip those wires.....just bend them out of the way or tape them???
 
I just clipped them & gently moved them away a bit. At some point another member posted something about trying this, I don't know if he ever did it or not? So I figured that I would & it did help out!

Let us know how it goes. Good luck!
 
How did you find this out? Just that darn smart? Its an awesome mod.
 
unity said:
How did you find this out? Just that darn smart? Its an awesome mod.
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No, not at all. Somebody posted something about it somewhere. Just can't remember where? All I did was follow what he thought would work & it did. Before we did this to my friends car we had another amp just in case it didn't work.:eek: but it did.
 
Just done it to mine. To be safe, i broke the metal legs off at both the Vartech LED and the solder ends. Only part that was slightly troublesome on my 93's amp was the fact that the top circuit board was held with crappy clips: (dog assisted me)

View attachment 34513 View attachment 34514
 
Got it done last nite. defenitely louder. dont know if i like it or not. by clipping all three, now the front speakers produce more bass also. now if you turn it up the front speakers rattle(no distortion) as well as the rears. now i have to take care of that. if i wouldve known the front speakers would also be affected by this i might not have done it. but it is louder and that is what i was asking for.


anyone know if only one of those controls the rear? if so i might solder the others back up so it just does it to the rear speakers.
 
Well you could always try soldering one at a time. I don't know which one controlls just the front? sorry.
 
Glad to pass the info on. Happy to hear that you like it. You kinda need to keep the bass down a little so you don't get it through the tweeters. Over all it seems to make it louder though.
 
here are my issues with the stock system 1) unless you use a cassette to mp3 player thingy (which sounds like doodoo) you will be burning a bunch of cds to listen to your music. 2) The stock JBL speakers are very cheaply built (little to no magnet on woofers, therefore sloppy cone movement and consequently poor sound at volume. The tweeters seem to be ok but won't handle much power for long. 3) The JBL amplifier has a small power output (20 watts max to the tweeters, 15 rms. 30 max to the woofers, 20 rms. Most wallyworld units out power the JBL system and have a less THD rating. 4) Most importantly, radio's going digital and the factory unit won't be able to cope without some kind of converter. I am suspecting that the switchover time will be 2-5 years after the American people have been screwed over the Digital TV deal so the FCC can get rich off of selling off licenses on the newly opened frequencies. I am going to be bold as to make this prediction here. It may not happen now or even soon, BUT, one day free OFF AIR television will be no more. You will have to pay for it. Example: Most here won't remember when commercial satellite signals were first scrambled but the industry said that it would be for only "premium cable channels like HBO, etc." Well a few years later and the only thing that was in the clear was a cigar smoking preacher trying to swindle you out of you hard earned money and showing off his 10k a piece horses. I know this has gone off WAAAAYY off topic, but had to vent a bit. I just paid my outrageous Dish network and Sirius bills.

BTW- I now have a JBL BP80.4 amp on JBL 6x8s, BP1200.1 on 2 Infinity 12s...it rocks pretty hard.

Ok now I'll shut up and leave ya'll alone
 
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