If you love the sound of your car’s subwoofer but hate how it’s barely audible when you’re outside the car, you’re not alone. Many people find the bass too quiet when they’re away from their car.
In this article, we’ll show you a few simple tips on how to make your subs louder outside the car.
- What Makes the Car Subwoofer So Loud?
- Tips to Make Subs Louder Outside the Car
- Make your ported sub box more efficient, or purchase a pre-made one:
- Position the subs, so they’re facing the trunk, not the seats:
- Run multiple Subwoofers:
- Power your subwoofer sufficiently:
- Sound-deadening materials can help to DECREASE the SPL:
- Open the windows and sunroof:
- Configure your subwoofers for peak performance:
- FAQs
What Makes the Car Subwoofer So Loud?
There are a few factors that contribute to how loud your car subwoofer sounds.
Sensitivity of Car Subwoofer:
One of the main factors determining how loud a subwoofer will be is its sensitivity. The higher the sensitivity, the louder the subwoofer will be. A subwoofer’s sensitivity rating should be high if you want the sound to be loaded inside and outside your car.
Subwoofer Size:
Another factor that contributes to how loud your subwoofer will be is its size. Generally speaking, the larger the subwoofer, the louder it will be. If you’re looking for a powerful subwoofer that’s still relatively compact, you’ll want to look for a 10-inch or 12-inch model.
Enclosure Type:
Another important factor is the type of enclosure your subwoofer is in. If you’re looking for a subwoofer that’s going to be loud both inside and outside the car, you’ll want to look for one in a sealed enclosure.
Power Handling Capacity:
Finally, another factor determines how loud your subwoofer will be in its power handling capability. The higher the power handling capability, the louder the subwoofer will be. If you’re looking for a powerful subwoofer that can handle a lot of power, you’ll want to look for one with a high power handling rating.
These are just a few factors contributing to how loud a subwoofer will be. These tips will help you find a subwoofer that suits your car – not only one that’s loud inside and outside but also perfect for you.
Tips to Make Subs Louder Outside the Car
Make your ported sub box more efficient, or purchase a pre-made one:
To make your subs louder when you’re driving, one of the best things you can do is to build a better-ported sub-box. A ported sub-box is a subwoofer enclosure that allows the subwoofer to produce more bass.
If you’re not familiar with how to build a sub-box, there are plenty of tutorials online that can show you how. Or, if you’d rather not bother with building your own, you can always buy a ready-made ported sub-box.
Position the subs, so they’re facing the trunk, not the seats:
One common mistake is positioning their subs to face the seats, not the trunk. If your subs are facing the seats, the sound will be directed toward the inside of the car, making it harder for you to hear the bass outside the car.
Instead, position your subs so that they’re facing the trunk. This will direct the sound toward the back of the car, making it easier for you to hear the bass when you’re outside.
Run multiple Subwoofers:
You should consider running multiple subs if you want your subs to be loud outside the car. The more subs you have, the louder they will be. If you’re looking for a powerful bass setup, you should consider running two or even four subs.
Power your subwoofer sufficiently:
Another important factor to consider is how much power you’re feeding your subwoofer. If you’re not feeding your subwoofer enough power, it will not be as loud as it could be. Make sure you’re feeding your subwoofer enough power by using an amplifier that’s powerful enough to drive it.
Sound-deadening materials can help to DECREASE the SPL:
One final tip to remember is that sound-deadening material might lower the amount of bass you hear outside the car. This is because sound-deadening material absorbs bass, making it harder for the bass to travel through the car. Don’t use sound-deadening material if you want to hear the bass from your car while it’s parked.
Open the windows and sunroof:
Another tip to make your subs louder outside the car is to roll down the windows and sunroof. This will help the bass escape from the car, making it easier for you to hear.
Configure your subwoofers for peak performance:
Finally, make sure you’re properly tuning your subs. If your subs are not properly tuned, they’re not going to sound as loud as they could be.
Follow these steps to tune your subs.
Set your amp’s gain control to the appropriate level:
The first step is to set your amp’s gain control properly. The gain control on your amplifier determines how much power the amplifier is putting out. If you have the gain control set too low, the amplifier will not be able to produce enough power to drive the subwoofer. If the gain control set is too high, the amplifier will produce too much power and could damage the subwoofer. Finding the happy medium between too much and too little power is important.
To set the gain control:
- Start by turning it down.
- Turn on your receiver and set the volume to halfway.
- Slowly turn up the gain control until you start to hear distortion.
Once you start to hear distortion, back the gain control off slightly until the distortion disappears.
Make the signal flatter:
The next step is to flatten the signal. You’ll need to open the low-pass filter on your amplifier and set it to flat. This will allow the full range of frequencies to reach the subwoofer.
Set subwoofer gain and low-pass filter:
Once you’ve flattened the signal, you’ll need to adjust the subwoofer gain and low-pass filter. The subwoofer gain controls how much power the subwoofer is getting from the amplifier. The low-pass filter controls what frequencies the subwoofer is playing.
To adjust the subwoofer gain, start by turning it down. Turn the power up slowly until you begin to hear a distorted sound. Once you start to hear distortion, back the gain off slightly until the distortion disappears.
Modify the bass boost and subsonic filter:
The next step is to adjust the bass boost and subsonic filter. The bass boost will allow you to boost the bass frequencies. The subsonic filter will allow you to remove frequencies too low for the subwoofer to reproduce.
To adjust the bass boost, start by turning it down. Turn the power up slowly until you begin to hear a distorted sound. Once you hear distortion, the bass boost off slightly until the distortion disappears.
To adjust the subsonic filter, start by turning it down. Turn the power up slowly until you begin to hear a distorted sound. Once you hear distortion, back the subsonic filter off slightly until the distortion disappears.
The subwoofer level should be matched to the volume of the receiver:
The final step is to match the subwoofer level to the receiver volume. To do this, you’ll need to turn up the receiver volume until you start to hear distortion. Once you hear distortion, back the receiver volume off slightly until the distortion disappears. Then, adjust the subwoofer level until it is the same as the receiver volume.
Follow these steps to adjust your subwoofers for increased volume properly.
FAQs
What hits harder, ported or sealed?
Ported enclosures are usually employed to improve amplifier efficiency. The trade-off is that ported enclosures produce more noise than sealed enclosures.
Sealed enclosures are less efficient at transferring power to the speaker, but they do a better job of containing sound, which makes them ideal for use in home theaters where minimizing noise is important.
What happens if the ported box is too big?
If a ported box is too big, it may cause the subwoofer to lose its compression and sound harsh or undefined. Generally, it’s best to choose a ported box slightly smaller than the recommended size for the subwoofer.
This will help ensure that the box provides adequate compression and results in cleaner, more accurate bass reproduction.
Does box size matter on subwoofers?
Size matters greatly. Larger drivers can move more air and create lower frequencies. This is why larger subwoofers tend to produce more bass than smaller ones.
Does inverting a sub make it louder?
No, it does not make your subwoofer louder. Inverting a subwoofer can reduce its output and change its frequency response. This is because inverting a subwoofer flips the phase of the driver, which can cause cancellation between the driver and the port.
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