So I added a sub and amp to my HK system..still not 100% happy

[talan7]

Ok, so I finally got around to having my amp and sub installed in my 12 Regal GS with HK system.
I'm still not completely satisfied. My issue with the stock unit was the bass. It didn't it hard enough and has bass roll off or bass elimination when you turn it up. This is still happening with the sub/amp setup. At lower volumes it has too much bass but when I turn it up past 20 on the dial, the bass pretty much disappears. I'm not happy with this. Does anyone else experience this? Is there a workaround? Also, I wonder if the bass roll off is coming from the head unit or the amp. It sucks that I put in an awesome bass setup only to be confounded by the stock system again

 

[kranz38]

Ok, so I finally got around to having my amp and sub installed in my 12 Regal GS with HK system.
I'm still not completely satisfied. My issue with the stock unit was the bass. It didn't it hard enough and has bass roll off or bass elimination when you turn it up. This is still happening with the sub/amp setup. At lower volumes it has too much bass but when I turn it up past 20 on the dial, the bass pretty much disappears. I'm not happy with this. Does anyone else experience this? Is there a workaround? Also, I wonder if the bass roll off is coming from the head unit or the amp. It sucks that I put in an awesome bass setup only to be confounded by the stock system again

Get a bass knob or inline rca regulator.

 

[talan7]

I had the wireless bass knob installed at the same time. The quality of the bass goes down as I turn up the volume. I thought that it only happened to the stock speakers but I notice on the sub the bass gets muddy as well. I have the JBL MS-1 500 watt sub amp and JL Audio HO110RG-W3v3. The sub hit hard in my old car but no matter what I do in this new setup, it doesn't want to hit hard at loud volumes. It's like whatever I do gets cancelled out. I think I'm just going to go with the JBL mS-8 or that new Audison 8.9 when it comes out and bypass my stock amp altogether. One good thing...when they disconnected my rear deck woofers the front speakers became much louder, especially the treble. I had the treble turned all the way up but had to turn it down quite a bit upon installing the sub/amp.

 

[saleen09]

Sounds like the HK has a crossover eliminating the bass and/or frequency cutoff as the volume increases to reduce distortion on the stock speakers. The HK and Bose setup in two other rigs did the same thing.

In the Mini Cooper Works I had, the solution was to use the line driver from the front speakers as they did not have this phase cut off from the source. I assume you just tapped off the rear speakers/sub?

The MS-8 or the Audio Control-10 would be a great way to go as well as you stated.

 

[VehicleCityGS]

Well that's really disappointing to hear. This is one of the to do's for me, taping into a door speaker would be a pain but if it's the fix that would be good to know.

 

[talan7]

They tapped into the rear decks. I was hoping that the elimination would cease once the sub was added, but that's not the case. I hear there are better LOC that can eliminate the roll off. BTW, I think the roll off works in the front as well. Once they disconnected the rear deck speakers the font speaker became much louder but the bass on the fronts is less now then what is was before. Or, it could just be me comparing the fronts with the sub. The sub does go deep. At low volumes it sounds really nice.

 

[sonny615]

The factory amp lowers bass at the higher volumes. Look into the jl audio clean sweep products
They will solve this problem for you when adding a amp and subs

 

[polo3433]

Another option is to get rid of the HK system by adding another amp for your inside speakers. This will give you the consistency sound that you desire at all volume levels.

 

[nizerims]

SO, (before the internet) I was that nerd in the library always looking at microfiche. {If you don't know what microfiche is, you've got it "way to easy" and probably need your ass kicked,,, you could definitely use a good SPANKING!

I'll just leave these (relevant) links here for the future members that were Born On Third Base.

How Do Forum Search Tools Work WITHOUT TAGS<-(NSFW)

JL W7 Vs Kicker L7

13 Stock Audio Wiring

New Sundown Audio E 10 2 ohm DVC Subwoofer

Anyone upgrade speakers yet

@talan7,

Before you go CRAY, try tapping into the rear door speakers instead of the rear shelf speakers.

TO FIND THE SPEAKER WIRES you have to remove the carpet (in the trunk) behind the passenger (right) tail light, to access the H/K amp. LOOKS LIKE THIS

THIS IS YOUR BUICK AMP RACK(fun stuff).... What you see here is the Buick Fuel Pump Module, but hidden behind the FPM is the H/K amp.
Just going by this picture, I think you can unplug the wires going into the amp, but if not, you need to grab one of these guys-

-to remove those 3 nuts so you can get to the amp.....
After you remove the plugs from the amp, you are going to peel back the black fabric electrical tape so you can get a good look at the wire colors.
Your going to be tapping into the Left or Right Rear Door speaker wires, so look for the GREEN and GREEN with a BLACK stripe wires OR the WHITE and BLUE with a BLACK stripe wires (as shown below).

______________________________________________________________________________________________
équipe de la rue de Buick™

 

[eminelo]

Nizerims, thank you so much for that! It is going to be extremely helpful for me as well!!!

 

[kranz38]

What the hell would we do with out u....

 

[eminelo]

Lol, we'd have to do all of the research ourselves that's all

 

[bennyblaze]

Nizzy for President!! :thumbsup:

 

[nizerims]

You guys are far too kind!

We all dove into this car in different aspects. This happens to be a topic that I went HARD and DEEP into.

That's what I use this forum for; to soak up as much knowledge about this car that I can, and to help to the best of my ability on topics that I have experience in (with a few zingers here and there) to help out my fellow Buick brethren.

Whether you like it or not, you guys are all part of the Buick Street Team™!!

You just don't "Throw Ya' Set" as much as I do.

 

[Garrus]

Niz is one of my favorite human beings on the planet.

I think your presence is a must when this weather breaks and we get out Regal meet setup in/around/near Detroit.

 

[talan7]

Aren't the rear door speakers getting mids and highs?

 

[nizerims]

Almost full range to the rear door speakers. Your JBL amp will filter out the mids and high frequencies.

 

[sonny615]

If he taps into the door speakers or any speaker output from factory amp , wouldn't the factory amp still do the same thing? Or because it's not a sub it's not limited as much? Since your at the amp in trunk could just tap into amp input wires instead maybe. Should be a clean non controlled line?

 

[sonny615]

......

 

[nizerims]

These wires are FULL RANGE (low level) signal from the head unit to the H/K amp {front left/ front right/ rear left/ rear right}

sonny615,

I found using the rear door signal was WAY better bass at high volume (preferably in a residential area) than using the rear deck wires.

OH YEAH!!!

You can definitely use the low level wires.

*Keep In Mind* Just like kranz said in a different thread, "make sure you don't cheap out on the loc's", or Speaker Wire -to- RCA adapters.