Subwoofer pop

[radiokid]

Sorry if this has been addressed before but after searching for information on the subject I haven't been able to find much.

I have RF sound system and recently noticed a pop sound coming on particularly bass heavy like kick drum passages that has the sub making non musical sounds. I suspect I have reached the limits of the system perhaps frequency wise as turning up the volume( only at 20 anyway) doesn't increase the pop at all, only certain frequencies do. Is there a fix for this??

[pciley]

Alot of people are dumping that cheesy sub/amp combo and using a similiar box in the same place. Let me see here... ahaa
12" Sub under Drivers Seat and Sounds Great
Try reviewing the threads under "visual/audio/interior modifications" a bunch of sub box projects going on to change from the stock setup. It is entirely inadequate.

[eakes]

Congratulations!!! You have just discovered the weakest link in the RF system - the "130watt" amplifier. (the headunit is nothing to write home about, but the amp is worse)
What is happening? On passages which require a lot of power the amplifier can not deliver that amount of power cleanly and is overdriven. Its output clips creating square waves. To a speaker a squarewave input is like getting a shot of DC voltage, the cone goes thunk (either in or out depending on polarity) as long as the voltage is present. Do this often enough, long enough and the speaker goes up in smoke.

This is a characteristic of an underpowered amplifier. The 'fix' is a different (better) amp or do what I did, replace the headunit with an aftermarket radio with sufficient, clean output power to drive a decent set of speakers. I have yet to replace the speakers but that is on my todo list.

It is possible to retain the RF head unit but replace the amp and speakers. There are a number of threads in the 'audio/mods' forum discussing this issue. Seek and ye shall find.

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by radiokid

Sorry if this has been addressed before but after searching for information on the subject I haven't been able to find much.

I have RF sound system and recently noticed a pop sound coming on particularly bass heavy like kick drum passages that has the sub making non musical sounds. I suspect I have reached the limits of the system perhaps frequency wise as turning up the volume( only at 20 anyway) doesn't increase the pop at all, only certain frequencies do. Is there a fix for this??

Yes, hopefully. As the problem has been explained to me, the speakers, sub, and the amp in the RF are all poor. Particularly, the amp is underpowered, which will cause the speakers to distort when pushed to higher volumes. Replacement of the speakers alone will not solve this problem, as the RF amp will cause even high quality speakers to distort, potentially ruining the new speakers in the process.

My fix (in progress) involves two amps, two sets of component speakers, one sub, an LOC, sound deadener mat, and a bunch of wires. There are some threads like "custom sub box project" and "installing aftermarket radio" that have alot of info. I don't know much about the subject, but I have a pretty high confidence level about this project after getting all of that info. I believe that some people may have installed an amp & sub while leaving the stock speakers. I bought an adapter/harness that is supposed to plug into the back of OEM Nissan head units that I am hoping to use to connect the head unit to the LOC, and then the LOC provides the input signals to the amps.

I don't know if every RF has this problem, but my rear door speakers make very "non-musical sounds" if you turn the fader to the rear. Also, if I listen closely to the dash tweets at higher volumes, they are also making "non-musical" sounds.

[radiokid]

Great info all. Lets pick a day in secret after we replaced all this RF nonsense, and dump all the RF crap in the dealers showroom as sign of how unhappy we are with paying extra for this. Power to the people!