Need more bass in the cockpit speakers (David, read this)

[perry386]

The other day I was out on the boat jamming and after a while I started to notice that every bit of bass came completely from the sub. At first I thought I was confused but then I put my finger on the cone of the cockpit speakers and couldn't even feel them moving hardly. I was wondering if this is something I could fix by just adjusting my amp or if the speakers just are underpowered or something like that. Basically I just want to know if there is a way to fix it without having to spend any money

[EarmarkMarine]

perry,
You do not want the coaxials and subwoofer overlapping on the same material any more than is necessary (some overlap is critical) to have a smooth transition between the two. Why? Because they can't possibly be perfectly phase aligned with one another (speaking of phasing...not polarity).
Stereo information really doesn't extend below 150 Hz. Vocal information can be strong down to 150 Hz. So your coaxials must at least extend to that frequency or below. If the coaxials are crossed over too low the midrange, where all the content and contrast is, will be smeared and the coaxials will not play as clean or as loud. It is to your advantage to have the highpass amplifier and coaxial speakers bandwidth limited. A lot of the excessive bass excursion is wasted energy on a coaxial. If they don't adequately reach and reproduce the deep bass then the extra excursion needlessly modulates the upper midbass and midrange frequencies.
Start by listening to the coaxials in isolation without the subwoofer active. Don't expect any deep bass. But if there is some midbass and you feel all the vocal range is covered then there may not be reason to change the settings.

David

[EarmarkMarine]

perry,
Another thought is if the bass seems to be highly localized to the subwoofer location then the sub level may be set too high. Also, you really shouldn't hear much vocal content coming from the sub. You can listen to a sub in isolation but without the upper harmonics to provide the tonal construction, a sub by itself sounds drunk and inarticulate.
The high and lowpass amplifier channels should be set fairly symmetrical or at least very close to the same frequency.

You may want to post more about your specific system and your boat.

David

[perry386]

Thanks David, I have Kicker KM6500 cockpit speakers and a wetsounds WS-XXX sub with 2 Polk amps and a Kenwood stereo head. The sub isn't set very high (+1), and everything else is all at 0. The sub has hardly any vocals coming through it (and sounds amazing...would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a sub) so the sub has no problems that I can see. When I listen to the system with no sub, I can't hear ANY mid-bass at all. That's my problem with it, what you said about them not overlapping too much made a lot of sense but shouldn't there be at least SOME mid-bass coming from them?

[EarmarkMarine]

perry,
A 40 LCD TV isn't going to have any real bass....but it sounds balanced....so it has enough bass. It's the same with a better table radio or a standard system in a vehicle without a sub. That is the balance you are looking for with a highpass coaxial or component speaker. Then the sub does the rest. Sometimes the crossover markings on an amplifier can be way off so it may be hard to set by the silk screened nomenclature. You have to trust your ear. To get a perspective of what the speaker is capable of, listen to it with the highpass filter dialed all the way down and in isolation without the sub.
Also make sure that if you have a X1 and X10 crossover setting that you are on X1.
The benefit of a subwoofer in a bi-amped system that is often overlooked is that narrowing the bandwidth of the coaxials/components and the amplifer driving these speakers will allow the fullrange speaker to play substantially louder and cleaner. All that excess excursion out of a 6.5" speaker may not provide deeper bass but will certainly modulate and smear the higher midbass/midrange frequencies.
Btw, Odin at Earmark has a 5-page sequential method on tuning a complete marine system. He goes over the step by step process with his customers. It makes a giant difference with any system.

David

[perry386]

Thanks for all of the help. I will look into it and probably just mess around with the crossover until I get it the way I want it...not sure where to find that dial though, where is it usually located?