More bass?

[Pat1USMC]

I have the 14-speaker stereo tha comes with the Premium package. When listening to my iPod, there is a good amount of bass available when the bass setting is turned up to 10. Not too much, but enough. However when I listen to XM, even with the bass at 10 I still wish I had more. I am definitely not picky when it comes to bass ( I don't need 4 12" subs or anything), however even my wife says her TL had better bass.

I located the amp in the trunk but there are no adjustments that can be made on it.

Does anyone have any suggestions or is this just the way the stereo is?
Thanks.

 

[BaywayRic]

Not sure on the Premium, but the tech pack has separate sound controls for each device. Just because you set the aux/iPod to 10, doesn't mean XM is at 10, etc. DVD, Radio, XM, and Aux all have different settings.

 

[Pat1USMC]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the bass was up on all of them.
However I just realized that although the ROCK EQ setting only has the bass at 5, the bass actually sounds punchier with that than having the EQ off and the Bass at 10. Weird. I wonder what the amp does to accomplish this.
Definitely a beautiful sounding sound system though. Everything sounds so clear on it.

 

[DanTheMan]

I have the 14-speaker stereo tha comes with the Premium package. When listening to my iPod, there is a good amount of bass available when the bass setting is turned up to 10. Not too much, but enough. However when I listen to XM, even with the bass at 10 I still wish I had more. I am definitely not picky when it comes to bass ( I don't need 4 12" subs or anything), however even my wife says her TL had better bass.

I located the amp in the trunk but there are no adjustments that can be made on it.

Does anyone have any suggestions or is this just the way the stereo is?
Thanks.

Try taking it out of "surround" mode, and into "stereo" (I think that's the other option). Surround mode creates a sense of balance in all areas of the car. In the way that most of us are used to listening to music, we hear a substantial (overpowering) amount of bass frequencies which are generated at high volumes as bass frequencies are non-directional (the opposite of higher frequencies which are more directional the higher they go in the audio spectrum). It has everything to do with how the signal is being split before being amplified and re-distributed. It also has a lot to do with the fact that we're used to hearing a lot of bass, then everything else--we hear music in an audio 'triangle', of sorts. And the last thing it has to do with it is the genre of music that you're listening to. Newer current music has a wider dynamic range than older music. It's recorded better, so the range that can be reproduced is better. In the older stuff, the higher highs and lower lows are simply truncated from the audio signal since the proceesing gear wasn't as sophisticated as it is today. If it wasn't there during the recording process, it won't be there in the playback.

One last thought--if you're used to listening to the bass at a high level in your iPod, you might consider turning that portion of the signal down when listening thru ear phones. You may (are) doing more damage to your ear drums than you realize! Its evidence is that you need more gain (in order to get the same effect).

Good luck--

Dan

 

[Pat1USMC]

Interesting, thanks for the info.
I will have to see what taking it out of surround will do.

 

[Simonwpb]

For whatever reason I didn't like the surround mode on day one, and it has been turned off since...

 

[Sal Collaziano]

It IS possible to add an aftermarket amp and subwoofer without tampering with the stock stereo system. The amp gets powered directly from the battery and the subwoofer picks up sound by being wired into one of the speakers. I don't know if there's a passthrough in the trunk, however.

 

[DanTheMan]

It IS possible to add an aftermarket amp and subwoofer without tampering with the stock stereo system. The amp gets powered directly from the battery and the subwoofer picks up sound by being wired into one of the speakers. I don't know if there's a passthrough in the trunk, however.

That is something I'd definitely leave for an expert to do. A bass frequency, ideally, is wired in "mono", not stereo. Knowing where the output from the radio is, what the impedance is, and what other speakers may be on the same line (assuming what you say above is true), can and will have a dramatic affect on what the output sound is.

Dan

 

[Sal Collaziano]

That is something I'd definitely leave for an expert to do. A bass frequency, ideally, is wired in "mono", not stereo. Knowing where the output from the radio is, what the impedance is, and what other speakers may be on the same line (assuming what you say above is true), can and will have a dramatic affect on what the output sound is.

Dan

Since you don't need bass in stereo, you can simply connect to one of the wires that powers one of the speakers. I would leave it to an expert as well.. This is what they do these days since so many people don't want to mess with their stereo/navigation system..

 

[musher51]

...the tech pack has separate sound controls for each device. Just because you set the aux/iPod to 10, doesn't mean XM is at 10, etc. DVD, Radio, XM, and Aux all have different settings.

Man, I really need to block out some time and wade through both owner's manuals. In the meantime, I gotta send a tuition check to Ric, who continues to edjookate me about random stuff.

I didn't realize that there were audio settings for each medium (CD/DVD, FM, XM, etc.). No WONDER the XM stations sound crappy, but CDs sound great! (And I'm assuming you mean tone controls, not volume.)

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[BaywayRic]

(And I'm assuming you mean tone controls, not volume.)

YUP Brings a whole new meaning to FLEXIBILITY.

 

[Viking]

Musher51,

Yes, all of the audio controls are completely separate from each other (not just volume but bass, etc..).

The one thing I still forget how to do is adjust the audio of the nav system when she is speaking commands. I know I can do it if I catch it right when she is speaking but don't remember how to do it when she isn't speaking.

I too owe Baywayric a check - he just edjamacated me on the audio differences between the USB and disk too!

 

[cliffbig]

It's even more sophisticated than I thought... I discovered by accident that when I load MP3 CDs, audio CDs, and DVD-Audio discs in the 6-disc changer in the tech package Lexicon system, it maintains the different settings for each type of disc (I can have the treble set higher for an audio CD than for a DVD-Audio, for example).

 

[puertorico]

where is the amp in the trunk?

 

[BaywayRic]

where is the amp in the trunk?

CLICK HERE

 

[puertorico]

It looks that is a pain just to get access to the amp.

 

[Pat1USMC]

The amp has no controls on it. Its just an enclosed box with wires coming out of it so going through all that work to get to it is pretty pointless.

 

[camel1120]

Has anyone notices that when the voice command is activated, the speakers produce better sound quality but as soon as you adjust the volume you lose all the bass and sound quality I am not sure if I am doing something wrong or what but please let me know what the deal is because Im starting to get annoyed....Im on my second amp too!!!!

 

[mk1]

I have a strange problem that just cropped up. If I make/recieve a call using the bluetooth, when I hang up, the bass is more pronounced to the point where it is too much. Simply shutting off/turning on the radio fixes the problem.

A small annoyance but very strange....

 

[tampagenesis]

I was disappointed with the amount of bass as well. I did a lot of research and made some changes and it was very successful.
The set up is as follows. Turn off surround. Turn up both treble and bass to the max and adjust the mid range to a very low setting. I set mine at just four clicks from the lowest setting. makes a tremendous difference in the bass. Doesn't seem to make much of a difference to the mid range as you would expect.