Troponin

I don't have the owner's manual yet and this is bugging me. I noticed I have to absolutely crank up my stereo in order to get anything from the sub. I have the base cranked, have it faded a bit to the back, but it still needs to be cranked. Am I missing an adjustment that allows me to separately adjust the sub or an Eq?

Troponin

I meant, bass, not base. And why don't I have an edit button? It looks like I have terrible grammar in several posts because I can't edit!

jz78817

the fade control doesn't affect the subwoofers. Since you don't have the owners manual I assume you bought this car used? The subwoofer amps or speakers might be bad, or the previous owner(s) might have hacked up the system.

Troponin

The car is new, but it appears as though someone pulled the manual and never replaced it. I got home before I realized it. I actually went back to the lot to give them the keys from my trade in, and I forgot to get the manual while I was there. Grrr!! Will try to go back again today to get it. I just thought someone might have some insight before I went back, or if the manual even has anything at all about how to increase sub output.

I do believe I came across something that stated these subwoofers are designed to adjust down as you increase the volume. I assume to prevent people from easily blowing them. This might be why I am having to blast the stereo in order to get the bass to decent levels.

berzerk_1980

Haven't heard the Shaker but I was an audio head for years.

Just to make sure it's the sub, crank it up and walk about 10-20 feet away from the car. If the sub sounds louder, it's probably working as designed. That means it's a different problem or tweak you need (midbass, reflection, crossover, out-of-phase, etc.).

Sometimes subs are just too big for the car. If you want everyone else to hear it, that's the right sub. If you want to hear it, that's the wrong sub. Not sure what Ford picked.

jz78817

not as such, no. 2012 and earlier cars would use a low-frequency cut above ~80% volume to keep the door speakers from making nasty noises, but 2013 and newer shouldn't do that. The systems do have THD limiters and depending on the gain of the subwoofer channels the subs may be hitting the limiter sooner than the other speakers.

well, what is your expectation for "decent levels?" The Shaker 500 in my 2012 has plenty of bass for what I listen to, but it's not going to measure up to a system with two 12s getting 400 watts apiece.

Troponin

There seems to be a large imbalance of highs, mids and lows. The highs are screaming before the bass gets loud. It's piercing my ears. I want the ability to gain more bass volume without blasting my ear drums out with highs. I assume there is no way to turn the sub up without blasting everything else?

I understand all of the concepts as well. Spent 8 years in the car audio industry. I know what these subs are capable of by adjusting the volume, but I just want to back down the other speakers a bit

jz78817

other than the bass tone control, no. The front/rear speakers are high-pass filtered, so it shouldn't "blast" them. also, have you tried setting the Driver's seat occupancy mode?

Troponin

No, but I'll look in to that. I am not sure what that is.

jz78817

"Driver's seat" mode optimizes the EQ and time correction for the driver seat position. The default mode is "All seats" which is just a symmetric EQ; no focus on any particular seating position. If you don't have navigation, just press the "sound" button until you see the occupancy mode (should cycle Bass-Treble-Balance-Fade-SCV-Occupancy.)