Problem wiring 4 DVC subs, please help!!!

[Chevy Power 06]

Hi, I am having trouble wiring 4 Power Acoustik Shallow mount STW-12 subs into a single channel Hifonics Brutus 1800 rms. I have managed to wire this subs in parallel and get 2 ohms, I don't know what I am doing wrong but the subs dont sound good and dont hit as hard as they are supposed to hit. I saw the exact same setup before correctly wired an it was so loud that you couldn't hear a person screaming on your ear next to you. My current wiring is faaaaaaaaaar from achieving that loudness and I can't figure out why. I would like to know how to correct this, and if it is possible to wire these subs at 1 ohm or very close to that.
Thanks a lot for you advice, I very much appreciate it.
Cesar

[PlayStation3]

hmm one that amp needs a 1 ohm load to be loud not 2 and another that amp is overrated by about 300 to 400 watts at 1 ohm and at 2 ohm maybe 100 200 watts. and second Power Acoustik maybe the problem right there. and also what type of an ensclure are they in.

[PaulD]

yep, box can be EVERYTHING for bass

[Chevy Power 06]

The box was custom made, I forgot to how many Hz it was tuned at. But I heard the exact same subs, box and amplifier on another exact same truck and they were VERY loud and with no distortion. I took my truck to an audio shop an they told me all this garbage about the RCA's introducing distortion due to being next to the power cable and the lenght of the wires, blah blah blah.. So they "correctly rewired" the whole system and I ended up with the same thing. The only difference I can think of between my system and my friends system is the receiver. Mine is a cheap Dual XDMA7715 and his was a $1200+ panasonic double din touchscreen. I was told that my cheap stereo was probably the problem due to low voltage preamp outputs and cheap equalizer settings... Can this be true? Do I need a better receiver, or can I just use an Epicenter?

[sickcallawayc12]

Dual is, like, worse than Wal-Mart stereo brands. Subs can definitely sound different when used with low quality stereos or factory stereos with not so good line out converters. How much do you have to spend on a receiver?

[Chevy Power 06]

I plan to spend like $300 online. But do you think if an epicenter might fix the problem or do I definnitely need a good stereo? Thanks

[sickcallawayc12]

A good receiver will make it much easier to adjust the sound if you need to since its right there in the dash. DVD monitors, like the one your frined has, makes it even easier most of the time as you can fine tune the speakers and subs more in a lot of cases. I can independently control the volume for each speaker with mine, for example, and I don't think i've ever seen a CD player that could do this.
Here is a review from another forum on the product I think you're looking at

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170116

I guess it depends on what you listen to. I certainly wouldn't want that thing in my ride cuz I listen to more than just synthesized, bassy rap.

Also Dual is not well respected in the car audio world let alone here as it is quite the low quality brand compared to the competition. Spending 75 bucks on a used Pioneer receiver is a better option IMO regardless of what you do here.

[Galuple]

have you tried copying your friend's x-over and gain levels?

[PaulD]

sounds like the sub crossover may not be set right ......

you say everything is the same but if his sounds awesome and yours sucks, then SOMETHING is different.

[Chevy Power 06]

Thats what I have been told. He aso had a memphis crossover coupled to the pioneer screen. I don't know if a good crossover could make the difference.. As of right now, I just bough on ebay a Panasonic CQ-DF903U

http://www.bass-enterprises.com/inde...ROD&ProdID=500

This stereo has a 5-volt preout and some equalizer settings. I hope it is way better than the dual.. I haven't received it yet, but it should be coming in very soon...

[Galuple]

your amp should have at least some form of crossover onboard shouldnt it?

[PlayStation3]

most x covers on amps are only like 200hzs hpf and lpf and maybe a subsonic filter. only the high end amps have good enough x covers to where u dont need an external one.

[PaulD]

if you were running the sub with crossover, then I am sure it sounded like arse.

oooops ... I meant without a crossover

[Chevy Power 06]

I am currently not running the sub with a crossover. The only crossover that I have is the onle on the hifonics amp. It has low pass, subsonic filter, bass boost, and gain. I have tried tweaking these in many ways possible with no success. Do crossovers actually make that big of a difference in sound?

[PlayStation3]

yea they cut out the freq where u dont want them to play. so if u have the highpass to high then u get little bass. and vease versea. for the low pass