Under-Seat Subwoofer Issues

[Johnnyfive]

Volume 35 (luv it when I am by myself in the car!)

My ears start to get uncomfortable at volume 10! Either I have sensitive ears or that’s the US system!

 

[Kia Stinger]

The discussion about the number of speakers was moved here:
Subs in the 9 speaker system same as the ones in the 15 speaker system?

 

[Sting]

Does ne1 know where the external amp is?

 

[AV8R]

Does ne1 know where the external amp is?

Boot left side I think

 

[Sting]

Correct. Being an external amp and not knowing the model and so on....maybe has setting of somesort..or maybe other connections available..

All this from a truste source. HK

 

[MarcMIA]

Ok all - I have finally (I've had the car - a Black GT2 AWD for a little more than three weeks now) been able to fine tune all of the various audio settings and conduct the subwoofer test. The subwoofers are definitely working. They move paper or bills or whatever you want to place on them. Further, the rear view mirror shakes as it should. The base Sirius xm radio is never going to sound great. That being said, with the right source playing a song that was well produced, the sound is excellent. Loud, clean, very good separation on the digitally managed stage setting. Definitively, and far and away the second best stock system I have had - (I had previously mentioned I had the new Volvo B&W system which has 1400 watts) - this includes Audi's bang and olufson, Cadillac's upgraded bose, bmw's upgraded twin subwoofer top line system from a 2006 X5.
My suggestion is to take your time and experiment with all of the settings, including advanced, and especially adjusting the individual volume levels for the source (ie. radio at one level, USB at another level), find a well produced song and then conduct the subwoofer test. You will know if it is working.

 

[Kazz]

I find radio - FM or Sirius/XM to be awful. The satellite is way overboosted with lousy quality. BYOA - bring your own audio. Or, stream from something like Spotify.

 

[ballistic]

the rear view mirror shakes as it should

thank you for the information but the rear view mirror shaking isn't from subwoofers under the seat. but i know what you were trying to say. i'm very happy to hear you like the sound system because you've obviously had quality systems before. i wish there was a way to turn off all the speakers except for the under seat subs so we could really get a solid idea of how they sound and work.

 

[westcoastGT]

thank you for the information but the rear view mirror shaking isn't from subwoofers under the seat. but i know what you were trying to say. i'm very happy to hear you like the sound system because you've obviously had quality systems before. i wish there was a way to turn off all the speakers except for the under seat subs so we could really get a solid idea of how they sound and work.

Related but different . last night while watching TV I wondered how our in home set up would sound with and without the Sub and without the main channel , only Sub . With the Sub turned off there were still bass tones coming from the speakers but very little depth and drama . With the Front channels turned off and only listening to the Sub , the sound was more "sonic" and punctuated with the odd boom or deep bass , not something you could listen too without the front channel . The Sub fills the sound in with deep texture and highlites but it certainly isnt a liner sound like the front channels ...................

 

[Kia Stinger]

Related but different . last night while watching TV I wondered how our in home set up would sound with and without the Sub and without the main channel , only Sub . With the Sub turned off there were still bass tones coming from the speakers but very little depth and drama . With the Front channels turned off and only listening to the Sub , the sound was more "sonic" and punctuated with the odd boom or deep bass , not something you could listen too without the front channel . The Sub fills the sound in with deep texture and highlites but it certainly isnt a liner sound like the front channels ...................

Small speakers can definitely give you a nice bass sound at low volume. You're not going to feel it - but you'll hear it. Everything else is usable at any range...

 

[Ozstung]

Hi All, my car went in today to have something sorted, and they checked the subs.

When I came to collect the car they said it was working, I said are you sure ...show me. I must admit I still couldn't feel anything, but didn't have time to argue.

So I left, put on the same music ....and hey presto they were working. The dealer says he didn't do anything.....but the difference is night and day. I can feel the bass not only coming up from the seat area .... you can feel it travel through you.
I had to turn down all the bass and mid bass settings.

So I have no idea what they did, but mine are working now.

I will see how they go over the next few days and report back

Hi Dominic are you in Nsw? Need mine checking, could use your dealer. Mine is pretty clueless.

 

[Release]

Signed up just for this question. I have the Harmon Kardon system and can confirm the speakers under the seat are not working, at all. There is no movement.

 

[oxide365]

Signed up just for this question. I have the Harmon Kardon system and can confirm the speakers under the seat are not working, at all. There is no movement.

are you using USB, bluetooth or sat radio, or regular radio?

 

[Never thought]

Put a $1 bill on it and see if it moves....

 

[Release]

are you using USB, bluetooth or sat radio, or regular radio?

Bluetooth, sat, and radio.

 

[AV8R]

It works better from USB

 

[Release]

It works better from USB

I'm not going to try from USB. If it doesn't work with Bluetooth or radio, then it's irrelevant to me if USB makes them work.

 

[AV8R]

I'm not going to try from USB. If it doesn't work with Bluetooth or radio, then it's irrelevant to me if USB makes them work.

On USB I believe the songs are recorded at a higher bitrate which means more frequency so the woofers may kick it better. Have you EQ'd the sound?

 

[Release]

On USB I believe the songs are recorded at a higher bitrate which means more frequency so the woofers may kick it better. Have you EQ'd the sound?

Yes, I've played a SPL bass track just to test different frequencies.

 

[AV8R]

Yes, I've played a SPL bass track just to test different frequencies.

This has been an ongoing issue for some time and appears to be random as some car owners don’t hvae the issue. I wrote to Kia and they came back with a very short vague , I don’t know what you mean , answer.
I would suggest you get the dealer to check all wired connectors as one member did and when he got the car back it was working again. The subwoofers also need time to loosen up. Search the forum and find how he did it.