Under-Seat Subwoofer Issues

[JeffAsfbay]

Yes, subwoofers do definitely need breaking in. It's always been this way as far as I know. I used to be big into loud, deep bass...

I have not finished reading past the post I am quoting, but, unless the speaker suspension is *very* stiff, I am skeptical of the notion that the sub needs any breakin. I know this can get almost "religious", but honestly, what's breaking in most likely is your ears (getting used to the sound of the system). Whoever it was who took their car to the dealer, which resulted in the stereo system designer stating the subs are working properly - please ask this person whether the particular brand of speaker used for the under-seat subs needs breaking in (or, call the speaker manufacturer and see if you can get someone technical to talk to, as in, someone with an engineering degree in mechanical or audio engineering, and see what they say). Peace to those who are believers in break-in, I just wanted to present the opposing viewpoint.
Thank you.

 

[AV8R]

Probably Samsung speakers! Lol

 

[Berzerker]

I have not finished reading past the post I am quoting, but, unless the speaker suspension is *very* stiff, I am skeptical of the notion that the sub needs any breakin. I know this can get almost "religious", but honestly, what's breaking in most likely is your ears (getting used to the sound of the system). Whoever it was who took their car to the dealer, which resulted in the stereo system designer stating the subs are working properly - please ask this person whether the particular brand of speaker used for the under-seat subs needs breaking in (or, call the speaker manufacturer and see if you can get someone technical to talk to, as in, someone with an engineering degree in mechanical or audio engineering, and see what they say). Peace to those who are believers in break-in, I just wanted to present the opposing viewpoint.
Thank you.

While I agree with you on most counts, it is an actual fact that speakers to sound better over time with "break-in." It's not so far as to not hear a sub *at all* before a few hours of music playing, but you will get better frequency response and sound curves after a few hundred hours of playing sound.

Hell, Klipsch even has an article on their website dedicated to break-in and says that it's beneficial.

Like I said, something not working at all, then working, is not the result of break-in, but break-in is a real thing and does really help.

 

[Marc Collins]

Try the sound in mode where there is no enhanced engine sound. Maybe that’s the trigger.

How does one turn the enhanced engine sound completely off?

 

[Marc Collins]

OK - I have returned from Dealer Service and the resolution of the issue is not what I expected.

First of all, the system check of the audio is part of the Pre-Delivery Inspection that the dealer does and this includes making sure that the subwoofer is activated on the amplifier. Mine had been activated and the subwoofer should have been working.

My problem, and this is a totally non-intuitive situation in which I think Kia's thinking is ass-backwards, is that on the Sound System Setup for position of tuning the system I set it at the center of the drivers seat. This to me is the logical choice.

Boy was I wrong - and as it turns out on my car, and I can verify this with what was happening, the audio system throws 80%+ of the audio output on the (drumroll here) Drivers Side Door! What you say?

What you want to do is set the audio system at the center of the car. This will balance the audio system and I can now get output from the subs on both the drivers and passengers side using the dollar bill test. Note that the dollar bill test failed completely on my previous setting centered on the drivers seat.

I don't have my Stinger yet, but can confirm this idiotic behaviour with a sound system in another car. All the sound stage settings are basically BS. Put every tone setting at 0 and centre of car...you'll get unfettered sound from the system. If it's not good enough, go aftermarket. Any fiddling with EQ or sound stage settings is just deteriorating or distorting the original sound engineering of the recording. Presumably for most professional recordings someone was paying attention to the balance and sound stage. Why would we try to muck with that? And our settings are going to universally improve every recording our there? Fat chance.

 

[Marc Collins]

Just thought I would add in my own observations and testing here. I initially thought my subs were not working as well. Playing decent music (Flac and DSD) via the aux in produced a lot of base in the lower door speakers but could not hear anything or feel anything from the subs.

I did some further testing on this.

I happened to have some audiophile testing sounds (DSD format) that I used when setting up my cinema room. I played these through the Aux in as well. I also placed a tissue on each of the subs to confirm what was happening. My findings were as follows:

10 Hz -> Nothing through any speaker (Which is to be expected)
20 Hz -> Subs come to life with the rumble and no sound at all coming through the door speakers or centre
30-40 Hz -> Same as above
50 Hz -> Sub output was dropping off (barely detectable) but the lower door speakers were now outputting the base
60 Hz -> Subs pretty much not doing anything but the lower door speakers were booming.
70-100 Hz -> All the sound was coming from the door speakers and nothing from the subs.

Conclusion. The subs were working however the crossover set on the amp is quite low; being at about 50-60 Hz. I wonder if this can be adjusted (maybe to around 80-90 Hz) as I think this would improve the Sub output immensely. It also means that unless you have music that has audio data in the realms of the 20-50 Hz range, you may not get anything from the Subs. Obviously there are some of you out there that still may have an issue, but as I thought I did too this test proved that they were working.

Would be very good to know what if any adjustments can be made to the Amp. Need someone with access to the kiatechinfo ( Kia Global Information System (KGIS) ) to see what can be found maybe.

Hope this helps everyone.

If you have high quality recordings, why would you destroy the quality by using AUX? Use digital transfer (USB) so you can hear them as intended.

 

[AV8R]

I don't have my Stinger yet, but can confirm this idiotic behaviour with a sound system in another car. All the sound stage settings are basically BS. Put every tone setting at 0 and centre of car...you'll get unfettered sound from the system. If it's not good enough, go aftermarket. Any fiddling with EQ or sound stage settings is just deteriorating or distorting the original sound engineering of the recording. Presumably for most professional recordings someone was paying attention to the balance and sound stage. Why would we try to muck with that? And our settings are going to universally improve every recording our there? Fat chance.

Due to screen in Stinger I don’t think aftermarket is possible. Where would you fit the deck?

 

[davebo]

Due to screen in Stinger I don’t think aftermarket is possible. Where would you fit the deck?

A lot of cars have aftermarket solutions that basically involve creating a whole new piece for the dashboard to fit a normal din or double-din stereo, but due to so much of the car's abilities being worked into that touchscreen I don't know if that would even be possible with the Stinger.

 

[Dick Dastardly]

I don't have my Stinger yet, but can confirm this idiotic behaviour with a sound system in another car. All the sound stage settings are basically BS. Put every tone setting at 0 and centre of car...you'll get unfettered sound from the system. If it's not good enough, go aftermarket. Any fiddling with EQ or sound stage settings is just deteriorating or distorting the original sound engineering of the recording. Presumably for most professional recordings someone was paying attention to the balance and sound stage. Why would we try to muck with that? And our settings are going to universally improve every recording our there? Fat chance.

You make a good point and I think many who own hi end hi-fi systems would agree with you.

However, sound is very much about taste and when driving it is part of the whole experience. How you reproduce the sound may not be how the artist / engineer wanted but this is not necessarily about purity! I love messing about with all the settings getting it to just how I like it.

 

[Killian]

Just picked up my GT2 today. I can also confirm no subwoofer output.

 

[Marc Collins]

Just picked up my GT2 today. I can also confirm no subwoofer output.

With everything set to default/centre and using a high-quality source?

 

[Killian]

With everything set to default/centre and using a high-quality source?

Yes, and also with any other combination of settings. The doors shake the car. And absolutely nothing from the seats whatsoever.

 

[Frubin76]

Yes, and also with any other combination of settings. The doors shake the car. And absolutely nothing from the seats whatsoever.

What you hear shaking the car from the doors is mid-bass, that is commonly strong from 3-way speaker systems. The subs do work, but they only fill in for the really low frequencies, search for bass testing tracks, and you will notice the subs working.

 

[Marc Collins]

Yes, and also with any other combination of settings. The doors shake the car. And absolutely nothing from the seats whatsoever.

Just to be sure: simulated sound projection is off and what is the source?

 

[Killian]

What you hear shaking the car from the doors is mid-bass, that is commonly strong from 3-way speaker systems. The subs do work, but they only fill in for the really low frequencies, search for bass testing tracks, and you will notice the subs working.

All I listen to is EDM music and bass head music haha. And I can swear to you there is nothing.

 

[Frubin76]

All I listen to is EDM music and bass head music haha. And I can swear to you there is nothing.

The advantage of bass testing tracks is they play individual frequencies coming from high to low, at some point you will notice that nothing is coming from the doors (due to the crossover cut) and whatever you are hearing there, are the subs. Tipically midbass is louder than deep bass, so you need to play the specific frequency to actually "hear" the deep bass coming from the subs.

 

[Frubin76]

Also, deep cut subwoofers offer omnidirectional sound, (because of the very long wave) so in a well balanced system you shouldn't be able to tell where the bass is coming from

 

[Marc Collins]

All I listen to is EDM music and bass head music haha. And I can swear to you there is nothing.

Agree with both replies from @Frubin76. What I meant by source was digital format...as in crap-quality MP3's that most people listen to versus lossless or an actual CD. A decent sound system will be less forgiving of bad quality recordings...sometimes you are just accurately hearing the source. As for radio, even FM stereo is pretty bad, but a zillion times better than satellite or AM.

 

[StingMe]

Also, deep cut subwoofers offer omnidirectional sound, (because of the very long wave) so in a well balanced system you shouldn't be able to tell where the bass is coming from

Yes. Frequencies below 200 Hz are omnidirectional. The human ear cannot place its location.

This is why a subwoofer does not need to be placed in the center of a living room system.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Somebody tell him to try the dollar bill trick.