Under-Seat Subwoofer Issues

[AV8R]

When you guys get to be my age, you'll be wearing hearing aids and reading lips if you run your music that loud. Fair warning.

He’s right u know. 21 years as a DJ and I’ve lost sensitivity in 2k and 3k frequencies in hearing

 

[Sting]

So a DJ, AV8R?
So you know what and how production quality and playback should be and how important it is.
Great, so do you still have any collection of vinylS & CD?

Close to 5000 and 300 Cds, gonna get rid if them soon. Maybe!

 

[AV8R]

So a DJ, AV8R?
So you know what and how production quality and playback should be and how important it is.
Great, so do you still have any collection of vinylS & CD?

Close to 5000 and 300 Cds, gonna get rid if them soon. Maybe!

Sent u a private post

 

[AV8R]

Commercial pilot now gave up dj 1999

 

[Merkur720]

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.

Great info. I played a YouTube video at 30hz range and the subs are definitely working. Thanks!

 

[AV8R]

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.

Hey Jamie you need to become our sound system expert. You’re doing a stellar job! We all appreciate it immensely. Thanks

 

[Frubin76]

In a well balanced sound system, for sound quality, subs are just meant to fill for the really low frequencies, the rest should come from the front component system. So ideally you shouldn't be able to tell were the bass are coming from

 

[AV8R]

In a well balanced sound system, for sound quality, subs are just meant to fill for the really low frequencies, the rest should come from the front component system. So ideally you shouldn't be able to tell were the bass are coming from

Yeh but they seem to push the bum bouncing subs so we expect it. They are very small subs too.

 

[AV8R]

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.

How about this?

 

[Dick Dastardly]

Thought this article adds a lot to the discussion - the system is designed to give a great overall sound, not a replica of an illegal rave on an industrial estate. Seems they were deliberately not trying to overboost bass.
Also interesting point on the sound stage setting, I have to say it works fantastically well IMO.
https://www.autotrader.com/car-shop...dy-performer-with-sound-and-technology-272273

 

[Stinger73]

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.

It might be something they are supposed to check but doesn't mean they do it. When I stated the subs under the seat were not working to the service tech who owns a GT2, he stated they are for the engine sound not for music. I then stated the system is listed with the subs as being part of the sound system for music. He then replied, "Maybe I'm wrong and will look into it". but stated his were the same way and didn't think about it until I mentioned it. I guess because as he stated he is not really into music or paid attention.

Yes my system is centered and has been from the beginning since it has a center speaker I didn't bother trying to adjust it left to right. If anything I adjusted the fade a tick forward.

 

[Stinger73]

Like I said, before.
Here are my settings and its awesome.
I did nention previously about checking the amp setting for sub.
More importantly after all that make sure your mp3 or flac is not clipping at least to 94db.. otherwise you will damage your speakers.
My settings.

View attachment 2765 View attachment 2766 View attachment 2767 View attachment 2766 View attachment 2765 View attachment 2768

What does the Loudness setting do for the Stinger? We do not have that setting here in the US.

 

[Josh Fredman]

Has anyone got anything back on this topic from Kia? I noticed from day one the issue with the underseat sub not putting out anything for music... it is very clearly coming from the doors only.

 

[AV8R]

Has anyone got anything back on this topic from Kia? I noticed from day one the issue with the underseat sub not putting out anything for music... it is very clearly coming from the doors only.

Yep I would have an issue if it’s not putting out! Lol
Have a deeper look and there is a lot to this issue. Some valuable info has been supplied by members that will help.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Has anyone got anything back on this topic from Kia? I noticed from day one the issue with the underseat sub not putting out anything for music... it is very clearly coming from the doors only.

Welcome aboard, @Josh Fredman! Thank you for signing up!

 

[RockyBikeRider]

If I can weigh in with my experience. I also could swear nothing was coming from the subs for the first couple weeks of having the car. Very disappointing compared to my trade in (Challenger SRT with factory twin 10” subs under the trunk). So much so that I took it to the dealer. The advertising really set high expectations about sitting right on top of an 8” sub.

The dealer said it was working (did some sort of diagnostic check), but didn’t sound convinced that they could hear anything coming from the subs themselves and suggested they could elevate the issue to Kia if I wanted too. Sitting in the dealer lot after picking up the car, I still couldn’t detect anything from the subs, but by that time I read (in this discussion thread) about potentially needing to break them in. So played loud music all weekend long, and then, success! On one or two songs the bass was suddenly there, the rear view mirror was shaking and the system sounded great. At that time I did the dollar bill test and they were clearly moving some air.

So I’m not sure if it was the break-in or what. I’m also not entirely sure that it is always working. As the other poster said, it may only be really noticeable on some tracks that have the right frequency. It may also depend on the source. It may even depend on the temperature - it’s been cold here. I need to do some more experimenting.

Anyway - my 2 cents.

 

[DaJackson]

Took my car to Kia today and got the “Working to Kia’s specs” response. Called Kia Premium Customer Support and opened a ticket.

The Customer Service rep did say she got an email recently about “the subs not living up to customers expectations” and something about checking settings (she couldn’t remember specifics). Next step is for them to call the dealer and get more info.

 

[Never thought]

Took my car to Kia today and got the “Working to Kia’s specs” response. Called Kia Premium Customer Support and opened a ticket.

The Customer Service rep did say she got an email recently about “the subs not living up to customers expectations” and something about checking settings (she couldn’t remember specifics). Next step is for them to call the dealer and get more info.

Yeah, I was the first to contact them so they are prob referencing me. It’s good you contacted them but don’t expect anything

 

[Bwebb]

If you question the subs do this: Bluetooth your phone to Stinger. Search YouTube for “bass test”. Select a video that goes down to 20 hz. Select Bluetooth audio on head unit. Listen once it goes below 50 hz. That is your sub.
The subs aren’t as loud or rumbly as my optima with infinity was but the bass is there and much tighter. As is the whole car.
It’s about the experience as a whole. Not how loud and how many welds you can break.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I just had my 3k comp. service on Friday, my dealer confirmed my subs are working fine, overall I am very happy with the sound system for a partially deaf old bloke