New aftermarket hu, but less bass??

So I'm sure you all have seen my many posts/threads and I apologize if I'm becoming a nuisance. By now I'm sure you know that I just installed the new Kenwood DNX7140 in my 07 access cab. I installed nothing else, no new speakers, no amplifiers, just the head unit. I still have the factory 6x9's and tweeters in the front doors and the 6.5's in the access doors. I have noticed a considerable reduction in the bass output from the kenwood when compared to the factory head unit. Has anyone noticed this same issue? It seems like the 5 band graphic eq on the kenwood is far worse that the basic bass/treble function on the factory head unit. I don't think I hooked anything up incorrectly. All thoughts are appreciated.

 

You have to go into the menu and adjust the bass setup...I cant remember the menu to choose now. I have a seperate amp but the menu options on the DNX setup give you quite a bit of flexibility over just using the eq settings....there is a custom or user definded setting in which you can set all the ranges seperatly. You will need to do that to get your bass back.

 

Also I found the factory speakers much louder on the DNX head unit. Esp.. if you remove all the bass and use a seperate amp/sub and use the factory speakers for mids and highs only so all the head unit power drives mid/high.

 

I've gone into the audio control setup and adjusted the bass boost to full and turned the bass extension on so it picks up lower frequencies. I've also gone in and set the high pass crossovers to produce 30hz and above and have a 6 db slope. I've tried everything and can't seem to figure it out. I didn't see anything in the menu specifically that allowed to adjust the bass by db however. I plan on upgrading to kenwood excelon mids, highs and subs with kenwood amps in the future but for time being it would be nice to have a little more like I was used to with the factory head unit. I appreciate your suggestion but I think I've just about tried everything to no avail. I'm wondering if maybe I got the wires mixed up when I connected the harnesses or if I should have connected wires that I didn't. I only left the brown mute, blue power antenna and blue and white power control wires unconnected.

Can you be more specific about the custom/user defined settings to adjust them separately?

 

My wifes Highlander has the dnx512 and the bass is all there with the factory speakers. The speakers are pretty much crapping out in higher volumes. You just need some patience and just play with it. What kind of musics are you playing?

 

I will have a look at my menu on the weekend as I cant for the life of me remember the tabs. Set it up a while ago and never touched it again.

 

Thanks again for your suggestions. I do have some bass, just not nearly as much as before and one would think that a $1,000 head unit would be able to produce the same if not more bass than a factory installed head unit. I could turn my bass setting to +3 (out of +5) and get tons more bass on the factory than maximizing everything on the kenwood. I usually listen to rock and hip hop, but the hip hop doesn't even pound like it used to.

4X4 - I'm interested to hear what you have to say after looking at your setup over the weekend. I appreciate your feedback.

 

ill bet you 100 bucks you have 1 of the front speakers wired backwards. the easist way to tell is to move the balance from left to right and if you have more bass with 1 speaker than with 2 your have one of them wired backwards or out of phase

 

Could also be due to the extra output from the new HU. At a lower volume you might produce more low end but as the volume increases distortion will so the increase in scale on the low end frequencies will seem as if you have lost bass. If that makes any sense.

 

I'm not following you here.

I'd lean towards the phasing issue. But also remember that the stock HU is tuned to produce more low end at low volumes and less at higher volumes. If you listen at a fairly low volume, it may be that the stock HU was producing a less balanced sound than the new HU.

 

It makes sense that stock head units are tuned differently to produce more bass at lower volumes. I'm wondering if one of the plugs that used to connect to the stock head unit not being used on the kenwood has anything to do with it. I didn't see anything to attach it to from my Scosche wiring harness. I will check that plug and list the wire colors to see if anyone else has hooked it up differently. Right now it doesn't connect to anything. I will also check the wiring connections but I'm fairly certain they are right. If they are right I guess I'll just have to live with it until I get the subs in.

 

I have the dnx 7100 older version and I have tuned it but there is a little less bass. I put myself through college in a car audio shop in Texas and always saw a reduction in bass output when the hu's were changed. Stock speakers are tuned for a certain amount of power output. Not designed for the higher output of a replacement. I think IIRC the stock output is only around 12 claimed watts. New HU's typically are around 25. That is why you get increased volume but also more distortion at the higher end.

 

Ok, odd question. Is your stock setup the JBL one with the funny looking sub in the back?

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere, so just want to rule that out as a possibility.

 

As far as I know there is no JBL system. The window sticker from my original purchase said nothing about JBL and it is only a single disc cd player. The bass on the kenwood is a lot cleaner and doesn't distort, but it's also not near as loud as the stock and I dont' seem to notice as much of an increase when adjusting the different options one level at a time like on the stock. Before I could increase the bass from +1db to +2db and would notice a huge difference. Now increaseing from +3db to +7db on the 62 hz band from the EQ doesn'm seem to make any difference at all. I'm getting ready to yank out the deck to make sure the speakers are wired correctly. I'll take a look at the plug that is not being used and list the the number and color of wires to see what others have done with it.

 

I have the same problem with my kenwood although it is a different model.
It is louder but just not as much bass =[

 

It sure sounds like it's out of phase....did you try adjusting the balance back and forth to see if the bass response increased yet? That is the easiest way to see.

When it's wired out of phase, the lower freq's cancel each other out and don't seem as loud. So when you adjust the balance to one side, there is nothing canceling out and it sounds like an increase in bass response.

 

Pulled everything, checked all the connections and speakers are hooked up fine. Tested the balanace for phasing to see if noticeable bass when shifting from left to right and no difference. Also looked at the harness that wasn't being used. It has 3 wires. One red/white, one purple/white and one black/yellow. This harness was attached to the stock head unit but is not attached to the kenwood. I don't think this is an issue because I tested the stock head unit with it plugged and unplugged and no differences.

Let me restate that there is "some" bass with the Kenwood unit. And by no means does it sound "bad". I just quesiton whether the internal amp on the Kenwood is as high quality as normal aftermarket head units. I also question whether the 5-band EQ is as efficient for bass output as the basic bass and treble settings of a stock head unit. I know it is supposed to be more customizable and better for fine tuning when you have multiple frequencies that you can adjust, but even with all the bands set to the highest level, still not as much bass. There are so many options for adjusting audio settings on this kenwood that I can't help but think that I just haven't found the right settings yet or that the internal amp doesn't produce the same bass as the stock. From what I understand, stock head units on newer vehicles are made to produce a lot of bass because they aren't able to power external amps and subs. Maybe Kenwood's internal amp is made to produce cleaner sound and signals while allowing for additional bass via an external amp.

I'm truly baffled by this. Maybe I should just be happy with what I have, but I'm a perfectionist by nature and this aggravates me. Thanks to everyone for the advice and information.

 

Is it possible that the stock HU is biased towards a boomy presentation, with exaggerated bass tones (and maybe even gaps in the mids and highs), whereas the Kenwood is biased towards a more natural and balanced presentation?

Sometimes just because something sounds like it has less bass, doesn't make it so. Perhaps what you are hearing is not less bass but MORE mids and highs to go along with the existing bass, thus making it appear like there is less because it isn't so pronounced (by lack of the other frequencies). You may just need time to adjust to the new sound.

Just another thought.

 

NMG, I've often thought that same thing. Although I'm sure that's the answer to my issue, the pessimist in me isn't satisfied with that resolution

 

Well there is only one solution . . . SUBS