What is a subwoofer
A subwoofer is a loudspeaker designed to specifically reproduce or deliver low-pitched frequencies which are well known as base or sub-base to your car stereo.
Are you an audiophile who wants bass on the outside of your car to sound as good as the one on the inside? Do you know how to go about it? Worry no more. This article, How to make subwoofer louder outside the car, will guide you into knowing the several methods of improving your subwoofer’s loudness on the outside.
Subwoofers are uniquely designed with very small physical dimensions but can deliver rich, clear, and loud sound.
Several factors that generally make subwoofers louder
This is the amount of power a speaker can handle, measured in watts.
Every subwoofer has its maximum number of watts that it can handle, described by the manufacturer. Therefore, the amount of power a speaker can handle influences how loud you can turn it up.
In power handling, RMS power is the power a subwoofer can handle without getting damaged, and Peak Power is the power that a subwoofer can handle in short booms without causing damage.
2.
The size of your subwoofer greatly affects the volume of your stereo.
Larger subwoofers move a lot of air hence producing loud and booming bass and vice versa.
However, without enough power, the system will still be limited to offer good sound quality. Therefore, the size of the subwoofer and power go together.
3.
This is a measure of the speaker’s ability to convert the electrical energy it receives into musical/acoustical energy.
The sensitivity of a subwoofer is measured in decibels (dB).
Therefore, the higher the sensitivity, the less the power needed to deliver the same volume as one with lower sensitivity.
4.
The kind of enclosure where the subwoofer is installed greatly influences the type of sound it delivers. In general, a sealed enclosure produces the deepest and most accurate sound, while a ported enclosure delivers more volume.
Therefore, improving your subwoofer’s loudness outside your car gives you better street credibility, and your car will be conspicuous in local meets, car shows, and other events.
Ways of Making a Subwoofer Louder Outside the Car
Increase the size of the subwoofer
A large subwoofer allows more air, and the more the air, the more the sound pressure levels generated. Therefore, by increasing your subwoofer size, bass will be produced and felt better on the outside of your car.
Build a custom ported box or buy one
The ported box design is typically a tube that can highly improve the quality of bass.
Ported boxes use a cylindrical or rectangular-shaped vent which helps reinforces low bass response. The vent redirects the sound from the back of the cone and adds it to the sound originating from the front, increasing the bass volume. This design permits restrained bass frequencies to escape through the opening.
Moreover, this design generates an audio effect that is perceived as the sound of someone blowing through a bottle, the tonal effects vigor to the note played by the cone. Therefore, if your preference is for your music to be clear in a wide coverage, you need a low-tuned. The reason being, the lower the bass, the further it travels, and the one on the inside can feel it too.
In addition, to have more bass traveling on the outside, I would recommend you tune your box at exactly 30Hz to get the best sound quality and loudness.
To sum up, note that constructing a ported box will need your time, patience, and understanding of the entire process.
Also, not all subwoofers are made to be installed in ported boxes; therefore, when building your enclosure, ensure you have the correct one in there.
Change the position of the subwoofer
How you position, your subwoofer affects how loud the sound becomes.
When the speakers are placed in the right position, the loudness will be high. Therefore, always position your speakers in a position where they face the trunk and not the seats. In this position, the subwoofer will direct the sound more on the exterior and not interior. Moreover, placing the subwoofers in the right position will create a noticeable difference in the bass produced outside the car.
Increase the number of subwoofers
A subwoofer works like a loudspeaker if it is designed and used correctly. Moreover, the greater the number of subwoofers, the louder the sound produced. Therefore increasing the number of subwoofers will make the sound be heard even outside the car.
However, if the subwoofers are placed or designed poorly, the sound produced will irritate the ears, lowering the quality.
Therefore, the standard number of subwoofers for outdoor purposes is 4-18 speakers.
Open all windows and sunroof
It is popularly said that your stereo will play loudest when air is getting into the inside of the car.
Therefore, opening your car’s windows and roof will make you look cool while driving around town, but the bass will also start getting deeper and hitting harder.
This is the cheapest way of making the subwoofer louder on the outside of your car without spending any money or much effort.
Add the power of the subwoofer
Increasing power increases the loudness of the bass produced both inside and outside the car.
How do you go about it?
- By lowering the final ohm impendence of the speaker.
- By bridging the the amplifier.
Install sound-deadening materials
Adding sound insulation materials is one of the best ways of improving the loudness of your audio system.
Deadening materials get rid of noise and vibrations instead of competing and disrupting your listening experience. However, which part of your car to insulate and which not to depends on your vehicle. Therefore we can’t pick the place to insulate for you.
Therefore, you can seek professional assistance to be guided in the right places to add the deadening materials.
Proper tuning of the subwoofer
Tuning your subwoofers may consume some of your time, but it is worth it. A properly tuned subwoofer will increase the depth and richness of any music and increase the volume of the sound produced by the subwoofer.
If you are a newbie in installing a subwoofer, you might make some mistakes that will destroy the sound quality of the bass outside your car.
Therefore, it is important to watch out for the mistakes you can make to reduce the loudness outside your car.
- Incorrect wiring of the subwoofer. Check if the wires on the positive terminal are connected to the positive terminal, and the negative terminal is connected to the negative terminal. Moreover, you can also perform a polarity test by connecting the terminals to the polarity meter and check the reading. The polarity of the subwoofers must be the same, and if not, the quality of your bass will be affected.
- If you mount a large subwoofer in a very small space, it will not perform with maximum capacity hence affecting the loudness of the sound produced. Therefore, always select a subwoofer depending on the available space in your car.
- Your speaker and subwoofer could be facing a phase problem. For example, if the speakers play at 80Hz, they must be placed to work together with the subwoofer to deliver great resonance. Technically, both waves originating from your subwoofer and speaker must offer constructive interference rather than destructive interference.
- You may be playing music at a frequency less than 40Hz. This will not increase the loudness on the outside. If you select a low-frequency sound, human hearing is less sensitive to lower frequencies hence not hearing any sound from the outside.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a good and properly set audio system can make your car noticeable in the streets or any shows and events. Also, with the above tips, we believe that you will now get more bass outside your car than the inside.
Moreover, bear in mind that even the simple adjustments and upgrades done to your car will create a very good outcome.
