How to reduce bass output???

[bmunson]

OK, I know this seems like an obvious one at first but not so.

I have a Toyota Solara with the JBL audio system which uses a ~9" sub for the bass. When I have the bass setting on the radio at "0", sometimes the bass can be just ridiculously loud, even at low volumes. I think they have separated the sub and the other woofers from the bass setting, as increasing or decreasing the bass setting has little effect.

The woofer is a dual voice coil JBL 86160-AA310 4.6ohm (likely meaning less w/o TS numbers...) in a .24 cu ft ported box which is plastic with a molded in port 2"x15" and 3" long. The bass appears to be most loud at upper bas frequencies, and the box size seems to indicate tuning for higher bass frequencies.

So to my question, how can I drop the bass volume without messing with the amp or x-over? I was thinking to mass load it and try to lower the fs, but I know this changes other parameters too. Maybe block off part of the port? I do not want to change boxes either, as it fits in a tight space.

Any ideas? Suprisingly, some songs that are less bass intensive sound really nice on the low end... for a factory 17W woofer, that is.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[ruerose]

stuff the ports with some socks, thats the easiest and cheapest way to remove some output. If the ports are tuned to the annoying freq. you will notice a dramatic improvement.

 

[sasav]

stuff the ports with some socks, thats the easiest and cheapest way to remove some output. If the ports are tuned to the annoying freq. you will notice a dramatic improvement.

Even better stuff the ports with rotten tomatoes and dump it at a nearest garbage collection point or nearest Toyota dealer.
Then buy or build a proper subwoofer.
There are no miracles and you have to find a place for a proper subwoofer.