6 Reasons Why Car Speakers Have No Bass (Solved!)

High bass music in the car during driving can give you a great time in the car. But what if your car’s speakers stop working properly and you hear no bass?

Bass is an important component of the car’s speaker as it defines the tones of low frequency and pitch of the song and music.

If your car speakers have no bass, it could be due to one of many reasons.

Let’s understand.

Here’s Why Car Speakers Have No Bass? 

The loss of bass from your car speakers could well be due to the bass setting in the car audio head unit being set to the minimum or your car speaker connection being reversed. The car speaker or subwoofer magnet could also be damaged or there could be a close electromagnetic field interference resulting in a reduction in the bass. Finally, there could also be a technical failure such as a short circuit causing no bass from car speakers.


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6 Reasons Why Car Speakers Have No Bass

If you experience low-quality music and the frequency response is not smooth, your speaker might be missing bass.

However, the bass is necessary for music because it completes the gap between various other sound elements of the music, providing a rhythmic and harmonic function to the song. 

The reason behind the bass not working can be one of the following.

1. Bass Set To Minimum Setting On Head Unit

Car head unit speaker tone settings
Car head unit speaker tone settings

The first thing to check if you experience no bass is to check the tone-setting in your head unit.

The head unit controls all the frequencies for your audio system such as Bass, Middle, and Treble.

You can adjust them as per your listening preference, so do check if the bass setting has been reduced to low or minimum, which would result in low or no bass.

Check out this great article on a step-by-step guide to diagnosing a faulty car speaker.

2. Inversed Speaker Polarity

Car door speaker wire connection
Car door speaker wire connection

Another common reason your car speaker has no bass is if you have set up a positive wire from the amplifier or receiver with the negative speaker terminal.

In simple words, the left speaker wire is connected with correct polarity, but the right speaker is inverted. In this instance, the bass will cancel out.

Setting up a car’s speaker is easy, but ensure you are doing it the right way. 

So, when you are installing your car speakers, you must connect the negative wire from the car audio head unit or amplifier to the speakers’ negative terminal, likewise, connect the positive wire to the positive speaker terminal.

Read this great article to understand car speaker polarity.

3. Driver Magnet Failure

Rear car deck speaker connections
Rear car deck speaker connections

All bass have a cone attached to the permanent driver magnet and closer to the wire coils that act as an electromagnet.

When the current and voltage enter the circuit of the electromagnet, it amplifies the sound.

But if the driver magnet fails, the interaction with the electromagnet will be disturbed, and hence, there will be a disturbance in the bass.

4. Magnet Near Speaker

Car speaker baffles boom matt installed
Car speaker baffles boom matt installed

The coils of the wire act like an electromagnet, and if there is another magnet in the vicinity, the lines of force surrounding the first magnet tend to change.

Therefore it causes disturbance in the sound.

5. Technical Damage

Car stereo head unit with display
Car stereo head unit with display

Another reason for the disturbing sound base is the short circuit in the unit.

However, a short circuit is generally the main reason your car’s speakers have no base.

The short circuit in the electromagnet or wire disturbs the current overflow to the bass. Thus, it results in the unclear sound of the music. 

6. Not Enough Power

Maintenance Free car battery Installed
Maintenance Free car battery Installed

You must check the bass coil to make sure that it is getting enough power.

You can check the current and signal through a multimeter. 

Also, check the power source to your amplifiers and see if there is enough to fully drive the car speakers.

How Do I Diagnose And Fix It?

The bass mainly depends on the air pressurization made by the positive and negative pressure caused by the car speakers’ movements.

Moreover, you won’t be able to get any bass at all if you have connected the terminals of the wiring wrong, i.e., the positive end of the wire with the negative terminal and vice-versa. 

But do not worry because you can diagnose and fix the car’s speaker bass problems in the following ways.

1. Check The Speaker Wire

You must check the wires connecting amplifiers, speakers, and receivers.

They should be connected in the right manner and must be firm, so it doesn’t lose the circuit. If the bass is connected to the speaker, you must check the entire length of the wire. 

If you find the wire damaged or worn out, replace it immediately because it stops the bass from working, and the interaction of uncovered wires with one another is prone to short circuits.

2. Check The Fuse And Outlets

Every good bass has an LED for standby mode, and it glows when it receives power.

However, you must also check the switches at every stop, from the ones on the wall to your power strips and other sources of electrical power that exist on the way.

Sometimes, one switch creates all the fuss. You can verify this by plugging the bass into different power sources. 

3. Check The System Settings

If you don’t find anything in the fuse, check the head unit settings; this must be done with your amplifier as well.

Check the input audio choices of the subwoofer alongside the output levels. The size of the speaker also holds significance. 

4. Reset The Volume And Switch The Bass

You must check the volume setting of the woofer base.

You can do this by setting it at the minimum volume level and steadily expanding it to see where the sub is getting cut off. 

How Can I Enhance The Bass In My Car?

car subwoofer pair boot
Car subwoofer pair in car boot

High bass in the car, especially during the long ride, can enhance your mood and ambiance of the car.

Nevertheless, the bass is highly essential for the quality sound of music. Since little is never enough, you might seek ways to enhance the bass in the car.

Here are some effective ways you can do it. 

  • Upgrade to a new sound system with high RMS (Root Mean Square) output
  • Change the equalizer tone adjuster i.e Bass, Middle & Treble settings of the car’s audio system Head Unit
  • Install Car Speaker Baffles or Boom Matts to give bass a boost
  • Reposition the car door speaker or add additional car speakers to the rear deck for bass depth
  • Insulate and soundproof your car cabin
  • Invest in amplifiers and sub-woofers. These are beneficial if you’re trying to improve the bass response in your sound system because they are built to produce lower audio frequencies, and bass is the lowest sound frequency humans can hear

Final Thoughts 

The bass improves the power of the music and extra beats that would light up your mood.

The bass also helps you give more of that plunged feeling whenever you listen to music.

Without the bass, your music seems dull and flat. Moreover, it doesn’t have that power and oomph you are looking for from your speakers.

We would also highly recommend contacting a professional to fix the speaker bass concerns but we have outlined some basic reasons for no bass as well as solutions.

It is also crucial to maintain your speakers on a regular basis so they function efficiently for a longer time and keep offering you one of the finest audio experiences.

Sources 

Why is My Subwoofer not Working and How To Fix It!

How to make the bass in your car sound its best

How To Increase Bass Response In Your Car’s Audio System