Q1: How can I find out the price of the product that I want to buy?

The best thing to do is to contact your nearest dealer who will be more than happy to tell you everything you need to know. Not know where your nearest dealer is? Use our dealer locator

Q2: My product has stopped working, where can I take it to get it repaired? If it’s within a year can I take it back to my dealer? Do I need my receipt?

The best thing to do is to contact your nearest dealer who will be more than happy to tell you everything you need to know. Not know where your nearest dealer is? Use our dealer locator

Q3: I like the look of this enclosure but would like to know what the lowest frequencies are that it will be able to reach?

This will vary with enclosure type and woofer size, the bigger the woofer the lower the frequency it can produce ­ so if you want extra low, deep bass go for 15" woofer, while if you want fast and punchy bass go for a 10". The 12" subwoofer is combines a mixture of the two. The design of the enclosure is important too and you will find that bandpass enclosures are the deepest of all. See VIBE AC range for more details.

Q4: I have found the subwoofer that I would like to buy, but before I do could you please give me some idea of the dB rating that I can expect when it is in my car?"

The dB rating or output in decibels will vary with woofer size, enclosure type and amplifier power, so it is very hard to give you an exact figure. As a rule of thumb big woofers in tuned enclosures with high power amplifiers will give the highest output.

Q5: I have purchased two of your subwoofers and I am looking to build my own enclosure. Please could you suggest the best size of enclosure and should I make it ported or sealed?

Whether you build a sealed or ported enclosure will depend upon the type of music you listen to. Sealed enclosures are better at reproducing live instruments so more suited to rock and jazz while ported enclosures excel with electronically produced music such as dance, trance and pop.

Q6: I have got the subs and have tried to make an enclosure but it hasn´t worked very well, is there anyway that I can buy an empty VIBE enclosure for my subwoofers?

No, VIBE enclosures are not available separately. VIBE subwoofers and VIBE enclosures are offered together as a package which results in a considerable saving. Buying a VIBE enclosure will prove to be exceptional value for money as it is unlikely that you will be able to build a more effective enclosure than the ones we supply. Please think about this before purchasing woofers on their own.

Q7: My car is of show car condition, I am looking to get it featured in all the magazines next year, what sort of sponsorship can you offer?"

Take a look at our show cars submission page and fill out the form as well as upload a recent pic of your car. Click here to go to the page

Q8: What does a Powercap do and do I need one with my active subwoofer?

A Powercap is a device used to stabilise battery voltage and supply additional current to the amplifier on heavy music peaks, as bass amplifiers draw the most current from the battery almost any system with a subwoofer installed will benefit from a power capacitor.

Q9: I want an enclosure with a built in amplifier, how do I tell which ones do and which don´t have the amplifier built in?

Have a look at our Active enclosures. Active enclosures have a built in amplifier while the Passive ones require you to add on an external amplifier. Also, if you look at the enclosure you will be able to see (usually on the top or the rear) a panel with various controls and inputs, this is the amplifier. If it only has inputs for speaker cable then it is a passive box.

Q10: I have got an amplifier and speakers, they are matched up well but my speakers have blown, I don´t run them very hard and want to know why my speakers have blown up as there should not be enough power in the amplifier to do so?

There are many reasons that a speaker will blow, the most common is the amplifier being driven into clipping, this happens for 3 main reasons

• The amplifier is simply not powerful enough and is being asked to produce sound beyond its capabilities, the amplifier will "clip" ultimately sending DC current to your speaker, causing the voice coil to overheat and eventually burn out.
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• The amplifier is driven into clipping due to the tone controls on the head unit, loudness, bass boost etc being set too high, this will cause the signal being passed to the amplifier to be "clipped", naturally the amplifier output will then also be "clipped"
• The amplifier you have could be too powerful, generally this is a good thing, as the above is less likely to happen, however, you now have the possibility of over driving the actual speaker beyond its limits.

NOTE ­ generally speaking it is the BASS that requires the most power and therefore has the biggest effect on both the speakers and amplifiers performance for the reasons set out above. A few simple adjustments of your sound system via the amplifiers crossovers or the tone controls on your head unit could prolong the life of your speakers and amplifier. This could also offer you a better overall sound and give you greater volume of sound overall, as well a cleaner sound freer of distortion. This can be archived by simply turning down the bass tone on the head unit or adjusting the crossover on the amplifier to cut off at a higher frequency. Removing the bass from speakers and amplifier means less distortion in the speakers and less likely the amplifier will clip. The subwoofer (if you have one fitted) will then produce all the bass in the sound system. This type of set up can achieve a much cleaner sound and allow your speakers to produce considerably more volume distortion free.

Q11: I would like to use all of the VIBE RCA cables but cant work out which one is best, please could you tell me the best ones to use?

There are 2 ranges of RCA cables to choose from, FlatBass and FlatStereo.

• FlatBass RCA cable is specifically designed for low frequency reproduction, using solid cores to transmit the signal. This is the best cable to use with subwoofer amplifiers or active bass enclosures.
• FlatStereo RCA is designed to carry the whole frequency spectrum. This cable is best used with full range amplifiers.

Q12: Please can you tell me the impedance of the CBR10 Triple enclosure at the terminal?

The impedance is 2 ohms at the terminal. The enclosure has 3 woofers with 6 ohm voice coils wired in parallel which creates this load of 2 ohms.

Q13: I have just purchased a subwoofer, is there any form of advised running in period for the unit and how am I best to do this?

When your Subwoofer is used for the first time, naturally, like most new items, it is very stiff and rigid, it will take time for the moving parts of this Subwoofer to loosen up before the Subwoofer will be ready to deliver its full potential. For the first 30 hours (yes we did say 30 hours) it is recommended that you play the Subwoofer initially at low to medium volumes, gradually increasing the volume level as time progresses. As a guide, if you listen to your Subwoofer for 1 hour every day it will take a month for the speaker to run in 100%. You will notice a big change in the sound of the Subwoofer over this period, as the spider and surround begin to run in the sound will get deeper and punchier, also the output of the Subwoofer will increase as the suspension loosens up.

The Subwoofer is like your cars engine, it needs a few thousand miles before you can drive it to it´s full potential. Driving it into the redline from the first day will mean engine damage is certain; the same applies to a subwoofer, treat your system with respect and it will serve and last you well. If you abuse it, you will shorten its life and it will most likely not be covered by warranty.

Q14: Do you offer any form of custom built enclosure?

Yes, please contact us for details. We offer a full service of enclosure design according to the measurements and parameters you supply. Note ­ your measurements need to be exact, if you offer the sizes and the enclosure does not fit, VIBE will not be held responsible.

Q15: I have purchased VIBE speakers, they have come with crossovers, do I have to use these?

Yes, for the tweeter, this is imperative, the crossovers offer critical protection for the tweeter and must be used. Running tweeters without any crossover will allow low frequencies to pass through the tweeter resulting in blown voice coils beyond repair. The woofer/midrange component does not necessarily require you to use the passive crossover. If you are using a VIBE amplifier, then we would recommend you use the active crossovers on the amplifiers to achieve the best performance. An active crossover will offer superior performance to that of a passive crossover.

Q16: I have my speakers wired up, but the whole system seems to sound likes its full of treble and there is no bass to it, have I done something wrong?

The chances are that the speakers are wired out of phase, meaning that as 1 woofer moves up, the other moves down cancelling the bass. To resolve this simply reverse the positive and negative wires on 1 speaker.

Q17: What does a Monobox amplifier mean, I don´t understand how this amplifier can have just one channel but it can run 4 speakers?

Monobox is a term we give to our mono bass amplifiers. The reason our bass amplifiers can run multiple subwoofers is by wiring them in parallel, series or series parallel.

Q18: What does the remote lead do? I haven´t connected it up and my amplifier doesn´t work?

The remote turn on lead must be connected for the amplifier to operate, this wire, when connected, switches most of the amplifier circuitry off when the car is not being used, so that the amplifier does not flatten the car battery. When the car head unit is turned on the signal is sent down the remote wire to amplifier switching it on. If you do not connect it, the amp will not turn on or operate, if you connect this to constant 12v supply, the amplifier will remain on constantly; this could cause the battery to go flat when the engine is not running, even if the head unit is not on. Always make sure you connect the remote wire to the (blue) to the remote terminal on the amplifier.

Q19: What does a Monobox amplifier mean, I don´t understand how this amplifier can have just one channel but it can run 4 speakers?

Monobox is a term we give to our mono bass amplifiers. The reason our bass amplifiers can run multiple subwoofers is by wiring them in parallel, series or series parallel.