No bass on 3/4 Vewlix speakers

[tDRG]

Edit: I don't seem to get any bass with 3 out of the 4 speakers, see new post below. Original general crimping advice post:

I've struggled with crimping in the past. I'm making speaker harnesses for my Vewlix with quick disconnects and I think I'm getting the hang of it now. I just wanted to see if anyone had any tips or suggestions before I make the final wires.

My parts and equipment:

• iCrimp Ratcheting Crimping Tool Set
• 0.205", Red 22-18 Gauge Quick Disconnects
• 0.110", Red 22-18 Gauge Quick Disconnects
• 18AWG Speaker Wire
• Amplifier Board
• 8 ohm speakers

These tutorials seemed good:

• Sparkfun
• Hackaday
• TE Connectivity

I've attached some pictures of my process. I strip 1/4" of wire, place the terminal in the crimper, insert the wire so the insulation isn't in the barrel, and press down until the tool unlocks. Hard to tell from the pictures, but I think the barrel is completely pressed down and surrounding the wires as much as possible. I got the connection to stay pretty well yesterday, but I think the barrel was crimped around the insulation. I put the barrel as far into the crimper as possible on the first crimp. I moved the jaws towards the front of the barrel for a second crimp on the 0.110" terminals and that seemed to press it down even more. I tried to do the same for the 0.205", but the terminal gets in the way. I pulled on it pretty hard and it didn't come off, so I think it's snug enough.

 

[tDRG]

The terminals don't exactly fit on the speakers. The 0.205" is a little loose, and I haven't tried pressing down too hard on the 0.110", I'll wait until it's on a wire before I try. Any suggestions on getting the 0.205" to stay? Solder or press down on it with pliers or something?

I'm planning to wire each speaker pair in parallel. I tried twisting the 1/4" wire ends together and inserting them into a terminal on the amp, seems sturdy enough.

Thanks!

 

[thegreathopper]

Just squash the rounded bit on one side before pushing on, it will be fine.

 

[tDRG]

I wired two of the speakers up. One sounds great, the other has no bass. I swapped the wires at the amp, and the same speaker still sounds good, so I don't think it's an issue with the amp. I've tried it with the working speaker and by itself. I cut off the crimped connectors from the wire with the bad speaker and crimped on new connectors, no better. I tried a new wire, no better. I tried switching the + and - wires on that speaker, it sounded pretty much exactly the same, still no bass. I tried the other two speakers I had with those two wires, same thing. I haven't tried the wire from the working speaker since I put it back in the housing and reassembled everything. Any thoughts on what the issue could be? One bad speaker could be a speaker issue, but 3 bad speakers seem like user error. Anything that could go wrong in the wiring to cause bass to drop out?

 

[tDRG]

I had laid the speakers down on their backs on the cardboard boxes they came in while testing.. could that be the issue? Do they have to be mounted for the bass to work? I had tried holding one by the front where the mounting holes are and didn't think I heard a difference, but maybe mounting them in the housing would fix it?

 

[tDRG]

Yup, I think that was it. Sounds bassy when mounted.