Alright, first, here's the list of stuff that is wired:
JL Audio VR600CS components up front
Pioneer TS-Something 6X9 rear speakers but I plan on removing them
Lightning Audio Bolt B2.150.2 amp to the components
Cerwin Vega HED 8" DVC sub in a 0.35 custom made sealed box
Pioneer GM-X952 amp going to the sub
All that, ran by a Pioneer DEH P-3500 head unit.
The main problem is with the speakers. They don't sound like goddam 300$ components should! I mean, they sound like they have the potential to be much much better, but right now, I'm having a hard time getting a perfect sound out of them. There's always some peaks in the frequencies wich are very annoying, and I'm having a hard time getting good vocal sound from Green Day or Eric Clapton and the likes.
Are there any settings that could make this better? The equalizer in the head unit is tri-band, with 40, 80 and 100 hz for the bass, 200, 500 and 1K for the mid, and 8k, 10k and 12k for the highs, all with adjustable Q-curve from 2narrow to 2wide.
I've been playing a lot with loudness settings; should I even use it?
Thanks a LOT, as I'm really getting upset against that system!!!
Cheers,
G
First problem, stop listening to those liberals Green Day! J/K.
There is no magic setting for your EQ, or we would all be world champions. For a basic EQ setting you want to set the cd player at a medium listening volume, take each band on the eq and turn it up one at a time, then back it off until the distortion disapears in that frequency, be very careful not to blow a speaker. The reason you do this is because it is much easier to pinpoint where the distortion stops, than where it starts. You just have to play with the new toy for a little while and get it where it sounds good to you.
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Thanks Mennitti! Are there any cds ideal for tuning this?
I would recommend any of the IASCA Competition CD's, but you can tune it fine with what you usually listen to. Just take your time and play with it a little bit, an equalizer can make a very dramatic difference to how good your tunes sound. It can also do the opposite and make every thing sound terrible. Just adjust each frequency one at a time by turning it up and then backing off until the distortion is gone at that frequency and you will be fine!
Also, hook your subs up out of phase if no one told you yet. That means the speaker leads for positive and negative, hook them up backwards. This helps give the illusion the bass isn't behind you in the trunk.
Let me know how it turns out.
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I'll try it out tomorrow, I'll let you know for sure!
FOr the sub, I have the normal/reverse option on my head-unit. I guess it does the same as switching the wiring, right?
Cheers,
G
Oh just a quick Q: I'll use your advice tomorrow, but I was wondering if this was applying to me since I don't have a distortion problem? It's more like peaks that are annoying. I also don't know which frequencies to choose as I can't adjust them ALL, I have to choose which I adjust. How "far" should the frequencies to be adjusted be? Like every 1khz, 800hz?
Thanks a lot!
Awesome setup you have by the way Menniti
some engineers will record a cd to sound best on a crappy system figuring the majority of people will hear it that way so they optimise the sound to that. so some cd's no matter what you do may not sound great. my lit cd is made that way as are a few others ive picked up over the years.
as far as tuning i do it just like menetti, i set everything flat. turn your loudness off. then just start at your first eq point, adjust it up then back down and when you think it sounds best leave it there, then go on to the next eq point, adjust up and down and find the point where it sounds best, work your way up the dial till youve tried all of them. then i usually start again at the bottom (leaving the eq set where it is) and adjust from the bottom up.remember its better to cut a frequency then to boost it,
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Quote:
Also, hook your subs up out of phase if no one told you yet. That means the speaker leads for positive and negative, hook them up backwards. This helps give the illusion the bass isn't behind you in the trunk.
I had no idea that would work, I'l have to try it out later since my HU can reverse wiring option
that can be done for every speaker in the car. allot of the comp guys will have one speaker reversed from the rest. for any speaker tweeter thru sub. it may work or it may not, it wont work in every case. you just have to try a single speaker, listen to it and see if it sounds better or worse. people assume that because all their + and - match that the system is in phase, but depending how far you are from the speaker, a speaker that is in phase, may send music out that when it gets to your ear, is in out of phase.
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