Car Audio - Help

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DRIFT4EVA

DRIFT4EVA

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Roaming_kiwi
My set up:
1x Pioneer head unit (DEH - 3850)
1x pair Pioneer 6.5" speakers (In doors)
1x pair Boschmann 6"x9" 400w speakers
1x pair boschmann dome tweeters 200w (on dash)
1x pair Pioneer tweeters 200w (In boot/trunk)
2x Sony Xplode 800w Subs powered by
2x Fusion 402 amps 800w

As you can see not a basic set up but not the biggest either. This is all installed and working. A friend of mine decided to play with the settings on my headunit to get the best sound. I think he set it up wrong. Now it sounds like my boschmann tweeters are going to blow up. There's so much more treble than what the was.

My question/favour to ask is Will you teach me the ins and outs of settings on a headunit so I can set up my own properly? That means EQ curves etc

Thanks all
 
Bass is self explanatory. I can handle that. There is so many different settings that contribute to treble though, giving songs a different sound etc. That's where I need the help.

The manual does not say much unfortunately
 
Does it have the settings where there are the different frequency levels, rather than just the basic setting for treble?
 
you have tweeters in your boot? And if the 6x9's are in the parcel shelf ditch em or box em in. Disconnet your battery for all your settings to go back to factory spec.
 
Yes you can create your own EQ curve. It asks for a Low a medium and a high, but then there are even more settings after that

Yes I'm going to remove the battery and do just that, but I'm hoping to learn how to set up a stero properly so I can solve these problems on my own

Yes I know sounds silly tweeters in the boot, but I have a hatch back so they can still be heard. That and when at parties or booze ups I back my car up, put the boot lid up and hey presto awesome sounding music lol
 
Without making this too complicated..
Bass is the very low sounds that you will hear thru the 6.5" part of your speakers and the 6x9" part of your speakers and the subs.
Treble is the very high pitched sounds that you hear thru your tweeter. If it sounds like your tweeter is going to explode then turn down the treble down.
Another very key point to remember is that you dont need to set everything to the max. Say your radio shows 1 thru 10 as an example. You dont need the amps and the deck all at 10. Start in the middle(5) and go up or down until comfortable.
Most new people get in turn the bass to 10, crank up the amps all the way, then wonder why it distorts or sounds like crap at low volume. Also it would sound much better if you also put some tweeters in the front.
What it all boils down to is what sounds best to you without speakers popping or distorting. Hope this helps.
 
CAMAROBOY69
Without making this too complicated..
Bass is the very low sounds that you will hear thru the 6.5" part of your speakers and the 6x9" part of your speakers and the subs.
Treble is the very high pitched sounds that you hear thru your tweeter. If it sounds like your tweeter is going to explode then turn down the treble down.
Another very key point to remember is that you dont need to set everything to the max. Say your radio shows 1 thru 10 as an example. You dont need the amps and the deck all at 10. Start in the middle(5) and go up or down until comfortable.
Most new people get in turn the bass to 10, crank up the amps all the way, then wonder why it distorts or sounds like crap at low volume. Also it would sound much better if you also put some tweeters in the front.
What it all boils down to is what sounds best to you without speakers popping or distorting. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
All good advice.

It's been years since I tinkered with car audio, but the biggest flaw many people make is that they have the amp gains at 90-100% all the time. Adjust the levels on the amp to 33% to 50%, and no higher. Eight hundred watts used to be a staggering amount, since few car audio speakers could actually handle that much, without spending thousands. Can your speakers honestly do it without distorting or blowing a voice coil?

Tweeters don't need much power at all, compared to bass/subwoofers. If I remember correctly, tweeters need only one-quarter of the power that a subwoofer needs; those higher wavelengths don't need much juice compared to how much power a sub needs to broadcast a comparable amount of volume.

And do the finessing and fine-tuning with the windows up, not down. You shouldn't be turning up the volume as you go faster, and if you keep turning up the volume, you're going to have a tendency overheat the amp and worse, damage your hearing in the process. You won't damage your hearing overnight, but 10-15 years later, some so-called audiophiles that drove their wall of sound everywhere, turned it up to eleven/eight days a week are unacceptably hard-of-hearing for their age.
 
Unless you have a Wrangler, where the combo of thin materials, big tires, and a soft top mean higher volumes :p
 
haha thanks guys. Yes a wrangler is bassically a chassi wrapped in soft material with a roll bar.

My bass level is at 2 and trust me that is enough. The windows would crack if I went higher.

I do have tweeters in the front. Those are the ones in question, they're the ones that are sounding like they're about to die.

The volume levels of my head unit goes all the way to 62. I mostly use anywhere between 35 and 45. That's where it's most comfortable. Then my friend played around with it and at 40 it sounds like the tweeters want to pop.

Thanks for the advice guys keep it coming
 
Rule of thumb is that bass bost and generally all crap like that designed to increase bass should be set at 0. This is done to ensure that you are not making your amp send out a clipped signal which will inturn cause your sub voice coils to get hotter, the sound output distort and increase the likely hood of blowing your subs.

To set the gains there are 3 methods.

1. Turn your headunit up to 3/4 of the max volume and set the gains on your amp accordingly.
2. Find out at what voltage your headunit sends out its signal and the amps gain to that.
3. Get it professionally scoped for precise gain settings.

If your amp or headunit has a low pass filter set it to 80hz.

With your setup you wont be cracking any windows. I know of people running 3kw rms of power into pure SPL setups and their car and windows will vibrate like crazy but nothing shatters.

If there is too much treble just turn it down on the headunit. Play around and experiment. There is no real quaranteed way to success when it comes to audio as its all personal opinion on the whole.

Oh and pupiks advice of protecting your hearing is one you should definetly adher to. Im now feeling the affects of booming to much after only 16 months of doing it. Im now sick and tired of music and bass on the whole as it has all become too much.

Only time I crank it up now is when im at car meets and people request to hear it. Otherwise I turn down the bass levels when im in the car.

P.S

watts means nothing. Only work in watts rms to get a true idea of what your amps and speakers can output/handle.
 

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