Its been a 2 week long labor of love and test of my patience, but I finally completed an install I'm very proud of.

I installed 60 sq ft of RAAMmat throughout the trunk, floors, and door. I sealed the doors to turn them into bass-enhancing speaker boxes, and covered everything with Ensolite foam.

I installed:

Alpine CDA-9884 Head unit
Modifry DCI
Alpine PDX 4.100 amp
Alpine SPX 17REF 6.25" components

Next month I'll buy the WLaurent trunk enclosure for a 10" alpine dual voice coil sub and my system will be complete.

I routed all my wiring carefully using Darknight's wiring guide and built my own MDF spacers to make the speakers fit. Tweeters are mounted in the OEM pods.

Obviously I've invested significant time and resources into making this stereo one that will give me many years of enjoyment. I want to optimize my amp and crossover settings in such a way that will ensure many years of reliable use while making the most of the quality components.

The speakers are rated a 75 watts RMS while the amp is capable of pushing 100 (rated) to 130 watts (benchmark) RMS per channel. The PDX amp's manual outlines a procedure for setting the gain, but it is dependent on my ability to discern exactly when the speakers begin to distort, and I don't have well enough trained ears to know precisely when that has begun to happen. Also, since my primary source is an iPod, song volumes are not perfectly consistent and I fear setting my gain aggressively and blowing up my beautiful investment.

Am I worrying too much about it? I want to maximize what my stereo is capable of without damaging it.

 

turn amp gains to 0, then crank up the volume to what you believe would be the loudest setting you would listen to, then start turning up your amp gain from there. this will ensure that at each volume level, your amp will putting out the most power/clarity for your listening pleasure

 

how to properly set up an amp




this is the best way to set up any amp

Good luck

 

Thank you!

 

Awesome link, thanks! Can this only be done with a test disc?

 

it should be done with a test disc. I would think that pink or white noise (that's what's on the test disc) could be downloaded to a cd