sorry John, this is going to be briefer than i intended. the twins have had fever all weekend, so it's been pretty busy around here.


you've got 3 knobs there. gain, crossover, and boost.

the gain is the one you want to be playing with for actually setting the levels. the crossover should be set (100 hz is fine), but the boost you mostly want to leave alone for now.
while this could confuse you more, the boost knob is actually another EQ point in this bigger picture. the amp has a boost that you can dial up at some fixed frequency (probably 60 or so hz).


this is how i would set your sub gains.

clear CD in.
amp gain and boost to lowest, set crossover to 100hz

volume to 25, sub level (HU) to +15

set 'bass' setting on HU to where the fronts do not distort at 24 or 25

go to sub amp and dial up input level until clipping.
i would say that some slight flickering of the clipping light is ok, but it should be on less than 1/3 of the time. then back off slightly.

some mild distortion (slight clipping) isn't likely to damage anything.

done.


if this is too bassy in the car, use the sub level on the HU to dial the sub volume back. if the fronts distort at these bass levels, reset your HU bass setting a bit lower, then reset the sub input level (w/ the HU level set to +15).


this will provide you with the max non-distorted bass (amp out of clipping), and you can always dial down from here.
this will prevent the possibility of damage to the speaker (unlikely) and more likely just keep things from sounding nasty.


hope this helps. sorry so brief.

 

Phil-

Thats alright....busy weekend. I pretty much did everything you said above earlier today. The only thing I changed was the subwoofer setting was at 10 instead of 15. If I set it to +15, at lower volume levels, the bass kinda died. This way, at lower levels, I can push the amp more, and can back it off at high volumes. Kinda takes some of the downward adjustment, as I am starting at +10 instead of +15, but I will never go below +5 anyways (probably not below +7 to +8).

I also set the frequency x-over on the amp to 80HTZ.....100 was a bit buzzy. Now I get CLEAN bass drum hits and clearer bass lines. Sounds good. I also have the "bass" PEQ (i think) set to 80HTZ +1. I did this, and the bass increased to the level I like it (I am assuming because it is boosting 80HTZ to +1 more than it is boosting the surrounding frequencies....spike at 80HTZ).

Sill have not figured out how to post photos, though....I will call Comcast sometime this week, when I get some spare time.

John

 

thanks for understanding.

setting it for +10 at max, and then bumping it up to +15 for low volumes is a very workable solution. just remember, that if you go to high volumes at +15, you're distorting back there (even if you don't hear it.)
i'm lucky in that i have enough extra 'oomph' at +15 at full volume, that i have to dial it back to like +11 at full volume to keep it from being overly dominant in the car.

80 hz is a 'better' crossover point because at around 80 hz or so, our ears can determine bass directionality. at sub 80 hz frequencies, the wavelengths of bass notes are so long that our ears have trouble pin pointing their source. but, if you're lacking bass at higher volumes, losing some of that non-directionality is worth having a balanced sound, imo.

i'm very glad to hear it's working good for you...

"I am assuming because it is boosting 80HTZ to +1 more than it is boosting the surrounding frequencies....spike at 80HTZ"
something like that.... but yes, you're getting a small anthill type spike at 80 hz w/ a slope downward away in both directions from 80hz. how steep or easy that slope is depends on what you've set the Q (width) for...


if i had enough space, i'd host them for you, but i've been hosting all mine, plus some other folks, and in honesty? i'm starting to run low on space.


P

 

I do not think there is the option to set the Q length on this HU. If I could, I would up it so the sub was carrying most of the load (80HTZ).

I dialed it back to +10 because +15 was too much at high volumes.....trunk sounded like a bunch of pissed off bees. It also tended to die at lower volumes. I just dialed it back to +10, so I can up it to +15 at lower volumes, and dial it back to +10 at high volumes. These were the settings that had the most "balanced" bass note for my ears. Sounds great.....next up is a mid / high's amp. I am looking at Memphis audio. I have heard that they are small enough to fit under the seats. Is this true? That would be GREAT if I could get an amp to fit under / behind the seat, as I do not want to suck up anymore trunk space.

Also, where can I find a good heavy duty speaker grill? The S is my daily driver, and I regularly put stuff in the trunk (groceries, etc.), and I do NOT want a bottle of mustard going through the woofer cone (been there...done that!). I am looking for a Clarion, preferably, as the sub is Clarion, and it would look funky with another name on the grill.

Thanks

John

 

i don't know a whole lot of places that sell grills, but here's a good one.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?we...ectGroup_ID=141

William also sells a nice grill that might fit your needs. http://www.azcartoys.com

and of course Crutchfield has a few:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-2XFQXOVZ2A8/c...earch=sub+grill

 

Thanks Phil. Just got a Kicker one ($20 at local shop) and it doesnt say "Kicker" on it and is made of pretty strong stuff.

They recommended the JL "slash" series for the 4-channel. They said they could pro-tune it for $35 / hour (2 hours he said) once installed.

The speakers I have are the Blaupunkt ODCa660's http://www.continentalimports.com/odca660.html. The S-pods are the Blaupunkt TsC series 5.25" components http://www.crutchfield.com/S-mRFZJwlH5po/c...6300&search=TsC. The JL 300/4 amp is 80WRMS @ 2-ohms and only 45 @ 4-ohms. What load would this setup be running at?

I am looking for around 50-70WRMS (nothing INSANE). Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am looking to keep it at or under $200 for this amp (JL 300/4 is $199 from eBay authorized dealer - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...gory=4950&rd=1). I would like to mount it either UNDER the passenger seat (almost impossible) or vertically behind it, so I need a THIN amp. I have heard that the Memphis amps are pretty thin.

Now to get on that picture hosting thing.

john

 

thanks Jim!

i'm not going to be able to check right now (there are some things i need to get done at work today ), but most car speakers are 4 ohm, so you'd be pushing 45 Wrms / channel (according to the spec you just gave me).

i'm not sure how thin the slash amps are though... you may want to PM or check w/ TR-S2K. i'm 99% sure he's using a Memphis amp under his seat....

i'll have to look around to find what amps might fit in there, but that's not a big space. i think some of the new Clarion amps are pretty darn tiny.

 

Thanks Phil. i will look into them. I almost bought TR-S2K's amp...but Nicotunes beat me to it . I will look into the Clarion. I like the Clarion sub I have now, and there is a local dealer I can check them out at.

Thanks

John

 

Phil-

Here are photos for my install. (sub only for now....gotta get more photos). My amp settings are shown in one of the photos.









I got the Kicker grill because apparently the woofer cone is Kevlar, so the only thing I need to worry about damaging is the surround.

John

 

look good.

i'm guessing that the switch is set to LP? hard to tell for sure.


also, regardless of cone construction, i wouldn't let anything heavy or pointy hit that cone... or get inside the grill... but for general protection? it looks like it should be alright to me.