Just a little help with car audio?

[TimK]

Well, go easy on me please, i'm just getting into car audio and its been a huge learning experience i have gone through a set of 10's and a set of 12's and i learned a lot, but i feel it still isn't enough cause i'm still having problems...

Ok on to the fun, so i have a pioneer premier head unit, model DEH-p400UB, pioneer premier speakers, both in my doors and the 6x9's in the back window of my car, and i have a pioneer GM-D8400M mono amp with a 1200w max output.

I've been having some issues with my car and getting sub woofers to work properly in my car, ive gone through two sets, which i didn't pay for thank god, but now i have 2 Infinity Reference subs that max at 1252w each, they are both DVC and i have them wired in parallel, ive used 16 gauge high quality phoenix gold copper wire to wire them up to the the plugs and then to the amp.

The problem i have is that ive never learned how to adjust the settings on both my head unit which has a few options ive never heard of, like Source Level Adjuster (SLA), High Pass Filter. and with my Amp, ive been told how to do it, but i still cant figure out how to properly set the Gain and LPF, furthermore, when i have it down low enough so the bass isn't hitting really hard i can hear a faint, but distinct high pitched whine type of noise coming from both sub woofers.

Thanks in advance for the help,

Tim

 

[zcardoza25]

Tay...... stfu.... gain relates to the low level input of the amplifier, not the power output of the amplifier. Using the gain to increase "boom" is like turing your oven up hotter to try to bake cookies faster. It doesn't work, it just causes sh!t to burn and catch fire.

Okay Tim, Starting from the top

SLA is used to make all the different sources on your head unit the same volume, so that when you switch from CD, to FM, to Ipod, they are all the same volume, and you don't have to keep messing with the volume. Easies way to set this is to (once you have your system complete), tune into a radio station and set the volume at a comfortable level, switch over to cd and play a song (don't touch the volume at all!!!) and adjust the SLA till the volume appears to be the same as it was for the FM, do the same for Ipod, Aux, and w/e u have connected.

HPF (high pass filter) is used to seperate the bass from your full range speakers (door speakers) so that they don't distort. I usually set the HPF at about 100hz-80hz depending on where your LPF on your amp is set.

The gain on your amp is tricky to set if you are a beginner, but I'll try to make it easy for you. On the amps gain there is usually number values (starting at a decimal and working around to a whole number) For a pioneer stereo you have pre-outs of approximately 2.5 volts, so try to set that gain to where 2.5 would lay on the circle. There are better ways of doing this, but for a begineer, this should work. As far as the LPF, it depends on the subs. I usually set it to 125hz-100hz for 10's, and 100hz-80hz for 12's.

As far as that whine you are hearing, that is called alternator whine, there are several causes, but here are two quick fixes. 1st, go to an audio shop and get some dual twist RCA cables. They arn't cheap $30-$50, but they are nice, high quality cable that is designed to eliminate interference caused by power electric field produced by power cables running parallel to the rca cables. 2nd, pick up a ground loop isolator. This is a device that you will add to your rca cables, and then ground at the same spot as your amp's ground. This will usually fix the problem, but please note that you will most likely have to turn the gain on the amp down after doing this.

That should be it for your ?s, contact me if you have any other concerns.

One issue I wanted to warn you about, is that your subs are going to burn up your amp. You have them wired in parrallel, which will place a 1ohm load on your amp. While this might not cause immediate damage, it will cause issues down the road. You should be running the voice coils in parallel, but the speakers in series. This will make a 4ohm load, which your amp can actually handle. the issue ou face, however, is that you won't have the same wattage to the speakers that you have right now. I would recommend either going with a pair of single voice coil 4 ohm subs, or gettin a different amp.

**Good system for someone just starting out. Pioneer makes good decks for people looking to be able to tweek and explore. Just so you know, in future posts, refer to your equipment in terms of RMS wattage, not Max Wattage. Max wattage is a useless value, because there is no way to determine max wattage, so most companies fabricate these numbers. RMS is a much more accurate measurment, as it referes to the wattage put out by the amp under a specific voltage, into a specific ohm load, using standard music (50% duty cycle), and relating to the thermal wattage capabilities and distortion of speakers.

 

[tay225]

well the gain is the "boom" of the subs so to speak, its how much power you want to go to the subs. Usually things like SLA and high pass filter are things you have to play around with to get the right sound, turn your gain up, and your volume on your deck down, play with those settings to find the right sound. Once you have the subs set to "all bass", which is all you hear is the boom from the sub, the high pitched whine noise should be gone, once proper adjustments have been made. Play around with it, just do it at a lower volume. Cheers.

 

[tay225]

well the gain is the "boom" of the subs so to speak, its how much power you want to go to the subs. Usually things like SLA and high pass filter are things you have to play around with to get the right sound, turn your gain up, and your volume on your deck down, play with those settings to find the right sound. Once you have the subs set to "all bass", which is all you hear is the boom from the sub, the high pitched whine noise should be gone, once proper adjustments have been made. Play around with it, just do it at a lower volume. Cheers.