Help me tune my EQ & Crossover values
05-30-2006, 11:48 AM
#1
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Help me tune my EQ & Crossover values
I've got pretty much all the components of my sounds system in the suby now, but I am no audio expert, and am having a hell of a time tuning the EQ and cross over, and gain values for the speakers, HU, and sub/amp to sound good.
So, my proposal is this: I will meet you/you come to my place in the City and bring either your favorite (reasonably priced) wine, or a few 6's of your favorite beers, or $30, and you will spend 20-30 minutes tuning the gains, EQs, crossover points so that it doesn't sound like the stereo in a 30 year old pinto.
My equipment:
Kenwood 6017 DVD HU
KNA-G510 navigation unit
KCA-IP500 iPod interface unit
Kenwood 300w subwoofer amp attached to 1 VC of a JL 10" DVC sub in a custom box.
Stock speakers.
Whose up for it?
--Matt
So, my proposal is this: I will meet you/you come to my place in the City and bring either your favorite (reasonably priced) wine, or a few 6's of your favorite beers, or $30, and you will spend 20-30 minutes tuning the gains, EQs, crossover points so that it doesn't sound like the stereo in a 30 year old pinto.
My equipment:
Kenwood 6017 DVD HU
KNA-G510 navigation unit
KCA-IP500 iPod interface unit
Kenwood 300w subwoofer amp attached to 1 VC of a JL 10" DVC sub in a custom box.
Stock speakers.
Whose up for it?
--Matt
05-30-2006, 12:34 PM
#2
come by...
i got all sorts of test CDs and an SPL meter to tune that bottom end...
and of you know the EQ points of your EQ, you can make a custom CD with white noise of just those freqs and with a an SPL meter, you can fake an RTA meter...
i got all sorts of test CDs and an SPL meter to tune that bottom end...
and of you know the EQ points of your EQ, you can make a custom CD with white noise of just those freqs and with a an SPL meter, you can fake an RTA meter...
05-30-2006, 01:51 PM
#4
Originally Posted by WREXNFX
the stock door speakers is whats making it sound like a old pinto radio
if your going to upgrade you need to do it all
if your going to upgrade you need to do it all
wow...
didnt even catch that...
yeah... ditto that.
for another $50-100 for a "nice" set of front speakers and another $100-150 for a "decent" amp, you would have a killer setup...
05-30-2006, 03:02 PM
#6
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Tune it to how your ears like it. Use jazz, some rock(something with a good kick drum) and dial it in how you like. I have an Audiocontrol RTA, but I guarantee if I tuned your car with a flat response you would think it sounds like ***.
As was said ditch the stock speakers before you touch a single ****. You spent all this money on bling then you want it to sound good using the stock crap? Why are you only using one VC on the sub, that is absurd?
Personally I'm more for stage and could care less what the back seat folks think so I replaced the front with some good components(diamond S600) then just put 5" midbass in the rear the amps on the back of the seats with banana jacks on the end of the cables for the subs and I either put in a pair of vented L7 12"s in about 3ft^3 each when I'm in my shake the neighborhood mood, or a single eD 13ov.2 in 1.2ft^3 when I want a warm rich sound and need a little space.
Here CDT CL-61A $139
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1090
You want a little brighter $149 http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1091
A whole lot of bang for the buck EF-61CF for $199(normally over $500) http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1101
Pick up some speaker adapter from here http://www.iaperformance.com/product...oducts_id/1482
I used to compete with a stock deck, high end LOC and other equiptment, and my system would eat most people's so called systems for snacks. Get rid of the stock drivers and put something decent in there.
As was said ditch the stock speakers before you touch a single ****. You spent all this money on bling then you want it to sound good using the stock crap? Why are you only using one VC on the sub, that is absurd?
Personally I'm more for stage and could care less what the back seat folks think so I replaced the front with some good components(diamond S600) then just put 5" midbass in the rear the amps on the back of the seats with banana jacks on the end of the cables for the subs and I either put in a pair of vented L7 12"s in about 3ft^3 each when I'm in my shake the neighborhood mood, or a single eD 13ov.2 in 1.2ft^3 when I want a warm rich sound and need a little space.
Here CDT CL-61A $139
http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1090
You want a little brighter $149 http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1091
A whole lot of bang for the buck EF-61CF for $199(normally over $500) http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1101
Pick up some speaker adapter from here http://www.iaperformance.com/product...oducts_id/1482
I used to compete with a stock deck, high end LOC and other equiptment, and my system would eat most people's so called systems for snacks. Get rid of the stock drivers and put something decent in there.
05-30-2006, 03:32 PM
#7
Originally Posted by illusion
Tune it to how your ears like it. Use jazz, some rock(something with a good kick drum) and dial it in how you like. I have an Audiocontrol RTA, but I guarantee if I tuned your car with a flat response you would think it sounds like ***.
rule #2. if rule #1 fails, trust your own ears.
i had a famous name once do a quickie tune of my system in my truck. (if the name HOLDAWAY rings a bell...) he did a quick adjust of bass, tre, bal and fad. then changed a couple settings on an x-over.
i nodded my head alot. listened to tons of his stories and ended up with a freebie tune. so...
it lasted about a week til i went back to my own settings.
btw, can i borrow your 3055 for a couple days?????
05-30-2006, 03:52 PM
#8
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I have no desire and no place to install an amp. Nor do I have time at the moment to install a set of speakers. Hence my desire to make WHAT I HAVE sound decent. Right now it sounds worse than stock. I actually already own a set of IAPerformance speaker adapters for when I DO have the time to install some speakers of my choice.
The amp is hooked up to a single VC at the moment because I could not for the life of me set it up so that the VCs werent fighting eachother.
I READILY ADMIT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING when it comes to setting up a car audio system, hence my asking for help. I am not a sound quality person in the car - its a noisy env. anyways, and my exhuast usually drowns it out anyways. flat curves and test CDs ARE way overkill. I bought the HU solely for the navigation and ipod interface, which works great. I just need someone's help setting the EQs and crossovers and maybe rewiring the amp->sub wiring to use both VCs. Because this is something that requires skill, I am willing to compensate for your time.
I just need someone to come sit in the car for 25 minutes while I play a few of my favorite songs, and tell you what doesn't sound right. Right now it sounds WORSE than it did stock. Sounding stock would be fine for me.
I hope I've clarified what I'm looking for. I dont care to pay $600 for component speakers and electronic crossovers for a car that I drive twice a week.
The amp is hooked up to a single VC at the moment because I could not for the life of me set it up so that the VCs werent fighting eachother.
I READILY ADMIT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING when it comes to setting up a car audio system, hence my asking for help. I am not a sound quality person in the car - its a noisy env. anyways, and my exhuast usually drowns it out anyways. flat curves and test CDs ARE way overkill. I bought the HU solely for the navigation and ipod interface, which works great. I just need someone's help setting the EQs and crossovers and maybe rewiring the amp->sub wiring to use both VCs. Because this is something that requires skill, I am willing to compensate for your time.
I just need someone to come sit in the car for 25 minutes while I play a few of my favorite songs, and tell you what doesn't sound right. Right now it sounds WORSE than it did stock. Sounding stock would be fine for me.
I hope I've clarified what I'm looking for. I dont care to pay $600 for component speakers and electronic crossovers for a car that I drive twice a week.
05-30-2006, 04:29 PM
#11
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You spent that much on a head unit and navigation "for a car that you drive twice a week" but a $150 set of speakers if too much to ask? CDT or eD are great speakers for the money, hell CDT has a line of drivers that are awe inspiring if your pockets are deep enough. The stock speakers really are garbage. The 6017 already has crossovers, and enough power to drive a decent set of drivers fairly well. It won't be earth shattering, but happy enough.
I'd go into the audio setup menu and double check the crossover settings right now to be sure. with a single 10 and stock drivers I'd do 80hz high pass front/rear and 100hz low pass for the sub. If that doesn't sound right give 80/80 or 100/120 a shot. The linearity of the stock drivers leaves some to be desired so I'd overlap the x-over freq just a little then tweak it with the EQ. Go into the tone menu and go to curve. Set mid to 1k or so and make sure it's at zero, set bass at 60 or 70 hz and maybe +1 or so, set treble at 15khz and maybe +3 or more to compensate for the stock system. This deck uses a parametric EQ, not the multi band like most of us are used to using, personally I don't like them, but that's probably why my EQ230 has been in 5 different cars. You should be able to get close to stock sound with enough playing, but don't expect too much until you upgrade the drivers. You can just try the built in system Q-ex presets and see if there are any you like, my personal taste is usually the rock style as I prefer a bit bass heavy and a little bright, but that's me.
I'd go into the audio setup menu and double check the crossover settings right now to be sure. with a single 10 and stock drivers I'd do 80hz high pass front/rear and 100hz low pass for the sub. If that doesn't sound right give 80/80 or 100/120 a shot. The linearity of the stock drivers leaves some to be desired so I'd overlap the x-over freq just a little then tweak it with the EQ. Go into the tone menu and go to curve. Set mid to 1k or so and make sure it's at zero, set bass at 60 or 70 hz and maybe +1 or so, set treble at 15khz and maybe +3 or more to compensate for the stock system. This deck uses a parametric EQ, not the multi band like most of us are used to using, personally I don't like them, but that's probably why my EQ230 has been in 5 different cars. You should be able to get close to stock sound with enough playing, but don't expect too much until you upgrade the drivers. You can just try the built in system Q-ex presets and see if there are any you like, my personal taste is usually the rock style as I prefer a bit bass heavy and a little bright, but that's me.
05-30-2006, 04:45 PM
#12
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Originally Posted by illusion
You spent that much on a head unit and navigation "for a car that you drive twice a week" but a $150 set of speakers if too much to ask?
I'd go into the audio setup menu and double check the crossover settings right now to be sure. with a single 10 and stock drivers I'd do 80hz high pass front/rear and 100hz low pass for the sub. If that doesn't sound right give 80/80 or 100/120 a shot. The linearity of the stock drivers leaves some to be desired so I'd overlap the x-over freq just a little then tweak it with the EQ. Go into the tone menu and go to curve. Set mid to 1k or so and make sure it's at zero, set bass at 60 or 70 hz and maybe +1 or so, set treble at 15khz and maybe +3 or more to compensate for the stock system. This deck uses a parametric EQ, not the multi band like most of us are used to using, personally I don't like them, but that's probably why my EQ230 has been in 5 different cars. You should be able to get close to stock sound with enough playing, but don't expect too much until you upgrade the drivers. You can just try the built in system Q-ex presets and see if there are any you like, my personal taste is usually the rock style as I prefer a bit bass heavy and a little bright, but that's me.
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