youngblood153

I currently installed a 900 watt rms 1 ohm with dual pioneer 12 inch comp subs. I have power acoustik head unit along with an equalizer. 30 fared power acoustik capacitor. 640 watt kicker amp for mids and highs. All hooked up with extra yellow optima batteries 0 gauge power feeds 0 gauge grounds big three upgrade.....okay here is the question I would like to tune amps and equalizer and also rca lines...any direction?

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

youngblood153

Thank god so many replied...

luvofjah

iTrader: (2)

Start with the equalizer flat... may not even need it, more equipment can introduce noise (I'm assuming it's not built into the deck) Set the gains right on the amps so you (or another person jamming out) doesn't blow your speakers... I'm not sure of the clarity (thd, quality of preamp, etc...) of a Power Acoustic deck compared to others... I prefer louder from the front (as opposed to the mids in the b pillar, but hard to do with just 4's up front...

devestator_x

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Jah... start out flat. Set everything on the head unit flat along with the eq. If you havent set your gains on your amps yet, turn them all the way down before you start so you dont blow anything. There are 3 ways to adjust your gains on your amps... the "by ear" method which will have a 75%-95% chance of blowing a sub or amp or both. Next is with a digital multimeter. This is a little easier and there are a ton of guides out there on how to set gains with a DMM, but if you arent super careful and try to squeeze a little extra out of your system, there is still potential to blow something. The last way is the most difficult, but most accurate... and thats using an oscilloscope. Again there are guides for this, the hard part is having an oscilloscope handy. The Oscope method is virtually 99% fault free.

Once you have the gains set, then you can adjust the Bass and treble settings to where you think it sounds good. But keep in mind, you SHOULD only adjust down, not up. Up will negate all the gain settings and will push your system beyond its limits. So if the bass needs to bump up, move the higher frequencies down to make the bass seem louder. Yes you will lose some overall volume, but you will never blow anything up. I can run my system full tilt for hours without smoking anything and I used the DMM method.

youngblood153

thank you for the information. Well most definitely use the dmm method not really willing to purchase that expensive oscilloscope.

devestator_x

iTrader: (1)

Just for reference on adjusting after the gains are set. In my system, I have a separate sub out channel on my deck. The mids were overpowering my subs by quite a bit. I knew based on how I set my gains that if I went any higher, it would burn up the amp and subs. So I adjusted my mids down until it sounded balanced. My highs sounded a little tin like, so I turned those down too. My mids are at -8db and the highs at -4db while the subs play at 0.

The only downfall with the DMM method is you have 0 way of knowing if your signal is clipping or not, so it is better to error on the side of caution. Take your measurements at 3/4 volume and try not to turn it up past there unless you are 100% sure you wont get distortion and a clipped signal past that point. My Alpine deck has been measured by dozens of people online and it will go 35/35 without clipping, so I know I am safe to go full blast.

If you need any help with using the DMM method, send me a PM and we can go over it. Ive helped a few other members on here set their gains this way. (and I think I posted how to do it in a thread a few months ago)

youngblood153

Technique noted...right now I have been fighting the cooling fan issue. I am working on new head unit/eq face place just I can mount eq above radio with out and dash cutting or mounting. Hopefully Tuesday when the wife and I get back home from the road I can finish the full install. Once that's all done maybe I can figure out how to post some pics. Thx for all the help. Glad to see there are helpful people in this time of need.

307Camaro

The easiest way to tune an amp is with a Steve Meade SMD Distortion Detector.

devestator_x

iTrader: (1)

I also agree with using the SMD DD-1, however, I dont typically suggest it as the $150 price tag is a little steep for the average guy who is only going to install one amp. Heck, I have installed a system into every car I have owned and cant quite seem to spend that money on it just yet.

If you have a spare $150 to spend, the SMD DD-1 is by far the ultimate way to set your gains.

307Camaro

I install stereos in all of my vehicles and have the DD1 and the CC1 and they are easily the best money I have ever spent in the stereo world. They are simple to use and they're flawless. To me its super easy to justify buying these, especially the DD1. Its hard to stomach blowing expensive components when you can make an affordable set sound super expensive with the DD1. Just my $.02

roadthrills

Any real car audio shop should have one of those. Just pay them to set up the gains for you. It takes very little time and should be cheap.

Jonesyfxr

iTrader: (2)

You can also tune your system by reversing polarity on a certain speaker to tone down harshness or a certain tone. For example if a tweeter is too bold, you can reverse the polarity to tone it down.