heard same speakers as mine on high end kenwood, sounded much better

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

my install guy played my CD on his system right after playing the same CD on mine, i couldnt believe how much better the identical morel 2 way components sounded.

he has a high end kenwood HU that retails for $1700 vs. my pioneer that retails for around $400.

both of us run them passively, however, he uses a JL slash series amp.

i love JL amps and I know its a much better amp than my kicker, however, i am sending my morels 250W RMS vs. his 85.

is it the diff in HU quality? is it the diff in amp quality? could it have something to do with the fact that my amp is bridged?

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[Amokie 10+ year member]

Install?

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

this guy did the fiberglass pods my woofers are in, and he did the same for his. his car is a new M3, so the tweeter and woofer locations are the same as in my Audi A4.

we both used a ton of dynamat on the interior of the doors.

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

the specs for my HU say that the CD signal-to-noise ratio is 94 dB. that doesnt strike me as being very high, am i right?

 

[phenryiv1 10+ year member]

It could be several things- better amps SQ, more optimized gain settings (though I assume that he set up your system, as well as his own), higher quality signal from his HU (4V versus the 2.1 that many Pioneers put out). Also, aren't you running @ 2 ohms? His 4 ohms (I assume) might be showing less distortion. Do you have any line noise or other interference?

Did the installer have any possible explaination?

(BTW- I am NOT a professional- I am just hypothesizing here.)

 

[Slaugh 10+ year member]

yes, people get amazed when they realize the sound quality varies from hu to hu...

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

I would be more inclined to say that you're throwing more distortion at them then he is, along with a lesser amp than his. If you can upgrade your amp to somethin better than his J/L and then sound off.

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

It could be several things- better amps SQ, more optimized gain settings (though I assume that he set up your system, as well as his own), higher quality signal from his HU (4V versus the 2.1 that many Pioneers put out). Also, aren't you running @ 2 ohms? His 4 ohms (I assume) might be showing less distortion. Do you have any line noise or other interference?
Did the installer have any possible explaination?

(BTW- I am NOT a professional- I am just hypothesizing here.)

why would i be running at 2 ohms? bc im running bridged?

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

yes, people get amazed when they realize the sound quality varies from hu to hu...

i know i know, however, its a significant degree which is why i am in fact amazed

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

plus, its not just the diff in HU, its the fact that he is underpowering them by a significant margin and i am giving them plenty of power.

also, i set my own gains using a DMM, he did his by ear

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Yes it is because you are running bridged. Don't be so caught up in the amount of power your sending them, the difference is in the quality of the power that is going to them. I suggest you try swapping in a higher end amp.

It's really hard to say why it doesn't sound the same especially when not all the compnents are the same, on top of that the way you EQ and the way you like your sound may be completely different than his. The settins on the amp and HU will affect the sound quite a bit.

 

[phenryiv1 10+ year member]

why would i be running at 2 ohms? bc im running bridged?

Yes. Bridging a 4-channel amp into 2 channels to run a 4-ohm speaker setup results in each channel of the amp "seeing" 2 ohms, and effectively pushing ~2x the power to the speakers at 2 ohms as it would at 4 ohms. Doubling the output normally (in my experience) results in a degradation in SQ. Most people only bridge sub amps (yes, I am generalizing here), where the slight loss of SQ is not as easily perceived.

 

[phenryiv1 10+ year member]

plus, its not just the diff in HU, its the fact that he is underpowering them by a significant margin and i am giving them plenty of power.

At 2 ohms, you are giving them plenty of "dirty(ier?)" power. He is giving them 85W of more "pure" sound- and that 85W may indeed be underrated, as well.

also, i set my own gains using a DMM, he did his by ear

That is another factor. Who listens to music- you, or the DMM? Use the DMM as a guide, but tweak it by ear.

One other thing- how is his EQed? How is yours EQed? How were they set up?

You have about 47 factors coming into play here.

 

[TreyE 10+ year member]

Its most likely how your headunit and his are EQ...he probably spent more time tweaking his EQ and its probably a big ass EQ if his retails at 1700 so theres alot more eq bands he can adjust....thats just my guess cause in my car i have my HPF and LPF and all that set so they flow together VS another kids car where he hasnt set either together and it sounds like **** because theirs too much bass in the components or not enough etc etc etc

 

[SlickCMRick 10+ year member]

I'm scared now, I was planning on bridging my amp to send 150w to my germs, but now I may have to go the 75w route. Can I go active possibly? Can any Hu go active? I have an eclipse cd3000 and I don't even think it has a crossover in it. What would I need?