Help with avoiding distortion

[gchoov]

Hey everyone, new to this forum but not car audio/home audio. Okay so I have 2 pioneer 12” woofers in my Jeep that are 600w rms each pushed by a 1200w rms amplifier. The whole system is on 1ohm which is rated power and i know i can bump pretty hard. Okay so I have a few questions for y’all here so that I don’t blow these woofers and ruin my inverstememt. On my Kenwood head unit it has the option for -50 to +10 subwoofer level, and I currently run a flat freq response using rta tuning. Overall the system sounds great, gain is voltage matched between the amplifier and head unit (4v input on both. With no bass boost from the amp and 0 subwoofer level you aren’t able to hear the subs at all - however when I change the sub level on the head unit to +10 or the amp bass boost up it really bangs. What I want to know is am I introducing distortion by using these level controls (not changing gain knob on amp). Should I only change one of these controls? Both? Is it safe to use level control on the head unit or bass boost on the amp? Thank you for your replies anything helps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Thanks for the replies - solved my situation!

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[jigsizzle 10+ year member]

Stay away from bass boost on the amp..

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[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Dont use bass boost on the amp, keep the deck eq flat and turn the subwoofer level to +10 then reset your gain with sub level all the way up.

 

[shredder2]

No bass boost!... if sub level is maxed and you still want more it's possible that your sub enclosure needs to be changed as to type or re-tuned. The enclosure type/tuning is incredibly important to the overall sound result.

Are your subs in a prefab box?.. or sealed?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Hey everyone, new to this forum but not car audio/home audio. Okay so I have 2 pioneer 12” woofers in my Jeep that are 600w rms each pushed by a 1200w rms amplifier. The whole system is on 1ohm which is rated power and i know i can bump pretty hard. Okay so I have a few questions for y’all here so that I don’t blow these woofers and ruin my inverstememt. On my Kenwood head unit it has the option for -50 to +10 subwoofer level, and I currently run a flat eq (I feel as though with hi fi audio you don’t have to eq. Overall the system sounds great, gain is voltage matched between the amplifier and head unit (4v input on both. With no bass boost from the amp and 0 subwoofer level you aren’t able to hear the subs at all - however when I change the sub level on the head unit to +10 or the amp bass boost up it really bangs. What I want to know is am I introducing distortion by using these level controls (not changing gain knob on amp). Should I only change one of these controls? Both? Is it safe to use level control on the head unit or bass boost on the amp? Thank you for your replies anything helps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Some things that need to be corrected.

Hi fidelity needs a relatively flat frequency response. NOT a flat EQ. There's a huge difference. You almost always never leave the EQ flat purely due to the car's environment filled with phase issues, reflections etc... EQ is there to properly blend and tune your speakers to get a flat response. Leaving the EQ flat is just a trainwreck. You use the EQ to lower any peaky frequencies you have plain and simple.

Also sub level is not the same as bass boost, its actually needed if you really want to achieve the 4 volt pre-out of your head unit. If you have your volume at 75% and sub level at 0, you are likely around 1-2 volt preout at best. Raise that sub level up, turn your volume to 90 or 95% then reset your gains. Bass boost off.

 

[gchoov]

..

 

[gchoov]

Some things that need to be corrected.
Hi fidelity needs a relatively flat frequency response. NOT a flat EQ. There's a huge difference. You almost always never leave the EQ flat purely due to the car's environment filled with phase issues, reflections etc... EQ is there to properly blend and tune your speakers to get a flat response. Leaving the EQ flat is just a trainwreck. You use the EQ to lower any peaky frequencies you have plain and simple.

Also sub level is not the same as bass boost, its actually needed if you really want to achieve the 4 volt pre-out of your head unit. If you have your volume at 75% and sub level at 0, you are likely around 1-2 volt preout at best. Raise that sub level up, turn your volume to 90 or 95% then reset your gains. Bass boost off.

Ahhh see that makes sense - I wasn’t sure if the HU sent 4v out at 0 sub level or not - I will readjust the gains then. And sorry for the mistake I meant a flat freq response, already RTA tuned my Jeep and cut those mid range peaks for a flatter response. Appreciate the clarification it really helps! I’ll get to resetting my gains later today

 

[gchoov]

No bass boost!... if sub level is maxed and you still want more it's possible that your sub enclosure needs to be changed as to type or re-tuned. The enclosure type/tuning is incredibly important to the overall sound result. Are your subs in a prefab box?.. or sealed?

Yeah I understand the importance of a properly tuned enclosure for optimal performance - it’s a box I built to fit behind the seat of my Jeep (could only fit 1.1 cu ft of airspace per sub) which kinda limited me to a sealed enclosure, but I’m happy with the sound just wanted some clarification. Thank you I will not use the bass boost as it can introduce that distortion, I’ll just rest my gains to the right setting.

 

[gchoov]

Dont use bass boost on the amp, keep the deck eq flat and turn the subwoofer level to +10 then reset your gain with sub level all the way up.

Gotcha so setting gain with the sub level on the HU at +10 will keep me from pushing it into distortion even at the highest level - makes sense now that you mention it. I will do that today! Glad I can come here and get reliable info instead of joe blow from YouTube saying something stupid like “gain is the volume knob” //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[gchoov]

One more question - when setting gain what do you all prefer - by ear or with a volt meter? I don’t have the kinda money to buy a distortion detection tool and occiliscopes are a little out of my price range as well. I can hear clipping pretty well but I know there is sometimes clipping the human ear can’t detect - do you think using the “voltage meter method” is reliable? If not what would you recommend...

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Gotcha so setting gain with the sub level on the HU at +10 will keep me from pushing it into distortion even at the highest level - makes sense now that you mention it. I will do that today! Glad I can come here and get reliable info instead of joe blow from YouTube saying something stupid like “gain is the volume knob” //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

That joe blow guy also posts on here under the name "boomingrandpa"

Avoid his advice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

One more question - when setting gain what do you all prefer - by ear or with a volt meter? I don’t have the kinda money to buy a distortion detection tool and occiliscopes are a little out of my price range as well. I can hear clipping pretty well but I know there is sometimes clipping the human ear can’t detect - do you think using the “voltage meter method” is reliable? If not what would you recommend...

Always with a piece of equipment, never by ear.

You can wire up a small speaker and capacitor to where the speaker makes noise when clipping happens. I'm on my phone and dont have time to search for a link, but there was a discussion about it on here not that long ago.

 

[The Camry]

You in Oregon?

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[sherwood71]

Always with a piece of equipment, never by ear.
You can wire up a small speaker and capacitor to where the speaker makes noise when clipping happens. I'm on my phone and dont have time to search for a link, but there was a discussion about it on here not that long ago.

http://www.caraudio.com/forums/general-discussion/636252-2%24-diy-clipping-detector.html