New Setup, Starting from Zero. Tips Welcomed!

[slim142 9]

Search on the internet for it, look in your manual or go buy the handbook for your car from AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc.

I can now put another reason to hate factory radios...

I got the car manual, it just wont tell me crap.

[KU40 173]

I'm not sure what color it might be on factory radios, but on aftermarket ones it's blue and I think with a white stripe. The solid blue one is for power antenna. If you have a voltmeter, you can just test the wire for a +12v signal. You should be able to eliminate all but a couple of them. Speaker leads should be color coded together, the two power leads should be marked or they might be a tad larger wire size, ground should be black. That should only leave you with a couple wires to try.

[slim142 9]

Btw

Just wanted to mention something, I use my ipod through the AUX IN (3.5mm audio jack) with my factory radio.

Since the gain set on the amplifier will depend a lot on your songs since they might have been recorded at different volume levels.

I wanted to ask, should I put my iTunes to adjust my songs volume? Will I lose quality?

What do you guys do regarding this?

[slim142 9]

Omg! its finally installed!

All the people that were in the shop (where it was installed) were like "holy shit man, so powerful" "s-m-d affiliate? no wonder its fckin good!" "dam bro it hits hard, watch your pioneer or it might end up as fried eggs"

I still need to tune it but I love the blue led, the looks, the weight (shows muscle). Will tune it up and let you know how it goes! so far, I havent pushed it since I didnt have time (had to run to college i was getting late haha)

updates coming

[slim142 9]

Ok guys here is the update

Coming back from college I didnt have time to tune it to the frequencys (LPF SSF) I like, however, what I heard left me WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

First of all, I gotta say thanks to the guys at Sundown for making such nice products, I cant express with words the face that I had when I was listening to my beats, I WAS ASTONISHED!

Heavy duty built and just ridicously amazing.

First, one of the songs that barely had PUNCHY BASS with my Sony amp now has super punch! and I still need to tune it! OMG

Top back now sounds CLEAN and BOOMY! amazingly good

I just cant wait to tune it up, but that will happen wednesday since I got class all day tomorrow. OMG I CANT WAIT FOR THE WEEKEND TO DRIVE IT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sundown, those $500 hit me a bit, but it was well worth it, that 2000D is my baby and I will take care of it and make sure it doesnt blow any subs of course =D

IM A HAPPY BASS MAN NOW

[KU40 173]

Good deal

[slim142 9]

Well here is another mini review

So I went to play my favorite songs today. Im not gonna write another 500 words to say I was impressed, I was

Anyways, I noticed something

How Low from Ludacris made my sub get a horrible burning smell and I also noticed the sub was almost-like bouncing up and down. Something the sub never did with the Sony.

Is it the song How Low that has really low sub sonic frequencies or my gain is too high? Cause the sub was moving up and down almost like jumping but no bass, still burning smell came and I turned it down immediately.

Other songs played nice like swag surfin and muscle cars, but after a bit I had to lower then volume cuz burning smell would just come back, not as bad as in how low but still, I dont wanna burn my only sub.

I have set my iTunes to "adjust volume" on all songs, out of my 17xx songs, it only choose 750 for some reason. I dont know how good the iTunes's volume adjuster is.

With that said

If I just want to be able to listen to music not having to worry "oh crap the subwoofer is bouncing up and down" or "oh man burning smell", what do I have to do?

Since my ipod might still have uneven volumes, I thought that the best and safest way was to just burn CDs with NERO and have the volume normalizer on. I have done that when my friends asked for CDs and it worked pretty good (without it, they complained irregular volume on songs so decided to turn it on and they didnt complain anymore)

I might have to lower the gain a bit, but will songs like how low keep on stressing my sub like that?

What do you guys think?

I dont want to be driving and having to worry about my sub bouncing or burning smell. Dont want distractions.

Edited February 10, 2010 by slim142

[jcarter1885 995]

Your sub sonic filter may be set to low and your gain to high, one or both of these together can cause the burning smell.

[slim142 9]

Your sub sonic filter may be set to low and your gain to high, one or both of these together can cause the burning smell.

Yeah, I just realized it must be the subsonic. Since halfway between 10 and 60 is 35, I think I went too far to the left making it more like 15hz. I think I will just leave it as close to the middle (35Hz).

Thats one of the CONS of the Sundown, it really annoys me not having a small print every 1/4 of the way of the knob to know what frequency you have the filter on. I hate doing the job by guessing (calculating what halfway is and then subtracting...)

Btw I have also noticed the iTunes volume normalizer works. I closed and opened itunes, played a song with VN enabled, then disabled it while playing the song and the song went a little louder so I think the volume normalizer from iTunes works after all. Good news

Changing the topic a bit, the bass remote is to reduce the bass for those songs that dont need loud bass (jazz, blues, pop) right? or is there another use Im not aware of?

And, when you play music at low volume and too much bass is coming out from the sub (kinda overtaking your low volume speakers), that means lower your gain (or bass remote) right?

Edited February 11, 2010 by slim142

[slim142 9]

Might seem over asked but i need a real answer

Whenever you have subs, is it possible to drive without having to worry about "playing too loud, burning smell might come" ?

I mean, what do you do? Songs like A Millie and Swag Surfin make the sub work a lot while others dont stress the sub that much.

Im not saying I want not-bassy songs to become bassy and bassy songs to become ultra-loud to the point of distortion but, with so many different bass and volume levels, is it possible to drive without having to worry about playing it too loud? (following the rules 75% of volume, no bass boost, right gain, right subsonic, right enclosure, right wattage)

[Duran 387]

I can play my woofers all day long and not worry about failure, be it mechanical or thermal. It's all in the installation

[KU40 173]

I can play my woofers all day long and not worry about failure, be it mechanical or thermal. It's all in the installation

Don't forget your ears. They play the biggest part. Learn to hear the sounds of the sub stressing. One easy thing to do is when you turn up a song and there becomes a point when the sub no longer get louder as you turn it up, you've passed its threshold. Also listen for the bass to sound more flat instead of having a sharp beat.

I have a subwoofer level on my head unit and I never worry about my sub stressing when I'm driving because I'm in control of the volume knob. So learn to control that and you're fine.

as for the remote gain, yes it is just to turn down the bass when you don't want as much bass or turn it up when you do.

[slim142 9]

I can play my woofers all day long and not worry about failure, be it mechanical or thermal. It's all in the installation

Don't forget your ears. They play the biggest part. Learn to hear the sounds of the sub stressing. One easy thing to do is when you turn up a song and there becomes a point when the sub no longer get louder as you turn it up, you've passed its threshold. Also listen for the bass to sound more flat instead of having a sharp beat.

I have a subwoofer level on my head unit and I never worry about my sub stressing when I'm driving because I'm in control of the volume knob. So learn to control that and you're fine.

as for the remote gain, yes it is just to turn down the bass when you don't want as much bass or turn it up when you do.

Sometimes I feel like I have reached my "1 sub bass limit" and that what Im really looking for is a 15 or another 12 to satisfy that bass need without having to raise too much the volume.

But yes, Ive kinda noticed that in swag surfin for example. After 10 bars (out of 16 of volume), sub sounds stressed a bit instead of getting louder. I dont go louder than 12 bars anyways.

Is it ok to use the bass remote to lower your sub volume when you reach that streshold point?

[KU40 173]

Absolutely.

[slim142 9]

Absolutely.

Ok, good to know. That way I dont have to keep my gain low on the amplifier for those bassy songs. Just play with the remote

[slim142 9]

Dam

For some reason I cant find that stress point. Maybe I have terrible ears or all those screws/tools in my trunk vibrating are not letting me hear the stress point clearly.

I have figured out there are some points (between 1/3 and 1/2 of the way of the remote) that bass gets louder but the gains are very very small, and after 1/2 of the way, the subwoofer doesnt get louder at all.

I also tried increasing the remote to the MAX in songs that are not bassy (song didnt sound that good after that though, but was experimenting) and subwoofer gave me a bit of smell, nothing serious though but it was there.

What am I doing wrong here?

I have fixed my subsonic filter. How Low lowest notes give actual sound in those low notes, not just make the sub bounce. So I dont understand...

[KU40 173]

The remote adjusts the gain for you. But the max on the remote is just as high as the gain is set on the amplifier. So if you have the gain on the amp set at 50%, max on the remote will be that 50% gain. But if you turn the remote to 50%, it's like having the gain on the amp at 25%. The remote will only allow the signal to be as loud as the gain setting on the amp. So if you can't use all of the remote before the sub starts stressing, I would recommend turning the gain on the amp down.

[slim142 9]

The remote adjusts the gain for you. But the max on the remote is just as high as the gain is set on the amplifier. So if you have the gain on the amp set at 50%, max on the remote will be that 50% gain. But if you turn the remote to 50%, it's like having the gain on the amp at 25%. The remote will only allow the signal to be as loud as the gain setting on the amp. So if you can't use all of the remote before the sub starts stressing, I would recommend turning the gain on the amp down.

Yeah thats what I thought I should do, lower my gain a notch.

But its really annoying it all depends on each of the songs' volume after all doesnt it?

[Duran 387]

Yup.

[slim142 9]

Hmmm thats where I had my ideas wrong.

I thought there was such thing as "Perfect Gain Setting". Guess I was wrong.

[jcarter1885 995]

It is a perfect gain setting, find the song that is the loudest (and/or most excursion) and use that as your guide and you wont have to full around with it again.

[slim142 9]

It is a perfect gain setting, find the song that is the loudest (and/or most excursion) and use that as your guide and you wont have to full around with it again.

Does a 60Hz sine count? or does it have to be a song?

I was planning on doing it old school. Burn a CD with JUST the 60Hz sine 0db with volume normalization (dont think it will apply since its only one song, but just for sakes ill enable it) and have it play so I set my GAIN to what I think its a notch below the stress point.

[Duran 387]

Use 50 Hz.

[slim142 9]

Use 50 Hz.

May I please know whats the difference?

[Duran 387]

Use 50 Hz.

May I please know whats the difference?

Technically, 10 Hz

If you used 60 Hz. you would end up setting the gain too high.