Head Unit Tuning

[handman84 60]

I set my sub amp gains with my hu eq flat. It sounds ok, but I seem to be wanting a little more. Is it bad or potentially harmful to tune the eq on my head unit with the amp gains set as is, or is it wise to reset the gains after messing with the eq? I learned my lesson the hard way about bass boost by frying my last sub. My sub and amp are matched as far as RMS goes, so I dont want to take any chances and risk damaging my sub. Advice? And how reliable/accurate is the clipping light on an amp sub remote?

[Impious 1,476]

Bass boost is nothing but a fixed band of equalization. Meaning there is an equal opportunity to damage your subwoofer by boosting the equalization in your headunit as there is with bass boost.

If "you want more", boosting the EQ is the wrong way to do it.

Give us more details of your system (vehicle, subwoofer, amplifier, enclosure size/tuning, sub enclosure location & alignment, etc) as well as the method used to set the gain and any other settings you may have. There may be other, and better, things you can do with the current system to get what you are after without resorting to boosting the equalizer.

Also, what exactly are you looking for? Simply more output overall? Better low frequency extension?

[///M5 2,833]

You can surely use the EQ to make cuts, just no boost.

[aleroking 0]

when using an eq you should use it for attentuating frequencies dont go above 0. and dont use any bass boost on the h.u or amp.

when im tuning my door speaker i turn my gain up till i hear distortion in my mids/highs then back down a little and eq from there than turn gainback up if neccessary.

and the clipping light on your bass knob is usually slightly premature.

Edited December 28, 2012 by aleroking

[handman84 60]

I just got a GCON 12" 2ohm. It is powered by an aq1200d. I have it wired to 4 ohms which is giving it around 510 RMS. The GCON is in a sealed box 1.25ft^3. The box is in the trunk of my '96 accord facing backwards, centered. Front = 55w BA 5.25" components, Rear deck = 35w BA 6x9" coax. Both powered by Alpine 4 channel, 50w per channel. No sound deadening yet. Pioneer HU. The GCON gets super low and sounds crisp and clean, Im just not getting the SPL I'm craving. Gains are set via DD1. Thought about wiring sub down to 1 ohm but really dont feel like frying a new sub, which seems entirely possible since I obviously dont know as much as i thought i did (and I didnt think i knew that much to begin with:) The front stage sounds great, could use more mid bass but Im hoping cld ccf and mlv will help me out there, Just trying to get more bass and louder bass with what I have. Any suggestions?

[ricksi30 923]

The DD1 = garbage. Are you against using a ported enclosure?

[Impious 1,476]

I just got a GCON 12" 2ohm. It is powered by an aq1200d. I have it wired to 4 ohms which is giving it around 510 RMS. The GCON is in a sealed box 1.25ft^3. The box is in the trunk of my '96 accord facing backwards, centered. Front = 55w BA 5.25" components, Rear deck = 35w BA 6x9" coax. Both powered by Alpine 4 channel, 50w per channel. No sound deadening yet. Pioneer HU. The GCON gets super low and sounds crisp and clean, Im just not getting the SPL I'm craving. Gains are set via DD1. Thought about wiring sub down to 1 ohm but really dont feel like frying a new sub, which seems entirely possible since I obviously dont know as much as i thought i did (and I didnt think i knew that much to begin with:) The front stage sounds great, could use more mid bass but Im hoping cld ccf and mlv will help me out there, Just trying to get more bass and louder bass with what I have. Any suggestions?

Reset your gain by ear without using the DD1.

Where is your lowpass filter for the subwoofer set?

As rick said, going ported would definitely give you the output you are looking for if you're willing to give up the trunk space

[handman84 60]

I turned the LPF up to 150hz. Where should it be set? Im sad to hear the dd1 is worthless I just couldnt afford an oscope and really didnt want to damage my GCON. What is the best way to set the sub gain? A 50hz track? I was thinking about porting too. Should the port be on the same side as the sub? Will it sound better with the port on the top? Are these things I just need to play with? I had no idea how in depth this hobby is...I love it! The hardest part is finding good teaching tools. Thank you guys for all your help

[ricksi30 923]

I turned the LPF up to 150hz. Where should it be set? Im sad to hear the dd1 is worthless I just couldnt afford an oscope and really didnt want to damage my GCON. What is the best way to set the sub gain? A 50hz track? I was thinking about porting too. Should the port be on the same side as the sub? Will it sound better with the port on the top? Are these things I just need to play with? I had no idea how in depth this hobby is...I love it! The hardest part is finding good teaching tools. Thank you guys for all your help

The lpf is fine at 150 if you like your sub playing frequencies that high. I usually set mine at ~80. What kind of space do you have available? The only good thing about the DD1 is that it seems to have a good resale value.

[Impious 1,476]

You don't need an o-scope or a DD1 to set your gains. Your body comes pre-equipped for such a task. Just use various music you are familiar with and set the gain by ear. Use your head and listen for obvious signs of stress from the sub.

LPF is high for my tastes but if you need it to fill in the midbass it might work for you. Simply adjust to where ever sounds best. There's no right or wrong.

Ported would give you more output, generally in a sedan the subs/port face the same direction. Mainly depends on if you have or are willing to sacrifice the necessary space as a ported enclosure will be significantly larger.

[aleroking 0]

id set your lfp around 80 also

and a ported box will give you much more output.

you know you could wire down to 1ohm and keep the gain down a little bit right?

[aleroking 0]

if you have distortion to the point you can hear it you are already severley clipping.

saying oscopes are un neccesarry is kind of ubsurd.

this might be ok practice in lower power setups but when you are running alot of power specifically when running over rms to a sub a scope will be a great tool.

also how will you know what level your headunit starts sending a clipped signal at? a oscope or dd1 can help you find the source of clipping.

Edited December 30, 2012 by aleroking

[Impious 1,476]

An oscope or DD1 are never necessary in any daily driving based system. If you dont understand why, then you dont understand the problems involved with using them in such a capacity. Im on a tablet right now so not writing a novel explaining why they are useless in these situations but feel free to search as myself, M5 and 95Honda have discussed it at length several times in the past.

[handman84 60]

Well good resale value of the DD1 is good to know...anyone want to by a brand new DD1? I did think about wiring to 1 ohm, but until I am more comfortable with setting gains and tuning I am trying to stay safe...hence the DD1. My last sub was a JL 10" in a sealed enclosure. Before I fried it I ported it and WOW! So yes I have definitely considered porting the GCON, and probably will. Not having any experience with port tuning, should I just go with the recommended tuning?

[ricksi30 923]

Well good resale value of the DD1 is good to know...anyone want to by a brand new DD1? I did think about wiring to 1 ohm, but until I am more comfortable with setting gains and tuning I am trying to stay safe...hence the DD1. My last sub was a JL 10" in a sealed enclosure. Before I fried it I ported it and WOW! So yes I have definitely considered porting the GCON, and probably will. Not having any experience with port tuning, should I just go with the recommended tuning?

What kind of music do you listen to? What space do you have available?

[lithium 358]

Well good resale value of the DD1 is good to know...anyone want to by a brand new DD1? I did think about wiring to 1 ohm, but until I am more comfortable with setting gains and tuning I am trying to stay safe...hence the DD1. My last sub was a JL 10" in a sealed enclosure. Before I fried it I ported it and WOW! So yes I have definitely considered porting the GCON, and probably will. Not having any experience with port tuning, should I just go with the recommended tuning?

i think SSA has some recommended enclosures on the site. i wouldn't wire it to 1 ohm.

[handman84 60]

I listen to mostly hip hop and rock/prog rock and metal. I have enough room to fit a ported enclosure, havent measured yet but based on the ported design plans for the ICON, I could fit it with room to spare. That is probably what I will end up doing after the first of the year. That and sound deadening. I have to see how big of a difference ccf and mlv actually make

[theo111 0]

I have a few questions about HU settings as well since it seems to be on topic.

What do you think about using the Loudness setting? Is it recommended? What does it do exactly?

My deck also has a "Sound Retriever" setting that can either be set to Off, 1, or 2. Apparently it tries to restore some of the sound quality lost in compression and 1 is supposed to be for low compressed files and 2 for high compressed files. Should I be using this? Ive had it set to 1.

I have a Pioneer DEH-P7400HD.

Edited December 31, 2012 by theo111

[ricksi30 923]

I have a few questions about HU settings as well since it seems to be on topic.

What do you think about using the Loudness setting? Is it recommended? What does it do exactly?

My deck also has a "Sound Retriever" setting that can either be set to Off, 1, or 2. Apparently it tries to restore some of the sound quality lost in compression and 1 is supposed to be for low compressed files and 2 for high compressed files. Should I be using this? Ive had it set to 1.

I have a Pioneer DEH-P7400HD.

I wouldn't use either.

[handman84 60]

Good to know because I was wondering the same thing about my HU tuning...guess I'll have to put in the effort and look to amp settings and install to get the sound I'm looking for. And I always thought it was as easy as turning up the bass boost and eq on my HU... I couldn't have been more wrong!