System is in!!!!!!!!!
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 339
Likes: 0
From: Davenport IA
System is in!!!!!!!!!
So I spent most of the weekend dissasembling, frostkinging, wiring, and fabbing up plates from 3/4" MDF.
Last night I hooked everything up and put the interior back together. So woohoo I'm done
Now my question is how to make sure all my settings are correct on my amp and my h/u.
I'm a rookie at this but I went with my instincts and put the highpass filter on the front components (6 1/2" Polk Momos) and the lowpass filter on the sub (10" JL). What I haven't really done is tweak the gain or the crossover points on my amp (Polk Momo C400.4) or on my H/U for that matter (Alpine 9857).
Any help on where to start my next phase? I think tuning the sytem will be the hardest part for me... Right now it sounds alright, but I would have expected more mid-bass from the momo 6 1/2s...
Thanks!
Jay
Last night I hooked everything up and put the interior back together. So woohoo I'm done
Now my question is how to make sure all my settings are correct on my amp and my h/u.
I'm a rookie at this but I went with my instincts and put the highpass filter on the front components (6 1/2" Polk Momos) and the lowpass filter on the sub (10" JL). What I haven't really done is tweak the gain or the crossover points on my amp (Polk Momo C400.4) or on my H/U for that matter (Alpine 9857).
Any help on where to start my next phase? I think tuning the sytem will be the hardest part for me... Right now it sounds alright, but I would have expected more mid-bass from the momo 6 1/2s...
Thanks!
Jay
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 9,289
Likes: 16
From: Skippack PA
St Jude Donor '13
Congrats Jay!
If you're thinking you need more midbass then you probably need to lower the crossover point so that more of the midbass frequencies are going there instead of to the sub. I would guess you're going to want to experiment in the 60-80Hz range, though it's possible you might wind up a hair lower depending on how you like the sound.
Before you do any of this though you need to get the levels matched as best you can. Quick & dirty procedure... turn the gain/input sensitivity all the way down on the amp to begin with. Then put a CD in with a song you know very well, best to start with something up tempo that you know has alot of dynamic range. With the amp gain turned all the way down bring the volume on the head unit up to about 75% of max, the slowly bring it up until the speakers barely begin to distort, then lower it just under that point. Adjusting at 75% will give you some headroom for quieter material.
We're also now into the question of how you hooked things up - did you just run the main output of the Alpine head into the amp and you're using only the crossover from the amp? The Alpine head also has a crossover and specific subwoofer outputs so if you used those it's possible you need to adjust the crossover in the head and not the amp.
If you're thinking you need more midbass then you probably need to lower the crossover point so that more of the midbass frequencies are going there instead of to the sub. I would guess you're going to want to experiment in the 60-80Hz range, though it's possible you might wind up a hair lower depending on how you like the sound.
Before you do any of this though you need to get the levels matched as best you can. Quick & dirty procedure... turn the gain/input sensitivity all the way down on the amp to begin with. Then put a CD in with a song you know very well, best to start with something up tempo that you know has alot of dynamic range. With the amp gain turned all the way down bring the volume on the head unit up to about 75% of max, the slowly bring it up until the speakers barely begin to distort, then lower it just under that point. Adjusting at 75% will give you some headroom for quieter material.
We're also now into the question of how you hooked things up - did you just run the main output of the Alpine head into the amp and you're using only the crossover from the amp? The Alpine head also has a crossover and specific subwoofer outputs so if you used those it's possible you need to adjust the crossover in the head and not the amp.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 339
Likes: 0
From: Davenport IA
Congrats Jay!
If you're thinking you need more midbass then you probably need to lower the crossover point so that more of the midbass frequencies are going there instead of to the sub. I would guess you're going to want to experiment in the 60-80Hz range, though it's possible you might wind up a hair lower depending on how you like the sound.
Before you do any of this though you need to get the levels matched as best you can. Quick & dirty procedure... turn the gain/input sensitivity all the way down on the amp to begin with. Then put a CD in with a song you know very well, best to start with something up tempo that you know has alot of dynamic range. With the amp gain turned all the way down bring the volume on the head unit up to about 75% of max, the slowly bring it up until the speakers barely begin to distort, then lower it just under that point. Adjusting at 75% will give you some headroom for quieter material.
We're also now into the question of how you hooked things up - did you just run the main output of the Alpine head into the amp and you're using only the crossover from the amp? The Alpine head also has a crossover and specific subwoofer outputs so if you used those it's possible you need to adjust the crossover in the head and not the amp.
If you're thinking you need more midbass then you probably need to lower the crossover point so that more of the midbass frequencies are going there instead of to the sub. I would guess you're going to want to experiment in the 60-80Hz range, though it's possible you might wind up a hair lower depending on how you like the sound.
Before you do any of this though you need to get the levels matched as best you can. Quick & dirty procedure... turn the gain/input sensitivity all the way down on the amp to begin with. Then put a CD in with a song you know very well, best to start with something up tempo that you know has alot of dynamic range. With the amp gain turned all the way down bring the volume on the head unit up to about 75% of max, the slowly bring it up until the speakers barely begin to distort, then lower it just under that point. Adjusting at 75% will give you some headroom for quieter material.
We're also now into the question of how you hooked things up - did you just run the main output of the Alpine head into the amp and you're using only the crossover from the amp? The Alpine head also has a crossover and specific subwoofer outputs so if you used those it's possible you need to adjust the crossover in the head and not the amp.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 9,289
Likes: 16
From: Skippack PA
St Jude Donor '13
OK, then the crossover on the sub doesn't come into play. Turn the high & low pass filters off. Your head unit will be the source of the crossover. Check the Alpine manual for instructions on enabling the sub output (has a couple of different modes I think) and how to set the crossover point. Also I believe you can adjust the sub level relative to the fronts from the head as well.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 339
Likes: 0
From: Davenport IA
OK, then the crossover on the sub doesn't come into play. Turn the high & low pass filters off. Your head unit will be the source of the crossover. Check the Alpine manual for instructions on enabling the sub output (has a couple of different modes I think) and how to set the crossover point. Also I believe you can adjust the sub level relative to the fronts from the head as well.
So I'll set the gain using your instructions above, and I'll check out my user manual for the H/U to set up the crossovers then.
Thanks a ton!
Jay
