Hey guys,

Ive been running twin kickers with my stock front and rear speakers until ive decided to buy myself a proper speaker and amp expecting a louder music with less distortion.

Firstly the sound system is reasonably good when its at half volume when its at 25/50
when it gets to about 30/50 the rear speakers and the mids struggle A LOT. they the speakers make a nasty burping noise which sounds like cardboard vibrating with each other...

Very sure there is nothing rattling, its definitely comming from the speakers... The amp is running at almost full gain for the front and rear speakers... If i turn it down the music just gets really soft..

What could it be? is it my cheap sony amp or my bad selection of speakers?
Here are the links for the following units i bought:
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/amplifiers/sony/3-4-channel-amplifier-sku-52032/
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/speakers/cadence/200-watt-splits-sku-54285/
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/speakers/kicker/6x9-speakers-sku-96683/

Any help appreciated. THanks guys

turn your gains down and google speaker clipping.

EDIT!

I've learnt to read and I've seen that you have bought splits etc.

Check your gains and also the crossover on your amp. It sounds like you're running them Full not Crossed Over.

The amp should be playing Mid to High Range frequencies and your sub should be playing Low Frequencies.

Check the settings on your amp, you could take a picture of them and post em up and we can take a looksie if you'd like.

SuFz :ninja:

Thanks Guys,

I am currently running the sony amp with the Cadence splits and kicker rears. (not stock speakers) (Y)

so its not my amp thats making my speakers clipping, i should go out to get some higher end speakers?

simon

I wouldnt say higher end.. You could probably get the Cadence speakers sounding quite nice.

It is a possibility that that Sony amp is making them clip - Turn down your gains slightly and check your crossover.

SuFz :ninja:

Your gains should be set so you can hit max volume without distortion. If they are "On full" It's going to blow your speakers in no time.

I have the time to write up a tuning guide for you.....

Let me know...

Just want to know , what deck you have? and if you are using RCA's for front and rear.....

I have the time to write up a tuning guide for you.....

Let me know...

"If you want time.. Buy the magazine.. We dont have time!"

Sorry Marty.. It just came out.

Tuning Guide to be stickied would be even better!

SuFz :ninja:

I have the time to write up a tuning guide for you.....

Let me know...

Wow, Sh00t if you do write one i would definitely sit down and read it!!!
and add you as a friend (Y)

Please do a write up for me, really want my sound system working to its full potential before i do anything stupid.

Cheers
Simon

The amp is rated at 4 x 60 watts, so about 3 - 4 times as much power as the headunit would have given.

I dont know what headunit you're running, but it may have selectable crossover frequencies.

If not, try setting the crossover frequency on the front and rear amp higher than you'd normally ever run it, the amp says it has an "80Hz (Variable)" highpass, but doesn't say what it can be varied to.... maybe set the frequency as high as it'll go, turn the sub off, and see how loud the speakers can actually go without distorting.... then work from there....

hey sh00t,

Im currently running the following units:
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-g...ier-sku-52032/
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-g...its-sku-54285/
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-g...ers-sku-96683/

The Amp is a sony XM GTX6040

and

Yes i am running RCA for front and rear directly to from amp to headunit.. is there another way to get signal without RCA?

This is the HU ive got, dosent seem to have the crossover selection:
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/mp3-cd-tuners/sony/208-watt-mp3-cd-tuner-with-usb-sku-66722/

Sony CDXGT700UI

This is the HU ive got, dosent seem to have the crossover selection:
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/car-sound-gps-navigation/mp3-cd-tuners/sony/208-watt-mp3-cd-tuner-with-usb-sku-66722/

Sony CDXGT700UI

to quote another website:

The crossover built into Sony’s CDX-GT700UI is the best of those on offer here. You get variable high and low pass filters with a choice of 50, 60, 80, 100 and 120Hz frequencies, plus l filters have three levels of cut off steepness. Sony don’t mention the slopes in detail but they sound like 12, 18 and 24dB per octave to me

....4 Channel Amp Tuning Guide...

........Note........

This guide is for new (modern) Decks only, fitted with RCA's to all channels, if you have bought an al cheapo deck..Tune it yourself....


********

Test only with CD's, a quality CD, studio recorded by a BIG name, MJ, Phil Collins, Madonna, Test Discs etc....
You'll be surprised that a lot of R&B are badly recorded, and we can allow for that, and MP3's especially low bitrate files, my advice is to ditch any bitrate below 200 kbps.....

..... Your Set Up......

Lets say you hooked the amp and speakers up correctly
Front left and Right Speakers to Channels 1 & 2,
Rear left and right Speakers to Channels 3 & 4...
If you havent, its easy to set it up correctly using the fader and balance on your H/U..... e.g. Balance set full left - Fader set full front - will isolate the front left speaker, you may as well mark them while you at it. you'll save time on reassembly if you ever take it out, and trouble shooting will be very easy......

RCA's should be kept clear of the ECU, the fuel pump, the Speaker wires (especially) and power wires too.....I recommend power LHS, speaker Cables Center, and RCA's RHS....
The reason behind this is to keep low voltage signals, that is your RCA's, clear of AC currents, and inductive noises.....Power cables are DC and do not alternate, but they best avoided anyway, good practice.....
Your AMP earth wire should be less than 12" / 30cm and be equal or larger to the power wire, earth as close to the chassis rail as possible, and stripped of paint, (painting over the top to stop corrosion is recommended).
Earth to rear indicator Assembly bolt is not sufficient.......

All power wire passing through the Firewall (LHguard for many of us) is required by law to be fused, and should be done with 18"/45cm of the battery......Failing to do this is dangerous and defectable.....

.........................High Pass/ Low Pass/Full (range)..................
Though it sounds a bit back the front.....
The high Pass filter when selected, will allow incoming signals above what is indicated on the frequency tuning knob to be amplified.
e.g. If you select High pass and the adjacent freq control is on 50hz, all freq below 50Hz will be filtered out... This is beneficial to us for tuning the fronts, but we'll set that to High Pass and 60Hz later on..... And we'll set the rears with it too....

The Low Pass filter when selected, will allow incoming signals below what is indicated on the frequency tuning knob
e.g. If you select Low pass and the adjacent freq control is on 50hz, all freq above 50Hz will be filtered out... This is for running a Woofer, its usual setting for driving a woofer is Low Pass Selected and 80Hz on the frequency control or under for a 12" Sub, perhaps 100Hz for a 10"....
The low pass wont be used in this 4 Speaker setup.

....Full Range.....
Rarely used, can be used when setting crossovers at a head unit, but this not an efficient way to run amps....Using the amp properly will conserve power, and even fuel....



......Where to start.......
Right we have a bought CD, and a small screwdriver so lets get going.....

.... Pre Flight Checks.......
A lot of people have found it very difficult to get good mids from the front splits in the doors of a magna, if you want to set the loudness to ON, do it now.....

.....For the front channels....
Select the high pass option, set the frequency control to 60 Hz, we dont wont power at 60Hz and below running to the fronts, cause generally a 6.5" inch woofer cant play them and we get efficient use of the amp (not powering where it cant play) and your speaker will last longer, and there will less vibration in the doors....
Turn the gains All the way down..... If you are unsure, the 0.1 volt indicator is high, and the 5 or 8 volt mark is low, it needs to be at its lowest setting....... Its also a good idea to set the Fader to Front 100% on the H/U.
Disconnect the rear RCA's, we only want to hear the fronts while we set a suitable amount of power to them....
Next, put in a disc and turn your head unit all the way up, yep, all the way.......Every decent manufacturer has designed a H/U to be connected to amps, the signal coming from the H/Unit will be distortion free, thats why we chose a good CD.....
Now you can (very) gradually increase the gains on the front channels, by yourself with the door open, or with a mate, with a good ear and lots of trust, increase the gains ever so slowly, til either,
(1.) the volume you want is reached, or most likely,
(2.) the slightest signs of distortion start to creep in.......
if its (2.) you have reached slight distortion, you need to back the gain off a bit, the more that little bit is, the better and clearer, and longer lasting your system will be.

....The rears....
Select the High Pass filter for this too, the lowest point would either be 40Hz, or 10 Hz below the lowest frequency the 6x9's can efficiently play (written on the box or in the manual) the Idea is to avoid sending it 20-30Hz, cause we wasting power and efficiency, once again..... Its also a good idea to set the Fader to Rear 100%.
Wind the gains all the ways down......
Connect the rear RCA's, this time disconnect the fronts, we need to hear the distortion point of the rears......
Once again, with the H/Unit set to Full volume, gradual increases in the gains to where a satisfactory volume has been acheived, or the distortion starts to creep in, back it off til the distortion is gone.....

...MP3's ...
If you have the option of playing MP3's via USB, you'll find modern decks have a signal level adjustment for each source, so the radio will be an equal volume to the other sources at the same vol level indicated on the dial....
some call it SLA, some call it Volume adjust.....What ever your brand calls it, We are going to use that for something else....
Now that you have set the volume to safe level where any Muppet can get hold of your volume knob without destroying your gear, if you listen to MP3's via USB , distortion will set in earlier...
Set the USB signal level adjustment down a couple of notches, MP3's wont play as loud as a CD, but will play clear and extend the life of your gear....
If you listen mp3's on CD or DVD, you should consider dropping your gains even further to a safe distortion free level.....

Reconnect all your RCA's set your Fader back where you like it, drop the balance a click or two over to the left.....And buy me a carton of beer.....

Many people will do this with their H/Unit volume set at 40/50 or 80% etc....
Their systems will distort when pushed, this way is much safer....
If you have heard of a cheaper brand that can't send 100% distortion free signal. Let me know, let every one know..it will be crap.....

Let me know if I have missed anything....

Link Added Tuning from MEA
http://www.mobileelectronics.com.au/forums/index.php?/topic/35875-tutorial-amplifier-gain-crossover-adjustment/

Marty

Its worthwile noting, that if you make any changes to your H/Unit settings, Boosting with the EQ, Super bass, Triple Quantum Bass Expander multiplier Factor 10, you should retune your gains so te system remains clear, we can hear distortion at 10%, damage occurs @ 1%....

Brief Clipping Explanation (http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91867&p=1444323&viewfull=1#post1444323)

OK, that write up passed the the test, AmmoJammo was reading it for 5 mins and moved on without leaving a comment lol

Woow, THank you so much for the write up Sh00t!!

Very easy to understand well explained! Cant wait till i get home and tune my sound.

Ive saved a copy of this post incase AMC goes under maintenance not allow me to access this info (Y)

Cool, let me know how it goes!

OK, that write up passed the the test, AmmoJammo was reading it for 5 mins and moved on without leaving a comment lol

no it didn't, you posted it as I was leaving for work.




1. Your AMP earth wire should be less than 12" / 30cm and be equal or larger to the power wire, earth as close to the chassis rail as possible, and stripped of paint.

2. All power wire passing through the Firewall (LHguard for many of us) is required by law to be fused, and should be done with 18"/45cm of the battery......Failing to do this is dangerous and defectable.....

3. If you select High pass and the adjacent freq control is on 50hz, all freq below 50Hz will be filtered out...

4. ....Full Range.....
Rarely used, can be used when setting crossovers at a head unit, but this not an efficient way to run amps....Using the amp properly will conserve power, and even fuel....

5. A lot of people have found it very difficult to get good mids from the front splits in the doors of a magna, if you want to set the loudness to ON, do it now.....

6. Next, put in a disc and turn your head unit all the way up, yep, all the way.......Every decent manufacturer has designed a H/U to be connected to amps, the signal coming from the H/Unit will be distortion free, thats why we chose a good CD.....


1. 30cm earth cable isn't necessary, and often wouldn't even be practical. As long as its the same gauge as the positive, and solidly attached to the car, it will be fine, also, be sure to upgrade the ground cable under the bonnet, no point having a 4ga cable to the amp, if the stock batter to chassis ground is only 8ga.

2. I've never heard this mentioned as a legal requirement before? But of course you should be fusing.

3. Not all frequencies will be filtered, its a slope, so if you filter at 100Hz, at 12dB per octave, every octave (halving of the frequency) will be reduced by 12dB, so 50Hz would be 12dB down, 25Hz at -24dB, etc, so lower frequencies will still be playing.

4. Its a much better idea to use the crossover settings on the headunit rather than the amp, you can set exactly the frequency you want, rather than twiddling a knob to somewhere around the right place. Using the amps crossovers won't save power, or fuel, thats just nonsense?

5. Please don't put the loudness on, it'll just result in you clipping some frequencies before others.

6. Don't turn the headunit all the way up, I'm yet to find a deck that doesn't clip before full volume, if you don't have access to an oscilloscope, then just set the volume 2 or 3 notches below full volume, it should be ok.

no it didn't, you posted it as I was leaving for work.




1. 30cm earth cable isn't necessary, and often wouldn't even be practical. As long as its the same gauge as the positive, and solidly attached to the car, it will be fine, also, be sure to upgrade the ground cable under the bonnet, no point having a 4ga cable to the amp, if the stock batter to chassis ground is only 8ga.

2. I've never heard this mentioned as a legal requirement before? But of course you should be fusing.

3. Not all frequencies will be filtered, its a slope, so if you filter at 100Hz, at 12dB per octave, every octave (halving of the frequency) will be reduced by 12dB, so 50Hz would be 12dB down, 25Hz at -24dB, etc, so lower frequencies will still be playing.

4. Its a much better idea to use the crossover settings on the headunit rather than the amp, you can set exactly the frequency you want, rather than twiddling a knob to somewhere around the right place. Using the amps crossovers won't save power, or fuel, thats just nonsense?

5. Please don't put the loudness on, it'll just result in you clipping some frequencies before others.

6. Don't turn the headunit all the way up, I'm yet to find a deck that doesn't clip before full volume, if you don't have access to an oscilloscope, then just set the volume 2 or 3 notches below full volume, it should be ok.

What magna did you ever own again? or why are you here? Stupid little unwanted troll

If you dont understand, thats your problem, but for the benefit of the OP....


no it didn't, you posted it as I was leaving for work.

Should have left it at that




1. 30cm earth cable isn't necessary, and often wouldn't even be practical. As long as its the same gauge as the positive, and solidly attached to the car, it will be fine, also, be sure to upgrade the ground cable under the bonnet, no point having a 4ga cable to the amp, if the stock batter to chassis ground is only 8ga.

Short Cable runs mean less resistance, we cant control chassis resistance, but we can control the resistance through the earth run, this means two things, less heat, and more power....



2. I've never heard this mentioned as a legal requirement before? But of course you should be fusing.

Everything else is, do your research.... Defectable.

3. Not all frequencies will be filtered, its a slope, so if you filter at 100Hz, at 12dB per octave, every octave (halving of the frequency) will be reduced by 12dB, so 50Hz would be 12dB down, 25Hz at -24dB, etc, so lower frequencies will still be playing.

We control cutoffs at the amp, this safely filters unwanted frequencies at the amp, leads to a long lasting system, Ideal for a new guy playing with audio, you can still use the H/U cutoffs. In case the H/Unit is set wrong. The cutoff offs at the amp we are working with are also sloped, many amps are now mate..... its just a way to for a guy set a safe tune by himself, with out advanced experience, its not an advanced session in car audio.

4. Its a much better idea to use the crossover settings on the headunit rather than the amp, you can set exactly the frequency you want, rather than twiddling a knob to somewhere around the right place. Using the amps crossovers won't save power, or fuel, thats just nonsense?

Any electrical power created by a car, needs to be made or replaced by the alternator, for e.g. even DRL's (instead of lights) save you fuel in the long run, I didn't say its a lot of fuel, but it will....why do something inefficiently?

5. Please don't put the loudness on, it'll just result in you clipping some frequencies before others.

If its tuned the way I said, the mids will be the first to distort, then turn the amp down til it does not clip, its better than tuning without it on, and turning it on later....This will ensure you get the loudest cleanest mids, it was a choice too!

6. Don't turn the headunit all the way up, I'm yet to find a deck that doesn't clip before full volume, if you don't have access to an oscilloscope, then just set the volume 2 or 3 notches below full volume, it should be ok.
:nuts:An H/Unit running RCA's only can't clip, it the amp that clips... A H/Unit running on its internal amps will probably distort (MP3 etc), cause of the cheap internal amps inside, better H/Units may not.... Eclipse etc. Could you imagine the warranty claims by Pioneer, JVC, Sony, Alpine, Clarion if their H/Units were unable to provide a clean signal, out to their Aftermarket Amps and speakers....
I am able turn my system up full clean and loud, and the system before that.....And on H/Units below $300.00....
Perhaps you should read the MEA link I provided, and you'll see how incorrect you (AmmoJammo) are....


Now if you have anything informative or actually correct to add, please respond...
Otherwise listen to Mr SPL.......

BTW, just to put my money where my mouth is.... I am happy to give a video demonstration of my system running full tilt, tuned this way.
I have a rough idea that my splits alone would cost more than this entire system, but my deck is only 300.00....

If you dont understand, thats your problem, but for the benefit of the OP....



Now if you have anything informative or actually correct to add, please respond...
Otherwise listen to Mr SPL.......

BTW, just to put my money where my mouth is.... I am happy to give a video demonstration of my system running full tilt, tuned this way.
I have a rough idea that my splits alone would cost more than this entire system, but my deck is only 300.00....

Be Careful Marty..

You dont want those Focals to clip because you're running from the deck.. right?

SuFz :ninja:

Well, funny that, it started to distort, coz I boosted the mids, bought the gains down again, its all good, dilligaf Barina will attest to that....

AHAHAHAHA, so glad you people only deal with 12V. Next someone will say that their 4000watt RMS car sub is obviously louder and better than my 300watt 3015LF :P

Home audio is busted down to 12v DC, for signal processingcause of the clean power, but most of the car monos output more AC power via the speaker wire than all but the elite HT stuff.

Forgot to mention, if you are getting system noise, try this tuning method...It will help a lot...
As for Line out levels, I have no method for, but it helped Knotched....

He has to be right all the time, I deal with him in real life. Goes to the sound events I go to etc. pulled apart my mates car cause he was looking for something, no permission and he just about copped a punch in the head for it. Go back to Mea and troll, you are useless here

I never mentioned home audio SHOOT, I'm talking pro audio. My current project amp is 600V DC B+, although I will give car audio one thing, they really helped in the development of switch mode power supplies and class D power amp topology.

I will add that AmmoJammo makes a couple of good points and a couple of useless ones, firstly that your ground only needs to be the same gauge as the rest and that setting your x-over with a specific frequency is best practise. If you have good ears you could just use the dial on the amp, it also depends on which one is using a better x-over. But SHOOT doesn't say anything 'wrong' either, alot of it is subjective. Judge with your ears, not your eyes and their bias!

Anyway, I haven't played with car audio enough to really help, but it does sounds like early clipping. Either by trying to push too much lows or having to push the amp too hard to get the wanted volume, ever had a chunk of voice coil fly through the cone at your head? I have... 3 of them at head height from an 810 cabinet.

There is a small chance it could be a power supply issue to the amp? I've had low freq distortion before because the wall socket couldn't supply enough current to power the amp properly, three phase power fixed the problem

Edit: SHOOT, a speaker will never see AC. things go bad if it does. Also, there is no such thing as clean power, you can do signal processing at any level and make it clean. lowering to 12V DC is done when there are IC's in the circuit, they were developed originally for computer use, which is 12V DC.

I never mentioned home audio SHOOT, I'm talking pro audio.

Edit: SHOOT, a speaker will never see AC. things go bad if it does. Also, there is no such thing as clean power, you can do signal processing at any level and make it clean. lowering to 12V DC is done when there are IC's in the circuit, they were developed originally for computer use, which is 12V DC.

I am now convinced you know very little about audio....
DC power will hold a speaker still. You need alternating current for it move in and out...
Check it out...

AC current is very noisy, signal processing is done with DC.
From amps to CD/DVD players......audio or video....

Whats wrong the grounding advice, same or larger...
Just not smaller... Really some of you guys ......



Forget any myths you may heard, do your research...
If you want a noiseless safe system that lasts a long time, call me....

Oh your right there, i read and typed my AC and DC the wrong way round, where is the highly embarressed smiley?

and yes signal processing DC, but like I said, any voltage or current level.

I am actually on your side btw, if I was going to do a fancy install I'd take your advice over my own (building vacuum tube amplifiers and studio monitors is another story) even if it doesn't seem it :D Your information actually on-topic and will help the OP, I'm just rambling with my lack of sleep and avoiding psych assignments.

Cool Cool.....

I wasn't clear about processing DC, versus output AC...
Not helpful to the op are we...

Oh, pantsman, :confidence restored:

Nope,

I think more questions need to be asked of OP to start ruling things out. The AC/DC (hehe) thing gets confusing for me, because I've been talking to an electrical engineer and his power amps do both AC and DC as they control motors not speakers.

It could be something as simple as the specs were overstated on the drivers and they have really low sensitivity?

How about you guys just flop it out and get it over with? LOL! Just playin..

simonhaha: Follow the simple tuning guide and see how you go.. Dont go replacing anything yet. Those Cadence splits should do you some good! I went and had a listen to them or similar ones anyway and they can really sound half decent.

SuFz :ninja:

He has to be right all the time, I deal with him in real life. Goes to the sound events I go to etc. pulled apart my mates car cause he was looking for something, no permission and he just about copped a punch in the head for it.

haha! you mean the trim panel that basically fell off when I was simply trying to feel if the roof liner ran under it or not? I highly doubt Braden was too worried about that being unclipped :/

anyway, good luck guys! no point arguing with the "experts"

Thanks guys really appreciate all input everyone has put in.

Havent had a chance to touch my sound system yet as it is effin freezing and wet outside at the moment.

The cadence speakers are not bad, the tweeters are just massive and they kinda over power everything when, they litterally scream at your ears
Just concerned about the rears, the clipping of the speakers at higher volumes is horribad.

as Sh00t said, set it just to project higher pitch sounds and let the subs do all the bass.

Maybe my speakers are alright, the amp ive got was on special which came with a free wiring kit.. kinda cheapish, sort of expecting cheapish quality out of it, bought for $150. Ill get it tuned and if it still dosent satisfy me, reckon i go out to buy better speakers or better amp?

Cheers
Simon

While you have ( comparitively ) cheaper gear, get out and play and learn, its better that learn on the cheaper gear, than make a mistake with expensive stuff!

You wanna know the real problem, the splits are in a verada or magna? If verada the doors are way to big for those splits freeair and the door trims muffle the sound. The rear speakers probably could do with some deadening also. I would also say the gains are two high, all of this coupled with I would assume unsealed doors would produce rubbish quality sound. Check crossovers and make sure they are not set to off, pass etc

haha! you mean the trim panel that basically fell off when I was simply trying to feel if the roof liner ran under it or not? I highly doubt Braden was too worried about that being unclipped :/

anyway, good luck guys! no point arguing with the "experts"

No James you ripped it off, broke a clip also. Regardless you just had to be right, in the end you were wrong anyway. Was not your car and yeah it did annoy him. I'm telling you right now if it was my car I would have dropped you without even thinking. No respect

No James you ripped it off, broke a clip also. Regardless you just had to be right, in the end you were wrong anyway. Was not your car and yeah it did annoy him. I'm telling you right now if it was my car I would have dropped you without even thinking. No respect

ROFLMAO!

Honestly.. I havent had a good laugh like this in a while.

AmmoJammo FOR THE BAN!

Back on topic though..

simonhaha: Dont buy anything new.. Have a play with tuning. - Drop your gains and play with your crossovers. - Remember what is playing what..

Tweeters - High
Woofers - Mid
Subs - Low

Thats the basics of basics.

Try to get your woofers giving you some mid range punch and great vocals

Clean the subs up while you're at it too.. Make sure they ONLY play Low Range frequencies, no vocals, no guitars etc. JUST BASS!

SuFz :ninja:

Simonhaha, if you want help tuning your system give us a bell, I'll meet up with you somewhere and we'll get it sorted!

Simonhaha, if you want help tuning your system give us a bell, I'll meet up with you somewhere and we'll get it sorted!

Problem Sorted!

/end thread

ok here.it is guys, sorry took me a.while to get back to u guys

ive worked on tuning ny car last night
ive cranked up my hu and turned my amp right down to start off with

ive turned up the amp slowly before any distortion comes, it seems that my speakers were already getting distorted less than 25% of the gains up. other than that, it made my rears sound a hella lot better

not sure why the fronts are doing this,
any ideas guys?

It could be a number of things,
But I would mark or take a picture of where the gains is set for the rear/ channel. You can refer to it later....

It could be the install of the front speakers, loose stuff in the door, speaker striking the card. (likely)
It could be the RCA's (doubt it)
Or the Fronts might already be damaged.....(maybe)
Gains too high still (fronts) Overdriving (Maybe)


Seeing as the rears are working fine, Lets test the RCA's -
Take the rear RCA's off the Amp, and connect the front RCA's to the rear Channels (Ensure the Fader is set equal Front/Back). If the front RCA's can drive the rear channels cleanly, the RCA's are good......and continue..

Checking the fronts for problems...

I would take the door cards off for this, it will tell you if the problems are from the door card rattle, loose fitment, speaker striking the Card.

To test the Front speakers themselves, just to give them a clean bill of health, you can wire the front speakers to the rear channels and rear RCA's with the gains reduced, I'd do this with cards off, it should be distortion Free...... (The rears are proven Clean)
If this distorts with the cards off, and its the speaker, not the environment, the fronts are probably gone....


( its quite normal for systems to run no Gain at all, me for example, I have put it up, but choose not to (Very Safe).

Also, the fronts gains can be set lower than the rears, they could distort from to much power, not just from clipping.

Not as clear this morning, need more coffee....

You have my number... I've got lots of credit

Remember that the gain's aren't a volume control, they're there to match the output with the input voltage provided by your head unit. There may not necessarily be anything wrong with the gains being that low.

My offer is still there to help you set it up properly. It's good to try and learn and work things out on your own, just remember with this sort of stuff it's very easy to do a lot of expensive damage to your system setting it up incorrectly, and sometimes the best way to learn is to do it with somebody who knows what they're doing. It's how I learnt how to set mine up properly, I took advice and worked through it with a sound engineer who'd be doing it for years.

i think it sounds quite ok now, the difference is only a tad better than the standard speakers i had.

Does having the gain that low mean that i am not using my amp to its full potential? or is it my gear that is low quality.
Im thinking of getting maybe a better amp, one with a higher RMS rating, maybe upgrading my splits while im at it too. with dymatted doors

really want to get the quality that i really want. looks as if my setup is worked to its full potential.

maybe i just need a system with more grunt as to what ive got is very standard... compared to all the other choices i coulda gone with at JBHIFI

Well you might be expecting miracles from a rather entry level amp.....
I would get lugo to come around and bridge the the fronts for you, you wont have the 6x9's for a while but you'll run splits and a sub, and there aint nothing better than that....
Plus, he will probably give you about 110-130 Watts at the splits to play with.....
And you get to try a bigger amp out for free....
You've, rather kindly, been offered help, my advice, take it.......



Thats good advice..
Lugo, I might Quote you on that and add it in to the guide.....

As well as this....



Its not unusual for gains to set at Zero....
Especially with new head unit with Hi Voltage signals. The idea of Hi Volt outputs is to help prevent noise being inducted through the cable on the way to the Amp.
The New amps will are designed to accept this with little or signal assitance..
If you a really old H/Unit with 2 Volts or less, then that what the gains are usually for, to take the incoming signal, boosting it to working level..

But hey, they put knobs on the amp, and you bought it, those knobs are yours , everyboby would play with them if the give you more volume.....
Its kind of strange really, but there are no signal standards in the auto audio industry....
But its way better to have a lower volume and have your gear last years, than to thrash or destroy in a matter weeks/hours/minutes....

But the golden rule would have to leave them on Zero, until you know what you are doing....
But zero aint zero, thats where it differs from a volume knob...
So if you have an 8 volt ready Amp, with a 2 volt output H/Unit its better to run the speakers in for a couple of of weeks, with 25% - 30% volume, than to kill em...Or have friends kill em....
Keep it at that til you find some-one to help you, or you pay someone to do it, its worth it....

Most of the head units we get to play with now have 2,3,4,5 even 8 volt preouts, no wonder its hard to set the bloody things...

If that amp Bridges, JB have it as 3/4 Channel.... I hate Sony....
No it wont Bridge.....POS

Buy the Amp that Cracka has for sale..... 4 x 130..

I gotta ask, what was the deal with fronts? -


Edit:
Before I say get a bigger amp lol

Might as well tell us - you could save one of us a bit of moolah

I think prior to changing anything the priority should be getting what's installed running to it's full potential. Once we've got it up and running how it should be, the decision can then be fairly made as to whether or not gear should be upgraded. It's a bottomless pit car audio, I've spent thousands on it and still haven't got complete satisfaction, the idea is to get your setup running as best it can, then deciding if that is what you can live with :P

I also hate sony. Kenwood or pioneer at least. Alpine still make some decent gear.

No James you ripped it off, broke a clip also. Regardless you just had to be right, in the end you were wrong anyway. Was not your car and yeah it did annoy him. I'm telling you right now if it was my car I would have dropped you without even thinking. No respect

How about you pair of girls go and get a room, why can you not have differing opinions without then making threats against each other. Keep this up and I will drop you BOTH off these forums for a few months to cool off.......

What an interested read this was, got to page 3 and couldn't go any further.

I would like to know how the O.P is going with this however?

I'd be interested to know as well. Yet to hear a word in terms of taking up my offer to help, so I can only assume he's found a mate or something with some know-how to help out, or he's just thrashing the system until something fails. One of the two lol

Hey guys,

Sorry for such late reply on this thread you guys been very helpful, poor KE is making more trouble guzzling a hela lot more like it did before... Almost lost heart for it. Very depressing,

I have 2 options for the future before doing anything more to the car.

1. Try to revive the car, get the professional from the East to check it out, maybe getting a 380 conversion plus 5speed plus retune? = $5000
OR
2. Get a bank loan and get a newish car more fuel economical and chuck my sound in it.

I am very keen on improving my sound system on the KE, ill have to prostpone this on a further date maybe after a decision has been made.

Ill definitely keep you guys posted, thank you for you interest.

Simon