Adjusting Bass/Treble Frequencies on Car Stereo?

[bjtheman1]

I'm trying to get everything to sound great, I listen to many types of music but do love some bass. I've been playing with the equalizer but as far as frequencies and their meanings I'm not the most educated there.

Just wanting to get some tips on settings/frequencies in order to get my system sounding perfect. right now some songs sound good but others sound weak especially the bass when I know they should sound better.

I have:
Pioneer AVH-3200DVD
Polk Audio 5X7'S Fronts/Rears
Stock Shaker 500 8" Subs
Kicker 350.2 Amp
10" Kicker CompVr sub

[jluv]

No matter what, different songs will always play differently with equal settings, because of the way they are recorded, what source you are playing them from, etc. So, you may always be adjusting your settings to make each song sound perfect.

I'm not familiar with those products, but do you have any crossovers in your head unit, and/or amp, and/or dedicated external ones for your Polks?

Do you have any other equalization control? If so, how much? I avoid using the bass/treble controls if I can use an EQ instead.

[momo]

Just a real generic way to understand audio:
Hertz (Hz) is a unit of measure for frequency.
Decibel (dB) is a measurement of sound (volume)

think of the audio frequency scale as a line that runs left to right.
the accepted audible range is 20Hz (start) to 20,000 Hz(end).
20Hz is about as low as you can hear. (bass) *note, you can feel less than 20Hz though!
20kHz is about as high as you can hear. (treble) *note, a lot of audiophiles say 40kHz now.

Now this line goes up and down as well. When it is flat it is at 0 dB
This line can adjusted to have peaks and valleys. This is done by adding or subtracting dBs to certain areas on that line.

These aren’t official or anything but the ranges are:

0-80 is sub bass. (subwoofer)
80-120 is bass.
120-300 is mid bass.
300-5000 is mid-range.
5000+ is treble. (tweeters)


When you make an adjustment to your EQ at a frequency you create a spike at that specific frequency but it effects a range of frequencies before and after it. that width that it effects is called an octave.
So you don’t create a spike, you actually create a hill or mountain or valley.

So if you want to boost bass volume and you don’t have a sub control on the head unit, you can do it by increasing +X db on at the appropriate frequency using the EQ.
The sloppy way to increase bass is to boost the gain on the amp. Don’t do it, gain adds distortion.

Hope that helps. Here is a picture to help visualize the spectrum and an EQ.

[momo]

yea, like jluv said, dont use bass treble controls. keep those flat.
also don't increase amplifier gains.

i would imagine your pioneer unit would have:
1. crossovers for your pre-outs.
2. sub control for your sub pre-out.
3. a multiband equilizer.


that's the order i would adjust things too.

[bjtheman1]

yea, like jluv said, dont use bass treble controls. keep those flat.
also don't increase amplifier gains.

i would imagine your pioneer unit would have:
1. crossovers for your pre-outs.
2. sub control for your sub pre-out.
3. a multiband equilizer.


that's the order i would adjust things too.

Yes, my head unit has all of those features. Thanks for the info I'll be toying with it this weekend.

[momo]

Yes, my head unit has all of those features. Thanks for the info I'll be toying with it this weekend.

did you make it sound better?

[bjtheman1]

did you make it sound better?

Getting there, with my last setup using the same amp & sub it just seemed like the bass sounded alot better than right now. I'll be messing with it more this weekend.

[momo]

Getting there, with my last setup using the same amp & sub it just seemed like the bass sounded alot better than right now. I'll be messing with it more this weekend.

this is your sub?

http://www.kicker.com/compvr

single 10"?
what kind of enclose is the sub in? sealed, ported, or bandpass?

[bjtheman1]

Actually I have an older model:

http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-CompVR-07CVR104-10-Inch-Subwoofer/dp/B000N8HX90

My enclosure is like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-SEV10CC-10-Inch-Subwoofer-Enclosure/dp/B003E476A6/ref=sr_1_63?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299166452&sr=1-63

[momo]

so the sub is dual voice coil 4 ohm + 4 ohm?
do you have it hooked up parallel (2ohm) or in series (8ohm)?


are you powering the sub-only off of the 350.2? is it bridged?

[bjtheman1]

so the sub is dual voice coil 4 ohm + 4 ohm?
do you have it hooked up parallel (2ohm) or in series (8ohm)?


are you powering the sub-only off of the 350.2? is it bridged?

My sub is the dual 2ohm I just used the link above for the pic. I have a Kicker 350.2 amp bridged to a 4ohm load.

[momo]

cool. i'd set the LPF on the sub crossover from the head unit to 80hz. up the output level.


how is the old shaker 500 sub and amp hooked up?

[bjtheman1]

cool. i'd set the LPF on the sub crossover from the head unit to 80hz. up the output level.


how is the old shaker 500 sub and amp hooked up?

The Shaker subs are connected to the Sub RCA's on the Pioneer along with the RCA's from my amp. I didn't disconnect any of the factory amps, just used the aftermarket harnesses. The Shaker subs are working and sound alright.