Amplifier Tuning Guide (the basics)

[Skunkworks]

E30 cars are 5.25" speakers. Boston and Infiniti are always a good bet.

[StereoInstaller1]

What speakers would you recommend I need to buy 6's for the e30 soon

First, why 6", second, what is the rest of the system?

[Pdxseth]

The rest of the system was all alpine but I put it all in my e28 so now I just have an alpine deck. I'm not sure what amps or speakers to buy, I just thought they were 6's. I'm thinking the Boston accustics look pretty good I've always heard good things about them. I like my alpine amps but maybe you could suggest something better I want a really loud quality sounding system

[StereoInstaller1]

What is your budget? The amp in my E34 is pretty wicked, and you can find it as cheap as $500 online

[Pdxseth]

I'm willing to drop a good amount of money to make the car nice it just takes a while lol 500 is about what I spent on both the alpines ones mono and ones stereo if I can get an all in one amp that would be preferred

[StereoInstaller1]

I will take this beast of a Soundstream over anything I have ever heard under $1K

[aaron325ix]

Luke, this is a well written clear and easy way to make your system sound great. Two guys I work with insisted I print it out for them so they could go tweak their system properly instead of just guessing. thanks again, and this should definitely be a sticky.

one question though. when starting this procedure you said to set your deck to "flat". Would you not want to set it to "user"?

[StereoInstaller1]

Luke, this is a well written clear and easy way to make your system sound great. Two guys I work with insisted I print it out for them so they could go tweak their system properly instead of just guessing. thanks again, and this should definitely be a sticky.

one question though. when starting this procedure you said to set your deck to "flat". Would you not want to set it to "user"?

First, thanks for the kind words! Did your buddies like their systems better after? For those that have never seen me write, it takes a hell of a bunch of effort, it feels really nice to know it makes a difference to people.

So, why "Flat"...well, basically, as long as there is no boost or cut applied to the signal, there is no difference. As long as everything in the EQ or tone controls is zero, it should be all good.

Basically, if you are boosting a frequency anywhere near the crossover point, the speaker will distort sooner, and you will tune incorrectly, and lose performance.

[vpilarrt]

Am I missing something? In 2c you have the deck turned up to max. In 2d you say that the deck volume is now at the "reference" point. I don't see where you turn down the deck volume and how you determine the "reference" point.

[P Arkus]

Am I missing something? In 2c you have the deck turned up to max. In 2d you say that the deck volume is now at the "reference" point. I don't see where you turn down the deck volume and how you determine the "reference" point.

x2. I would also like to get some clarification to this. Seems like an amazing write up, will have to try it out next time i'm tuning a system!

[AbsorbantNut]

Did this yesterday and now my stereo sounds even better! Thanks Luke for helping out the community

[jottati]

Did this today, now my e30 sounds as good as my e90 with premium sound!

[StereoInstaller1]

Did this yesterday and now my stereo sounds even better! Thanks Luke for helping out the community

You are so welcome! Glad to hear it helped, thats why I wrote this mess!

Did this today, now my e30 sounds as good as my e90 with premium sound!

Wait...what? If you have one of our boxes and a 5 channel amp, your E30 should destroy an E9X Premium system.

Glad to hear it helped!

Luke

[325ix]

I'm still working at tuning my system. The one thing that still is odd to me is that even with the gains all the way down, I still get sound, and not just faint sound. It is able to play music quite loud on no gain, but it does sound terrible. Do I have my deck amp on still?

[Rmlr]

Reference Volume

Luke Can you shed some light on this? I am a bit confused as well

Am I missing something? In 2c you have the deck turned up to max. In 2d you say that the deck volume is now at the "reference" point. I don't see where you turn down the deck volume and how you determine the "reference" point.