Best way to set up my amp?

[Digitalwave]

Well, since I just received my new Eclipse headunit with no internal power and 8v preouts, I am going to want to readjust my gains and hi-low pass filters on my amp, coming from a single 2v preout...

What is the standard proceedure for setting up an amp? I was thinking put all the EQ's on the head unit at 0 level, adjust the amp till out sounds it's best, then use the HU's EQ setting to fine tune it. I may be way wrong though. Any tips would be appreciated.

[C ///M]

Re: Best way to set up my amp?

I was thinking put all the EQ's on the head unit at 0 level, adjust the amp till out sounds it's best, then use the HU's EQ setting to fine tune it.

sounds like a good idea. I was only planning on using my amps to fine tune the sound how i want.

[KenC]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

[C ///M]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

wow, you're smart.

[KenC]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

wow, you're smart.

I read it in my a/d/s/ manual

[Mystikal]

Yeah, you want the gains to be set a level which allows you to play even quieter CD's to your speakers' and amp's full potential. I'd recommend keeping your EQ to how you normally have it, otherwise you may find the gain setting to be a bit off (bass needs more power, for instance).

[Digitalwave]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

Do I set the deck EQ to "0" levels when doing this? So I can go +6 or -6 from there, after I have tuned it?

[KenC]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

Do I set the deck EQ to "0" levels when doing this? So I can go +6 or -6 from there, after I have tuned it?

Set all levels to 0, then adjust the gains. Then adjust the EQ after

[Beej '86 325es]

Ken,
I'll be setting up some Adire Audio Koda 6 midbass soon with an external amp. How would you suggest setting the gain if I am running speakers off of my head unit as well?

[KenC]

Ken,
I'll be setting up some Adire Audio Koda 6 midbass soon with an external amp. How would you suggest setting the gain if I am running speakers off of my head unit as well?

You can only adjust gains on your external amp, and obviously the speakers running off of the head-unit are going to distort much sooner than the Kodas.

What sort of speakers are running off of the deck?

[Beej '86 325es]

Ken,
I'll be setting up some Adire Audio Koda 6 midbass soon with an external amp. How would you suggest setting the gain if I am running speakers off of my head unit as well?

You can only adjust gains on your external amp, and obviously the speakers running off of the head-unit are going to distort much sooner than the Kodas.

What sort of speakers are running off of the deck?

Just some Massive 5 1/4" components in front and stock premium in back. They're run off the Alpine 9813 (60x4 peak power output). The Koda 6's (whenever Adire gets them in stock), will be run by a 150x2 Polk Momo amp.

[KenC]

Ken,
I'll be setting up some Adire Audio Koda 6 midbass soon with an external amp. How would you suggest setting the gain if I am running speakers off of my head unit as well?

You can only adjust gains on your external amp, and obviously the speakers running off of the head-unit are going to distort much sooner than the Kodas.

What sort of speakers are running off of the deck?

Just some Massive 5 1/4" components in front and stock premium in back. They're run off the Alpine 9813 (60x4 peak power output). The Koda 6's (whenever Adire gets them in stock), will be run by a 150x2 Polk Momo amp.

Unfortunately, unless your headunit has adjustable gains, you're pretty much stuck with adjusting the volume on the deck up until the speakers distort (then back it off a little). And then just adjusting the gains on the amp for the Kodas until they sound good....

[Mystikal]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

Do I set the deck EQ to "0" levels when doing this? So I can go +6 or -6 from there, after I have tuned it?

Set all levels to 0, then adjust the gains. Then adjust the EQ after

I disagree with this.

[KenC]

1. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down
2. Turn the volume on your deck all the way up (highest number it will go to).
3. Turn everything on and slowly increase the gains on your amp until you hear the slightest bit of distortion, then back it down a bit until it sounds OK again. Basically you want to be able to crank your deck without being able to disort the speakers. Then use that level as the maximum point you want your gains.
4. Turn front or rear down accordingly.
5. Use the deck or external EQ to control bass/trebble, not the amp.

Do I set the deck EQ to "0" levels when doing this? So I can go +6 or -6 from there, after I have tuned it?

Set all levels to 0, then adjust the gains. Then adjust the EQ after

I disagree with this.

How so? The gains should be set independent of the levels of the individual frequencies.

[spud814]

LOL another argument, time to butt into the fight. :D I have my gains all the way down on the amp, and with my volume all the way up, the speakers sound perfect, heehee, so i dont even have to worry about gains. The procedures Ken told you are just so you protect your speakers from blowing. If you know what your doing, just set your gains so they sound pretty much balance, like how you want it, then EQ the music afterwards, to fix dips and peeks created by the acoustics of the car. Also by having your gains up too high on your speakers, it could create distortion type noise. Ken's procedure is the safe way to go, this way your deck doesnt' exceed the max power your speakers could handle, also to get the most potential out of your amplifer, however it doesn't always sound the best since some people have different limits on their speakers, and some speakers could get louder then others in the car. Balance is KEY!!! Just make everything sound balanced. I personally like to have my gains all the way down, but i do run 200 watts to a side, and i only run front speakers. EQ is used to correct, the dips and peaks of the sound frequency, it changes the way the speakers sound. Gains controls how soon you hit max power.

-gil