TerryH22

This may be old news to a lot of audiophiles out there, but I came across this page from Crutchfield and thought I'd share it with other Sub-Noobs like myself.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-W4Kwthy...rs/tuning.html

DaytonLax14

just use a digital multimeter and for the love of God don't use bass boost

TerryH22

May seem like a silly question, but how does one go about tuning a sub with a multimeter?

OK... researching this a little bit. I've got the Kicker Hideaway, do I try to match that to the factory speaker ohms? Can I assume they are 4 ohm?

Wyo11Scab

iTrader: (1)

My old school way is to set the crossover to where you just start hearing male voices and then back off a tiny bit. Adjust the level to where the bass blends with the door speakers. Have your bass control on your HU to mid position.
If you have a bass control **** on the amp then you can set the amp level higher. This is of course if you don't have an eq where you would do the adjustments.

DaytonLax14

http://knowledge.sonicelectronix.com...l-multi-meter/

On the headunit:
-turn all EQs to flat
-turn off bass boost and leave it
-turn off loudness
-turn off LPF
-turn the volume up to 75% of the max volume


On the Amp:
-set gain to 0
-set LPF to off or if you don't have that option, turn it all the way up
-turn bass boost to 0 and leave it there

Play a test tone that is around 40-50hz and 0 or -5db. Connect your DMM to the speaker outputs on the amp and slowly raise your gain until you get your desired voltage. Boom, your gain is set and don't touch anything on the amp except for your subsonic filter (adjust this so that it is a half octave below your box tuning frequency). Then go back to your headunit and adjust your EQ set your LPF to around 80 or 100hz. Leave bass boost and loudness off.

I'm not sure what a "kicker hideaway" is, I don't mess with Kicker stuff.

If you have a Pioneer headunit, turn your bass level all the way up before setting the gain and leave it (should be +6) to get the maximum amount of voltage our of your RCA inputs. If you have an Alpine or Kenwood, set your bass level to 0 and leave it. Don't get this confused with bass boost.

BStrummin

^^^ droppin' knowledge

DaytonLax14

No offense, but you guys need to search elsewhere for audio advice. There is a lot of sub par and down right crappy advice given in this forum in regards to audio. Again, I'm not saying this in an offensive way.

For instance, setting your gain with a digital multimeter is extremely basic and I don't see that being discussed on this forum. I also see people using loudness and bass boost and other crap like that when they are tuning their amps, both of those are a pretty big no no unless you are an audio veteran and know exactly what you are doing.

And believe it or not, but kicker is not the latest and greatest car audio company. Much more can be had for much less.

TerryH22

Ok, I'm alright with that. I haven't messed with car audio since my teen years in the 70s , so I'm a tad behind the times but trying to learn as much as I can between beers... Of course I'm the one asking for advice, not giving it.

I do have a few questions which may be basic to you, but rather out there for me, if ya don't mind...

Like Do I need to buy "test CD" like described in your link above, or is there another way to go about it?

Another If you don't have LPF, turn what all the way up?

This is what I'm working with. I wanted something that would easily fit behind my back seat and didn't have to build a box with a separate amp, etc... just something easy for a old audio noob.

DaytonLax14

You can download a test tone onto a cd. This page has many different test tones:

http://www.realmofexcursion.com/downloads.htm

LPF is low pass filter. Turn it off at your headunit and amp when setting the gain. Once the gain is set, control the LPF through either your headunit or amp, but NOT BOTH. Set it at 80-100hz.

Almost all sub amps have a LPF ****.

You'd be wayyyyy better off putting a single 8" woofer in a ported enclosure. Idk how much space you have to work with.

Also, I have no experience with that hideaway set up you have.

TerryH22

Ok got it. thanks!

Stock 2015 F150... no LPF at head unit... so will do it at amp.

Kinda late for that, and... as I said before, I had no desire to build a box that would fit in cramped quarters, add separate amp and speaker, etc. I know it would have sounded much better, but just looking for something to add to whats missing.

Plus I was going off of Southpaw's thread which I thought was pretty informative, especially for me, being new to all this modern upgrading...

And... my wife already thought I was nuts for buying the sub anyways, just like when I wanted new tube amp for my Les Paul... so now I have to talk her into letting me get a new small amp (Clarion XC1410 or Alpine KTP 445u) for the stock head unit like I posted in another thread...