a lil wet behind the ears here...

[Mik3Ripp3r 10+ year member]

Just joined..plan to be here a while...seems like the most active inteligent forum out there... hopin you can help a newbie.

I have a pioneer deh p6800mp (lotsa controls in this HU it seems)

two Memphis m312d2's in the slotted box and two memphis pr1.500's and a 5 farad cap to power these things.

It fits snug in the back of my 1g eclipse facing forward (I dont know if this matters)

My question(s) here are

1. about how high should I set my gains (I dont have an osciliscope (sp?) and just want to kinda them set to basically where they should be without pushing the subs too hard.

2. should I use mu subsonic and low pass filters on my amps and if so about where should I have them set? I listen to alot of rap and bass tracks mostly (once again I dont know if this matters)

and 3. am I gonna have to employ some 10's or some 6x9's to get more "kick".... Im pretty sure I got the lows handled I just wanna feel more punch some time

oh and one more thing.....should I be daisy chaining my amps off one RCA or shoul I run both amps seperately from the HU?

thanks in advance

Click to read more...

 

[nateberrier 10+ year member]

First off, welcome. Sounds like you have some decen equipment to start with. First thing I recommend doing is reading A LOT. bcae1.com is a big help.

1. Set your gains on the conservative side since you cant set them the proper way. you can do it with a DMM and I or someone else can link you if youre interested but it takes a bit of work. If you think there is any chance of distortion then turn them back. With that HU I would stick well below half on the gains. You suggesting a scope tells me that you know they arent volume knobs.

2. I typically set my LPF to around 65 or so, you wont want to hear anything higher than that come from your subs trust me. There are a lot of fegs here tuning high (lol) but srsly you wont need any more than that, set your subsonic to like 20 or so and you should be fine. There is a high pass filter on your HU and youll want to match that to your lpf say 65 for lpf and 80-100 for your hpf, its up to you.

3. If you want more kick you should look into replacing your front speakers with a good set of components and seal up your doors as well as get some sound deadener on them. I would also use an amp to give them the juice they need to get loud and catch the midbass. you wont get any midbass if your doors arent sealed. If you want midbass an amp is necessary. also dont mix subs, thats a bad idea. you can get the mids without a sub. there are midbass drivers and sub drivers and there is a big difference. I would start by replacing the 6x9s and components and putting a little four channel to them.

4. The RCAs, you can just Y them off and it should do fine for you or use the output on one amp and tie it to the other.

5. If youre running that much power youre probably getting voltage drops. I would suggest upgrading electrical, IE a decent battery up front optima,kinetic, remy, deka, etc, and make sure its an AGM not a lead acid. You may also want one in the back, Before you get a batt I would do the big three with 1/0 power wire. Then look into a second batt in the trunk and/or a new alternator with hight output. Hope this helps.

Also dont complain when we give advice you dont like because this is the way it is and trust me were not bsing. electrical is probably where you should start. If youre worried about spending money though, this is NOT a good hobby

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Well first of all, as many will tell you, ditch the cap. It does very little (if anything) to help your electrical. Doing the big 3 will be greatly beneficial.

Next, set your gains with a DMM. JL has a great tutorial that shows you how to do this: JL Audio - Car Audio Systems

You do need to use your subsonic and low pass filters. Subsonic is generally set something like 10hz below your tuning frequency. Did you buy that box pre-built or did you build it yourself? If you bought it pre-built then you probably have no idea what it's tuned to...Low pass is generally set somewhere in the range of 80-120hz, it's all up to personal taste.

I don't know what you mean by more "kick" but if your referring to mid-bass, then no you don't want to use 10's for that. Upgrade your speakers with a decent set of components and you'll probably get the "kick" your looking for.

RCA's can be daisy chained to amps of the same type, if your running two sub amps (which it looks like you are?) then you can go ahead and chain them, but if your running a sub amp and an amp for your door speakers, personally I would run separate RCA's from the HU.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

First off, welcome. Sounds like you have some decen equipment to start with. First thing I recommend doing is reading A LOT. bcae1.com is a big help.
1. Set your gains on the conservative side since you cant set them the proper way. you can do it with a DMM and I or someone else can link you if youre interested but it takes a bit of work. If you think there is any chance of distortion then turn them back. With that HU I would stick well below half on the gains. You suggesting a scope tells me that you know they arent volume knobs.

2. I typically set my LPF to around 65 or so, you wont want to hear anything higher than that come from your subs trust me. There are a lot of fegs here tuning high (lol) but srsly you wont need any more than that, set your subsonic to like 20 or so and you should be fine. There is a high pass filter on your HU and youll want to match that to your lpf say 65 for lpf and 80-100 for your hpf, its up to you.

3. If you want more kick you should look into replacing your front speakers with a good set of components and seal up your doors as well as get some sound deadener on them. I would also use an amp to give them the juice they need to get loud and catch the midbass. you wont get any midbass if your doors arent sealed. If you want midbass an amp is necessary. also dont mix subs, thats a bad idea. you can get the mids without a sub. there are midbass drivers and sub drivers and there is a big difference. I would start by replacing the 6x9s and components and putting a little four channel to them.

4. The RCAs, you can just Y them off and it should do fine for you or use the output on one amp and tie it to the other.

5. If youre running that much power youre probably getting voltage drops. I would suggest upgrading electrical, IE a decent battery up front optima,kinetic, remy, deka, etc, and make sure its an AGM not a lead acid. You may also want one in the back, Before you get a batt I would do the big three with 1/0 power wire. Then look into a second batt in the trunk and/or a new alternator with hight output. Hope this helps.

Also dont complain when we give advice you dont like because this is the way it is and trust me were not bsing. electrical is probably where you should start. If youre worried about spending money though, this is NOT a good hobby

**** it, I was typing fool //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rage.gif.0ad8a6e5565b5fddce406566fdd05149.gif

I agree with everything except the low pass filter...I never set mine that low //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[Mik3Ripp3r 10+ year member]

thanks fellahs...will do....although with the cap I dont notice as much power being pulled from the car (ie dimming, rpm drop) but it still definately is there.

understood about the big three and will get on that asap.

as for deadening my doors.. is there a less expensive alternative to dynomat that I can use?....and should I just pull all the plastic in the trunk area and call it a day?

 

[Mik3Ripp3r 10+ year member]

oh and yeah...I do have a DMM if you know how to identify clipping with one of those..... I havent seen anything in regards to using one of those...

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

oh and yeah...I do have a DMM if you know how to identify clipping with one of those..... I havent seen anything in regards to using one of those...

Well dont think you can identify clipping but you can set it to AC voltage and hook to the pos and neg speaker outputs on the amp. just look here for info under #2 it involves a little math but not bad. And you need a 50hz test tone for the sub amp to set it close

Gain Settings

 

[Mik3Ripp3r 10+ year member]

Well dont think you can identify clipping but you can set it to AC voltage and hook to the pos and neg speaker outputs on the amp. just look here for info under #2 it involves a little math but not bad. And you need a 50hz test tone for the sub amp to set it closeGain Settings

lol....this math is too much for my dumb a**....i'll keep reading as you suggested...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/respekt.gif.b162d148236010609fe523122efe3729.gif

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

thanks fellahs...will do....although with the cap I dont notice as much power being pulled from the car (ie dimming, rpm drop) but it still definately is there.
understood about the big three and will get on that asap.

as for deadening my doors.. is there a less expensive alternative to dynomat that I can use?....and should I just pull all the plastic in the trunk area and call it a day?

Second Skin is decent...there's others too

Sound Deadening Materials for Noise Reduction from Second Skin

Also if that gain tutorial is confusing, try this one...it's more straight forward and interactive, lol

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/support_pages.php?page_id=143

The only thing it doesn't tell you is how to calculate the output voltage if your not using one of their listed amps. It's an easy formula though: Voltage = sqrt(RMS*Impedance)

So say your running 1000w at 1 ohm, it would be the square root of 1000 times 1 which is 31.62V. And that "Impedance" is the load presented to the amp, so it doesn't matter how many subs your running, you just need to know the final load on the amp.

 

[Mik3Ripp3r 10+ year member]

aight fellahs...I just wanted to drop back in and say thanks.... to stop the shaking and solve the vibrating and rattling all in one shot....I cushoned my Memphis pr1.500 amps with stacked foam squares on top of a 1x2 which I also put 3/4" foam between. I have the amp bolted with rubber grommets on both sides of the screws through 3/4" foam squares to the 1x2, and the 1x2 was also padded and thats what I have bolted seperately to the "prefab Memphis slotted box" with Memphis M312D2 subs, and a pioneer DEH p6800mp hu (sorry ppl....the prefab is all I have at the moment) all this creates like a 1" gap at the bottom of the amp with every thing squished slightly down but it creates a floating coushion for the amps having to be on the prefab box in the back of my Eclipse .... got my gains set right and my HU on lock and I just wanna THANK YOU!! This friggin system dumps like a tidal wave of molasses accross the streets!!! I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!! It is the most disgustingly jawdropping sound I have EVER been witness to... thanks! Its hard to describe....my first real experience I guess...

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I agree with everything except the low pass filter...I never set mine that low //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

That's because you dont have a serious midbass setup. 65hz is fine if you are running quality 8's (or similar) in a good install.