Alpine CD Player - How do I make it sound good? :-)

[thxphotog]

I have a Honda Accord and have kept the factory 6-disc changer until today. It's been a workhorse and always sounded great with my 4-channel amp running aftermarket speaks all around and a 2 channel amp running my 10" sub with bass mgmt wired to the factory unit.

The disc player just died so i replaced it with an Alpine CDE-W235BT so I could keep my steering wheel controls, get blu-tooth etc. The install just matched what was there and everything works great but ****; doesn't sound nearly as satisfying as my factory unit. With all the 'mid/treb/bass' 'width'/level adjustments etc I could sit in my hot driveway for a month playing with it trying to find anything that doesn't doesn't sound 'processed' but I don't want to. Who has time??

Anybody have any advice on how to get a nice, warm, natural tone out of these units?

Any tips certainly appreciated.

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[thxphotog]

OK, I think I've got it. At least close. Finding and setting the factory EQ to 'flat' did wonders. I guess a factory setting out of the box as 'user' was doing something wonky with it. Now it at least appears I'm close and can mess with it from here.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

did you change wiring so you have RCA's to the amps instead of using speaker wire/LOC? that will make a HUGE improvement.

and yes, Alpine defaults to EQ's and their MX setting, all of which i turn off.

 

[thxphotog]

did you change wiring so you have RCA's to the amps instead of using speaker wire/LOC? that will make a HUGE improvement.
and yes, Alpine defaults to EQ's and their MX setting, all of which i turn off.

Yes, I've always had RCA's to the amps. Thanks much for the reply. Amazing the immediate difference (improvement) that's made by defeating the factory EQ. Are there any other settings in there hiding somewhere that can be defeated/bypassed??

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

yea, turn off Media Expander (MX)