Car Audio Beginner

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Smoothio

CarAudio.com Newbie
I have a car audio set up that I'm trying to perfect and I have a few questions I was hoping some kind soul could answer.

Setup:

2000 Chevy Impala

2x 12" Kicker CompVR subwoofers; 2 ohms; 800w peak power; 400w rms power; ported box; 25-500 HZ frequency response

2x 6.5" Kicker DS-Series 2 way coaxial front door speakers; 4 ohms; 240w peak power; 40-20,000 HZ frequency response

2x 6x9" Kicker DS-Series 3 way rear panel speakers; 4 ohms; 360w peak power; 30-20,000 HZ frequency response

1000.1 D-Series Kicker Amplifier (1000w RMSx1 @ 2 ohms) Model 11DX1000.1

Kenwood DPX503BT Head Unit; Amp Max power = 50Wx4; Full Bandwidth Power = 22Wx4

I'm trying to squeeze as much potential out of my system as I can without distortion and I have a few questions:

1. Does the headunit provide enough power to my front/rear panel speakers? Should I buy an amp for my front/rear panel speakers? If so how many watts and how many channels? Will an amp be too much or is it necessary for this setup? Without the subs the speakers sound a little bit low even on max volume. I want to squeeze as much potential as I can out of the speakers without damaging them mind you. Basically I want a lot of bass, clear sound and no distortion if possible.

2. I have my crossovers set to 60hz with a -24db slope on all speakers+subs. I set the subsonic filter to 30hz and the amp crossover is set all the way to 200 or through (I believe?) and all of my crossovers are set on my head unit. Since I set the slope for the subwoofers on my head unit, does it add to the default slope (-18db) of the amp even though the LPF is set through on the subwoofer amp? In other words, I set the slope for the subs on the headunit to -24db the default slope on the amp is -18 db would that make the slope -42db? or will it be -24 db as specified on the head unit? On my head unit I can set the slope to as low as -6db but I cant turn it off. If it adds together I assume I can set my headunit to a -6db slope and along with the -18db slope on the amp it would add up to a -24db slope. I cant tell any difference by ear when I change the settings.

3. Do you guys think those are good settings for LPF, HPF, and slope? What are your thoughts and what do you recommend based on my setup? Do I have too steep of a slope?

4. My subs came with a car that I bought and already had a ported box. I don't know what the box is "tuned at". Is there a way to figure that out easily? My subsonic filter goes from 15hz-30hz. I set it on 30hz just to be safe. That's as high as it will go on my amp. I heard it was important that its set correctly with a ported box. Does having a ported box effect how I need to set my other low pass and high pass filters?

5. Is there anything important you guys think I might be missing? Anything you think I need to know as a beginner? If you have any questions for me I'll be happy to answer or if you need me to find more information. I have tons of questions swirling around because I'm really new at this so I might ask some more when I can coherently think of them.

Any help you guys got would be GREATLY appreciated. I got in a car accident and smashed a deer and my car. Got a new car (first car I ever had that was nice with no dents) and I just want to have the sound set perfect because all I do is work, read, and listen to tons and tons of music. I know you guys know a lot more than me so I appreciate the knowledge.

Love ya's
 
Welcome!

1. The head unit will start to distort long before the speakers will. You're limiting overall volume output and clarity by using the head unit. Note that the amplifier chip inside the head unit is the size of a quarter. You can only expect so much. A 4 channel amp for the speakers is preferred, but adds cost and complexity. I always power my speakers from a quality external amplifier.

2. Slopes will add if set identically. My recommendation is to use 24dB on the head unit for both speakers and subs. Leave subsonic on at the amp. Set the amp LPF to through.

3. 60Hz is pretty low, you may be much happier near 80Hz given the speakers you've chosen.

4. The tuning of the box is based on the volume of the box and the area and length of the port. You can use an online speaker box calculator to check once you have the dimensions. It is expected to have the subsonic filter set just lower than the box tuning.

5. The process of installing audio is tedious and time consuming. Attention to detail when routing wiring and making connections will help system reliability and longevity. Most issues are wiring-based and not equipment selection. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need. Quote or Mention (or PM) people you want to notify. My build logs can be a long but useful resource in how-to examples.
 
Hey thank you so much for your response! It really helped sorry I took so long to get back I work a lot of overtime and I've just been tweaking around with a lot of different stuff trying to do it right.

Okay, so I bought a Kicker CXA 360.4 - 360w rms rated, (actually on the certificate inside it says 428w rms certified on a little diploma, but I'm new to this) 4 channel amp to run my speakers.

My front 6.5 " 4 ohm speakers have a rating of 60w rms, and rear deck 6x9" 4 ohm speakers have a rating of 70w rms so this amp should be able to run them at 65Wx4 rms. Am I right?

I'm not sure how the gain from the amp, tied in with the volume from the head unit + all of the other settings, actually send wattage to the speakers though. Like I don't know the exact wattage that is going to the speakers when I change anything. I think I saw a guy using a multi-meter and just testing the speakers and setting the gain at the correct numbers on a youtube video that I was watching.

My box has 2 ports and its "slanted" on the back. I'm not sure if either of those facts affect anything. I want to measure it but I cant find my tape measure. I'll find it or go buy one today and figure out how to measure it correctly.

You were right about 60hz being to low it sounds a lot better in general when I raised it up to 80hz. Actually it sounds pretty good at 100hz too. I have a question though, is it okay to set the hpf on the front and deck speakers at like 120 hz and set the lpf on the sub at like 80hz? I keep hearing different things about that. I thought I knew before but I've become confused about it lol.

Thank you so much for taking your time to respond and I apologize for the late response you've helped a lot tho.
 
Another question if I may, I'm thinking about getting a remote bass knob as well. Just so I have more control.

I listen to a variety of music. If it sounds bassy on a band like royal blood or something, then I would like to be able to turn it down easily without going into the head unit.

I was wondering If I needed to get 2 of them for each amp. Seems like the more control the better, but I don't know if that's overboard.

Bass is the only thing that I constantly adjust when I'm listening through songs. (other than volume)

What I was thinking about basically was turning the bass knob/knobs all the way up, setting the gain to the max level that I want (without clipping and distortion), then just using the knob to turn the bass down on songs that have a little too much bass (based on my preferred settings) or if I just don't want things to bump so hard at the moment. That way it can't be accidentally turned up too much or anything, if its max its max.

Sound like a good plan? Like I say I'm pretty new at this so bare with me. Thanks for the help.
 
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Smoothio

CarAudio.com Newbie
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