Could it be my hu pre out voltage?

[sounds_explicit]

Quick run down. I'm happy with the way my system sounds in a way. I have alot of decent to nice equipment. But I feel my sub stage is lacking even though its 3k rms..
plat agm under hood, 350 amp brand x alt, voltage regulator, all my wiring is ofc except the main zero gauge run from engine to trunk, hertz audio 6.5's, Rockford power 600.4, taramps bass 3k, 2 american bass xr 12's in 6 cubed box before displacement, northstar agm 31 pro in trunk. So I think the problem may be my head unit . Old 2005 ish. pioneer deh 2900 mp.. the hu has 2 volt pre outs and the shop tuned my head unit to 50 out of 62 I'm guessing that's where the radio starts to send a clipped signal? But my sub stage is lacking now it just seems like they arent powerful enough but it's a 3k rms and I had it set on my sub stage at volume lile 58 on headunit and 56 volts from taramps amp. The shop re tuned all my stuff after I added a 4 channel amp at 50 volume and 36.2 volts on the taramps amp?! Does that sound right? So I returned my taramps amp at 50 volume and tuned it to 56 volts myself at a 40 hz tone.. sounds better but I get clipping on headunit sub level volume. -4 . The sub level volume goes from -24 to +6.. when u tuned my taramps myself at volume 58 which is what I normally listened to I didnt have to max out the gain on the taramps amp... at volume 50 I dam. Near have to turn that gain all the way to achieve 56 volts... so my question is is it the low pre out voltage of my head unit ? And if I'm correct will taramps accept up to 4 volts pre out? If so would getting a higher pre out headunit help me achieve getting to 56 volts without maxing out the gain? All head unit settings are flat.

Sorry for long read I just wanted to explain everything in detail.

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

would getting a higher pre out headunit help me achieve getting to 56 volts without maxing out the gain?

Yes and for the cost of a decent head unit these days there's no reason to have all that other nice gear and not update your source unit.

 

[sounds_explicit]

Mkay. I'll look into getting a new head unit. I just never had the reason to upgrade it until now I guess.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

first, set your gains right...

deck volume 3/4
bass and treble = flat
sub deck volume 3/4
crossovers off
0db 50hz tone for sub
0db 1khz tone for mids/highs

heres how, the test tones are at the very bottom BUT make sure deck sub volume is at 3/4. this doesnt say to BUT JLs amp manuals do. i tuned my setup like that, it sounds really good

Amplifier Level Setting Guide

Note:The following article describes the Amplifier Level Setting process for most car audio amplifiers, regardless of brand. Specific target voltages for applicable JL Audio amplifiers are included...

jlaudio.zendesk.com

 

[sounds_explicit]

I'm not gunna mess with my 4 channel because its bridged and I'm not sure how to set gains in a 4 channel when bridged. Do I take the voltage and divide it by 2 or something ? My sub stage sounded waaaaay better when I tuned the sub amp myself rather having the shop do it. They also blew my front door speakers in the process and tried to hide it which is why I'm not going back there and also the reason they set my taramps 3k voltage to 36.2 volts... that's luke 700 watts to each sub... I'll have replacement speakers coming this friday from the manufacturer.

I've never blew subs when I tuned them. But i blew 2 rear speakers off the 4 channel. Because i set the voltage to high. Gave them well over the amount rms they could handle

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

you divide the wattage thats going to the speaker (or sub) by the speakers (or subs) impedance, and then square root that to find the target voltage

whether the amps bridged or not

so if youre running a 100x4 amp, yould use 100 watts

if youre running that amp bridged, it would be like 200 watts, or what ever the amp puts out when its bridged

OR how ever much wattage you want to use. so say if you used a 1,000 watt amp, and only want to use 500 watts, yould divide 500 by the speakers impedance, not 1,000

 

[sounds_explicit]

Ok I will.play a 1k hz tone and measure my voltage coming out of one of the bridged channel and see what it is. I only want to run about 100 watts to my door speakers. I have 4 Hertz centos pros rated at about 95 watts rms. So I would just play a test tone and set front and rear gain to voltage that would measure to square root of 100 watts at 2 ohms?( which is what they are wired to and amp stable at 2 ohms bridged, which the amo is bridged) I plan on adding maybe 2 more on each door for total of 8 if I can even run that many properly wattage wise. Would that be possible to run 8 4 ohm 95 rms speakers on the rockford power 600.4? And properly power them? Would I have to run them in series?

 

[SilverSquared 10+ year member]

Even in '05 a ton of HUs had 4v or better.

 

[sounds_explicit]

Even in '05 a ton of HUs had 4v or better.

Thing is, I'm looking for a new hu right now. But I run a taramps and I'm pretty sure 4 volt pre amp is max they will take. I cant find any pioneer or kenwood that have 4 volts that are even in stock. Been looking all night. Few websites and such. Everything is out of stock

 

[SilverSquared 10+ year member]

Kenwood KMM-BT728HD (kmmbt728hd) Digital Media Receiver w/ HD

Kenwood KMM-BT728HD • Digital Media Receiver w/ HD Radio • Built-in Alexa • Built-in HD Radio • SiriusXM Ready • 13 Band Eq with time alignment • Installation Screw Kit Included

www.sonicelectronix.com

 

[sounds_explicit]

Kenwood KMM-BT728HD (kmmbt728hd) Digital Media Receiver w/ HD

Kenwood KMM-BT728HD • Digital Media Receiver w/ HD Radio • Built-in Alexa • Built-in HD Radio • SiriusXM Ready • 13 Band Eq with time alignment • Installation Screw Kit Included

www.sonicelectronix.com

Says it wont fit my car... ? Lol

 

[SilverSquared 10+ year member]

 

[rsrguy]

Just ordered one of these...(KMM-BT728HD&t) Can anyone tell how to go about adding a dac or even if it's possible. I'm considering a dsp but unclear as to if they all have digital to analog?
I love the Sony audiophile HU but it's clean out of the budget.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I'm not gunna mess with my 4 channel because its bridged and I'm not sure how to set gains in a 4 channel when bridged. Do I take the voltage and divide it by 2 or something ? My sub stage sounded waaaaay better when I tuned the sub amp myself rather having the shop do it. They also blew my front door speakers in the process and tried to hide it which is why I'm not going back there and also the reason they set my taramps 3k voltage to 36.2 volts... that's luke 700 watts to each sub... I'll have replacement speakers coming this friday from the manufacturer.

I've never blew subs when I tuned them. But i blew 2 rear speakers off the 4 channel. Because i set the voltage to high. Gave them well over the amount rms they could handle

okay never ever set gains on mids and highs with a multi-meter. Leave that **** to the subs. Literally better to tune by ear, get it to the volume level you need or when the speakers sound peaky or harsh and unpleasant to listen to and you wont have any issues.

Also if you used a 0 db test tone and most of your music is at -5 db(rap/trap) or -10 db(rock/pop) and under, you seriously leaving way too much on the table . The shop is a hack dont ever trust someone to tune your gear for you, you need to know your own system limits. Also all the voltage numbers doesn't mean a damn thing because that has no load on it. When a sub is connected its a totally different ball game. What the multi-meter method does is just give you a ballpark but if you factor in real world factors like impedance rise, voltage drops, efficiency etc.. your multimeter settings would be complete trash settings. You need to fine tune and find your actual system limits yourself afterwards.

Thing is, I'm looking for a new hu right now. But I run a taramps and I'm pretty sure 4 volt pre amp is max they will take. I cant find any pioneer or kenwood that have 4 volts that are even in stock. Been looking all night. Few websites and such. Everything is out of stock

it doesnt matter, just go easier on the volume knob.... Just because you have 5 volts doesnt mean you have to use ALL 5 volts... The more important thing is to get a quality head unit with proper audio tuning features.