Everything installed but it doesn't seem right

[WRXDRIVER85 10+ year member]

Hey,

Just joined, and I kinda need some help

I just got my new system put in and it doesn't seem to kick as hard as I thought it would. I have.....

Head Unit - AVIC-D3

Fronts - Alpine 17S Component Speakers 6 1/2

Rears - Alpine 13S Component Speakers 5 1/4

Amp. - Alpine MRP-F550 4-Channel

Haven't gotten any subs yet, but I do plan on it sometime next week. I got this setup from Crutchfield and after checking around I managed to find everything at a decent price. I also got it all installed by a certified installer just to be sure everything would work out.

At times it seems like it may be distorting or makes a cracking noise on a lower volume. I'm not sure what to do to get it to sound right, i'm not into all the bass but I would like to hear it at a decent level without it cracking. What can I do setting wise(for the head unit and amp) to get it sounding the way it should and is the setup allright ?

Any help would be really great

JM

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[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

personally since you had a certified installer check it out, and its hard for us to understand exactly the issues you are having, id give him a call and have him check it out for you. im sure he would stand behind the quality of his instal to ensure a happy customer. you have a pretty decent setup there, and i dont think that you should be having those problems. how long ago was it installed?

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

welcome to the site btw

 

[WRXDRIVER85 10+ year member]

Thanks for the reply. Yea thts what I was thinking of doing, but their not open til Monday so i'll have to wait til then. lol I had it all installed 2 days ago, so it could be just the settings of the head unit or mabie even the amp. I have no Idea how to adjust the EQ on the AVIC-D3 to have it at the right levels so i'm kinda lost, the manual tells you how to do it but it stills seems somethings not right. I'm hoping that may be the problem so I can avoid the trip to the dealer, but I gotta find out how to adjust everything 1st.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Yeah, what Pimp said is what I would do, especially if you don't know what you are doing. Take it back as you paid for it. I also take it you bought everything new, correct?

 

[WRXDRIVER85 10+ year member]

Yea everything was bought brand new, but I didnt buy anything except an amp kit from the dealer. I bought the speakers on Crutfield and the amp and head unit at Onlinecarstereo.com and then payed the shop a little over 300 bucks to install everything.

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

Yea everything was bought brand new, but I didnt buy anything except an amp kit from the dealer. I bought the speakers on Crutfield and the amp and head unit at Onlinecarstereo.com and then payed the shop a little over 300 bucks to install everything.

For that price, hell yeah I'll take it back...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/mad.gif.c18f003ab0ef8a0d9c27ca78d77a6392.gif

 

[WRXDRIVER85 10+ year member]

Well, I took the car to the shop where everything was installed and they told me that everythings fine. The one guy told me that component speakers running off an amp will not give out much bass...mostly nothing so i'm thinking of either getting one or two subs. Is that true about not giving out bass ? and what subs should I get ? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

Right now i'm debating between.....

1x JL Audio 10W6V2 (400 rms)(800 max)

or

2x JL Audio 10W3V3-4 (300 rms)(600 max)

The one sub (10W6V2) comes with a box designed for my car, its called a Stealth Box so it's gonna save some space. Should one of these be fine or two or just two of the 10W3V3-4. I'm thinking of possibly getting 1 or 2 MTX's but are they even close to the quality of JL Subs ?

 

[gladiator_jai 10+ year member]

Look at more companies like RE etc.

Damn my whole setup cost 487 bucks.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

Well, I took the car to the shop where everything was installed and they told me that everythings fine. The one guy told me that component speakers running off an amp will not give out much bass...mostly nothing so i'm thinking of either getting one or two subs. Is that true about not giving out bass ? and what subs should I get ? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif
Right now i'm debating between.....

1x JL Audio 10W6V2 (400 rms)(800 max)

or

2x JL Audio 10W3V3-4 (300 rms)(600 max)

The one sub (10W6V2) comes with a box designed for my car, its called a Stealth Box so it's gonna save some space. Should one of these be fine or two or just two of the 10W3V3-4. I'm thinking of possibly getting 1 or 2 MTX's but are they even close to the quality of JL Subs ?

wait let me get this straight......he told you that because your comp set is hooked up to an amp you wont get much bass? is that what you just said? looks like that guy is just feeding you lines. i dont know what he said to back that up but that doesnt make sense. no ur not going to get bass like you would with a substage but you should get some bass from your comp set.

this is the advice most people are going to give you on here. post up a thread saying this is my budget, this is what i want to do, what do you guys suggest. mention that you are thinking of the JL route and they are going to suggest a ton of brands that youve never heard of but are better and much cheaper than you are going to spend on jl.

after a little research on this forum you are going to kick yourself in the *** when you find out how cheap you COULD of put your system together and how easy it is to do yourself if you would of done research first! now please do not go back to that moron that told you you cant get bass from your comp set because of your amp ha ha no good.

 

[WRXDRIVER85 10+ year member]

Ok, so I went back to the dealer and they told me it was all fine and they adjusted the EQ on the headunit. Well yea it was great BUT only for some songs. When ever a song has too much bass it starts to crackle, so I said wth and went right back. I head over there and after an hour of waiting......the guy told me that its my amp thats causing the problem. He goes on saying that my amp is underpowering the speakers and thats the cause of it. I called and asked a few other places and i've gotten mixed opinions, so pretty much i'm right back to where I started and looking to here from others who know alot more about car stereo than I do lol.

My speakers.....

Alpine SPR-17S (Fronts) (RMS110)(330Max)

Alpine SPR-13S (Rears) (RMS100)(300Max)

and their all running off the Alpine MRP-F550 Amp http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=17566

Personally I think the guy's full of shit, but I could be wrong as i've heard it from another person too that my speakers arn't recieving enough power.

If its this amp thats the problem then, I have no idea how to fix it myself but if thats what it comes down to, then i'll just have to follow instructions and take care of it.

If not, then i'll just have to buy the Alpine PDX-4.150 to replace this one.

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

my friend had the same problems and it was his speakers. we just installed some new ones, should of done it your self though. You'll learn then on top of that you would know what the problem is...

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

that amp will push those speakers fine

if your looking for bass ,are you wanting your door to shake a little or are you just expecting more bass "sound" or feel?

either way i think you want a sub to fill in the bass your missing

 

[cshaw 10+ year member]

sounds like maybe your over powering the speakers or dont have them high passed. look on the amp if it says low pass, high pass or full range indicated by HP, LP, FULL. put it to high pass and set it as low as possible without the distortion or bottoming out of the speaker as you seem to describe. and see if that helps.

 

[WRXDRIVER85 10+ year member]

my friend had the same problems and it was his speakers. we just installed some new ones, should of done it your self though. You'll learn then on top of that you would know what the problem is...

Yea tht probly would've been the best option, expecially considering I would've saved money too. Was sumtin something wrong with the old speakers ?