Finally got around to TUNING !

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

I got an rta setup a while back but only used it one day.

I got a relatively flat response (pic below) and was planning on eq'ing from there, but for some reason, everything sounds great to me the way it is (flat), so I'm leaving it. I can put in any cd and be happy with the response, and that's tough to do as many people know.

The biggest help was getting the x-over settings just right.

also, reg, you might want to see if you can find a program called "smaartlive". If you're persistent you might just be able to find it out there on the interweb. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Also, look around for the truerta crack. You can set the interval to 1/12db, which really helps fine tune.

This was taken on one of my first rounds that day, and is on 1/12db resolution. It's a whole lot flatter now, though. I used 1/24db resolution to get me there, along with my G-EQ, since P-EQ just didn't see to help much.

FWIW, my bass response is still close to that, but a much smoother slope going into the midbass/midrang region. For some reason, what seems quiet to me causes a huge hump on an rta.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

The next time I setup my RTA, I'm gonna tune my right & left separately w/ a 1/12 or 1/24 octave. Having listened to some great sq cars today made me even more anxious

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

I'm honestly scared to touch my car right now, lol.

Unlike some, once I get things set up to where it sounds good, I really don't like to mess with it again. My current settings are saved on all 6 presets of my h701, lol.

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

I made this sheet up for tuning if anyone would like to use it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I know if any of you have the W200....it isn't that hard to accidentally hit one of the memory buttons and lose everything! Hope this helps....also attached is a tuning tutorial from elitecaraudio.com For this tuning you don't need an RTA. This is saved as a Microsoft Excel file so if anyone can't download it, I can make it a .pdf if needed

http://www.undefinedcustoms.com/tuningsheet.xls

Tutorial by Cmusic:

There are several different methods used to tune eqs. This is the one I use. An RTA is not needed if the steps are done correctly. This method uses crossovers and gain settings as the most important factor in tuning. I think the eq should be last in line when tuning. Remember after each step to write down your settings. If the sound gets worse, then you can go back to the previous step’s settings and start over.

 

 

1. Set all bands flat, as well as the head unit bass and treble.

 

2. Turn off the subs. Using music with a good bass line, run the highpass crossover up and down until the midbasses can play as low as possible without any distortion or excessive door panel vibrations.

 

3. Unhook the mids and tweeters, allowing only the midbasses to play. Listen to mono pink noise or a well-recorded song with a centered vocalist. Test CDs such as the IASCA test CD or Autosound 2000 Test CD 102 or 103 will work great. Listen to where the centered sounds are coming from. Then reverse the polarity of one midbass (Reverse the speaker wires coming from the passive crossover and going to the speaker, just flip the positive and negative wires. I usually flip the driver’s side speaker.) and re-listen to the test CD. If the sounds are more centered then keep it as is. If the centered sounds are more diffuse and un-locatable, then flip the polarity back to where it was originally.

 

4. Then unhook the midbasses and play the mids only and follow the same polarity and listening tests as before. Mark your best settings.

 

5. Do the same procedure for the tweeters.

 

6. When you have tested for the proper polarity from all three ranges of speakers, hook all of them back up with respect to each set of speaker’s best polarity. You can have any combination of polarity, such as all the midbass and tweeters straight and one midrange reversed.

 

7. Now you should have the correct “acoustic” polarity set within each set of speakers. Next is to set the acoustic polarity between the sets of speakers.

 

8. Listen to some very familiar music with a good range of sounds. Then flip both midbass’ polarity and listen again. Before you only flipped one midbass, now you are doing both at the same time. For example if the left midbass was reversed and the right was not before, now the left will be not reversed and the right will be. Listen to the music again. If the midbass is more powerful and full then leave the wiring as is. If the midbass sounds weaker and wrong then restore the wiring as before.

 

9. Perform the same listening tests while flipping the mids and tweeters, and use the wiring configuration that sounds the best.

 

10. If you have went though all these steps adjusting the polarity of the speakers then the system should sound really good without any eq adjustments. You might want to play with the gain adjustments on the crossover and/or amp to better blend all the speakers together.

 

11. Now onto the eq! The first eq step is to adjust the tonality. While listening to familiar music, adjust each individual band up and down slowly. When the music sounds better then move to the next band. Adjust the left and right bands equally. (We’ll get to the separate left and right adjustments soon.) It really does not matter if the bands are boosted or cut, just that it makes the sound better. Not every band needs to be adjusted. In fact if you did steps 1 thru 10 correctly you should not have to adjust over half the bands. Having a 1/3 octave eq does not mean you have to adjust every band. It means you have the ability to adjust each band if needed. Watch out for big jumps from band to band, like one band set to +4 and the next band set to –6.

 

12. Continue through all the bands, take a break, and do the same procedure over again. But this time the adjustments will be smaller as you get the tonality dialed in. This step might take several days, weeks, or longer.

 

13. In tuning you will find some eq bands will raise, lower, move the sound closer, or farther away if adjusted in certain manners. For example, lowering 5 KHz will generally move the soundstage farther away and raising 2 KHz will make the soundstage rise. Each vehicle and system will have different settings that will be the best. The best way to achieve awesome sound is to constantly adjust.

 

14. When you are satisfied with the tonality of the system, it is time to start adjusting the left and right channels separately. These adjustments should not affect the tonality, but improve on the imaging and soundstaging. Using the Autosound 2000 Test CD 102 or 103 “My Disk” listen to the individual frequency pink noise tracks. (Test CD103 has the tracks arranged in an easier configuration.) Each frequency band should sound like it is coming from the center of the soundstage. If one band is off to one side, then use each band’s left and right eq controls as a balance control. This is very similar to the head unit’s balance control, only now you are balancing each frequency band by itself. For example if 200 Hz seems to be shifted to the left of center, lower the left 200 Hz band and raise the right 200 Hz band one dB at a time until the band is centered. If a frequency is shifted to the right, lower the band’s right channel and raise the left channel in small amounts.

 

15. When you have when through all the bands take a break. Then later go back through each band one by one and make any further needed adjustments until all the frequencies are lined up in the center of the soundstage.

 

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

very nice read there. I will surely used that info when i get to retuning my system. Thanks a lot for that

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

It definately takes some time to do but it makes a HUGE difference. Definately do the phase thing. It is amazing how well it works. I think I've got both of my tweets out of phase and my left midrange out of phase. It has alot more detail and the ambience is rediculous!

 

[xtremekustomz 10+ year member]

Which you've got horns so your stage should be pretty good so the phase thing might not make it better.

 

[Ptown_TSxxx 10+ year member]

Wow nice tuning read, Man James still trying to bring that stage higher huh. Well gotta have a listen after some more tuning.