Gain Staging

[preacher 10+ year member]

I have a Pioneer 7500MP and a BBE 4012 Sonic Maximizer (hooked to the front only) My fronts are hooked to a TMA 3202 amp. I'm having trouble getting my gain set. I looked at JL's tutorial, but I lack a testtone cd and a DVM.

How do I know if I'm distorting? I like my sound sometimes, but other times it seems a bit too much. I think I get distortion for certain upper mids at about between 33-35. Below that it sounds great, but it lacks the hard kick I like and I think its capable of. Could I be distorting the input of the Processor?

Should I a line driver or Master volume control to control the gains after the processor?

Thanks

G

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[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Your headunit probably just distorts at 33-35. You should turn the volume on your headunit to 3/4 and set your gains, and then never turn the volume past that.

As for bass respnse, once you get your gains set with minimal distortion, try and attenuate your tweeter. Most crossovers have that function, and tweak your equalizer for more midbass.

 

[preacher 10+ year member]

Thanks for the response. I'm pretty happy with my sub sound and I've got good headroom. My HU goes up past 60 so 3/4 should be 45. Is distortion between 33 and 35 normal for a pioneer?

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Oh, sorry, the max on mine is 35, so i thought you meant it was distorting when you had it turned all the way up. That's def. weird that it's distorting at 1/2 volume.

Hopefully someone else might know what the problem is?

Bump for my mistake.

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

simple.. turn your gains down

 

[preacher 10+ year member]

The distortion is not too heavy. I have my tweets attenuated. I have metal tweets so they can be harsh. I actually liked the sparkle with them not attenuated, but at higher volumes they could be pretty rough. Like corn cobs for TP lol.

My Question was should I use a Master volume control or some line driver after the processor to get a clean signal to the amps?

I have the 4012 and I don't know if there are any diff's, but here's the guide for the 3012. http://www.bbesound.com/pdfs/3012_manual.pdf

7.75mvrms input sens. and max out 4v rms. This really does seem to beef up the output and I like that at lower volumes, but I think I distort at the input for lower volumes whereas the amp could handle a higher signal for more volume.

Any help understanding my set up is appreciated.

Preacher