Need some tuning help guys!

[Matt C 10+ year member]

Finally got my sub and amp installed in my car. I kept the factory head unit, this is in a '00 Grand Prix GTP with BOSE, got a adjustable line out converter and hooked it up to my P325.1 RF amp with a P3SD410 sub. I'm new to all this and there are a bunch of adjustments to make and I don't know what to do. The line out converter I got has 2 adjusters on it, the amp has the LP, AP, HP crossover switch, then the Gain and frequency knobs. I tried it out a little just adjusting by sound and it isn't very impressive. I understand it won't sound the greatest using the factory deck but it should be better with some tuning. Can ya guys help me out, remembering I'm new to this stuff so explain the best you can. Can't crank it too much anyway till the sub is broke in since it's brand new. Thanks alot in advance.

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[teen 10+ year member]

read through these. they help a lot. the gain setting info is on page 42 on the gain setting tutorial thread.

 

[Matt C 10+ year member]

read through these. they help a lot. the gain setting info is on page 42 on the gain setting tutorial thread.

Sorry read through what?

EDIT: I found the gain setting tutorial and went to page 42, that helped quite a bit.

 

[teen 10+ year member]

sorry, forgot to post the link

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=206371

 

[Matt C 10+ year member]

I think I've got a basic understanding for setting the gain, but what about the crossover switch, what position do i put it in? LP-AP-HP? Then the frequency knob? Plus alot of the adjustments it talks about arn't really the same with the factory deck, don't have many adjustments. The way it's set right now it barley even hits, only on certain notes, and when it does hit it doesn't sound right. I've got a old 12" pioneer sub and 222W sony behind the seat of my truck and it sounds alot better then this.

 

[Alpineforever 10+ year member]

If your running a sub you'll want to set the switch to LP, which means "Low Pass Crossover." This filters out all of the frequencies above the set point, allowing only frequencies lower than the set point to get to the sub.

A good starting spot for the LP crossover is ~80Hz and then experiment from there. You set this frequency with the frequency knob you mentioned.

HP means "High Pass Crossover." It is the opposite of a Low Pass crossover, it filters out everything lower than the set frequency and only transmits frequencies higher than the set point.

Don't know what AP means in this context.

If your amplifier has a sub sonic filter it can also be used to further the tuning. Whatever you set your sub sonic filter to works kind of like a Hig Pass crossover, except that it works in concert with your LP crossover. It filters out all frequencies below the set point to prevent your sub from seeing frequencies too low for it to hit. So if you were to set it to 25 Hz, it would allow frequencies above 25Hz to pass, while filtering out the lower frequencies.

Thats a basic explanation of what all of those settings do, it's a lot more complicated than i explained, and it's not quite as cut and dry of a filter as i explained, but that would take forever to explain and you can probably find it by searching.

 

[Matt C 10+ year member]

Mine doesn't have a subsonic filter. I will set it on LP at 80 or so and see what it sounds like. The line out converter Best Buy sold me is adjustable from 2-60 watts, is that enough? I've got it cranked but could this also be a problem? Thanks alot Alpineforever, thats exactly what I was looking for. BTW AP is for All-pass, it explains it in the book but I'd have to look it up to see what it says about it.