setting gain on sub control from head unit.

[ronnorth10304 10+ year member]

Hey, I have a panasonic head unit (CQ 5110u), a kenwood 7201 800 W max amp, and 2 12" kenwood subs that I have bridged to the amp. Right now I have my amp hooked up to my rear level inputs (at the time I didn't know you were supposed to hook the subs up to the outputs that hang from the wires off the head unit, hey I'm 16 and this is my first car/system) anyway on my head unit when something is connected to those outputs I can control the level from the head unit it goes from -12 to +12 db in 2db increments. My question is when I have it hooked up to that output what should I keep that setting around (I know it can't be exact for you to measure this from the internet) I'm just afraid of messing something up. the way it is now I have to keep my bass at +2 to +6 db to get it to bump, I'm guessing I'll turn that to the negative column when it is put into that output. Right now I'm thinking a combo of -6 to -4 out of -12 on the bass and 0 db on the sub control, could I blow anything at that power my amp gain is at a little under 50%.

Please give me your insight

P.S Can you give me some common HPF and LPF levels (in + or - db form) mine sound about right as it is now, but I'm interested to see what people with more experience recomend.

Thanks

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[psych0ticnemes1 5,000+ posts]

well, have you set your gain correctly? set your gain right and it shouldn't much matter where you set your sub out... put your sub out on 0 or 2 then set your gain

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Where in Indiana are you located??

 

[zachzchw 5,000+ posts]

well, have you set your gain correctly? set your gain right and it shouldn't much matter where you set your sub out... put your sub out on 0 or 2 then set your gain

I think the sub out should be at whatever level he usually listens to it....same goes for all head unit settings, set them to how you want them, then set the gain.....if you set your gain, then adjust your settings, you might introduce clipping.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Hey, I have a panasonic head unit (CQ 5110u), a kenwood 7201 800 W max amp, and 2 12" kenwood subs that I have bridged to the amp. Right now I have my amp hooked up to my rear level inputs (at the time I didn't know you were supposed to hook the subs up to the outputs that hang from the wires off the head unit, hey I'm 16 and this is my first car/system) anyway on my head unit when something is connected to those outputs I can control the level from the head unit it goes from -12 to +12 db in 2db increments. My question is when I have it hooked up to that output what should I keep that setting around (I know it can't be exact for you to measure this from the internet) I'm just afraid of messing something up. the way it is now I have to keep my bass at +2 to +6 db to get it to bump, I'm guessing I'll turn that to the negative column when it is put into that output. Right now I'm thinking a combo of -6 to -4 out of -12 on the bass and 0 db on the sub control, could I blow anything at that power my amp gain is at a little under 50%.Please give me your insight

P.S Can you give me some common HPF and LPF levels (in + or - db form) mine sound about right as it is now, but I'm interested to see what people with more experience recomend.

Thanks

The part I have made bold is troubling to me....

Are you running that 7201 bridged to a single mono channel and then both subs are connected to that single channel? If so, are your subs DVC?

IIRC the 7201 isn't supposed to be stable under 4 Ohms when bridged....

 

[jsloan10 10+ year member]

If you got the subs professionally installed and they are single voice coil they will be wired in series and be recieving a maximum RMS of 150watts each (the 7201 puts out 300 watts RMS into 8ohms bridged).

As for the sub control on the HU, I personnally set it to the 0 position or middle postion depending on your HU, then play some music at near full volume and turn up the gain on the amp untill it starts to sound crappy then back it off slightly. Now you have it set for daily driving with the option of turning up the bass level if you want more bass at low volume or want to show it off a bit.

As for blowing the subs, if you have the new Typhoon series (KFCW3009) they will have dual progressive spiders, so you wont be tearing those up anytime soon and as for burning the coil, those subs are rated for 200 watts rms each and will handle up to 600 watts rms for short periods of time ( a minute or two) so basically they have a good tolerance for thermal abuse and at 8ohms your amp will be running pretty clean (so long as you set you gains as instructed).

So basically don't worry, giver heck those subs will take it no problem.

Oh and about the HPF and LPF, if it sounds good then you've done it right, nothing complicated there.