So I went to my local shop today.

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

I asked them to give my system a once over, and tuning.

$27

So I waited for about an hour, then they were done.

I asked what they adjusted, they adjusted my xovers, my gains, my eq, and my balance.

Prior settings:

Xovers - active

sub-63hz 18db slope

front- 100 hz 24db slope (4x6)

rear- 80hz 18db slope (6x9)

gain- on 4chan set to rms via dmm.

gain- on mono set to rms via dmm.

EQ-Flat

Balance/Fader- 0L0R0F0R

Afterwards settings:

Xovers - passive

sub- 120 hz, slope 12db

front - pass

rear - pass

gain- on 4chan lowered

gain- on mon lowered

EQ, all boosts, between 1-6db boosts on everything except the last 2 bands more boost on midbass, less on lows and highs.

Balance/Fader- 2L0R0F0R

When they told me the adjustments, I asked them how they set their gains, and they said by ear.

So do you think the adjustments they made are an improvement, or not. Because I think they did a ****** job myself.

A. They are a professional car audio shop, really gains set by ear??? It's called invest in a oscope you're a company for gosh sake.

b. I always thought cutting was a more effective strategy than boosting as far as EQ is concerned.

c. Sub xover point 120hz? I know this could assist in midbass response, but don't you wanna set subs at around 80hz.

A few things I noticed, the speakers sound a little bit better, but I don't think they can take the volume anymore. They are components, but shouldn't I have a HPF on them?

Bass is definitely located in the rear of the vehicle, I can tell the direction completely now.

Click to read more...

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

Yeah I'd be kinda pissed. They should tell you from the get-go they won't be using a scope and give you the chance to walk. And what makes their ears any better than your ears? I guess that's not a bad price but if you heard no noticeable difference or it in fact made it worse than what use was it?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

most of your average shops dont have an oscope or set gains even with a dmm.your higher end shops will and you'd need to ask them about if they use either to set the gains ,because even those shops will not use them unless asked .by your original settings i think the only thing i would have adjusted was the lp on the mono block to 80

 

[Bassman999 10+ year member]

I set friends amps by ear quite often, but I dont charge for that lol.

Most of them think my ear is better than theirs, but eq settings are a personal thing for the most part.

I do believe in cutting more than boosting, but I do boost a lil sometimes as well.

I wish I had a scope!

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

If you were happy before why spend money for their "help"? I always set gains by ear/common sense or by the meter if I'm chasing numbers, anything else is pointless IMO unless you're installing for a complete downy and need to make it retard-proof.

Crossovers and EQ are totally personal preference. I have variable crossover on my Ra pre-amp and use it constantly depending on subs I'm using and the song. Anywhere from 60-120 is acceptable depending on circumstances. Technically cut is better than boost with EQ, but sometimes boost is appropriate.

At the end of the day, if it sounds good, it is good. If you listen to your favorite song and it puts a smile on your face, who else do you need to impress?

 

[Alrojoca 10+ year member]

You will never know, assuming they have the right CD and music to set the gains by ear it may be fine. The scope tends to waste some power some experienced people say, the ideal setting would be with DMM then just check with the scope. For $27, you can not expect a fine tuning job disconnecting speaker wires from the amp, set all EQ, and HP, LP filters to flat and all the time it takes with some HU's to set it with a DMM, this was more like 15 min Job and some people that do it every day can be efficient.

 

[NFrazier 10+ year member]

I would be pissed. We DMM, scope and/or RTA a car before it leaves. You get what you pay for i guess.

So when u say they switched from active to passive xovers, r u saying they connected passive xovers up instead of leaving it active?

Not to mention most car speakers downfalls are their ability to reproduce midrange frequencies without a dedicated midrange speaker, typically boosting these frequencies will lend to poor performance in the higher registers.

 

[Chriszle 10+ year member]

A scope isn't necessary for many installs, and tuning by ear is common. However, if you are grossly overpowering your subs, it is nice to know that you are sending a clean signal, because clipping plus overpowering can lead to burnt up coils/leads.

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

Thanks for the input guys. Honestly it sounded ok, but there were many things that left to be desired. For 27 bucks I didn't expect much, and didn't get much. I was doing it for more of a second opinion. I just wanted to see how a local shop would setup my system.

This at least gives me some ideas of things to try and tweek.

I have blown enough speakers in my past to learn that my ears are not sufficient tools for setting gains. Although I'm learning about some clipping issues that are becoming apparent, and clipping can be hard to tell if it is light/moderate clipping but it will definitly be enough to cook coils/bottom out/u name it over time. So lately I've been happier setting gains with a DMM, and sticking slightly under RMS.

 

[Lexicon740iL 10+ year member]

If you don't mind sayin...where did u go?

I'm in MN too.

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

Wouldent you guys consider a oscope a common tool of the car audio trade setting by ear is ok on the street but if I pay you I want it done right

 

[thatguy12 10+ year member]

Wouldent you guys consider a oscope a common tool of the car audio trade setting by ear is ok on the street but if I pay you I want it done right

i agree with this. if your paying you should get something out of it thats worth the money. OP you dont sound stupid, you could have probly set gains by ear as close as they did but for free.

 

[thatguy12 10+ year member]

nm about my last statement about you setting your gains by ear as good as shop. didnt see your last statement.

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

i agree with this. if your paying you should get something out of it thats worth the money. OP you dont sound stupid, you could have probly set gains by ear as close as they did but for free.

LOL you're right, I'm not stupid. I am however a bit naive about the finer points car audio mainly actual acoustics. I know the electrical side fairly well, the installation and construction well, and a lot of the theory well. However I don't have a lot of experience listening to many different products, nor do I have much time spent actually working with acoustics+tuning(I know installation has a lot to do with this) outside of my friends and my own sound systems over the years. I'd like a little more knowledge and experience in this with at least my own system right now. So since I've never messed with EQs very much in the past I've decided to start learning more about it. I figured a good place to start would be to have someone that does it for a living set it up how they would. Then do research on what kind of affect on the overall sound raising or lowering signal frequencies has(i know this will vary per vehicle). Then off to experimentation on my own.

I've tried to start with experimentation before, but it was too disorganized and there were too many choices, my brain started frying. Having the ability to select multiple bands and widen/narrow bands is a little bit overwhelming the first time through.

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

If you don't mind sayin...where did u go?
I'm in MN too.

I grew up in MN, recently moved out to grand forks though. So the local shop here is Sound Decision. The shops I'm familiar with in the cities are Mach1; not very quality products, idiot owner and kids behind the counter, but at least decent installers/ Sub Zero Sounds; knowledgeable staff, Decent prices, poor selection of products, Good installers/ and Sound Waves (not sure if they are open anymore...) Great selection of quality products, Great knowledgable custom install staff, Steep prices.