speakers getting distorted

[mirracomitch 10+ year member]

my door speakers get distorted when i turn them up pretty loud. i only have 50 watts going to each door speaker. can someone help?

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[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

too much power, or you may be pushing the amp too hard...what are the speakers and what amp?

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

too much power, or you may be pushing the amp too hard...what are the speakers and what amp?

my bet is a HU.

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

my bet is a HU.

lol....50x4:laugh:

 

[dumpin907 10+ year member]

maybe your speakers are rated at 49 watts rms and that extra watt is causin some problems

 

[mirracomitch 10+ year member]

haha nah dude i dont think that is the problem lol

i have a rockford fosgate p400-4 amp and my speakers are rockford fosgates also and im not sure what they are rated any more help guys thanks

 

[XxSuperAdamxX 10+ year member]

check settings on HU?

 

[mirracomitch 10+ year member]

i have an alpine iva-w200 hu

my current settings are:

bass+3

treble+2

bass frequency 80hz

treble frequency 17.5khz

 

[mirracomitch 10+ year member]

ok i found out they only distort when there is bass playing so like if there is a section on a song with no bass then they dont distort. as soon as the bass comes on again they distort any help?

 

[dftnz7 10+ year member]

Well everyone is going to make fun of you, so I am going to actually try and help you with this issue, because not everyone is a self-proclaimed car audio genius. All the other people on the board that like to make fun of everyone else and act like jagoffs knew nothing until they got to this site, now that they have read a lot of "bona fide" information posted by people they don't even know, they consider themselves experts and make fun of anyone who asks a question that seems noobish...Anywho....

First thing, I would check the High Pass Filter on your amplifier, make sure it is in the "HP" setting, then, while listening to the music that makes them distort the worst, gradually adjust the crossover higher until the distortion stops. If you have to go above 100hz on the crossover, then you need to turn the bass boost down on the head unit.

Many will tell you that you really shouldn't use the HU to "boost" the signal of any frequencies. Only to make "cuts" i.e., turn down certain frequencies. If you don't have enough bass, add a speaker designed to produce bass--a good subwoofer. Maybe you already have one, we don't know, but don't rely on door speakers to provide you with any real bass below 80hz for average speakers...If you do have a sub and still feel the need to crank the bass up to +3, maybe you need another sub. Keep the low bass out of your door speaks, and let the subs handle it, that is what they are made for.

 

[mirracomitch 10+ year member]

wow thanks a lot man very helpful

i have 2 12" fosgate subs btw

so my crossover setting on my amp for my speakers should be somewhere around 90 hz am i correct?

 

[dftnz7 10+ year member]

Well, every system is different. Some subs play well up to 50hz, some play well up to 100hz. Are you sealed or ported?

Basically you are confined to setting your High Pass filter for your speakers to the lowest level at which they can still play loud without distorting. If it's 70hz, great. If it's 110hz, not so good, but if that's all they can handle, that's what you have to live with, or get better speakers. Turn the bass down on the HU first. GET THE BASS OUT OF THE SPEAKERS! Then adjust your Xover for the speakers. If you need more bass, boost the bass on the sub channels of the amp if you have too. Doing it from the HU is sending it to the speakers AND the sub. If you have a sub output with variable output, keep it up high as long as subs are not distorting. Run the Low Pass Xover for the subs a little lower than what your speakers are set at. If the speakers end up at 90 hz, run the subs at 75hz or so. A little underlap is okay since the crossover will let some bleed thru still to fill that gap. But get your speakers set first, then adjust the subs to match...

 

[maloy013 10+ year member]

give us the full detail of your system so we can figure out whats needed...we have the same hu...also dont expect alot of bass coming out of your door speakers thats why u have subs they only play certain frequencies cranking them too loud will only cause damage to the speakers you have to level match everything

 

[mirracomitch 10+ year member]

ok yeah thanks guys im going to wait until the morning to change some settings.

my complete setup:

HU: alpine iva-w200

amp: rockford fosgate p400-4

speakers: rockford fosgate punch not sure which exact model

subs: rockford fosgate 12" p3s 2ohm

sealed enclosure

i have one mid and 1 tweeter in each door

and i have one tweeter in each pillar by my windshield

i think i will be able to fix it after dftnz7's advice

thanks to all!

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

my door speakers get distorted when i turn them up pretty loud. i only have 50 watts going to each door speaker. can someone help?

not enough info.

too much power, or you may be pushing the amp too hard...what are the speakers and what amp?

correct answer

my bet is a HU.

based off the only info I had

lol....50x4:laugh:

COMMON HU output

haha nah dude i dont think that is the problem lol
i have a rockford fosgate p400-4 amp and my speakers are rockford fosgates also and im not sure what they are rated any more help guys thanks

that's a start for troubleshooting

i have an alpine iva-w200 hu
my current settings are:

bass+3

treble+2

bass frequency 80hz

treble frequency 17.5khz

more good info

ok i found out they only distort when there is bass playing so like if there is a section on a song with no bass then they dont distort. as soon as the bass comes on again they distort any help?

ah HA. high pass isn't set properly

Well everyone is going to make fun of you, so I am going to actually try and help you with this issue, because not everyone is a self-proclaimed car audio genius. All the other people on the board that like to make fun of everyone else and act like jagoffs knew nothing until they got to this site, now that they have read a lot of "bona fide" information posted by people they don't even know, they consider themselves experts and make fun of anyone who asks a question that seems noobish...Anywho....

NOT NECESSARILY SO

First thing, I would check the High Pass Filter on your amplifier, make sure it is in the "HP" setting, then, while listening to the music that makes them distort the worst, gradually adjust the crossover higher until the distortion stops. If you have bass boost on the HU or amp, turn it to 0.

corrected.

Many will tell you that you really shouldn't use the HU to "boost" the signal of any frequencies. Only to make "cuts" i.e., turn down certain frequencies. If you don't have enough bass, add a speaker designed to produce bass--a good subwoofer. Maybe you already have one, we don't know, but don't rely on door speakers to provide you with any real bass below 80hz for average speakers...If you do have a sub and still feel the need to crank the bass up to +3, maybe you need another sub. Keep the low bass out of your door speaks, and let the subs handle it, that is what they are made for.

good words

wow thanks a lot man very helpful
i have 2 12" fosgate subs btw

so my crossover setting on my amp for my speakers should be somewhere around 90 hz am i correct?

learning in progress

ok yeah thanks guys im going to wait until the morning to change some settings.

my complete setup:

HU: alpine iva-w200

amp: rockford fosgate p400-4

speakers: rockford fosgate punch not sure which exact model

subs: rockford fosgate 12" p3s 2ohm

sealed enclosure

i have one mid and 1 tweeter in each door

and i have one tweeter in each pillar by my windshield

i think i will be able to fix it after dftnz7's advice

thanks to all!

finally we get a full set up! If the HU has HP on the outputs that would help too, there might be adjustable slopes also. I would use the steepest slope possible on the front speakers.