Great system? Horrible sound?

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

Turn off all the bass boost, turn the gain down, turn the head unit volume down.

Turn on the HU to about 3/4 volume with the gains on minimum. Slowly turn them up. Does it sound like **** right away? If so it could be a few things.

If it sounds clean with the gains low, chances are, they set the gains too high and it's distorting the speakers. If it sounds good with the gains on low, turn up the gains until it starts to sound bad, then lower the gains slightly so it isn't distorted anymore.

If that shop can't set gains then don't spend your money there. Gains are a bit tough to set properly, but any certified installer should be able to.

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

It's still like there is something raspy and phasing (just a bit). I make music, so I am very particular about it. I guess I am trying to get that "studio" sound. And this is just getting me upset.

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

Punch EQ?

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

Punch EQ?

Turn it off. It's a bass/treble boost setting.

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

When I checked the amp, the punch eq was all of the way up. I turned that off. I also bought a digital multi-meter to set the gain right, but I couldn't get a voltage read.

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

I also read that to adjust the level I need to get a read of 20 volts? That doesn't sound right.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

No. Put the meter away. Turn off all bass boosts on the Head Unit and amp. Turn the gains on the amp all the way down. Set the eq on the HU to flat or off. Turn the head unit up about 75%, now slowly turn the gains on the amp up till it sounds right then stop. If you hear it distort or start to sound like crap, turn it back down a little till it sounds okay.

Read the section on setting your gains. Stop giving those dicks at the shop your money if they leave you with a crappy sounding system. Learn to do it your self.

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

Car audio shops usually dont care about the customer after they drive away. They want you to keep coming back and spending $ on stuff. Dog eat dog world out there. Kill or be killed. Fuck the ho or get fucked by the ho.

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

Thanks everyone for your help and ideas! I appreciate it!

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

You don't think that the CDA-117 is causing the problem do you?

*** maybe the grounding of it?

 

[KnockTurnAL 10+ year member]

just get a pioneer and call it a day

 

[jake21 10+ year member]

Hi, I am the "Dick" installer currently working on this car. One thing i forgot to mention to ya Tim was that every speaker will begin to distort at a certain volume, and sitting in the car with you, you like it LOUD (which isnt necessarily a bad thing), which is probably making those R's distort at such a high volume. Im sure its not the only problem but it can be part of the issue.

A car will never sound like a pair of high-end studio monitors unless you invest thousands of dollars and thousands of man-hours tweaking, tuning, building, rebuilding, etc etc.

And I AM NOT trying to **** your wallet dry Tim, im trying to help you get your car sounding great and make you a happy customer.

 

[SubmerseMusic 10+ year member]

The RCA's to the front speakers needed a noise filter. I might upgrade the rca's to a better quality one. Thank you all!