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I have had a Kenwood KDC-MP342U, and just installed an Infinity Reference 475a amp (75w RMS x 4)
The problem is that there seems to be too much treble, and not enough mid-range.
I also have installed an Infinity Reference 1600a and a Kenwood sub. So the low lows are definitely there. But it just doesn't sound well-rounded. The high end sounds too tinny. I have adjusted the settings on the head unit by turning up the mid and lowering the treble (only 3 bands of EQ) but that doesn't solve the problem.
Could upgrading my speakers help? Right now they are four Pioneer G-series
Crossovers: sub ~90hz low pass, front speakers ~80hz high pass, rear speakers ~70hz high pass.
Ok, I apologize. I think your Kenwood headunit does not have HPF settings, only LPF settings, center freq settings, and tone settings. Turn the LPF off on the headunit. On the 4 channel Infinity amp, turn front and rear on HPF, bass boost to 0, turn the frequency knob to about the 2:30 or 3 o'clock position, front and rear. Turn the gain knobs all the way down (counterclockwise), for now.
On the mono Infinity amp, turn the frequency knob to about the 3 o'clock position. Bass boost off for now, you can adjust it to your preference later. Gain all the way down for now.
Set your center frequency and tone settings flat on the headunit. Disconnect the subamp power. Put in your favorite CD and turn the volume up to 75% of full.Be sure balance is on center. Adjust the gain knobs on the 4 channel amp just until you think it is distorting, then back them off a tad. You will need to fade all the way to the front, set them, then fade all the way to the rear and set them. Reset the fader to center. Now set your center freqs and tone settings how it sounds best to you.
Disconnect the 4 channel amp, reconnect the subamp, set the gain the same way. Reconnect the 4 channel amp. Now you can turn up the bass boost on the subamp to how it sounds best to you.
This is likely the best your current setup is going to sound. I would not be surprised if you cannot turn the 4 channel amp gains up at all or if it distorts turned all the way down, with those speakers.
I would either sell that 4 channel amp and run those Pioneers off the headunit power only, or replace the Pioneers with some speakers that can handle the amp.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Does this problem occur while listening to any source ?
Everything. CDs, radio, iPod, etc.
Hard to say. Could be the speakers, headunit settings, amp settings, anyone's guess.
I think your LPF/HPF settings are a tad off for those Pioneers. I would set LPF for sub at around 125 hz and set the HPF for the Pioneers at somewhere between 100 and 125 hz. The center frequencies for mids and highs respectively for that headunit are 1 khz and 10 khz. 10 khz is not outrageously high. You can set those from -6 to +6. Have you turned the midrange to +6 and treble to 0 or lower ? If so, how did it change the sound ? Bad ?
As far as the Infinity amp, I would set it on full range both channels, bass boost 0 both channels, rear channel set to rear stereo, front channel set to front stereo, be sure to set the gains correctly. Use the headunit to set your HPF/freqs, tone, etc. for the 4 Pioneers. Use the sub amp to set LPF for the sub. Does this make sense ? Basically, you need to be using the headunit for highpass only with the 4 Pioneers and the sub amp only for the sub. The headunit rear/sub setting needs to be set for rear speakers, not sub.
I think you can eventually tweak this setup to get better midrange, but not sure you can lose the shrill highs without sounding flat.
What full range Pioneer speakers are you using specifically ?
.
I tried putting the mid up to +4 and the treble as low as -5 and that helped a little but not a lot.
So you're saying try the speakers without the high pass filter on? I'll also try raising the sub crossover.
Front speakers: TS-G1042R. Rear speakers: TS-G1342R.
Many thanks!
Your rears are HPF'd at 70 hz, correct? (You typed LPF).
I'm not positive, but I don't think you will get any midbass out of 4-inch speakers and likely not much out of 5.25's.
I think what GLH was suggesting was to raise both the HPF setting on the mains and the LPF setting on the sub so the sub handles more of the mid-bass along with the bass duties, and that couldn't hurt to try, IMHO.
Hope This Helps!!!
Anyone else have suggestions?
2002 Ford Focus JVC KD-A815 Sony CDX-GT410u Sony XT-100HD HD Tuner Stock speakers, no amp, no subs
No, I am not saying to turn off the HPF to the speakers. I am saying use the headunit HPF controls, not the amp. Adjust the amp as I suggested above. Don't worry about the headunit/subwoofer relationship. You should be using the headunit tone and freq controls for the 4 Pioneer speakers only. As long as the sub amp is handling the LPF settings, all is good. We are trying to get your small Pioneer speakers to sound closer to what you would like.
Those pioneers are 2-25 watts RMS. I don't know how they aren't blown already. Those are the type speakers you power with headunit low wattage, not external amplifier power. I would replace them with something that might come closer to handling 75 watts. You must have the Infinity amp gains turned all the way down.
If these will fit, they will handle more of that power and sound lots better -
You still might need the gain turned all the way down on the front pair.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPS400/Alpine-SPS-400.html?tp=105
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPR13C/Alpine-SPR-13C.html?showAll=N&tp=105
50 hz to 250 hz is considered midbass, so apparently I don't even like bass, but I love midbass !
Good comments - I want to suggest that when GLH says "Disconnect the amp", the best way is pulling the fuse for it. The HU can be damaged by disconnecting the RCA's with the amp and HU wired up.
Ooops ... Sorry y'all. I did not know that. Thanks for the good to know info, TigerHeli.
FYI - It's most commonly associated with Pioneer HU's, but I've seen similar warnings on JVC as well.
Also, I don't mean to alarm people unnecessarily - I've probably done it before with no issues - To me it's similar to plugging in a HU harness without disconnecting the battery negative terminal or hot-swapping a PS/2 computer keyboard - you can probably do it 99% or more of the time without issue, but it only takes that one time that it messes up ....
Thanks for your responses, guys.
I realize that those pioneers weren't meant to handle a lot of power. So I have been making sure not to push them too loud. I have the gain on only about 30-35% and don't usually raise the HU volume past 25 out of 35 -- I'm sure the speakers are getting more than 25w RMS, but I have a feeling that is a conservative rating.
What's funny is that I was thinking about getting those exact 2 sets of speakers that GLH recommended. I wish they made a 4-inch R-series but for 45 watts power handling you can't really complain. Another option I was considering was to custom-mount some 6 inch speakers instead of using the factory frame/grille. But if I can get the desired sound without doing that, that would be great -- which brings me to my newest question...
What do you mean by "center frequency?" I looked through the manual and couldn't find anything relating to that term. I did find out how to use the headunit LPF settings, which is a nice feature. Also, there is an option to tailor the sound to the size of your speakers; I think this was called "speaker Q setting." But I'm still not sure about center freq,
John023What's funny is that I was thinking about getting those exact 2 sets of speakers that GLH recommended. I wish they made a 4-inch R-series but for 45 watts power handling you can't really complain. Another option I was considering was to custom-mount some 6 inch speakers instead of using the factory frame/grille. But if I can get the desired sound without doing that, that would be great -- which brings me to my newest question...
I think the upgraded speakers would be better able to utilize the Infinity amp and therefore would help the sound. Whether you went with Alpine or Infinity or a different brand would be up to you.
I did find out how to use the headunit LPF settings, which is a nice feature.
GLH prefers to use the head unit's LPF/HPF settings, I think the amps are usually higher quality, but it's not a huge deal - whatever gets you the sound you want ...
What do you mean by "center frequency?" I looked through the manual and couldn't find anything relating to that term. Also, there is an option to tailor the sound to the size of your speakers; I think this was called "speaker Q setting." But I'm still not sure about center freq,
That does not apply to you anyway. Some decks (particularly Alpine and JVC) have a parametric equalizer, which means for Bass, Mid, and, Treble, you can select a Center Frequency (what frequency you are changing) and a Q-Factor (how narrow or wide a band of frequencies around the center frequency you are adjusting).
The Kenwood has fixed frequencies of 100 Hz, 1000 Hz, and 10000 Hz. However, the speaker size adjustment somewhat tailor's the Q factor around these frequencies to try to make the deck sound best with the type (size) of speakers you have connected.
I think I set it up as good as I can using my current equipment (also, the speakers in my Accent hatchback are in less-than-optimal places and at less-than-optimal angles). I set the 1000Hz to +2, 10000Hz to -3, and each crossover to a little over 80Hz.
I guess you can't look a gift horse in the mouth (can you give yourself a gift horse?), because it still sounds a lot better than before I got the amps, especially at high volumes. So I guess I'll cap off the project with buying some of those Alpine coaxials. These looked decent too, as they can transform into coaxials for a stealthy install, and have a lower frequency response range than the Alpines, if that will even make that much of a difference?
Once again, thanks for the responses. If I have any more questions, I will stop here first. And I'll try to make a follow-up post once I get the new speakers. Thanks!
uh ... NO ! Do not make the mistake of picking the Clarions over the Alpines.