So what all can make speakers sound like ass?

chaz · Apr 20, 2005

I just installed my CDT comp[onent set in my kicks and it sounds terrible. No clarity. Really peaky and gross. I have the hpf on the amp set to around 75hz. I'm pretty sure its wired correctly and everything is in phase. It's all pretty self explanatory. I'm kind of bummed right now.

DevilDriver · Apr 20, 2005

that's kinda low for an hpf in my opinion, but the first thing i suggest is make sure your gains are set correctly.

chaz · Apr 20, 2005

well I don't have a sub right now, will it hurt anything to try to get some bass out of them with the hpf like that?

Also I had the amp gain all the way up (low voltage numbers) and was just turning the HU volume up to a decent volume, I haven't really set the gain yet. I thought gain just calibrated how loud the speakers got with how loud you turned the HU volume. I know the HU signal wasn't clipping because the volume was only up about halfway, and I don't think the amp was because it wasn't turned up loud at all.

The amp has some other parameters on it that I don't know what they do, it's a highfonics warrior falcon. I just set the hpf and plugged in the rcas. The manual for it is rubbish.

I'm going to walmart tonight and pick up some adhesive neoprene and polyfill. Maybe some damping is all they need.

WhiteZQ8 · Apr 20, 2005

wait, in the kicks or the doors?

CDT's with their contoured dispersion were designed to go in the doors, pointing at each other

they will be hard to get sounding good in kicks, even then just moving your head a few inches will make for a huge difference

you want a conventional speaker for the kicks, CDTs and the adire Kodas go in the doors

audioholic · Apr 20, 2005

chaz said:
Also I had the amp gain all the way up (low voltage numbers) and was just turning the HU volume up to a decent volume, I haven't really set the gain yet. I thought gain just calibrated how loud the speakers got with how loud you turned the HU volume. I know the HU signal wasn't clipping because the volume was only up about halfway, and I don't think the amp was because it wasn't turned up loud at all.

That's your problem, right there. You have your amplifier's gain set at max? Hmm. The amp can very easily still clip with the h/u turned low, if the gains are set too high. Think of it this way, you are barely pushing your h/u (turned low), but your amp is maxed out. Even at low volume your amp will likely have audible noise/distortion when set like this. Set the gain properly, then come back here if it still sounds bad.

Koda's are some of the best off-axis speakers around. They are designed for doors, not kicks, and perform best there (IB, off-axis).

GoofyGuy · Apr 20, 2005

try turning down the amp. Then make sure all your positives and negatives are correct. from there check your amp and wiring to make sure there are no loose connections or anything grounding out.

Baggd · Apr 20, 2005

audioholic said:
That's your problem, right there. You have your amplifier's gain set at max? Hmm. The amp can very easily still clip with the h/u turned low, if the gains are set too high. Think of it this way, you are barely pushing your h/u (turned low), but your amp is maxed out. Even at low volume your amp will likely have audible noise/distortion when set like this. Set the gain properly, then come back here if it still sounds bad.

Koda's are some of the best off-axis speakers around. They are designed for doors, not kicks, and perform best there (IB, off-axis).

that would definitely do it.. also, you said you have the hpf turned on.. try setting it to "off" or "flat" and turning the fq knob on the amp down. you dont necc need your amps filter. the crossover on a good set of components will handle the filtering just fine.

chaz · Apr 20, 2005

you want a conventional speaker for the kicks, CDTs and the adire Kodas go in the doors

Well I already have the CDTs, I would have to custom fabricate door pods to get them in the doors. Anyone want to trade?

As for the amp gain, I really don't understand that. I can't see how the amp can be clipping at low volume. Maybe I don't understand how gain works, but it seems to me, given a clean input signal, that the amp would clip at the same actual volume level regardless of the gain setting. The gain would only control how high you had to turn up the head unit to get to that volume. Am I wrong here?

Baggd · Apr 20, 2005

chaz said:
Well I already have the CDTs, I would have to custom fabricate door pods to get them in the doors. Anyone want to trade?

As for the amp gain, I really don't understand that. I can't see how the amp can be clipping at low volume. Maybe I don't understand how gain works, but it seems to me, given a clean input signal, that the amp would clip at the same actual volume level regardless of the gain setting. The gain would only control how high you had to turn up the head unit to get to that volume. Am I wrong here?

not necc.. it depends on the amp and the h/u. if the head unit has a preout ove 4v or more (which alot do these days.. i know eclipse offers one @ 16v) and the amps gain knob is pretty sensitive (some amps have a more sensitive gain knob than others) it could definitely overlap and cause clipping at a very low volume.. it depends on the equipment.. ya know? it also depends on what some would consider "low volume"..

audioholic · Apr 20, 2005

chaz said:
Well I already have the CDTs, I would have to custom fabricate door pods to get them in the doors. Anyone want to trade?

As for the amp gain, I really don't understand that. I can't see how the amp can be clipping at low volume. Maybe I don't understand how gain works, but it seems to me, given a clean input signal, that the amp would clip at the same actual volume level regardless of the gain setting. The gain would only control how high you had to turn up the head unit to get to that volume. Am I wrong here?

You will get better/cleaner output if you run both the pre-amp (h/u) and amplifier within reasonable levels than you would running one minimally and one at its peak. Noise threshhold raises as the gains are turned up.

I equate it to the stereo setup I have here in front of my for my computer. I have regular 4-way speakers hooked to the computer, but I also have a radio/cd player hooked to them via an auxilliary input. Now that means I have volume control in two places, the pre-amp (the radio that sends the signal to my speakers' amp) and the amp itself (speakers have volume control on them). If I leave the radio volume very low, but crank my speaker's volume knob to full (so the amp is running full), I get a relatively large output, but it sounds distorted. But, if I turn my speaker amp back down to a reasonable level (not near max where noise/distortion is greatest etc) and turn my pre-amp (the radio) up a bit, I can match the output I was getting before, but overall it will sound much better. This is because Im still getting the same over all output, but Im no longer taxing one of my components to its extreme in order to do it.

audioholic · Apr 20, 2005

Baggd2DaXtreeme said:
you dont necc need your amps filter. the crossover on a good set of components will handle the filtering just fine.

That is not true. The HPF on his amp is doing a different process than is the passives that came with the comp set. The comp set passive xo splits the signal in two for the mid and tweeter, sending a HP signal to the tweets and a LP signal to the mids. The HPF he's using on his amp does something else, it high pass filters the low end for the mids (ie: the lowest freqs they see), something the comp set passives do not address at all. None Ive ever seen anyway.

DevilDriver · Apr 20, 2005

audioholic said:
That is not true. The HPF on his amp is doing a different process than is the passives that came with the comp set. The comp set passive xo splits the signal in two for the mid and tweeter, sending a HP signal to the tweets and a LP signal to the mids. The HPF he's using on his amp does something else, it high pass filters the low end for the mids (ie: the lowest freqs they see), something the comp set passives do not address at all. None Ive ever seen anyway.

:werd:

didn't someone say way above that it was the gain?

chaz · Apr 21, 2005

Hey I turned my gain down on the amp, I actually went a bit too far, but it sounds loads better now. It still needs tweaked and I still seriously need bass, but it sounds like heaven, I just drove to walmart with Thrice on my dash.

Learn something new every day.

Baggd · Apr 21, 2005

audioholic said:
That is not true. The HPF on his amp is doing a different process than is the passives that came with the comp set. The comp set passive xo splits the signal in two for the mid and tweeter, sending a HP signal to the tweets and a LP signal to the mids. The HPF he's using on his amp does something else, it high pass filters the low end for the mids (ie: the lowest freqs they see), something the comp set passives do not address at all. None Ive ever seen anyway.

its still splitting off the frequencys, man.

audioholic · Apr 21, 2005

Baggd2DaXtreeme said:
its still splitting off the frequencys, man.

Hmm, but its not 'splitting' them in the same place his HPF would be on his amp. I actually recommend using some sort of HPF (either on your amp, pre-amp or h/u) to filter subbass to component sets, as this will -greatly- increase their power handling and SQ.

Sounds things are working out for you okay chaz, glad to hear it.

rantz and raves · Apr 21, 2005

chaz said:
Hey I turned my gain down on the amp, I actually went a bit too far, but it sounds loads better now. It still needs tweaked and I still seriously need bass, but it sounds like heaven, I just drove to walmart with Thrice on my dash.

Learn something new every day.

thrice! i have all of their cds including their EP... :rock:
Rock on dude!
-Rantz

rantz and raves · Apr 22, 2005

question...
on the back of the amp it has switches and dials... i'm not too sure as to what these are for... on is a switch and one side is "off" and the other is "LPF"...
then the filter... i sort've understand to have that low i think from reading above... then the "level" and it has numbers like 1, 0.5, 0.3, etc... and "low boost" that goes from 0 to +10dB...
shed some light on what those functions are for... thanks in advance.

-Rantz

chaz · Apr 22, 2005

LPF is what you will want to turn on if you are running a sub with it. It cuts out all frequencies except the low ones.

"level" is the gain

"low boost" is a bass boost function that boosts the bass louder than normal.

rantz and raves · Apr 22, 2005

chaz said:
LPF is what you will want to turn on if you are running a sub with it. It cuts out all frequencies except the low ones.

"level" is the gain

"low boost" is a bass boost function that boosts the bass louder than normal.

o sweet! thanks alot!... now i just have to finish this box!

So what all can make speakers sound like ass?

chaz

DevilDriver

chaz

WhiteZQ8

audioholic

GoofyGuy

Baggd

chaz

Baggd

audioholic

audioholic

DevilDriver

chaz

Baggd

audioholic

rantz and raves

rantz and raves

chaz

rantz and raves

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