7 replies to this topic

[audio abecedarian]

Hi everyone I've finally finished my front stage installation and I was wondering if I could get the do's/dont's for setting up the sound stage to sound best while avoiding risk of damage to any of the components

Headunit is a pioneer 5250 and the front doors are deadened with dynamat. Front splits are Opus 8.6 with tweeters mounted in the sail panels on axis towards opposite headrest. Thanks to Formaudio for hooking me up with an amplifier and wiring at a great price. The front splits are amplified by a Genesis Profile2 ultra. Unfortunately I do not have a sub due to my depleted bank account so I need to get my bass out of the front components for the time being.

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I have followed a tutorial on setting the gains for HPF set-up but until I get a sub would it be safe to just run the components on LPF settings?

What voltage should I set the input sensitivity to? (0.3-3)

Cheers

Edited by audio abecedarian, 28 February 2011 - 01:39 PM.

[cm_ls1]

If you are running passive , i would set the hpf filter around 80hz to the components, you could go down to around 60 if you dont push them too much, the tweeters being on the sails will apear louder as they are closer to you, no way to attanuate them any more other than what avail on the x-over they came with, or eq which isnt as good way to do.

As for the gains, i tend to turn the deck up to a few notches below max, and raise the gains until i hear destortion set in and back it off a touch.

[~Spyne~]

as above, the basic way to set amplifier gains is to have the gains on zero.
turn the headunit up to about 75-80% max volume. if this is adequately loud, stop right there.
if this is not loud enough, and there is no audible distortion (female vocal, saxophone, piano are all good for listening for distortion) then start turning the gain up until either it gets too loud or you start hearing distortion. at this point, turn the gain back just a tad.

DO NOT run the speakers with LPF turned on, keep it on HPF!
IF you can remember to be sensible with the volume control, you can run the HPF as low as 50 or 60Hz...but if you like to listen to the music loud, or you listen to 'bassy' music, I would keep the HPF set closer to 80Hz.

Unfortunately, 95% of 6-7" midwoofers are NOT designed to play low bass at louder volumes. This is why we have subwoofers.

[audio abecedarian]

~Spyne~, on 28 February 2011 - 02:23 PM, said:

DO NOT run the speakers with LPF turned on, keep it on HPF!
IF you can remember to be sensible with the volume control, you can run the HPF as low as 50 or 60Hz...but if you like to listen to the music loud, or you listen to 'bassy' music, I would keep the HPF set closer to 80Hz.

sorry im still new to audio.. I take it LPF is for bridging a sub?

[KickerCat]

LPF (Low Pass Filter) is basically the opposite end of the frequency range to HPF (High Pass Filter). a High pass lets everything above a certain frequency through, and a low pass lets everything below a certain frequency through. REMEMBER that the frequency points are not brick walls however. Depending on the slope, you will still get frequencies beyond the LP/HP frequency being played.

The LOWER the frequency of your HPF, the more bass you will get sent to those speakers. Which may be ok at lower volumes, but could cause them problems at higher volumes. So in Spynes example, if you listen at lower levels, you can get away with a lower frequency on your HPF, because your system wont be stressed much. But if you play it LOUD, then setting the frequency higher will (somewhat) compensate for the extra volume. Remember that there is no hard/fast rule about what will work, because of the differences in music, volume, components and settings.

[ardenteagle]

Good thing is with that my experience of the Crescendo Opus 8.6's, the mid-bass response is very strong. Nice speakers. You'll obviously still need a sub to get the full spectrum of sound but if wasn't going to have a sub and just stick with the front splits they'd be a nice choice.

* A little off topic I know

Edited by ardenteagle, 01 March 2011 - 09:52 PM.

[mad89]

audio abecedarian, on 28 February 2011 - 01:38 PM, said:

Thanks to Formaudio for hooking me up with an amplifier and wiring at a great price. The front splits are amplified by a Genesis Profile2 ultra.

No worries mate, happy to help!

On the amp itself, there are a few settings, so from left to right:
Level = Follow the gains setting tutorial here: http://www.mobileele...showtopic=35875 (refer to the 'Setting the Gains' part).
Frequency Multiplier Button = Leave it on 1x
HPF Dial = Set it to around 80hz (half way between 60 and 100 on the dial should be sweet).
LPF Dial = Doesn't matter in this instance (you can set it to 600 if you want to have a kind of 'safe guard' in place)
Frequency Multiplier Button = Doesn't matter in this instance (to further the above, set it to 10x which will provide you with a 6000hz LPF which isnt going to do any damage IF it was on)
LPF On/Off Button = Set it to off (essentially disabling it, and the LPF settings applied above).

Hopefully that makes sense.

[Winno]

~Spyne~, on 28 February 2011 - 02:23 PM, said:

DO NOT run the speakers with LPF turned on, keep it on HPF!
IF you can remember to be sensible with the volume control, you can run the HPF as low as 50 or 60Hz...but if you like to listen to the music loud, or you listen to 'bassy' music, I would keep the HPF set closer to 80Hz.

Unless the thread starter really does hammer his gear, I'm going to disagree with Spyne.
Running the components all the way down with no high pass filter setting will give a stronger, deeper and more dynamic bass result. And I'm sure that this is what they are wanting considering that they do not have a sub yet.

Done it now with many of my own systems of varying degrees of quality.

If you do want to push the volume right up when that great song starts, simply back off the bass eq/loudness/whatever else is artificially boosting the bass, if used at all.