I have been listening to my system for too long now without properly devoting time to tune it correctly.

I want to know if it is worth buying an SQ setup CD for tuning purposes or just going from a normal music CD?

I'm just not sure how a "good/great SQ" system should sound - reading alot is good until you have to actually put that into practice! I have had the system tuned by the shop that did the install but I wasn't entirely convinced...

If it's best to use a normal music CD what are some of the best songs/artists to tune from? And if it's better to use a dedicated SQ CD which one should I use?

Thanks in advance, Brad.

i find that dedicated test discs have higher quality recordings and music that better demonstrates flaws and strengths of a system.

so disc like the alpine and focal discs are good.

then there's the even more dedicated test discs that feature tones and imaging cues, as well as back-to-back music sequences with variations in frequency outputs (eg: tracks 10/11/12 may vary only by midbass 200Hz outputs of -3dB/0dB/+3dB to help you tune the 200Hz region).

i also find that music featuring natural accoustic sounds, like vocals, accoustic guitar, saxophone, piano, etc, are best for tuning. electronic music is obviously 'fabricated', so who knows what it's 'meant' to sound like. whereas, i know what a sax/piano, etc should sound like, so can tune accordingly.

i highly recommend the alpine demo discs (eg: alpine 'final encounter') and IASCA test discs. specialist car audio stores may have them.

however, normal music discs can be useful too. and spending $$ on specialised test discs may only be useful if you have lots of tuning on hand, like a parametric EQ or 'many-band' (eg: 9+) graphic EQ.

in terms of 'reference', you should try and audition the test music on an audiophile home system. and gain experience (if not already) with what accoustic music sounds like.

hope this helps.

I have the IASCA '99 test disc if you want to borrow it Brad?

[edit]

if ur in perth let me borrow it for an afternoon

[ March 11, 2003, 18:07: Message edited by: shiny_car ]

You're spot on here Shiny, this is definately the best way to familiarise yourself with how a quality, natural/transparent audio system should sound.

I selected some decent quality test discs with acoustic instruments and lots of vocals (Jewel and Norah Jones), then went into audiophile home hi-fi dealers posing as a prospective customer and listened to these discs on systems ranging from $10k to $25k.

This gave me an appreciation for the quality of sound that I wanted to strive for, and it has helped me imensely in tuning my system...

of course, I doubt I'll ever reach that level of SQ in a car's environment...