So thanks to all the contributors on this forum I am blown away with my first proper car sound system. My budget was under 2 grand and coming in a bit over this Im very pleased with the result. In my Hyundai X3 excel Ive got:

Focal 6.5" V2 splits into sound deadened doors
Eclipse EV4000 amp
10" eclipse sub in sealed small enclosure
Alpine CDA 9847 head unit
Proper wiring and install

I had it professionally installed and with the standing offer to come back in a month for retuning once it settles in.

My ears arent fully trained but it does sound like some distortion is happening at high volumes and Ive had to move the sub bass up to match the rest of the sounds. All this is imperfect and it would seem to me the best way is to get an RTA wand and be done with it.

Q: Whos got an RTA wand in Canberra and knows how to use it?

Cheers eh

glad the forum has been helpfull!


with the distortion an RTA wont really help.

if it's the amp causing the distortion from clipping you would need a Cro to find out where the on\set of it is.

if it's cuase by the speakers getting driven to hard then you need to go easy on the volume.

either way if you hear it distorting turn the large knob anti clockwise a few notches...

Totally agree. If you had to turn sub for balance then turn it back and turn gains down further on your other speakers. this will keep balance and avoid distortion. If its distorting, gains are too high, so back em off. you wont lose any power as you are at limit anyway, just make it safer to crank. RTAs are only useful in skilled hands and in unskilled hands will make your system sound dreadful.
peace
Cyberpunky

I'd just like to add that I have nothing to add to this thread

Two good replies, listen to them

Thanks all

I understand. I dont have ready access to a CRO and while waiting for the tuneup I reduced the input gains by myself after doing alot of reading. Now its not clipping at full power on any channells. Its close though from the tracks Ive played.

Q: My alpine has 4 r/l pre outs and for the rear channells my amp instructions say to switch the amp to mono for the sub. When the kit was installed the place set it to stereo. Why? Isnt one speaker for sub bass just going to be mono? Should it set it back again to stereo?

I disabled all the bass boost and need to get my hands on a 20hz to 20khz sweep track I think as Im kinda guessing at the filter pass settings.

Just an update. The shop I bought my gear from has an rta with the skills to use it and its being booked in for tuning. Im unsure on setting the hi and low filter pass points along with the bass gain on the amp by ear alone.

Confirmed it should be mono with bridged and its not clipping since I set the gain.

Just out of curiosity - which retailer is this?

forget the 20-20k sweep...these have been the cause of death of many tweeters and can easily damage your hearing. As they are a pure tone they are very dangerous as the output will be much higher than with music.

btw just in case you missed it DONT USE A FULL RANGE SWEEP
play safe ppl
peace
Cyberpunky