A car stereo is the main component in a system that has the most impact on how your audio is going to sound through your car speakers and subwoofer. This is why you need to adjust your car stereo for best sound by following this instructive guide. Now the most best car audio setup for sound quality will contain a modified equalizer that is been fine tuned to perfection. There are also filters that play a few important role in sending out the correct frequencies to the right type of speaker for best sound. Here today you will find the ultimate car audio tuning guide to help you adjust your car stereo for best sound to ensure maximum efficiency and performance.
Equalizer
When you install a new pair of car speakers they will respond differently. This is why in order for your car speakers to sound the best for sound quality you will need to use the best equalizer settings for car audio. Setting the equalizer for best sound is really not that hard at all. If you have a Pioneer car stereo that has a large display screen, either a double din or a flipout you will have either a 5, 13 or 7 band eq to adjust. These days they come integrated as software installed into the headunit rather than in the 1990s when you had to connect a separate parametric eq and mount it somewhere in your car.
Here are instructions on setting the equalizer for best sound:
1) Play a high quality track from an original CD. Turn up the volume to a reasonable level.
2) Go into 'Audio Settings' for Pioneer car audio, for Sony or Kenwood it might be different.
3) Find 'Graphic Equalizer'.
4) There will be a row of different bands across the screen display. Each one will display a number underneath, this what frequency it controls. The lower it is the most its geared towards bass and the higher it is focusing more on treble vocal range.
5) Adjust each frequency band to ensure that you are setting the equalizer for best sound. To increase the DB level higher, for example you want more bass in the 60 HZ region, you would make the EQ slider more taller. Remember to turn down harsh treble at the top end as this can damage your ears with ear piercing tweeters. Also remember bass does not damage your ears it just vibrations.
The instructions below will help you with setting up the crossover frequency settings for your car audio system:
LPF
This is a filter that is also known mainly as low pass filter. This LPF filter is found both on the car stereo if being aftermarket and mandatory on a car amplifier Basically, what this is designed to do is stop treble and vocals going to your installed subwoofer in your car. This is because a subwoofer has a larger heavier cone that is not made to play vocals as its out of its frequency range. They will still play ofcourse but they are not made for them resulting in poor driver performance. Its easy to setup the low pass filter in your car audio system.
Setting up LPF on your car stereo:
1) Head over to the car stereo audio options.
2) Find 'LPF' and select it.
3) Turn it on and set it at 80HZ. This will cut out any frequencies higher than this number which is getting out of the sub bass region and into the midbass section for your front speakers.
Setting up LPF on your car amplifier:
1) Pop the trunk.
2) Locate the crossover switch and flick it into LPF mode.
3) There will be a turnable dial that you can adjust with a flat head screwdriver, set the LPF to around 80HZ.
HPF
An high pass filter works the same way a low pass filter works, however the only difference between the two is that this one is designed for the mids and highs amplifier. The amp that provides power and sound to your front and rear doors speakers most likely being a 4 channel setup. This will stop unwanted bass frequencies going to your car speakers, making them play and sound louder at full volume playing with less distortion on loud. Remember that LPF is for the subwoofer amp and HPF is for the mids and highs.
Setting up HPF on your car headunit:
1) Get access to your audio settings inside your headunit.
2) Find HPF and enter it.
3) Turn the feature on to activate it and set it to 80HZ. This means that it will play nothing below this range stopping bass going to your front speakers.
Gain
Now the gain is very important if sound quality is the main factor you are looking for in your car audio system. Most people that are very new to car audio simply turn the gain up all the way and think they are getting the full power on the car amp. This is the wrong way to do it and blasting your tunes out on full volume like this will result in a blown subwoofer sooner or later. This is because the signal becomes square creating clipping and distortion to be played to your speaker or subwoofer, resulting in poor sound quality.
The gain is also sometimes mistaken for a volume control which is also incorrect.
The reason why its placed on a car amp is to gain match the voltage that
is coming down the plugged in RCA cables from the car stereo. The best way to setup the gain is with a multimeter but you can also set the gain using your ears, its not hard at all and takes less than 30 seconds to tweak.
Tuning the gain control on your car amp is easy as you can also do it by ear:
1) Play a track on your car stereo that has intense bass and good vocals having a balance between both. Increase the volume level on the headunit to almost full but not all the way up. As most create distortion at the end point of the stereo.
2) Now open the trunk lid and find your car amp mounting location.
3) There will be a control labelled as gain that you can adjust. It looks like a little screw that you can move around.
4) Get a flat head screwdriver and turn down the gain all the way down. Now slowly increase it and stop when you hear any kind of distortion of bass playing. Please do not go any higher than this point as you will set the gain too high resulting in poor sound quality and a blown speaker.
Bassboost
Last but not least using the bass boost feature on your car amp. Some say its good and some say its bad, but we say its perfectly fine if its used correctly. We have seen some people that turn on the bass boost on their amp and turn it all the way up. Thinking that they are going to get more clean bass or louder boom coming out of there trunk. Basically, to make things simpler for you to understand its just another equalizer but set at a frequency that strongly focuses on bass usually between 40 - 50 HZ. Its not bad for subs if setup right and you help with getting more bass out of your car amp if done right.
How to adjust bass boost on your car amp:
1) Some car amps have it and others don't. So have a look on your car amp if it has it there will be a switch that says bass boost on it.
2) Flick the switch into bass boost mode. This will turn it on.
3) There will be a turnable screw that will also be labelled as bass boost. This allows you to increase and decrease how much bass boost you want. Slowly turn it up as soon as you hear any kind of clipping or distortion turn it back down.
So thats it really, these tips and tricks will now help you adjust your car stereo for the best possible sound and help you achieve high quality audio. If you are still not happy with the results and are looking for more, you might need to upgrade your speakers to components or apply sound deadening onto the doors and other panels. Any comments or feedback will be helpful and appreciated.
Last but not least using the bass boost feature on your car amp. Some say its good and some say its bad, but we say its perfectly fine if its used correctly. We have seen some people that turn on the bass boost on their amp and turn it all the way up. Thinking that they are going to get more clean bass or louder boom coming out of there trunk. Basically, to make things simpler for you to understand its just another equalizer but set at a frequency that strongly focuses on bass usually between 40 - 50 HZ. Its not bad for subs if setup right and you help with getting more bass out of your car amp if done right.
How to adjust bass boost on your car amp:
1) Some car amps have it and others don't. So have a look on your car amp if it has it there will be a switch that says bass boost on it.
2) Flick the switch into bass boost mode. This will turn it on.
3) There will be a turnable screw that will also be labelled as bass boost. This allows you to increase and decrease how much bass boost you want. Slowly turn it up as soon as you hear any kind of clipping or distortion turn it back down.
So thats it really, these tips and tricks will now help you adjust your car stereo for the best possible sound and help you achieve high quality audio. If you are still not happy with the results and are looking for more, you might need to upgrade your speakers to components or apply sound deadening onto the doors and other panels. Any comments or feedback will be helpful and appreciated.
0 Comments: