Hi, I installed the following products into my car. 99 GSR.

JBL Front 6.5" round componment set
JBL Rear 6.5" door speakers
Rockfordfostgate P450.4 amp (4 chanell)
Used 16 gauge speaker wire
I used expensive RCA cables.. Cant remember exact name, $75/set
I used a basic amp kit for the power/ground cables, and soldered the connectors on.
The head unit is a panasonic unit, model CQ-C8313U.

Now, it sounds great i must say, very clear. Before i had all OEM stuff in the car, im not going for bass really, just something to listen too.

It dosent seem to be all that loud, when i had an amp and 2 6x9's in my crx, i would barley turn up the head unit.. maybe 1/4 of the way and it would be loud enough.. Now with this setup, i have to listen to 1/2 to 3/4 and i can turn it up all the way and its not even that loud, like its as loud as stock. Turn it up half on the stock stereo, and its as loud as it is on this setup at half volume. Although clarity is much better.

Im just wondering.. I dont have it half muted or anything, the amp is hooked up correctly, no backround noise or anything. No problems, it works flawless, im just curious if theres some sort of setting perhaps that is almost holding it back.. Ive turned off the internal amp inside the head unit (setting for it) dosent make a difference, ive tried different mute functions, adjusting crossover, gain etc etc..

Anyone have any idea?

I notice on the back of the amp i have a button that has selections for 'HP' 'AP' LP' which mean high passover, all passover, and low passover, i have this for front and rear, what settings should these be set to? Im assuming 'AP' and then i can tune it with the headunit, I also have the gain and crossover ***** both set at halfway for front and rear.

Remember, im not looking for more bass, just more DB's.

 

turn the gain up

 

Check to ensure polarity is correct. Sounds like something is wired out of phase.

 

Polairty of what? The RCA's? I did run all new speaker wire, and used the white striped wire as the positive, that is consistant. I will check the RCA cables, but Left/Right Front/Rear are all correct, so i assumed i hooked up the RCA's the correct way.

Thanks.

I dont think turning up the gain is the answer to this one.

 

turn the gain up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HamiltonRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont think turning up the gain is the answer to this one.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why not?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 02 accord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why not?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why would it?

 

Do you not understand what the gain is? Think of it as a volume control. If your TV isn't loud enough, you turn up the volume. You should try this same concept on your amp, and I bet your bass will be louder.

 

What is the amps gain set at now? 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HamiltonRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I also have the gain and crossover ***** both set at halfway for front and rear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why can't you turn the gain up? Are you clipping the amp already? If so, there is no way to get more output out of it. But if it's not clipping, then turning up the gain will fix your problem.

 

Oops, missed the part about the gain being 1/2 way, I would also ask why is the x-over on?
Or is it set to A/P, [all-pass] in which case the adjustable x-over setting position means nothing.

Unless there is a current problem that amp should not be clipping even with the gain at 75%-90%.

I would definitely check the left right bias and the front rear, [although much less dramatic then left/right bias, front/rear bias can have an effect].

I would also want a look at the speaker install, air leaks will have an effect on both SPL and bass response. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oops, missed the part about the gain being 1/2 way, I would also ask why is the x-over on?
Or is it set to A/P, [all-pass] in which case the adjustable x-over setting position means nothing.

Unless there is a current problem that amp should not be clipping even with the gain at 75%-90%.

I would definitely check the left right bias and the front rear, [although much less dramatic then left/right bias, front/rear bias can have an effect].

I would also want a look at the speaker install, air leaks will have an effect on both SPL and bass response. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks, im kinda having a hard time understanding what you wrote here.

What exactly does it mean if the amp is clipping? Also, what should i set the crossover to.. Allpass? And what does it mean to check left right bias? and front rear bias?

Thanks, if you say i can turn the gain up to 3/4 i may try it, although im not looking for more bass, just more volume.

The speakers went in all the factory locations, i used new foam stripping that came with them, and they are all secured very tightly, i did not dynamat anything though. Just put them back in the factory spots.


Modified by HamiltonRex at 3:21 PM 1/7/2007

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(audio)

And as everyone has said before, turn the damn gain up.

 

I wouldn't be so quick to turn the gain up. It sounds like it could POSSIBLY be the gain... but maybe not, I'd rather have the gain down and not hurt a darn thing than have clipping and mess stuff up. Here's a good website to use to set your gains, I used it for my setup and it's very clean sounding.
http://subwoofertools.com/forum/setgain.asp and remember from the first sentence on that site... The gain (or input sensitivity) control is designed to match the inputs of your amplifier to the outputs of your head unit. It is NOT a volume control.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HamiltonRex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Thanks, im kinda having a hard time understanding what you wrote here.

What exactly does it mean if the amp is clipping? Also, what should i set the crossover to.. Allpass? And what does it mean to check left right bias? and front rear bias?

Thanks, if you say i can turn the gain up to 3/4 i may try it, although im not looking for more bass, just more volume.

The speakers went in all the factory locations, i used new foam stripping that came with them, and they are all secured very tightly, i did not dynamat anything though. Just put them back in the factory spots.


Modified by HamiltonRex at 3:21 PM 1/7/2007</TD></TR></TABLE> OK, try this, fade all the way to the front speakers, then with the volume turned up to a "comfortable" listening level use the balance control to balance all the way to the left or right speaker and then back to the center again, if the bass response seams better when only the left or right speaker is on then when both are on, they are wired out of phase, to correct it, [or just to be sure] switch one of the speaker leads, [+/-] of the front speakers, at the amp, it does not matter which one, [left or right] and try the balance test again, try the test on the rear speakers also, start by fading all the way to the rear speakers.

Yes x-over should be set at all-pass, once you know for sure the speakers are in phase, you may want to try and use the high-pass for the front or rear speakers, but not both sets as that would result in no bass response below the x-over point. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> one of the speaker leads, [+/-] of the front speakers, at the amp, </TD></TR></TABLE>

ahh ok, i thought you meant with the RCA's, all the speaker polaritys are correct, i check tonight Its just with the RCA's i didnt label them, so i just set fader to front and balance to left, and found the front left, then did each corner till everything was right with the RCA's, so i didnt know how it was possible to screw that up unless from left was really rear left etc.

I fixed the problem though. Turned up the gain The gain was at 1/2 but i turned it up maybe 10% more, just a very small increase on both front and rear gain and it made a big difference, (sorry didnt think it would) id say about %30 louder now at the same volume. I turned down the bass on the deck to -2db and the treble up to +4db, it sounds good that way for the music i listen to.

now for my 2nd and last question

I set the front and rear to 'all pass' on the amp, at the deck, i have low pass and high pass settings.. I put BOTH settings at 90HZ, is this OK for 6.5" round speakers???

Its starting to sound as good as i thought it should

I read the first article on clipping, good read. It seems from what i can understand that its the amp causing distortion because its cranked up too much (gain). Mine definatly isnt doing this, i dont even have the gain up 3/4 of the way, heck i could probably turn it up more safely. The speakers also seem pretty matched to the amp, since they have a higher RMS rating then the amp itself.

 

Yes, you should be fine with a 90 hz XO point. You might even be able to go lower. I'm running my 6 inchers off an alpine head unit XO'd at 63 hz, and they don't complain.