I was an installer for 19 years and did a LOT of brands. I am loyal to a handful and I have seen some favorites take a nosedive in quality. Two of my cars have the ENTIRE system replaced from the head unit through the entire audio path. My 'zip code car' had a Mach Audio system but only three channels of amplification were added. Even into my 50's I don't think I am capable of leaving ANY stock sound system alone.
Hi not sure if you will see this but I was wondering if you, I bought a JL rd 900/5 and for mids it’s has 70 watts rms @ 4 ohms but I purchased a component speakers for the front Alpine R2 S65c it basically says 100 rms . What I am wondering is should I buy another amp for the rear (they are going to be similar alpines but 2 ways) or do you think I will be good? I know sometimes with like my home audio I could get an amp that only puts out on paper a small rms but they push speakers so good idk if it’s the same or not I mean if both speakers are 100 rms but my amp says 70 ? I know if I just push the fronts it will change to like 200 I believe so I’m just not sure really. I am also putting a dsp alpine as well 6 channel
It's about time I can't tell you how many videos I've watched that of either been too technical or not enough. You inform me of things I've never been told before and did it in a way I understand. thank you, Derik from Arizona
For those of you who don’t really know who this guy is..let me tell you. Mark is the Lebron James of car audio fabrication. He’s a very detailed professional who takes his work extremely serious. He has every dam tool you could think of at his disposal to make the job look as good or better than factory. Whatever your audio needs are, Mark delivers. I’ve seen many other car audio fabricators. And all have unique talents. However Mark, (IMO), is the undisputed KING of the tube.
Haha there are a lot of guys way more talented than me, but I'm doing my best to make progress and get better with every build. Thanks for the love and thanks for watching!
You do realize you're doing some very, very good work, Mark. I'm building a system now and your channel is teaching me a lot, and I've been DIY-ing for 30 years. I'll be donating to your Patreon soon! Thanks!
On a lot of these controller units and amplifiers, I really wish the manufacturers would spend the extra time to put a tick mark or an arrow on the dials. It would really help a lot of us make adjustments especially while in the car and confined spaces.
Very educational video just put my first one two days ago and I’ve been running it with the knobs all the way up cause no one taught me how to use anything but your videos have taught me so much in the last two days
Ian McDonald I’m guessing it’s 17.2v ish’ Measuring with voltmeter you need to multiply by .707 to properly calculate for RMS. Just my understanding. I could be wrong.
His POT position using the DMM is a tick higer than using the DD1. Pobably cause he readjusted the stereo volume before using the DD1. Doesn't really matter, I'm cranking my ACDC to MAX everytime!
Nice Video. I have a friend who has advanced knowledge of state of the art car audio. He has a 4000 watt 18 speakers system which sounded unlike anything automotive sound system I've ever heard...the amazing aspect is the specialized insulation system of the vehicle rendering the immense sound undetectable from out side while the doors are shut...it is truly amazing the tech mankind has achieved.
My subwoofer guy put paint on top of the gain controls and all that and said he put them exactly where they need to be, so don't touch them and he'll be able to tell if I messed with it because the paint would be cracked on the dials. Loved that guy
It might be worth adding that some amplifiers (DD Audio, Audio Control, Rockford) have a clipping indicator to help set the gains properly. I has been my experience that the DD Audio clip indicators on the D Series are pretty well spot on with the DD-1.
Problem with this method is that usually car CD or USB players play a lot louder than Bluetooth, for example. So if you plan on listening to music through Bluetooth/aux cable, you should make sure you play the test tones through those when you are setting the gain. Only use a CD if you plan on mostly listening to CDs.
great video, but I noticed that you had low battery on the smd dd-1, I had that happen to me thinking my signal was distorted but when I changed my battery I could go a little bit more before distortion. great vid though for setting gains and crossovers.
Man i love their product. If i had my own shop that would be my premiere line of amps. Especially since the auto industry is trying their damnedest to keep aftermarket equipment out. Loving the integration
@Mark, I just cant thank you enough for this video, my installer have made horrible mistakes on tuning the new amp and audio was worth than stock system. I followed you guidance and my car audio is 300% better than stock now ... 😁 Respect mate 🍻
I'm not talking about the Constructive comments on here but it's funny watching people point out Every little mistake Mark makes,every time he mis labels something or moves his finger in a way that,that person wouldn't personally move their fingers.I have a question.Where is your Video?Where is your TH-cam channel?Where are your almost 500,000 Subscribers?!?!???It's easy to criticize someone when you have the advantage of watching after the video was made and being an outsider looking in.Keep up the great work Mark! You're so very helpful to Car audio newbs like myself.
Hi, thanks for your videos! The bass rolloff as you turn on the volume is rather a result of loudness function in the unit, that compensate humans hearing system non linearity. As your volume is low loudness function tilt up bass and highs. As you increase the volume the tilt up becomes smaller until zero tilt up from some volume level (defined by manufacturer). This looks like bass rolloff what is actually not really.
For the equation that was used @ 4:00 did you use the amplifiers RMS power or Max power? Also, what if the speakers you're using are rated for less power than your amplifier can put out?
Much appreciated, love the video very descriptive on making the knowledge easy to understand. The only thing I would comment on that would make it better is your transition timing from one sentence to another specially when you go from an edited video speak about one thing and transfer to the edited part that follows. You talk a little fast so for some it may be hard to follow on a listening paste. Little longer pauses between sentences. Liked and subscribed. Thanks again much appreciated
When you use a dsp like the audio control 608 and you do all your adjustments on the dsp. Do you leave the amplifier crossover on off or no crossover or you further adjust on the amplifier controls?
These kinds of videos would have been great 25 years ago. I mean they are great now, but would have also been great then too. I had no idea what I was doing, lol. Thanks!
Big Ounce yes it will be a bit quieter at lower volume but it’s supposed to be a lot of people set their amps to the max settings thinking it will be the loudest but it over does it and actually isn’t as loud just distorted but if you tune it you can get that max crisp volume without a bit of distortion:)
I have a after market head unit with stick speakers and 4 12’ kicker red lines (I’m 17 with minimal wage leave me alone😂) and I just turned the bass down all the way on my head unit so my speakers can play as loud as possible with no distortion and let the subs do the lows :)
Thanks Mark! Now truly understand that even though I've match the amp voltage - Sub RMS doesn't mean it's not clipping.. I guess time to get one of those DD1..
Great video, I learned a lot! One problem though... I can't stop thinking about about the song you used to test. Someone on TH-cam uses that as an outro song or something, who da faq is it?!
Thank you for the time and effort. I've watched a handful of your vids, mostly revolving around the Audio Control amps. I'm very, very interested in them. That said, in other vidz, you've shown the feature LED that AC uses to help set the gain. I'd love to see an addition to this vid, or perhaps a separate one, where you use the Scope or DDM to test out how accurate their LED is. :) Once again, thank you.
This content is priceless!!! We already know you love premium quality equipment from AudioControl, do you have any comments about the Kicker Key amps with integrated DSP and auto-tuning capabilities. My guess it’s like comparing a full DSLR camera vs a point and a point and shoot one.
Kicker is a reliable manufacture and the Key is nice but using a camera analogy I would equate it with shooting on Auto mode vs Manual. The Key corrects things, but it does it automatically. At the end of the day a pro using "manual" mode and knowing what they are doing will be able to create a better finished result.
Thank you. This video with the help of Kicker's tech hotline to confirm specs enabled me to tune my first amp/sub combo. The only thing I found confusing was that the power formula used to determine gain voltage was based on the amp specs, and kicker told me to use the speakers specs for the calculation (Amp was 750 RMS versus Speaker which was 400 RMS). I assume that if I used the amp rating (750) and set the gain it would have been too much for the sub. Thank you for this video.
I just hooked up a boss 1000 amplifier to 4 Pioneer car speakers 2 6x9 and 2 5.5 for front...and it doesnt sound like its even working that well. It does increase the volumn with less distortion. I guess that is all the amp does. It has one of those amp increase knobs which does nothing. A new Rockville 800 watt amp and 2 8" Subs in a factory made box.. coming in a few days. Perhaps the sound quality will improve with some lower tones. All this info you talk about is over my head, plus I don't have testing equipment or money to buy the good stuff anyway. But sure like dreaming about it.You make sense. Years ago I had a $1000 dollar pioneer system put in a camaro. I'm wondering if the same system would cost the same today and sound as good. And it was awesome. Super clear sound with a Pioneer super tuner 2. Or a 3 not sure since it was 30 years ago. Not sure what the same system would cost today. But it had no subwoofer. Just very clear sounding quality stereo music. with 40 watt pioneer amps on front and a 40 on the rear 6x9's. I just spent that much on a new system and it hardly sounds any where as good as the other one. And I made sure all the wires are Plus and MINUS hook ups. RCA cables exactly where they need to be. Since my car is a 70 classic I had to make myself by a radio looking tuner which is probably the big problem with quality sound. Its a Radio, USA-230, Custom Size, AM/FM, 200 Watt, Chrome Face, Black Buttons, Chrome Knobs, Ford. Probably the crap that is causing the poor sound quality through the pioneer speakers.
Watching this at midnight 2.00 am in one remote village of India where these tuning is considered to be as alien technology, i will be able to tune my Focal Amp, JVC Stereo, Infinity component speakers along with Rockford sub in tomorrow morning, thanks to this video 😊
Hey great video. I just want to make sure I got my numbers and math right, I have a clarion amp 1300 watts and the box says 650 continuous watts @ 2ohms. So my math would be 2 * 650 = 1300, the sq route is 36.055.... is this right?
Ok I'm a old school DIY audio installer. Now that the Technology has change I wanted learn how to match speakers and amps. Tune them properly. Also fabricate speaker boxes. All for motorcycles. I've already subscribed, can you suggest video that can help?
If my amp has a subsonic filter, would I turn that down before setting my gains or should I turn it up like I do with the crossovers. Thank you and keep making these amazing videos. They are so helpful.
Cut it down. Personally I have better bass with the subsonic filter off BUT it can cause damage long term if you don't use it at all. You'll see the more it goes UP the less bass you get. You'll either have a on off switch or a knob to adjust manually. If you have a knob after you set gains turn the sub filter maybe 10 percent but it's up to you. It essentially filters out bass notes inaudible to a person's hearing capabilities. Such frequencies could over time damage the woofer
At 10:20 you said have the high pass set for speaker at 80hz . Now let say my speakers frequency response claims to be 35-21k Hz . Do I still do 80 or do I set it to something like 50hz (it the lowest my amp can set my high pass to) .My 4 channel lowest claims to be 20-21k Hz. It’s a Rockford fosgate T400x4ad
Question: once I set the gain with the head unit bass at 0 and the auxiliary bass knob at max, can i then later turn the head unit bass back up or do I only use the auxiliary knob? Please help
I know this is a very late comment and you may not care past this point, but in the most simple way think of math as if it never had letters R=resistance multiply that by your wattage the speaker can handle (this information will be displayed on the speaker itself or the box it comes in) then take the square root of it all, this allows you to find your total gain control, assuming you set the radio at the right controls before tuning the amp
Small point of clarification: pink noise does NOT have equal output at all frequencies; that's white noise. Pink noise has output inversely proportional to frequency (1/f), so there's a fixed dB dropoff per octave.
I would love to see you hook up the new keyloc!! I don't think anyone knows how to troubleshoot it and/or how to set both the gains properly, we need someone with your skills, to do it man!! Someone that actually knows what's up! Thanks for all the cool information videos
Awesome video. Really makes someone understand every detail in depth. Can you please upload a video of how to set gain, crossover and phase on pioneer ts-wx1210a which has inbuilt amplifier. Thanks
Due to reflection caused by the impedance mismatch when there are no speakers, that equation I don't think, will apply to the speaker outputs. I think putting a 4 Ohm resistor in place of the speakers and then measuring the voltage, would probably help eliminate distortion.
@@jonathanharris185Well, I believe placing a resistor will change the result but only slightly. The reflections at the speaker outputs will be maximized since there's nothing plugged in, and the amp is probably designed to have impedance matching at 2-4 ohms. It's almost like shaking a slinky while holding one end attached to a concrete block. What this could change....is the RMS value the multimeter reads since the waveform could be different, and setting the gain may therefore be off.
I am subscriber and well stay amazed at your creativity. You should be booked for years ahead for SEMA builds! I thank you for sharing your amazing and vast knowledge of all things car audio. I have to tell you on the first video that i stumbled across i was instantly Blown Away by your shop and its cleanliness. It just makes you go Ahhhh :)
Great info. It would’ve been cool to see you set the gain for a subwoofer too and explain what frequencies to use, aside from the 1 kHz for mids n highs. Why is 50hz the recommended frequency to set sub, and 1khz for mids n highs? I get that it’s a low and high frequency, for both respectively, but why that exact frequency? One last question, my JL RD 5 channel 900 watt has a clipping light, is the tool in the video more accurate or could I trust the led clipping indicator?
Thanks for the video. I was curious about the difference of using a load resistor when checking for voltage drop. A DMM - obviously has a much higher impedance than a 4 ohm load. I suppose the voltage would be the same, just much lower current out of the output channel of the amp.
Mate your an absolute legend when it comes to ice. I wish you were in the U.K. I’d definitely hire you to do my ice. Your so fastidious in what you do . I enjoy watching and learning off your videos. Do you give advice aswell on personal set ups? I’d love to know
Great videoo! Im surely coming back, to learn more. Buuuuuuut I was looking to set up my car amp by sound or a way without any gear I dont have lol! Just saying haha, as you can tell I know nothing about the subject. Thank you!
I've been a follower of the channel for quite some time and it's definitely one of the best one's out there, but there's a few things I'd like to point out in relation to this video. Can you get close to a decent ball park with your gains by using this method in the video? Maybe, but It depends strictly on the amplifier and its performance in open load versus "loudspeaker driver like" load conditions. Amplifiers' output performance (voltage and current output capability) is almost always related to the load the output is presented with. Measuring distortion or (constant) voltage while having an open load (=basically meaning infinite resistance as in no load connected, opposite being a short circuit with infinitesimal resistance) on the power output terminals doesn't give us any relevant information about how the amplifier performs under its intended use (with a driver attached across the output terminals). Especially in the car audio world where woofers tend to have relatively low impedances, the measurements performed in this video are not good practices from a strictly technical point of view. There are drastic differences in amplifier behavior in relation to the load it is presented with, thus gain and distortion measurements should always be done with using a load on the output side of the amplifier that it will be working with when in use. For example this load can be an adequately sized dummy load or an actual driver for that matter (the noisy and potentially destructive option). Strictly speaking, the dummy load isn't an optimal solution though, as a speaker driver is actually a reactive load (dummy load being mostly resistive), but for single tone testing, the dummy load will do it's job in this sort of measurements. When we measure the outputs with the load attached, we actually get the correct voltage and distortion readings that we can use to set up our gains with. It's not that simple though, as knowing and tracking the maximum expected output voltage in relation to our load conditions doesn't really guarantee a distortion free output since amplifier manufacturers are notorious at being dishonest when publishing their specs. If you really want to go deep with Kassem G and get your stuff properly sorted out, you bust out your (preferably) FFT based measurement system/scope and decide on how much distortion you want to allow in your system instead of letting the fixed 1% on the distortion detection device dictate your actions. In the case of most amplifiers on the market today, it is very likely that the aftermath of setting your gains the way presented in this video you could end up being off by several dB's from your optimal settings. Also a good thing to note, is that if you choose to do your measurements, with the load attached of course, using a multimeter, make sure that it's a true rms meter as you are using a sinewave test tone, which will give you a correct voltage reading. The whole amplifier output power debate in the field of "continuous" vs "rms" figures is also very relevant when discussing the topic of correct measurement techniques and what and how to measure, but this is not the time and place to discuss that.
Thank you... It also needs to be pointed out that MANY of the amplifiers on the market rate the continuous power rating at a very high distortion level, often between 10 and 20% at 1Khz! Going to higher and lower frequencies away from 1Khz often results in even greater distortion!
Hey Mark, I have a LC1.800. I'm looking for info on how to set the accubass and can't find any help. Do you have a video available on how to set these up?
Extremely important to set your levels right from your headunit to your amp & hpf & lpf’s one key note is, if your a daily driver like me and only use your volume knob below 60% threshold on your stereo you are almost never going to get to a clipping or distortion peak. Unless again!!! your levels are not set properly from beginning to end.
Hi Mark..You did a full sound system project for Jeep and for sure their are millions of fans for that...Can you do one for the Mini Cooper as well ? A lot of MC fans out there would love to see you do one. I'm sure you can just picture one in your head just like that....Even if it's not a MC...just a small car. Very curious how you would design it ?...What gears will you be using ? and all that. Thanks, John
The Chrisfix of car audio
Right.
I thought no one realized that
Wish
fact! lol
Love this lmao
I feel like I owe this guy money for the education he has given me.
Great demo! Sometimes we forget to explain the basics and this video does a great job. Thanks Mark.
BigDWiz Hey Big D. We need more amp dyno test.
I was an installer for 19 years and did a LOT of brands. I am loyal to a handful and I have seen some favorites take a nosedive in quality. Two of my cars have the ENTIRE system replaced from the head unit through the entire audio path. My 'zip code car' had a Mach Audio system but only three channels of amplification were added. Even into my 50's I don't think I am capable of leaving ANY stock sound system alone.
Hi not sure if you will see this but I was wondering if you, I bought a JL rd 900/5 and for mids it’s has 70 watts rms @ 4 ohms but I purchased a component speakers for the front Alpine R2 S65c it basically says 100 rms . What I am wondering is should I buy another amp for the rear (they are going to be similar alpines but 2 ways) or do you think I will be good? I know sometimes with like my home audio I could get an amp that only puts out on paper a small rms but they push speakers so good idk if it’s the same or not I mean if both speakers are 100 rms but my amp says 70 ? I know if I just push the fronts it will change to like 200 I believe so I’m just not sure really. I am also putting a dsp alpine as well 6 channel
It's about time I can't tell you how many videos I've watched that of either been too technical or not enough. You inform me of things I've never been told before and did it in a way I understand.
thank you,
Derik from Arizona
Thanks Mark for all your videos. I am regular do-it-yourselfer and this information helps me understand the tuning process
For those of you who don’t really know who this guy is..let me tell you. Mark is the Lebron James of car audio fabrication. He’s a very detailed professional who takes his work extremely serious. He has every dam tool you could think of at his disposal to make the job look as good or better than factory. Whatever your audio needs are, Mark delivers. I’ve seen many other car audio fabricators. And all have unique talents. However Mark, (IMO), is the undisputed KING of the tube.
Haha there are a lot of guys way more talented than me, but I'm doing my best to make progress and get better with every build. Thanks for the love and thanks for watching!
I use his videos as much as I can. I wish I could afford the tools to do that kind of craftsmanship. But I take my builds just as serious.
@@CarAudioFabrication only if you had your own school
So hes not even Kobe or Jordan...? got it!
@@molonlabe7750 savage
You do realize you're doing some very, very good work, Mark. I'm building a system now and your channel is teaching me a lot, and I've been DIY-ing for 30 years. I'll be donating to your Patreon soon! Thanks!
On a lot of these controller units and amplifiers, I really wish the manufacturers would spend the extra time to put a tick mark or an arrow on the dials. It would really help a lot of us make adjustments especially while in the car and confined spaces.
Very educational video just put my first one two days ago and I’ve been running it with the knobs all the way up cause no one taught me how to use anything but your videos have taught me so much in the last two days
This guy is the best on TH-cam extremely detailed in explaining the process as well as the technical aspects of equipment and its proper use
I'd be interested to see the output on the volt meter after you tuned out the distortion. Great video though!
Ian McDonald I was thinking the same thing
Ian McDonald me too. Let’s see it
Ian McDonald I’m guessing it’s 17.2v ish’ Measuring with voltmeter you need to multiply by .707 to properly calculate for RMS. Just my understanding. I could be wrong.
His POT position using the DMM is a tick higer than using the DD1. Pobably cause he readjusted the stereo volume before using the DD1. Doesn't really matter, I'm cranking my ACDC to MAX everytime!
I’m a beginner on car audio and I’ve found your videos very helpful
1:53 Gain is not a Volume Knob. so hard for people to understand.
especially teenagers. Because their buddy told them to crank it up!!!
all knobs to the right
haha
"just crank it up"
all knobs to 11
Nice Video. I have a friend who has advanced knowledge of state of the art car audio. He has a 4000 watt 18 speakers system which sounded unlike anything automotive sound system I've ever heard...the amazing aspect is the specialized insulation system of the vehicle rendering the immense sound undetectable from out side while the doors are shut...it is truly amazing the tech mankind has achieved.
I finnaly finished my system that took me 2 weeks of work, now this will be super helpful to tune it right
Thank you for teaching a boces class on production and sound quality, basics of sounds put so seamless
My subwoofer guy put paint on top of the gain controls and all that and said he put them exactly where they need to be, so don't touch them and he'll be able to tell if I messed with it because the paint would be cracked on the dials. Loved that guy
It might be worth adding that some amplifiers (DD Audio, Audio Control, Rockford) have a clipping indicator to help set the gains properly. I has been my experience that the DD Audio clip indicators on the D Series are pretty well spot on with the DD-1.
finally someone who really knows what their talking about . thank you, it's been really helpful !
Problem with this method is that usually car CD or USB players play a lot louder than Bluetooth, for example. So if you plan on listening to music through Bluetooth/aux cable, you should make sure you play the test tones through those when you are setting the gain. Only use a CD if you plan on mostly listening to CDs.
This is because cd quality is better than the other forms of audio you are playing.
There is more information there.
On my headunit i can set levels for either as well as enabling media extender
Wow. That was 5 years ago and the info still stands today.
This guy's channel is badass!! I wish I had the kind of money it probably takes to have him hook my stuff up, from the ground up!!
Save up kiddo you will get there some day.
Holy moly.
WOW.
You made this very simple for my understanding.
Wish I could afford the SMD-DD1
great video, but I noticed that you had low battery on the smd dd-1, I had that happen to me thinking my signal was distorted but when I changed my battery I could go a little bit more before distortion. great vid though for setting gains and crossovers.
Man i love their product. If i had my own shop that would be my premiere line of amps. Especially since the auto industry is trying their damnedest to keep aftermarket equipment out. Loving the integration
@Mark, I just cant thank you enough for this video, my installer have made horrible mistakes on tuning the new amp and audio was worth than stock system. I followed you guidance and my car audio is 300% better than stock now ... 😁
Respect mate 🍻
Ce
I'm not talking about the Constructive comments on here but it's funny watching people point out Every little mistake Mark makes,every time he mis labels something or moves his finger in a way that,that person wouldn't personally move their fingers.I have a question.Where is your Video?Where is your TH-cam channel?Where are your almost 500,000 Subscribers?!?!???It's easy to criticize someone when you have the advantage of watching after the video was made and being an outsider looking in.Keep up the great work Mark! You're so very helpful to Car audio newbs like myself.
Would have been cool to see what the difference in voltage was between the voltmeter and the tuner setting
They are the same lol
Thank you for another great video. You supply information that isn't readily available, all explained in an easy to understand manner.
I like crossovers. I always attempt to make the bass sound like it's coming from the doors as much as possible without distorting the mids and highs.
So much more involved than It seems...one day I'll get my system sounding right
Hi, thanks for your videos! The bass rolloff as you turn on the volume is rather a result of loudness function in the unit, that compensate humans hearing system non linearity. As your volume is low loudness function tilt up bass and highs. As you increase the volume the tilt up becomes smaller until zero tilt up from some volume level (defined by manufacturer). This looks like bass rolloff what is actually not really.
Thank you for making these videos. These will come in handy soon!
@ 6.25. " You should never turn up the volume past this point on the Raido !. What Point is that ?
@@Assassin1710 The 3/4 point of full tilt on the head unit.
For the equation that was used @ 4:00 did you use the amplifiers RMS power or Max power? Also, what if the speakers you're using are rated for less power than your amplifier can put out?
Actually u r very good to explain all the things. Like I completely understand by watching full video . Without repetiting. Thank u car audio 🤘
Much respect for this video ... Most people just dont understand
Much appreciated, love the video very descriptive on making the knowledge easy to understand.
The only thing I would comment on that would make it better is your transition timing from one sentence to another specially when you go from an edited video speak about one thing and transfer to the edited part that follows. You talk a little fast so for some it may be hard to follow on a listening paste. Little longer pauses between sentences. Liked and subscribed. Thanks again much appreciated
Dude literally saved my life.
When you use a dsp like the audio control 608 and you do all your adjustments on the dsp. Do you leave the amplifier crossover on off or no crossover or you further adjust on the amplifier controls?
What would you use to power the out of car system in your shop? Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us 🤙
These kinds of videos would have been great 25 years ago. I mean they are great now, but would have also been great then too. I had no idea what I was doing, lol. Thanks!
So by setting the gain properly, it allow me to turn it up more without distortion???
Big Ounce yes it will be a bit quieter at lower volume but it’s supposed to be a lot of people set their amps to the max settings thinking it will be the loudest but it over does it and actually isn’t as loud just distorted but if you tune it you can get that max crisp volume without a bit of distortion:)
I have a after market head unit with stick speakers and 4 12’ kicker red lines (I’m 17 with minimal wage leave me alone😂) and I just turned the bass down all the way on my head unit so my speakers can play as loud as possible with no distortion and let the subs do the lows :)
Xxx tentacion that’s what i do lol
Thanks Mark! Now truly understand that even though I've match the amp voltage - Sub RMS doesn't mean it's not clipping.. I guess time to get one of those DD1..
Great video, I learned a lot! One problem though... I can't stop thinking about about the song you used to test. Someone on TH-cam uses that as an outro song or something, who da faq is it?!
Thank you for the time and effort. I've watched a handful of your vids, mostly revolving around the Audio Control amps. I'm very, very interested in them. That said, in other vidz, you've shown the feature LED that AC uses to help set the gain. I'd love to see an addition to this vid, or perhaps a separate one, where you use the Scope or DDM to test out how accurate their LED is. :) Once again, thank you.
This content is priceless!!! We already know you love premium quality equipment from AudioControl, do you have any comments about the Kicker Key amps with integrated DSP and auto-tuning capabilities. My guess it’s like comparing a full DSLR camera vs a point and a point and shoot one.
Kicker is a reliable manufacture and the Key is nice but using a camera analogy I would equate it with shooting on Auto mode vs Manual. The Key corrects things, but it does it automatically. At the end of the day a pro using "manual" mode and knowing what they are doing will be able to create a better finished result.
Wow! the amps look amazing!!!!!. Awesome video
What's so amazing?
Thank you. This video with the help of Kicker's tech hotline to confirm specs enabled me to tune my first amp/sub combo. The only thing I found confusing was that the power formula used to determine gain voltage was based on the amp specs, and kicker told me to use the speakers specs for the calculation (Amp was 750 RMS versus Speaker which was 400 RMS). I assume that if I used the amp rating (750) and set the gain it would have been too much for the sub. Thank you for this video.
I just hooked up a boss 1000 amplifier to 4 Pioneer car speakers 2 6x9 and 2 5.5 for front...and it doesnt sound like its even working that well. It does increase the volumn with less distortion. I guess that is all the amp does. It has one of those amp increase knobs which does nothing. A new Rockville 800 watt amp and 2 8" Subs in a factory made box.. coming in a few days. Perhaps the sound quality will improve with some lower tones. All this info you talk about is over my head, plus I don't have testing equipment or money to buy the good stuff anyway. But sure like dreaming about it.You make sense.
Years ago I had a $1000 dollar pioneer system put in a camaro. I'm wondering if the same system would cost the same today and sound as good. And it was awesome. Super clear sound with a Pioneer super tuner 2. Or a 3 not sure since it was 30 years ago. Not sure what the same system would cost today. But it had no subwoofer. Just very clear sounding quality stereo music. with 40 watt pioneer amps on front and a 40 on the rear 6x9's. I just spent that much on a new system and it hardly sounds any where as good as the other one. And I made sure all the wires are Plus and MINUS hook ups. RCA cables exactly where they need to be.
Since my car is a 70 classic I had to make myself by a radio looking tuner which is probably the big problem with quality sound. Its a Radio, USA-230, Custom Size, AM/FM, 200 Watt, Chrome Face, Black Buttons, Chrome Knobs, Ford. Probably the crap that is causing the poor sound quality through the pioneer speakers.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, now i feel confident to do it myself. Very informative.
Watching this at midnight 2.00 am in one remote village of India where these tuning is considered to be as alien technology, i will be able to tune my Focal Amp, JVC Stereo, Infinity component speakers along with Rockford sub in tomorrow morning, thanks to this video 😊
Hey great video. I just want to make sure I got my numbers and math right, I have a clarion amp 1300 watts and the box says 650 continuous watts @ 2ohms. So my math would be 2 * 650 = 1300, the sq route is 36.055.... is this right?
yup
Very good video, clear, concise and easy to understand
This dude is cool and full of life.
Ok I'm a old school DIY audio installer. Now that the Technology has change I wanted learn how to match speakers and amps. Tune them properly. Also fabricate speaker boxes. All for motorcycles. I've already subscribed, can you suggest video that can help?
This help.. the volt meter and math helped me
Excellent content! Always a great watch
Dude! You’re bad ass. Everything is very properly explained. Thanks man. Great teacher!
If my amp has a subsonic filter, would I turn that down before setting my gains or should I turn it up like I do with the crossovers. Thank you and keep making these amazing videos. They are so helpful.
Yes
Yes turn it down or yes turn it up?
Cut it down. Personally I have better bass with the subsonic filter off BUT it can cause damage long term if you don't use it at all. You'll see the more it goes UP the less bass you get. You'll either have a on off switch or a knob to adjust manually. If you have a knob after you set gains turn the sub filter maybe 10 percent but it's up to you. It essentially filters out bass notes inaudible to a person's hearing capabilities. Such frequencies could over time damage the woofer
Mark you are the best and have been for a while
Bonne vidéo merci d'avoir partager ta routine, ça va m'aider.❤❤❤
At 10:20 you said have the high pass set for speaker at 80hz . Now let say my speakers frequency response claims to be 35-21k Hz . Do I still do 80 or do I set it to something like 50hz (it the lowest my amp can set my high pass to) .My 4 channel lowest claims to be 20-21k Hz. It’s a Rockford fosgate T400x4ad
I'm purchasing that amp. Thank you for the video.
Question: once I set the gain with the head unit bass at 0 and the auxiliary bass knob at max, can i then later turn the head unit bass back up or do I only use the auxiliary knob? Please help
Don't turn it back up.
If you must do any eq on headunit, do it before setting gain on amplifier
Lost me when he said very simple math and started with letters😣
It’s very simple, but in saying that if you never did any electronics in school then it might be confusing
@@damonvanheerden3605 i never did bud so everything is confusing 😒
I know this is a very late comment and you may not care past this point, but in the most simple way think of math as if it never had letters R=resistance multiply that by your wattage the speaker can handle (this information will be displayed on the speaker itself or the box it comes in) then take the square root of it all, this allows you to find your total gain control, assuming you set the radio at the right controls before tuning the amp
@@brendanreddmann3613 its never to late for information buddy. Stay you and thank you!!!
😂
Dude this is the most helpful video thank you!!!
Can you do a vid on ways to add spl to a system without new amps/subs ect.?
Like braceing, 45s in corners in boxes, port direction ect.
Small point of clarification: pink noise does NOT have equal output at all frequencies; that's white noise. Pink noise has output inversely proportional to frequency (1/f), so there's a fixed dB dropoff per octave.
I would love to see you hook up the new keyloc!! I don't think anyone knows how to troubleshoot it and/or how to set both the gains properly, we need someone with your skills, to do it man!! Someone that actually knows what's up! Thanks for all the cool information videos
Question. I know this video is old but its awesome. How is the connection made to check clipping from the radio itself?
Awesome video. Really makes someone understand every detail in depth. Can you please upload a video of how to set gain, crossover and phase on pioneer ts-wx1210a which has inbuilt amplifier. Thanks
U just earned a new subscriber.....thank u
Due to reflection caused by the impedance mismatch when there are no speakers, that equation I don't think, will apply to the speaker outputs. I think putting a 4 Ohm resistor in place of the speakers and then measuring the voltage, would probably help eliminate distortion.
Is this just a guess or would putting a 4ohm resistor in place (replacing) the speaker/woofer driver change the end result ?
@@jonathanharris185Well, I believe placing a resistor will change the result but only slightly. The reflections at the speaker outputs will be maximized since there's nothing plugged in, and the amp is probably designed to have impedance matching at 2-4 ohms. It's almost like shaking a slinky while holding one end attached to a concrete block.
What this could change....is the RMS value the multimeter reads since the waveform could be different, and setting the gain may therefore be off.
I am subscriber and well stay amazed at your creativity. You should be booked for years ahead for SEMA builds! I thank you for sharing your amazing and vast knowledge of all things car audio. I have to tell you on the first video that i stumbled across i was instantly Blown Away by your shop and its cleanliness. It just makes you go Ahhhh :)
thats great to know cause the shop i work at we set all low pass filters to 80hz :)
Like, bass rolls off at 80hz, or everything below 80 is cut out.
@@sethh8892 Low pass lets bass through, so bass starts to roll off at 80hz!
@@finnbasschannel6267 I wonder at what DB slope...
Thanks for the information. Should the car be on while setting the gains?
I'd be curious to check your voltage after using the SMD meter to see if you how close you were.
Hi
Plz show us how to wire up a 3 way crossover with 2 amps and 2 subs
Great one on amplifier tuning!
When you use the smd to check the head unit for distortion, how is it hooked up? To the line out at a speaker? Sorry, just a little confused.
greetings from russia! this is a easiest way to change correct gain on amp without special device what i see! thanks dude!
Great info. It would’ve been cool to see you set the gain for a subwoofer too and explain what frequencies to use, aside from the 1 kHz for mids n highs. Why is 50hz the recommended frequency to set sub, and 1khz for mids n highs? I get that it’s a low and high frequency, for both respectively, but why that exact frequency? One last question, my JL RD 5 channel 900 watt has a clipping light, is the tool in the video more accurate or could I trust the led clipping indicator?
bout to pull the trigger and buy 2 of the audio control amps for my Audi Q5
Thanks for the video. I was curious about the difference of using a load resistor when checking for voltage drop. A DMM - obviously has a much higher impedance than a 4 ohm load. I suppose the voltage would be the same, just much lower current out of the output channel of the amp.
Mate your an absolute legend when it comes to ice.
I wish you were in the U.K. I’d definitely hire you to do my ice. Your so fastidious in what you do . I enjoy watching and learning off your videos. Do you give advice aswell on personal set ups? I’d love to know
Brilliant.. will save this video
Is there any way i can like rent one of those tools or something? It is just too expensive for me
Great videoo! Im surely coming back, to learn more. Buuuuuuut I was looking to set up my car amp by sound or a way without any gear I dont have lol! Just saying haha, as you can tell I know nothing about the subject. Thank you!
So if you have a head unit that goes up to 35 Max volume without distortion, do you still use the 80% of the max volume when setting gain, or max it?
I've been a follower of the channel for quite some time and it's definitely one of the best one's out there, but there's a few things I'd like to point out in relation to this video.
Can you get close to a decent ball park with your gains by using this method in the video? Maybe, but It depends strictly on the amplifier and its performance in open load versus "loudspeaker driver like" load conditions. Amplifiers' output performance (voltage and current output capability) is almost always related to the load the output is presented with. Measuring distortion or (constant) voltage while having an open load (=basically meaning infinite resistance as in no load connected, opposite being a short circuit with infinitesimal resistance) on the power output terminals doesn't give us any relevant information about how the amplifier performs under its intended use (with a driver attached across the output terminals). Especially in the car audio world where woofers tend to have relatively low impedances, the measurements performed in this video are not good practices from a strictly technical point of view. There are drastic differences in amplifier behavior in relation to the load it is presented with, thus gain and distortion measurements should always be done with using a load on the output side of the amplifier that it will be working with when in use. For example this load can be an adequately sized dummy load or an actual driver for that matter (the noisy and potentially destructive option). Strictly speaking, the dummy load isn't an optimal solution though, as a speaker driver is actually a reactive load (dummy load being mostly resistive), but for single tone testing, the dummy load will do it's job in this sort of measurements. When we measure the outputs with the load attached, we actually get the correct voltage and distortion readings that we can use to set up our gains with. It's not that simple though, as knowing and tracking the maximum expected output voltage in relation to our load conditions doesn't really guarantee a distortion free output since amplifier manufacturers are notorious at being dishonest when publishing their specs. If you really want to go deep with Kassem G and get your stuff properly sorted out, you bust out your (preferably) FFT based measurement system/scope and decide on how much distortion you want to allow in your system instead of letting the fixed 1% on the distortion detection device dictate your actions.
In the case of most amplifiers on the market today, it is very likely that the aftermath of setting your gains the way presented in this video you could end up being off by several dB's from your optimal settings. Also a good thing to note, is that if you choose to do your measurements, with the load attached of course, using a multimeter, make sure that it's a true rms meter as you are using a sinewave test tone, which will give you a correct voltage reading. The whole amplifier output power debate in the field of "continuous" vs "rms" figures is also very relevant when discussing the topic of correct measurement techniques and what and how to measure, but this is not the time and place to discuss that.
Thank you... It also needs to be pointed out that MANY of the amplifiers on the market rate the continuous power rating at a very high distortion level, often between 10 and 20% at 1Khz! Going to higher and lower frequencies away from 1Khz often results in even greater distortion!
Hey Mark, I have a LC1.800. I'm looking for info on how to set the accubass and can't find any help. Do you have a video available on how to set these up?
Extremely important to set your levels right from your headunit to your amp & hpf & lpf’s one key note is, if your a daily driver like me and only use your volume knob below 60% threshold on your stereo you are almost never going to get to a clipping or distortion peak. Unless again!!! your levels are not set properly from beginning to end.
Did you go back and check the voltage after the DD1 settings were used? Just wondering if it was even close to 22.3 volts.
Hello mark, I saw the video and wondered if it is possible to use the clipping indicator present on some amps instead of the DD-1 SMD. Thx 😃🔊
Hi Mark..You did a full sound system project for Jeep and for sure their are millions of fans for that...Can you do one for the Mini Cooper as well ? A lot of MC fans out there would love to see you do one. I'm sure you can just picture one in your head just like that....Even if it's not a MC...just a small car. Very curious how you would design it ?...What gears will you be using ?
and all that. Thanks, John
After the amp is set using a multimeter, can you go back and adjust the bass and treble settings back to your original preference?