tuning amp questions

[jesse08]

to evry1 dont flame my setup i kno thers bettr stuff but i got it from a friend for super cheap

ok i got two 12in alpine type e ( i swear if i hear another person tell me to get type r ahhh!!) and i got a american legacy 2000w amp i kno thts way too many watts for the subs so i set my amp level down a lil more tha nhalfway so here are my questions on the amp ther are adjustments that say hpf lpf and bass boost and i was wondering wut wud b the correct settings to put it at the hpf goes from 30hz - 2.5k the lpf goes from 35hz - 400 and the bass boost goes from 0 - 18db can any1 help me on the settings wher i would reach peak performance on these subs i kno thers alot of car audio guys on here

[DJ Prelude]

maybe get a new amp dude. thats all i can think of really...

[Brash22]

Not bad advice.

I'd tell you to go Type Rs, but I also know the price difference, so I won't push it too hard...

Your HPF is the one you wanna use for the subs. Basically it stops them from playing any frequency above what you set it to. For 12 Type Es (depending on box, other speakers and your taste in music) should probably be around 70-100Hz. I had mine set at 125Hz when I had my Type R but that was because I didn't have speakers that could handle 125Hz.

LPF does the opposite, so you use that for speakers. Don't touch the bass boost, it's ok on a cheap system but it sounds like it. Leave it off and tune it with your gains.

[mnludedude]

For the sub, doesn't he want to use the Low Pass Filter? Definitely don't use the bass boost. The amp sounds like it is probably very over rated and likely rated at 1 ohm. Your type e sub is a 4 ohm? If it is a dual voice coil, wire them in series to create a higher impedance. So the amp is maybe 500 watts at 4 ohms. Setting your gains at half way in no way guarantees it will be at half power. The trick to setting gains is you need either an o-scope or at least a multimeter. You want to set the gains so they match your input signal without going past and clipping. Clipping is very bad. I happen to have a scope and always use that. If you have a simple AC volt meter you can use that to.

Unhook your sub from the amp. Hook up your multimeter in AC Voltage mode to your amp where the sub was connected. Put in a test disk with a 40-60hz tone. Loop it on repeat. Set your head unit for the loudest possible setting you would ever use. It is usually best to be at around 2/3 max, so the preamps are not clipping. Turn up your gain until the voltage doesn't increase any more. Then back it off a little, this is your optimum gain setting. Now if you want a little less, just turn back the gain a little more. With an o-scope you can actually see the wave form flatten out on top.

Technically you should do it with the speaker connected, but I don't like being that close to my sub at full volume. I've found it doesn't make much difference.

[nevrdun]

Tuning a sub amp is not that delicate. Not as much as tuning an amp for full range speakers anyway. A soft clip is totally acceptable. In fact you cant even audibly detect it until something like 5db of clipping.

Turn your head unit up as lound as you would ever turn it up. Now turn your gain up slowly paying close attention to the sub. If you hear any harsh sounding mechanical noise coming from over excursion or over driving turn it down a touch. You will beable to tell when it gets as loud as it will go and will start sounding bad. not as crisp. And when all else fails error on the low side.

Dont worry about the hpf adjustment turn your lpf to about 80 and your boost all the way down.

[jesse08]

thanks man will do

[JayKnight]

Actually you are not getting TOO MUCH power from the American Legacy amp. You might be getting about 200 to 250 if you are lucky.

I have two type R 10s and I am getting about 475 watts to each of them.

I am not gonna dog you for the type E they are good, and you got a deal. but OMG American Legacy Amp.....That my friend is a POS. You need to step up to a better amp later.

[nevrdun]

Actually you are not getting TOO MUCH power from the American Legacy amp. You might be getting about 200 to 250 if you are lucky.

I have two type R 10s and I am getting about 475 watts to each of them.

I am not gonna dog you for the type E they are good, and you got a deal. but OMG American Legacy Amp.....That my friend is a POS. You need to step up to a better amp later.

I agree. We've seen a couple in peoples cars. Not good man, uh uh. Very low power which if your looking for loud then your just going to be feeding distortion to the speakers. Wasn't gonna bag on it, just trying to get the guy goin but definatly get something better. Good recomendation for bang for the buck category would be a Rockford P 300-1. About 200-250 from an independant retailer. Good price to performance ratio.