Hello all, I've been dabbling in car audio for a couple years now, and have always set my gains using DMM for the subwoofer amplifier, and just never knew about distortion in head units, so I would play those to max volume or near it in most of my systems.
After seeing a lot of people recommend the DD-1, I went out and purchased one. Tonight I used it on two of the systems in my family, and have questions about a couple things.
1st system:
1999 Trailblazer, stock battery, stock alternator (105A)
JVC KD-A605 HU
4x Kenwood KFC-1665S door speakers (30W RMS each)
Pioneer GM-D9601 amp (1200W @ 1 ohm)
Soundcubed HDC3.118 subwoofer (1500W RMS, dual 2 ohm wired to 1 ohm total). (in a sealed 6ft^3 enclosure, not sure on tuning)
The first thing I did was use the DD-1 to check the max un-distorted HU volume. By setting everything flat, using track #1, and using the DD-1 on the subwoofer amplifier, I found that the max undistorted volume was 25, out of around 50 or something. Does this seem right? 25 seems really quiet to me, and I usually ran 30-35 previously.
If 25 is normal and correct, how can I get more volume out of the system? New head unit? additional amplifier for door speakers? (currently running the door speakers just on the HU, as I've never used an amplifier for door speakers before.)
Then, knowing 25 is the top end un-distorted volume, I went to set up the subwoofer. I dialed in the gains on the amplifier until just before distortion. Now, however, the subwoofer barely even moves. You can hear some bass, but when viewing the subwoofer the excursion is close to nill. Should this be the case running 1200W RMS to a 1500W subwoofer? (I set the gain first with track #3, then #5, and finally #7). Even on #7 (-15dB) it still doesn't move very much compared to when I had it set with the DMM.
Could it be correct that the subwoofer excursion with the DD-1 settings are close to nill, as opposed to a ton of excursion when set with a multimeter?
2nd system:
2004 GMC Yukon Denali, stock battery, stock alternator (130A)
stock HU
stock door speakers
Hifonics Brutus BRX1100.1D (1100W @ 1 ohm)
2x SoundCubed HDS312 subwoofers (1200W RMS, dual 4 ohm, wired to 1 ohm total) in a custom ported box (not sure on tuning)
For this setup, the DD-1 told me that the stock HU could be turned 100% of the way up without distortion. Pretty cool!
Then I went onto the subwoofer amplifier gain setting. Using track #5 (-10dB) I could set the gain level on the amp all the way up without distortion, same with track #7 (-15dB)
I just got this system, so while the excursion of the subs seems minimal, I'm guessing it's because I'm running 1100W RMS instead of the 2400W RMS they are rated for.
My question with this system is, does it make sense that the amplifier gain could be set 100% of the way up without distortion?
I think that's about it for now.
If you made it this far in the reading, thank you so much. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
