Help with amp settings

[tc197]

Hey guys, I'm just getting started in the car audio world and I just finished installing my first system this past week in my truck. I drive a 2000 Chevy C3500 Regular Cab and my biggest enemy was the lack of depth and this is what ultimately made decisions for me.

A little background info:

I built my own box out of .5" MDF and it's sealed with approximately 1.5 cubic feet. It is five feet long and fits behind my bench seat but provides very little depth.

I ended up going with two of Kickers 10 inch shallow mount subs because they had only a 3.5" depth and required a minimum of .4 cubic feet in a sealed enclosure and they can handle up to 600 watts rms. (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QvJsag9pnsB/p_2064CRT102/Kicker-40CWRT102.html)

For an amp I went with the Hifonics Brutus 1700.1D because it was said to push 1200 watts at two ohms and 1700 at one ohm leaving me a little room for future additions and modifications. (http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_23547_Hifonics-Brutus-BRZ1700.1D.html)

Already in my truck from when I purchased it was a Kenwood KDC-4011s head unit and the only thing I added to it was a CD changer to auxilary attachment cable because the unit itself had no aux/usb inputs. (http://www.manualslib.com/manual/286693/Kenwood-Kdc-4011s.html)

The install went well and I was able to fit everything just how I wanted it, only moving my seat forward by about an inch or two from the farthest back position. The two subs are wired down to 2 ohms and I ran a 0/1 gauge wiring kit for the power and ground and a 150 Amp inline fuse. The amp also came with a remote bass/gain knob which I ran up by my head unit for easy access (this is the source of most of my questions).

After hooking everything up I turned everything on and it all fired up and worked great. The next step was adjusting all of the amps settings and here is where I'm getting a little confused and uncertain. I've been reading up on setting the gain and watching videos but what I don't understand is how this bass/gain knob plays into all of this. Do I set this knob to the max before I set the gain on the amp? This bass knob is what makes all the difference in how the subs play because when it is set to 0 the subs are essentially off but I know that people blow things when they just crank it up and end up exceeding the max output and clipping things.

Another question I have is about the bass equalizer on the amp. Since the head unit also has equalizers and you can turn bass/treble up and down do I also set this on the amp? Do i just pick one or the other and is one better than the other?

My final question is about setting the subsonic and low pass filters together. I know that the filters prevent the high frequencies from reaching the subs but how do they work together and how would I go about setting these properly without any fancy equipment? I don't have an oscilloscope I can use and I hope there's another way to figure this out. If doing out the math is an option I have no problem doing that as I am currently in an engineering program and I'm taking courses on ac power and such.

If anyone knows of a video more suited to what I'm struggling with that would be awesome or if there is a page that explains this in great detail I'd be more than happy to read about it and figure it out. I'd also love to hear any opinions about what I chose in regards to the amp/subs and why I made a good or bad choice. In the end I'm just trying to learn and have fun so any comments are appreciated and thanks again!

[hazestorm23]

Welcome to the forums. And as far as your questions most of them are set by preference. As far as your amp, don't expect that much power from it it lacks in performing well. And about your install have you heard about the dd-1? It would take the guessing about where to set your gains from your amp and your head unit. On your head unit you want to set your eq to flat. And your subsonic filter set to its lowest setting since your box is sealed

[tc197]

Welcome to the forums. And as far as your questions most of them are set by preference. As far as your amp, don't expect that much power from it it lacks in performing well. And about your install have you heard about the dd-1? It would take the guessing about where to set your gains from your amp and your head unit. On your head unit you want to set your eq to flat. And your subsonic filter set to its lowest setting since your box is sealed

Thanks for the info, I have heard a little bit about the dd-1 but wasn't sure how necessary it was. When I looked it up it was around 150$ and I wasn't sure if I wanted to invest in one yet but I can definitely see how it will make things easy. Thanks for answering my question about the subsonic filter too, I didn't realize that was determined by my box. When you say the amp lacks in power do you mean that it won't perform at the level it states? Or do you mean that compared to another amp of equivalent power it will fall short and not produce as much clean power? Thanks again!