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Having issues with my beloved B2 setup


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Hey guys, I’m a new member,  also a pretty hardcore fan of Steve Meade and the awesome stuff he does at his shop, and always follow his videos. I’m an automotive technician here in Tucson, Az, and on my off time, I go to my friends shop and bum around as he is an authorized retailer for b2, Sky High, Sundown, ds18 and even has his own line of badass equipment. I sometimes do installs for him as I’ve had tons of experience in the install field over the years and can pretty much do an install in anything and always make it work.

 

However, with this build, I’ve been clueless as to what the issue is that I’m having. First off, I own a 2006 Toyota Avalon Touring that DID NOT come with the factory JBL system. So my setup is as follows...

 

Pioneer Avh-p2440nex double din deck with the pac steering control unit and Audiovox backup camera

Front: B2 Audio Reference 6.3 3-way components with the elite midrange option & Metra 6x9 to 6.5” mid-woofer adaptor

Rear: DS18 Elite 6.5” coaxial with Metra speaker spacer
4 Channel Amp : b2 audio ma1000.4 with sky high 4 gauge ofc kit

Sub Amp: JL Audio RD500/1 2ohm amp wired to 1 ohm at the sub which is;

Sub: 12” Rockford Fosgate p3 dvc 2 ohm In a ported a-trend prefab box with a M.E.S.A. 4 gauge OFC kit
 

My battery is just a new ac delco, and my alternator has been upgraded from the factory 100amp to the 130amp from the “Avalon limited”, but I haven’t had much of a chance to upgrade the charging system much yet...although, I bought the car in may 2019...she’s getting there. The trunk has also been dyna-matted, so no rattles...
 

Both wiring kits go straight to the battery from the amps and each have their own in-line fuse. All grounding points have been ground to bare metal before mounting to the chassis. I also purchased 60’ of Sky High 16 gauge speaker wire with gold connectors for the speaker terminals, and used ring terminals at the crossover. I bypassed all the factory wiring, so all the new wire is going through the door harnesses and straight from the amp to the speakers, so I know this isn’t a factory wire issue, and I have the pioneer deck so I know this isn’t a DSP issue since I have all DSP’s and time alignment turned off, and have had no difference using them or not. I have tried different wire at first that I had purchased from Walmart just to temporarily use to wire up the amp, but recently upgraded to this sky high stuff...and I have pictures of the entire process from start to finish, so if any pics are requested, I can definitely share. 
 

The issue I am having is, the sound is incredible at a lower volume level, but once I get up around 25 on the deck and the speakers sound like they wanna go louder, I’ll turn it up more and it sounds like the tweeters just shut off, or the sound fades from what sounds like Chrystal clear HD audio, to what sounds like a Lo-fi music from the 1920’s..now, I’ll be clear on this, they still sound great when I turn it up and they still sound clear, but they lack that crystal clarity that they have at lower volume. So when I then turn it back down again, the clarity comes right back and the transition is overly obvious and kind of embarrassing to be honest...I don’t really even have the ma1000.4 turned up at all, and I know these speakers can go a lot louder than I’m putting to them...but I just cant figure out what the issue is at this point....my Boston Acoustic pro60’s never did this, neither did my alpine type r components, and neither did my kenwood components...
 

my buddy seems to think that getting another  less powerful 4 channel amp and running the crossovers as active would be the only real way to fix this issue...anyone have any ideas as to what’s going on?!? Am I missing something!?! There’s that crossover switch on the 4 channel amp that says like x1 and x10 or whatever that I know nothing about...and this is really frustrating...it’s like, just when the music sounds so good and you wanna turn it up more, the sound quality goes to shit...
 

I wanna fix this because I have a pair of b2 xm8’s in a custom ported box and a b2 rage 2500.1amp to power them, at which point, I’ll also upgrade the amp wiring to 1/0 gauge OFC Sky High stuff.....but for now these components are driving me crazy...I’ll get on my phone so I can share the install pics...my iPad doesn’t have them...

 

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Edited by Lgndary_Avalon
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3 minutes ago, SnowDrifter said:

Are you clipping?

Well, the amp has a clipping light, and it flickers when it hits hardest, but the light doesn’t stay illuminated constant or anything crazy like that...I think iirc I turned the gain all the way down and the light was flickering the same as it is when the gain is turned up slightly to where it is now...I’ve had people tell me that the clip light just flickering occasionally is normal?!? 🤔 is that wrong?!? Thanks for the response man! 

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How did you set the max level for both your deck and amp?

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6 minutes ago, SnowDrifter said:

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How did you set the max level for both your deck and amp?

Oh as far as the max volume level?!? I basically just watched Steve’s video where he found the distortion point for the same pioneer deck, and he says the highs distort at 39, and the bass distorts at 38...so I just went by that principal...I won’t turn up past 38...but really I usually listen around 30-32 anyways...is that what you meant with your question?!? I also have access to a DD-1 that my buddy owns if I need to plug in and find out for sure...we are just both very busy so I haven’t really had a chance to experiment with my personal car at his shop...but I definitely can...

 

edit: I just turned it up to 38, and I tuned the amp in an empty parking lot until the speakers sounded where I wanted them and I didn’t see the clipping light go crazy...but I also set them a couple notches back from where I would consider the “max” level of the gain input before clipping and distortion...because I wanted to break them in easily....

Edited by Lgndary_Avalon
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  • 2 weeks later...

🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗

 

Anyone have a clue?!? Should I buy a less powerful 4 channel to run the tweeters and mid range speakers off of, like an active setup?? Maybe my tweeters are clipping out and so they are fading out...

 

I also haven’t upgraded my big 3 yet...I don’t know if that’s gonna make a difference with this issue though, and also keep in mind, this video is showing what it’s doing, you can hear the tweeter cut out right before I go to the amp to show the clipping light...the gains were turned all the way down to the most minimum setting as well in this video...x-overs are set at between 125-200hz for the HPF, and x over switches are set to HPF, should I try full range and see what that sounds like?? Also, what’s the deal with the “range” switch on this 4 channel?!? I’ve looked in the manual for it and there’s like no information about it and what it does...🤷🏻‍♂️🤔

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