H/U Settings? - Clipping at 50-60% volume (Pioneer MVH-S325BT H/U, Pioneer GMD1004 amp (bridged 90w RMS per channel) & 2x Kicker 6.5" CS 46CSC654)

[Dude420]

Knowledge level: pretty basic

I've just installed the following system into my truck, which only has 2 speakers. My current setting are at the bottom:

- Pioneer MVH-S325BT Head unit

- Pioneer GMD1004 mini amp (bridged mode 90w RMS 4 ohm per channel) Yes amp is bridgeable. Note: amp does not have gain adjustment and the amp does not require it's own power cable to battery, rather it uses the 15 amp fused stereo power from existing harness.

- Set of Kicker 6.5" CS 46CSC654 mounted in front doors (rated 100 watts RMS)

- I have Amp set to 2 channel mode, front and rear filters OFF.

- I have all 4 speaker outputs running into amp from deck. (any benefit in using RCA's instead?). Kit came with both harnesses.

- All wiring has been done perfectly and has been triple checked.

- Speakers are seriously loud thanks to amp.

- I'm using various test tracks (actual music, mainly electronic) 320k from Ipod (AUX) and they have a pretty good range of frequencies so any issues are evident quickly.

- PROBLEM: I'm getting clipping on the bass frequencies at just over half volume. 

- My head unit can go up to level 60 on volume, but I'm only able to get to 30-35 before clipping occurs. That being said, it's damn loud. But I've used these exact speakers off a head unit before and they seemed to get to around the similar volume without any clipping. 

 

QUESTION:

- What settings in the head unit AUDIO menu should I be starting with and adjusting. Obviously some sound better and louder, but I don't really know technically what they do or how they effect signal to the amp. In other words, which settings should I adjust, and which ones should I leave alone. Current settings on deck:

- Fader centered (I know what this does)

- balance centered (I know what this does)

- Subwoofer OFF (I know what this does)

- Speaker levels (all set at 10 which is maximum)... unsure what these should be with amp.

- HPF 100hz -6db slope?... Unsure of this setting however 100hz sounds best.

- D-Bass: OFF, or LOW 

- Loudness: LOW (unsure of this.... is HIGH setting advantageous (does it use maximum power or amp?) Sounds kinda crappy on HIGH

- SLA (source level adjustment)- Totally unsure of this, please advise.

- Anything else I should change/adjust? 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dafaseles]

How do you know you're clipping? There's a difference between clipping and just reaching the mechanical limits of the driver. 

And by bass frequencies, how low would say? 30-40 hz? 40-50 hz? 

As you increase the power of those speakers, they won't be able to play as low, as cleanly as they did on lower power because of them reaching their mechanical limits. This might be what is happening. 

Also, is it possible you have some sort of preset eq setting on the head unit? I know, my old pioneer deck, whenever I disconnected the battery, it defaulted back to the "powerful" eq setting. 

Check that, and if it's set to flat, then try lowering the low frequencies on the eq and see if that helps

[Dude420]

37 minutes ago, Dafaseles said:

How do you know you're clipping? There's a difference between clipping and just reaching the mechanical limits of the driver. 

And by bass frequencies, how low would say? 30-40 hz? 40-50 hz? 

As you increase the power of those speakers, they won't be able to play as low, as cleanly as they did on lower power because of them reaching their mechanical limits. This might be what is happening. 

Also, is it possible you have some sort of preset eq setting on the head unit? I know, my old pioneer deck, whenever I disconnected the battery, it defaulted back to the "powerful" eq setting. 

Check that, and if it's set to flat, then try lowering the low frequencies on the eq and see if that helps

Very helpful. So what you're saying is I should buy speakers that can handle slightly more RMS power? I assumed it was clipping... but it's more like a hard slapping sound/immediate sound like it's distorting severely once it reaches a certain volume, and that threshold can be adjusted slightly by changing some of the settings, but it still occurs, just at a slightly higher volume. It overall still occurs at a lower than expected volume. So I could be wrong about the clipping.

 

Yes my head unit is set to POWERFUL which is the most suitable all round setting.... however I just realized that I could change the frequencies by holding the button down then saving as a custom profile. I'll experiment with that tomorrow. 

 

Is there a set of speakers that you would recommend I replace these with (if that is the problem)... these were only $80, so I don't mind buying a better set. The amp definitely supplies 85-90 watts RMS per channel.

 

 

[Dafaseles]

1 hour ago, Dude420 said:

Very helpful. So what you're saying is I should buy speakers that can handle slightly more RMS power? I assumed it was clipping... but it's more like a hard slapping sound/immediate sound like it's distorting severely once it reaches a certain volume, and that threshold can be adjusted slightly by changing some of the settings, but it still occurs, just at a slightly higher volume. It overall still occurs at a lower than expected volume. So I could be wrong about the clipping.

 

Yes my head unit is set to POWERFUL which is the most suitable all round setting.... however I just realized that I could change the frequencies by holding the button down then saving as a custom profile. I'll experiment with that tomorrow. 

 

Is there a set of speakers that you would recommend I replace these with (if that is the problem)... these were only $80, so I don't mind buying a better set. The amp definitely supplies 85-90 watts RMS per channel.

 

 

The thing is, the vast majority of "midrange" drivers don't like to play the lower frequencies, especially set in a normal car door. 

Usually, you'd get a set of components in the front to play everything about 80 hz and above. Then you'd have a subwoofer to handle lower than that. 

You could go with a 3 way setup (mid bass driver made to play lower frequencies, mid range driver, and tweeter set). But you'd probably have to modify your door panels. 

If it where me, and I want trying to spend a ton of money, I'd keep the kickers you have, and throw a 150 to 300 watt 8" or 10" subwoofer in the back to play the low end. 

[Joe X]

3 hours ago, Dude420 said:

Very helpful. So what you're saying is I should buy speakers that can handle slightly more RMS power? I assumed it was clipping... but it's more like a hard slapping sound/immediate sound like it's distorting severely once it reaches a certain volume, and that threshold can be adjusted slightly by changing some of the settings, but it still occurs, just at a slightly higher volume. It overall still occurs at a lower than expected volume. So I could be wrong about the clipping.

 

Yes my head unit is set to POWERFUL which is the most suitable all round setting.... however I just realized that I could change the frequencies by holding the button down then saving as a custom profile. I'll experiment with that tomorrow. 

 

Is there a set of speakers that you would recommend I replace these with (if that is the problem)... these were only $80, so I don't mind buying a better set. The amp definitely supplies 85-90 watts RMS per channel.

 

 

 

 

On your amp set your "FRONT FILTER" and "REAR FILTER" switches both to "HPF", that should take care of your problem, no need to use any filters in your head unit.

 

 

 

 

[Dude420]

10 hours ago, Dafaseles said:

The thing is, the vast majority of "midrange" drivers don't like to play the lower frequencies, especially set in a normal car door. 

Usually, you'd get a set of components in the front to play everything about 80 hz and above. Then you'd have a subwoofer to handle lower than that. 

You could go with a 3 way setup (mid bass driver made to play lower frequencies, mid range driver, and tweeter set). But you'd probably have to modify your door panels. 

If it where me, and I want trying to spend a ton of money, I'd keep the kickers you have, and throw a 150 to 300 watt 8" or 10" subwoofer in the back to play the low end. 

Yeah I guess I am just expecting too much from these speakers. It's an offroad truck so door panels will be full of dust within no time. The cab is so small that I just assumed those speakers would be enough. The amp does have a 3 channel mode.... those speakers would sound fine off 45 watts RMS, then maybe I could bridge the 3rd channel into a 8 inch sub? ha I dunno.

 

Otherwise I'd be interested to hear any component suggestions. The easiest thing for me to do is rip out those speakers and upgrade them. I'm not worried about the extra money, it's more that I can't be assed pulling apart my car beyond a certain point. 

 

 

 

 

[Dude420]

9 hours ago, Joe X said:

 

 

On your amp set your "FRONT FILTER" and "REAR FILTER" switches both to "HPF", that should take care of your problem, no need to use any filters in your head unit.

 

 

 

 

Is it possible for me to just do it in the head unit instead?.... the amp is really hard to get to, it's stuffed right up inside my dashboard. 

[Joe X]

The switches are dead simple and work every time, if you want to try the head unit make sure the HPF is engaged for the FRONT and REAR channels and the settings to each should be 80 or 100Hz with a slope of -12dB or -24 DB whatever works better.

 

You should also use the RCA inputs for the amp, maybe the output of the head unit will better match the input of the amp that way and you don't have to stop at 60%, besides, the audio quality may be better.

 

If you control your problem but you feel you are lacking bass definitely get a sub like you were advised above, there are "shallow mount" subs that will fit a single cab and cost less than $100.

 

 

[Dude420]

22 minutes ago, Joe X said:

The switches are dead simple and work every time, if you want to try the head unit make sure the HPF is engaged for the FRONT and REAR channels and the settings to each should be 80 or 100Hz with a slope of -12dB or -24 DB whatever works better.

 

You should also use the RCA inputs for the amp, maybe the output of the head unit will better match the input of the amp that way and you don't have to stop at 60%, besides, the audio quality may be better.

 

If you control your problem but you feel you are lacking bass definitely get a sub like you were advised above, there are "shallow mount" subs that will fit a single cab and cost less than $100.

 

Useful thanks. Fixed the issue by playing around with crossovers/slope etc. Sounds pretty sweet now. I think I might eventually just swap these out for some splits, would probably sound plenty good. Thanks peoples.