Ok, I'm stumped

[Ignantfi3d]

ok, driving around today, I noticed something that I thought I heard a few times before. I was disturbing the peace by bumpin' BigPimpin's bass version of "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz, and when I turned my bass down (using the knob), there was tons of distortion from the bass through my mids and highs. I turned the volume down on the radio and it was still audible. I have the settings on my head unit with most of the bass up on the eq. Do I need to just turn these down till it goes away? Why isn't the built in high pass filter blocking these out?

My setup..

Pioneer 7900BT headunit

Crappy Audiobahn 40004T bridged into 2 channels (did this cut the 6.5's I run are 8ohm speakers, only using till I find a better 2-channel amp around 800watts)

6.5" Menace Audio mid (vocal) in the doors, bullet tweeters in the dash, with the front mids and tweeters running off a set of Crunch x-overs (from a set of components I had fried a few years ago)

1- 15" L7 in 4cu. ft. ported enclosure tuned to 32hz

Eclipse DA-6213

I have the bass on the headunit setup like this:

graphic eq, 50hz all the way up, 100hz 2 clicks under all the way up, 400hz and 800hz about 3 clicks up from the middle.

I have the Sub filter on 100hz and turned up to 8

The high pass filter is on 125Hz

This only happens on certain bassy songs, not every song is affected.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas are appreciated.

[Nirvalica]

I would say keep all the bass eq on 0. If its not enough bass, buy another sub. Turning up the EQ is just adding distortion to the music. That is the reason you're hearing it.

[lolitskasey]

Bad ground?

[Cr@sh]

How are you filtering or crossing over your mids and tweets?

[OldsBoomer]

also turn your subs eq down to 80Hz....... also where is the wire for your knob running? against any power wires? that'll affect the signal also..

[HaMSaMMiCH]

Most of how your setup is tuned is causing the distortion. What everyone has said already is a good start towards cleaning everything up

Sub amp low pass set to ~80

EQ FLAT(0) on low, CUT(-1) on mid, BOOST on treble(+2)

Check your crossovers are functioning

If your mids/highs amp has a high pass filter, use it because it will work better then the H/U high pass (set between ~80-120)

[Ignantfi3d]

thanks for the replies, guys.

I have my high pass on the amp running my door speakers on and filtering out about all of the bass, I left just a tad for when the girlie is in the car (she doesnt like it THAT loud) and I have the sub down. I'm gonna reset my eq again and go from there as was suggested. It seems as like the head unit itself is the cause of the distortion. THe knob runs under my center console next to my drivers seat. Made sure it wasn't touching ANY metal.

Would a video of how it sounds help you guys?

[SmokeyDog]

i had a few problems like that noise bascly comeing from the speakers. everything was fine then a nosie came on first it was a pinched ground. fixed it another new nosie it came to find out it was fuel pump noice comeing though the speakers all had to do with bad grounds, all made sound like distortion

[Ignantfi3d]

well, went out after work and tweeked the eq and filters a bit, followed Hamsammich's advice on the eq and filter settings. Distortion is gone at the same volume, seems I had the 50Hz eq setting up way too high on the radio, so I dropped that down to 0. Adjusted the eclipse amp to 80Hz, and the mids/highs amp to around 150Hz (speakers sounded like they were getting a tad bit too much bass at 120Hz). Played a few songs through it at high volumes, and no distortion.

one quick other question. I swapped out my 90amp alternator for a 120amp alternator the other day. When I first put it in, the readout on my battery terminal was reading around 13.5-13.8. Today while I was messing with settings, it was dipping to 13.9-14.0 full tilt, and idling at 14.3. Does that sound ok, or should I have it looked at? I got it used but with a 90day warranty. Lights don't dim anymore and the car seems to run a lot smoother.