Ok, yesterday I had my sound stuff put in. I had Alpine 10" sub put in the trunk with a 300watt Alpine amp, 2 Polk 2-way 6 1/2"s in the front and 2 Infinity 3-way 6 1/2"s in the back. When I got the car all I heard was bass. So I turned the sub amp down, but now it sounds bad and to get any volume at all I have to turn the headunit(stock) up to like 45, and then I hear bad crackling and bass noises from the speakers?? Where is the flaw in my system? I was told that the interior speakers I put in were pretty good. Is it because I used the stock head unit? Do I need a speaker amp to make it equal out?? Let me know.

-Tide

 

The amp should have a gain control. Turn that all the way down and turn up your stereo to the point where your 6.5s start sounding like crap. Now turn it down a few levels to where it sounds good.

Now go back to the amp and slowly turn up the gain until the sub sounds good with the 6.5s.

However I'd recommend another amp for your components. Getting a 300W amp to drive all 4 would make a world of difference vs. the stock HU.



Edit - I haven't done any car stereo stuff in over 11 years so I'm just assuming amps still have gain controls on them nowadays.

 

They do. I know nothing about stereos... exactly why would getting an amp for the components help?

-Tide

 

Every system is different, so it is hard for us to say what is wrong without seeing it ourselves and hearing it for ourselves. My initial reaction is that you don't have enought power running your front speakers compared to your sub. Adding an amplifier for you front sound stage would greatly help. Is it possible that they shop that did your installation would be able to help you with your problem? The rest of it is just going to take time to tune it to get it right.

I hope this helps!

 

Hmm... Let's see here. A sub with 300W going to it and the stock head unit powering everything else. Do you have any pictures of the box the sub is in? How is it mounted? Which direction is the sub firing (port as well if any)? What type of enclosure is it? Ported, sealed, bandpass? How is your gain set and who set it? What ohm are you running the sub at and will the amp handle the ohm rating?

From the sound of things, you should check your gain level on the amp going to the sub. Also, you should find where the line level input carps out. If you have to turn your system up to 45 to hear it, then you sending distortion to your amp and the amp is sending an amplified speaker-damaging signal to your sub. A good max volume without clipping would be roughly 34/35 (75% of peak), then set your gain appropriately on the sub using the following recomendations:

1: Find a tuning CD. Use it, listen to the instructions on the CD and follow the information and recomendations.
2: Get more information on your box. If you send a signal lower than what your box will allow, you could end up damaging the speaker beyond repair.
3: Amp your components. 150W on a seperate setup will sound absolutely amazing, even if you don't go aftermarket on your headunit.
3a: If you want to keep your factory stereo, take a look at the CleanSweep system from JL. It converts a factory unit to well balanced preamp outputs. This would eliminate a current problem with your setup.
4: Work on your soundstage area. When you go to a concert, do you turn around to or face the stage? Similar principal for audio in cars.

Out of the three models by Scion, the tC should have the best acoustics for sound. Why it sounds as bad as it does is beyond me. to put a theory to rest, was it installed by BestBuy?

 

The cleansweep isn't practical for 99% of car audio enthusiasts. Why is that, one might ask? Mainly because its MSRP is around $300. Get one of the lower priced units that do the same thing, such as the audio control ls6, or phoenix gold's unit (forgot the model number at the moment).

The speakers should sound fine off of the aftermarket unit, not at their full potential, but you shouldn't get harmomnic distortion on them. I'd check the headunit's settings. Turn all of the features such as loud off, tune the frequencies, (ie bass, treble, mid, etc.) tune those flat, meaning do not turn them up or down. You always want to tune at the amp, and not from teh headunit.

 

Ok thanks guys, I'll work on it.

No it wasn't installed by Best Buy.

-Tide