Hello all. I have just installed my kenwood set up yesterday, O.K. here goes : I have a kenwood 25th anniversary deck xxv-01d, with the kenwood 4ch. amp kac-x541, with the front channels pushing dual mag 6.5" excelon in the doors, and 5.25" excelons on the rear channels, in factory locations. I also put in 4" kenwoods in the factory dash locations. Now, the 4" are on deck power, and the problem I have is this- on one of the menus in the deck you can select your cabin size ( full size car, compact, minivan, suv,etc.) and your imaging ( distance speakers are to delay signal speed ) and then your speaker size, and when I set it to 6.5" in the front, the speakers distort ( both the 4" and 6.5" ) really quick as the volume starts to get loud, when I select 4" size in the menu, they sound super crisp and the treble is ear piercing. I have bass blockers on the 4" set, but should I splice the 4" wires into the 6.5" wiring to get them running off the amp to get more range out of the 6.5" set and then set the speaker size on the deck menu to 6.5" ? will this give me more mid range bass or should I leave it like it is? this deck requires a huge learning curve. Every time I get in the car a mess around with it I discover something new. I have my sub amp installed and wired up, but I need a few more dollars before I put in a sub or two. ( the sub amp is the kicker kx600.1 ) Thank you for answering and for putting up with my being so long winded.

 

When you say "bass blockers" do you mean those little resistors they have you wire in-line with the speakers? If that's what you're talking about then don't bother keeping them. They barely work with a stock H/U and under any real power they won't work at all 90% of the time. You need to set your crossover for the 6.5's at about 50hz and the 4's at about 70-80 hz. They may be able to handle a lower frequency but this will allow them to perform better. I am assuming that the H/U you have has crossovers built in.If it have settings in it for speaker size and distance it should have them. You really need to sit down with your owners manual for the Kenwood and learn what it's capable of.

 

sounds like you need to turn your amp gains down... when you get distortion at higher volumes, generally the gains are too high causing clipping...

 

Yeah i am gonna mess with the amp now that it is daylight , try to turn it down a bit. The h/u crossover and eq seems to sound better with it set to 4" front speakers, I think it trys to imply that it is asking what is wired to the deck speaker wiring? not real sure but I am going to take some pics to post and give it a quick wash before the sun goes down. will update in a little while.

 

i say that u should definatly check your amp gains first

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/4...0108BZsmLRm0cGhttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dd27b3127cce97cded716efe00000010108BZsmLRm0cGhttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dd27b3127cce97cdedb16e3e00000010108BZsmLRm0cGhttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dd27b3127cce97cde32bef9300000010108BZsmLRm0cGhttp://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6dd27b3127cce97cde3a1ef1900000010108BZsmLRm0cG[img][/img]

 

I tried to post pics. it did not work per the tutorial. so try this site. http://trainman0978.shutterfly.com/action sorry, I could not save you the cut and paste work. I have been messing with this pic bussiness for over an hour. any way check it out and lemme know what you guys think. I know the speaker wires are too long at the amp. we premade them and it was dark and I did not have any left over connectors to re cut and re crimp. I will fix them soon. also after much reading and playing with the eq , the amp and trying different things, i have it sounding pretty good. when I get subs installed it should be a little easier to get the bass sound out of the highs and balance the sound out better. I am kinda picky so it will take time to get it sounding good. I have read the 60-something page manual twice for the head unit and I think I am tired of messing with it for a few days. besides I gotta go back to work tonight as a engineer trainee........ small vehicles beware

 

hey, with your set up, can you use the amp management system to control your amp from the head unit?

 

Yeah , but since I have the ipod adapter kit, it plugs into the connector for it on the back of the head unit, so In order for it to work I will have to get this box that acts as a signal switcher to do one or the other , and It is 80.00 bucks. So, I tend to think for now, I can mangae the amp sitting in the back seat

 

Awesome, thanks for the info... i really like your set up.

 

I am debating on going with a ported box, for some reason now, but I am gonna keep pondering the idea for a little while , but at the same time I am not rattling the car apart yet which is probably a good thing. Just for info, if you use a kenwood head unit and wanna use amp management , without the ipod kit, you just have to get a $20.00 cable for it to work.

 

not sure if you know this, but a ported box will have to be custom made from the t/s parameters of your sub(s)... I personally love the sound from a low tuned ported box... generally around a 30Hz tuned port does the trick...

 

No I did not know that, please tell me more....

 

each type of subwoofer has different characteristics. This set of characteristics are called the thiele/small parameters. You can generally find these t/s params in the owners manual of your subwoofer.

the size of the port and the port length combined with the airspace in a box can and will change the sound emitted from the box DRASTICLY!!! If the dimentions of different areas aren't calculated mathmatically, you could end up with a box that makes your subs sound like poo...

 

So I guess buying a pre fab box won't cut it, or do most round 10" 's use about the same size.?

 

a pre-fab sealed box would be fine as long it's within the required enclosure volume for those subs...

a pre-fabbed ported box is NEVER a good idea (unless it something like JL's H.O. Ported box or something designed BY the manufacturer for a specific sub)

Building a box is really easy... table saw, jigsaw or router, drill, and brad nailer is all the tools you need.... designing a box that's tuned isn't all too difficult either...

 

Yeah I got all the tools, I even bought a nice finish nailer last fall, and have used it one time. I would hate to go through all the work to have it be out of tune. I guess I will start drawing plans soon....

 

what type of enclosure are you looking for?? just a standard ported box?? mandos (Chris at Elemental Design) here on SL could design one, tuned, that will fit right behind the rear seats pretty easily... first step in designing a ported box is getting the specs and thiele/small parameters of the subwoofer(s)

 

Yeah, I need to go down to my parents house and get the boxes and manuals, I left 'em in thier garage. I am off tommorrow , so I will get them then. I probably should glance at the manuals anyways. I am also installing cold cathodes, LED's , superfa LED locks and my bB emblems tommorrow !

 

sounds like a plan!!