Need advice on my audio setup

[Emilbadal]

This might be too late but, my recommendation is just to play around with your DSP instead of not having rear speakers. Just adjust your DSP's EQs to adjust the sound.An oh BTW lower your gain on the amp, 25% gain is a lot of gain for sensitive speakers, you'll have lots of unwanted artifacts( hiss at volume 0, harsh speaker output at high volume, etc)

Sponsored

 

[krishelnino]

This might be too late but, my recommendation is just to play around with your DSP instead of not having rear speakers. Just adjust your DSP's EQs to adjust the sound.An oh BTW lower your gain on the amp, 25% gain is a lot of gain for sensitive speakers, you'll have lots of unwanted artifacts( hiss at volume 0, harsh speaker output at high volume, etc)

A little late But as an update, I got the car back today. The front 3-ways are active now, they sound deadened the doors using WIREZ noise reducing cell foam. I'm happy that most of my issues are resolved. There are no more rattles in the doors or trunk area and most of the hiss at 0 volume is gone. It sounds clean and like a proper sound stage now. To the shop guys, they say it sounds amazing.

For sure there's some improvement in the sound. I think it sounds pretty good - however i feel the speakers are not the right ones for me. The installer said no matter what he did with the tune, they couldn't get the level of mids down; it's overpowering. If he set it too low the music starts sounding hollow. He indicated it might be a characteristic of the speakers itself. The tweeters also aren't as harsh as before however i can still notice it in some songs. I'll go back in few weeks and try to see if they can perfect the tune, or look at either

a) swap out the tweeters to something else... I'll be looking at silk dome tweeters this time and no more metal based.
I was looking at these Alpines, seems to have pretty good reviews
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPR10TW/Alpine-SPR-10TW.html?tp=107

b) replace the whole 3-way components set. Any recommendations in this price point... Like Morel, Hertz, JL Audio, etc. ?

But overall i'm happy that I went active

 

[Cathul]

Hollow mids and harsh highs are a tuning issue. Did you get a measured frequency graph of the system?

 

[krishelnino]

Hollow mids and harsh highs are a tuning issue. Did you get a measured frequency graph of the system?

No i haven't, I'll try to plug in my PC using the Helix tool and see where it's at.

 

[Cathul]

Get REW and measure the response for both left and right side.

 

[StangTime]

Get REW and measure the response for both left and right side.

This ^^^ You have to measure the sound leaving the speakers with calibrated microphone and RTA. The shop should have done this but it is time consuming to dial in properly. Looking at the DSP response will only show you the signal being fed to the speakers.
Are you using the factory speakers with this active setup? Is so, there is only so much you can compensate for. Replacing the drivers with a good set like Hertz 3-way components is the way to go.

 

[krishelnino]

This ^^^ You have to measure the sound leaving the speakers with calibrated microphone and RTA. The shop should have done this but it is time consuming to dial in properly. Looking at the DSP response will only show you the signal being fed to the speakers.
Are you using the factory speakers with this active setup? Is so, there is only so much you can compensate for. Replacing the drivers with a good set like Hertz 3-way components is the way to go.

Nope, i'm using the Focals - 165 AS3

 

[Cathul]

You still need to measure the real frequency response of the speakers. Total left+right and the different drivers on their own. I saw you posted in diymobilaudio as well. Lots of people that can help you over there.

 

[StangTime]

Nope, i'm using the Focals - 165 AS3

Then you will not have any problem tuning this setup using the DSP. Just needs to be done right with an RTA.

 

[Cathul]

Imho the biggest problem will be to find/develop a house curve that fits his listening preferences.

 

[MegaG]

If you haven't already heard on DIYMA, one good guide for tuning can be found at the bottom of the page linked here

https://testgear.audiofrog.com/

Look through the PDFs here. You may also find it interesting to see what the AF House Curve looks like, they actually start to EQ the frequencies just after 2K Hz and continue throughout the rest of the highs. YMMV

 

[Cathul]

If you haven't already heard on DIYMA, one good guide for tuning can be found at the bottom of the page linked here

https://testgear.audiofrog.com/

Look through the PDFs here. You may also find it interesting to see what the AF House Curve looks like, they actually start to EQ the frequencies just after 2K Hz and continue throughout the rest of the highs. YMMV

They actually EQ way before that if needed.

 

[MegaG]

Also, Kyle Ragsdale's youtube videos on tuning a sound quality car was recommended to me on Car Audio Junkies, that said, I haven't had the chance to go watch them so I can't offer any feedback on their quality but I do know a lot of the CAJ forum members know their stuff...

 

[MegaG]

They actually EQ way before that if needed.

Yes, I misspoke, what I meant to describe is how the curve attenuates at this point versus the lower frequencies. Where you EQ will depend on what you measure in your system.

When I used REW on my base 6 speaker system I was well over the AF house curve from 70 to 200+ hz and below the house curve at 450 Hz and conintuing to well below the curve as the freq increased.

So to match the curve I would be adjusting the EQ almost completely across the board, i.e. I would need to cut my low freq and start boosting at 450.

My volume was set at 14 out 30 so probably not high enough to see the infamous bass roll off.

Again, I took these measurements to start learning how to use REW, etc. I will have a completely different Freq. Response after my install along with a DSP to allow for tuning. Without a better place to start, I will use the AF house curve and then see how I like the listening experience and go from there...

 

[Cathul]

I tried at least 8 different curves before i settled on my current curve.
The audiofrog curve was way to bright for my taste.
As the OP has a Helix DSP he also has way more possibilities to EQ his system than i do.

- First, EQ single drivers (subwoofer, bass, midrange, tweeter)
- match each driver pair as good as possible
- then EQ driver pairs
- then EQ left side, especially in the crossover region if needed
- then EQ right side, especially in the crossover regions if needed
- then EQ the whole system if needed (usually with a global EQ to reach the tonality you want).

I can recommend Jazzis tuning companion to create the target curves for the single drivers. Made my final target curve with that spreadsheet.

@krishelnino: Google for Jazzis tuning companion. There is a big thread about that spreadsheet over at diymobileaudio.com.

Sponsored