I suck with audio... help me out.

[mRclARK1]

I know this isn't discussed on here to often... but I thought I'd see if anyone can help.
Me and a friend just finished up installing a stereo system in his S13 coupe. It's all Alpine; head unit, single 10" sub with amp, and 6" speakers in the doors and the rear deck. Nothing to fancy really.

What I am wondering is can anyone tell me some good settings for the built in EQ on the head unit so we can get some nice sound out of it?... not the shitty sound we have now. We have the crossover and time correction set, (the head unit is a little nicer than planned... got a good deal on it) but I can't make heads or tails of the EQ. All the factory settings sound crappy and I've tried reading up on equalizers, and how they work, on the internet. Didn't help. haha. :tweak:
Audio isn't really my thing I guess....

Also, the head unit has Alpine's i-Personalize. So if anyone else who may have that, has an EQ file that sounds good in a 240 coupe interior... that would do the trick. Thanks for any help.

[TheTimanator]

so what head unit do you have? Since I guess it's user defineable, what type of EQ parameters can you control?

If I were you I would just keep playing with until you find something you think sounds good. Trust me, I work for an audio company, and a lot of peoples opnions are drastically different about what sounds good.

[Bryants95240sx]

Yeah it would be helpful to know the head unit.

[mRclARK1]

The head unit is an Alpine CDA 9815.. it's used; but in awesome shape.

I have been playing with the settings. I can control 5 different frequencies or parameters on it. I've improved the sound a bit... but it still doesn't sound as good as other comparable systems I've heard.

[Bryants95240sx]

You should really just play with it htats the best way to learn about it.

[mRclARK1]

Ok... thanks for the replies. I'll just play with the settings and see what I can do. haha

If anyone still has any suggestions though. Go ahead and post em.

[TheTimanator]

First of all, I have never heard an S13 sond system sound good. Mine sounds like crap...both of my other vehicles stock systems sound better than my aftermarket system in the S13. With that said here are some ideas that might help you:

1.) double check to make sure everything is wired correctly. If just one speaker is out of phase, it will make things sound really weird.
2.) Dynamatt works wonders. If I cared enough about my S13's system, I'd have some in there. But I'm more concerned about performance, etc.
3.) double check your crossover points. Play with the settings. Sometimes the suggested settings are not always the best. Same goes with the delay, etc.
4.) When your playing with the eq think logically. If it's not bright enough try boosting something between 4k-8k. If the low end sounds muddy try taking out low mids like 125-250hz or lowering your crossover point. Again play with settings, bandwidth, and freqencies.

The most important tip I can give you is that a lot of recordings sound different. A lot of new recordings sound like crap!! Most of my favorite CD's sound horrible and a good sounding system will make them sound worse. Play some music on a system you think sounds good and then take those same songs and play it in your car and attempt to make them sound the same as the good sounding system.

[mRclARK1]

Yeah I'm more concerned with performance than anything else with my 240 as well.. I have a stereo in my own; but it's nothing special at all.

I've been playing with the settings for a couple hours now and I, and my friend (who actually is going to be listening to the damn thing. lol) are happy with what we hear. Thanks for the help/suggestions... and I'll give some of the above pointers a try.. see if I can improve it more from those.

[95Kouki]

use your ear because every car is different...trust me i run a high end stereo shop...i build very expensive systems...use your ears and play with it until you like it...

[5t341tH]

ask ur frend if he wants to trade subwoofers with me :)
i got 2 10" Kicker Comps. i dont want them anymore cuz they are tooo big