Car Audio : How to Tune a Car Amp
The tuning process for a car’s amplifier is the most important process after installation, and this is done by turning the amplifier down, turning the radio to three-quarters volume, and then turning the amplifier up until it sounds good. Find out how to tune a car amplifier so there isn’t any distortion with help from a car sound system designer in this free video on car audio tips.
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Tags: amplifiers, amps, Audio, car, sound, speakers, stereos, subwoofers, systems, wiring
Jun 10, 2010 in
Cars Videos
25 comments
thagonzp on December 22, 2009 at 1:31 pm
@saintsajid it’s probably your ground
saintsajid on December 22, 2009 at 2:34 pm
ya it was bad grounding
lbgarg2686 on December 31, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Do you tune a amp with music playing?????
haritoma on January 11, 2010 at 8:25 am
i dont possibly know how you can do this by ear, 1. every piece of music you listen to has differents amounts of bass and could make your sub distort easier than others also 2. what you are trying to do when adjusting your gains is match the voltage output from your head unit….this has to be done by using a multi meter or an oscilloscope meter…..
qnyny on January 14, 2010 at 11:45 pm
short answer for just small adjustments yes.
mm34rider on January 16, 2010 at 12:26 am
sometimes people don’t know anybody that has an o-scope or have the means of money to buy one… so we do the best we can :(…
haritoma on January 16, 2010 at 12:43 am
Fair enough, but i still doesnt make sense how this is correct way of setting you gains so my point still stands!
mm34rider on January 16, 2010 at 1:13 am
well shit the ppl that don’t have the money for o-scope just gotta make do with what they got. may not be perfect, but hell, it’s worth a shot. so in that sense, we are both correct. i agree this is NOT the best way haha. but sometimes it’s all ya got.
hairyunicorn on January 21, 2010 at 2:13 pm
@haritoma from what i know the best way to do it by ear is to play a burp by the hertz your box and amp are tuned to for maximum out put
dobbsy90 on January 22, 2010 at 8:05 pm
i know wat ur saying, but bass tests do fine
calvinblinkee on February 7, 2010 at 3:44 am
No. Human audible frequency is around
20Hz – 20,000Hz.
Subwoofer(bass) is around 20 to 200 Hz
Mid-Range(vocals) is around 300 to 5,000Hz
Tweeters are around 2,000 to 20,000 Hz
Gain is what you use to match the voltage output of the pre-out from a head-unit
calvinblinkee on February 7, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Gain is made to match the voltage of your headunit’s pre-out. Your headunit controls the volume… Frequency is the range your subwoofer can from.
calvinblinkee on February 7, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Google it.
jrowe6 on February 15, 2010 at 6:45 pm
frequency refers to the number of waves per second. treble is high frequency.
the amp will likely have 3 controls.
bass boost (this multiplies the gain at low frequencies)
gain (this is the volume)
frequency crossover (this controls the range of frequencies the amp cuts out from the music so you can concentrate the power on a given frequency range)
the crossover will likely control 20-200hz . if you set the crossover at 150hz the amp will only play frequencies below 150hz
jrowe6 on February 15, 2010 at 6:48 pm
some amps also have a subsonic filter which cuts out the bottom frequencies you cant hear to save power.
some amps have a selectable crossover.
high pass, cuts out 200hz and below, this is for midrange and high range speakers.
low pass, cuts out everything above 200hz, this is for a subwoofer.
Zlaja16 on February 18, 2010 at 8:36 pm
what the fuck are you talking about retard?
bastec666 on February 27, 2010 at 12:03 pm
@calvinblinkee bullshit. AVERAGE human audible frequency is 20hz-20,000khz. We did a test at my work, on a 30,000khz signal. half could hear it, and were like “WTF DUDE TURN IT OFF” (like a dog wistle) and the others were like “I don’t hear anything quit your whining.”
so, that rating is AVERAGE. its like those who say “you don’t need more then 60fps in games because you can only see 60fps”. we did a test with that too, some saw 60 to be what others see @ 30fps which is choppy.
AVERAGE.
calvinblinkee on February 27, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Well I know it’s average but oh well that was not really the point of what I was trying to say. Oh and 120fps will look better for some too.
XxTheChosenxX01 on March 21, 2010 at 1:49 am
what store do u work for
PEE661 on April 29, 2010 at 6:43 pm
does ne1 kno how to tune a cadence shockwave 2000? theres no knobs or nething on it
ExplicitYourSelf on May 2, 2010 at 9:49 pm
how do i know where to set the phase,subsonic filter and the low pass filter.the amp a have is a sundown saz 1000.1 d im pushing one 12in L7 kicker on a 2 ohm load pushing 600rms
JakeDubz262 on May 9, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Is it bad to max the output of the amp if it’s paired to woofers they use the same rms output of the amp in a stable ohm and they don’t clip or get hot??????? also how do you know where to put the low pass and subsonic filters depending on the subs and stuff? Just got a new deck and the sound is great but the subs seem like their missing something
123watchmenow on May 27, 2010 at 7:06 pm
i have speaker caps on my 6×9 and 6.5 should i take them off since i have cossovers on my amp ?
cfassian319 on May 31, 2010 at 1:25 am
this is the worst way to do it, proper way is to find the clipping volume of the radio first, then go to the amp and and turn the gain all the way down and just turn it up until it starts to clip then turn back down a little.
only proper way is with an o-scope
benisjamin1337 on June 5, 2010 at 10:15 pm
how should i tune my phase on my amp?