Quote:
Originally Posted by Gringo
Hello everyone,
Had the sound system upgrade done 2 days early (change in my work schedule...  ). Satisfied with the results with a few caveats:
Without checking with me prior to re-installing the doors/quarter panels, they set the crossovers on both speaker pairs to '+3db' so the whole set-up sounds a little too bright for my taste. Setting the stock head unit treble control to around -4 cancels that out but as a result, the mids are slightly depressed so I increased them to +2 then, and then, and then... You get the picture.  They (BestBuy) said they'd pull the doors/quarter panels to (correctly...) set the crossover to 0db free of charge;
There is an engine-speed related whine, fairly faint but clearly audible at low volume settings. I think it's caused by the Stinger conversion boxe (which converts the line level output of the head unit to RCA compatible signal for the 4 channel amp) being set too high. If somebody here knows about this (D113...?  ), please let me know. The guy who did the work at BestBuy said this was unavoidable but I'm not convinced.
About the Stinger being set too high: the max volume setting (on the stock head unit) that I can reasonably use (without risking permanent hearing loss...) is 16-17 whereas I could safely crank it up to the max (30) before the upgrade. The Stinger is feeding an Infinity Reference 475a 4x75w RMS amp. I'm thinking about reducing the gains on the Stinger so as to arrive somewhat short of the pain threshold at the max volume setting on the head unit. Again, any advice on this would be most welcomed (D113...? ).
I'm very happy with the Kenwood self-powered subwoofer and yes, it does fit transversely under the driver's seat, away from the feet of any eventual rear seat occupant. The sub very nicely rounds out the bottom end. I recomment it to anyone who's not looking for a killer, gangsta-rap kinda of punch.
Overall, the upgraded speakers/amp sound clearly much, much better than stock. Audiophile quality sound is at hand once the (hopefully...) minor problems mentioned above are fixed.
Gringo |
Alrighty, here goes:
1. First thing I want to ask is: Do you get the engine noise from all your inputs? Try a cd, the radio, mp3 player
2. Ask them where they wired the turn-on wire or if the amp is auto-sensing.
3. Ask where the 4x75 is grounded. Whine usually comes as a result of a grounding issue. as well as a noise floor issue. (will get to that later) Since your amp is likely grounded to the chassis, as is the kenwood basebox. When these items are grounded to the chassis, more than 10 feet from the engine compartment there's a ton of resistance in the path to the true ground which is the battery negative. You can ask them to run an identical 4-8AWG wire from the battery negative to the same grounding post these amps are grounded to to get a true path directly to the battery. If they tell you they can't do it because there isn't room, I have two 0 AWG wires (+ and -) running together along the same path in my car
4. Output power of the stinger. Since this is a passive LOC the voltage out of it will likely be quite low. This means that the noise-floor is quite suscepible (sp) to engine noise. Think of it this way, pour milk in a slow moving stream and you'll see it dissipate very slowly... pour milk into a fire hose stream and you'll blast it away and won't be able to tell the milk is even in there! You need to do what you can to lower the noise floor. If you crank the out put of the stinger, you're going to then amplify any noise coming through it. Try lowering the stinger output and raising the amp.
5. Try to disconnect the kenwood box to see if it's adding noise to the system. pull both positive and negative one at a time and electrical tape the wires. DO NOT let them touch bare metal or you! The run your system to see if it was the culprit.
6. Buy a better LOC. Passive one's especially stinger consumer-grade ones are quite lousy.
7. This might help
Stinger Electronics | Product Details if they carry it.
The wiring description would be very helpful. You could always take it to a better shop and see what they say. Just make sure you have written down what they installed. and be prepared to pay more for a unit that's better than the stinger.
I pulled out my Audio Control EQS because it put noise in my system. Sound electronics just do this.
