Tune system

Got my system installed. The details are located in my siggy. It doesn't sound as good as I thought it would but maybe because it's not tuned correctly. Can anyone guide me on how to tune my system? Thanks.

Get a set of 4-6 microphones and set them at head level in the drivers seat. Burn a CD of white noise. Play it over each indiviual speaker to get the response curves. Based on speaker response choose some rough crossover points for the speakers. Combining all this information will give you a ROUGH idea of what it'll sound like.

I like to do time delay before leveling everything. Starting with the speaker closest to the driver, send an impulse to it. Note the time that the microphones receives the impulse (this will be your zero point). Send an impulse through another speaker and note the time it's received by the microphones. Subrtract that time from the original time to get the delay needed. Continue to do this until all speaker are done.

Once you get the crossovers points all ready then hook all the speakers up and take a reading of the white noise. This will not be flat, you'll need some more filters. You'll then have to play with filters and some experience to get it just right. It's really an art form to tune it and you just have to look at the overall response, individual speaker response, and know what to change. It different for every vehicle.


So you know, you'll get a 12dB/oct boost in base below ~150Hz. You'll also get a peak due to driver to passenger window reflection around 250Hz. Those should be two things you'll notice right away.

You could start messing with the phases but in a car, you're not gaining a tone. Get it all flat and delayed right and you've done about everything. All the extra work on phases and the such will only give you maybe 5% more gains but take 10x as long.

The way I did it was to set the delay and then sit in my truck. I played some white noise and I'm able to tell what the response is. I'm then able to adjust all the levels to within 2 dB of flat. It takes a VERY well trained ear to do that and I doubt yours is that well tuned.

Holy cow. Nice write up. Great info! Very in depth.

While yes it is a good write up, IMO you could expunge on the first part using the microphones and all.

Very interesting write up that I may try myself. Been playing with my setup a lot since I had the battery disconnected over the weekend and I will have to disconnect it again to do the big 3.

Lol I dunno if I need it that perfect, but I just feel like my system was hitting harder before I upgraded all my stuff Now it seems like my bass is lacking... I think it's the 6x9s but I could be wrong...

Mad_Eyes wrote:

Lol I dunno if I need it that perfect, but I just feel like my system was hitting harder before I upgraded all my stuff Now it seems like my bass is lacking... I think it's the 6x9s but I could be wrong...

Build a proper box for the 6x9s. You should notice a dramatic change.

Are your subs and 6x9's out of phase? That would cause some **** sounding music.


And PwrRnger, than assumes he has a headunit that has the ability to do time delay.

corvettecrazy wrote:

Are your subs and 6x9's out of phase? That would cause some **** sounding music. And PwrRnger, than assumes he has a headunit that has the ability to do time delay.

How do I know if they're out of phase/What is out of phase? But yes my HU does do time delay

Mad_Eyes wrote:

corvettecrazy wrote: Are your subs and 6x9's out of phase? That would cause some **** sounding music. And PwrRnger, than assumes he has a headunit that has the ability to do time delay. How do I know if they're out of phase/What is out of phase? But yes my HU does do time delay

Switch the positive and negative on the speaker. That will move the phase 180 degrees.

some amps have a phase switch. Switching the RCA leads on the amp would do the same and is likely easier to get to than the speaker terminals.

corvettecrazy wrote:

Switching the RCA leads on the amp would do the same and is likely easier to get to than the speaker terminals.

That won't change the phase. It will just switch the left speaker to the right speaker (or front to back). There won't actually be any phase change in the speaker.
But like you said, phase switch on the amp would be the easiest if there is one.

PwrRngr wrote:

corvettecrazy wrote: Switching the RCA leads on the amp would do the same and is likely easier to get to than the speaker terminals. That won't change the phase. It will just switch the left speaker to the right speaker (or front to back). There won't actually be any phase change in the speaker. But like you said, phase switch on the amp would be the easiest if there is one.

If you switch the the Red and white RCA within one input side (left or right) that should change the phase.

My HU can swap the sub phase 0 and 180. If that one has time delay I wouldn't be suprised if it had some sort of phase thing too.