Top 3 Ways to RUIN your Car Audio System  

My man...really glad to hear that! I came into the game as an SPL guy, but when I stopped competing, my teammate went to SQ....Once I heard his system, I needed both! The accuracy of SQ, and that SPL at the turn of a bass knob! Best of both worlds!

Hahaha thanks brotha! I want to share as many tips as possible, without saying DO THIS, because that could be disastrous for some. Thank you for the sub wishes!

@@Ahm-Creative I hope you have a good day. One last thing, can you rate my setup? JBL stadium 62cf and 62f, kicker key 200.4 DSP, KAPPA basslink SM2. What is the best car headunit you can suggest to with this setup? Thanks in advance.

@@Marcus1818 that's a pretty sweet setup you got going. I bet it's very well balanced with the 62cf up front and that basslink in back. As for head units, I would consider the Kenwood DMX709S. It's a clean unit with no flaws that I've heard of.

@@Ahm-Creative Thanks brother. I will surely check if the headunit is available in my country. Will look it up also for reviews. Tc

Lol thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. When I used to sell car audio, some of my coworkers would give very technical explanations to non technical people, and would lose the sale. I noticed the pattern and tried a more average Joe approach and it worked....so now I try to split it down the middle... slightly simple, slightly technical.

@@ShowStartersNM absolutely!

LOL all good brother. 1 sub or 100, the processes are pretty much the same.

Hi brother... all is well...thank you! Yes, most of us made that mistake, and learned the hard way. Hopefully this video will stop some from making the same mistake 😉

Thank you brother, and I agree! Having a thicker gauge in a shorter run won't benefit you as much as one might think, so you can save a few dollars, and not have to hassle with running the thicker wire.

Thanks brotha! I'd say yes and no about the distortion, unless they're using distortion as "bass". A buddy of mine used to do that, until he heard my car and I rebuilt his system. When tuned right, unless the song itself has distortion, you won't want it anywhere near your system. And I believe I know what you're talking about, but that can be achieved with a proper tune.

@@Ahm-Creative Yeah, exactly what I’m saying. It may be that that’s their understanding of how bass in a car is supposed to sound. Several blown amps and subs later😂 they run into a correctly tuned system. Some are lucky to find that system sooner or, like myself, know how a system SHOULD NOT sound

@@milesbachelor8747 LOL yeah...budget systems = blown speakers to replicate bass.

My man... thank you 🤙🏿

Very true, and I agree 100%. Tweeters are typically "harsh" by nature, but when tuned correctly to where they ride along with midrange frequencies, they blend seamlessly when done right. It's a push and pull balancing act.

Ah, that's the word! Yep, sensitivity. High level inputs...the names skipped my mind as I was recoding this on the fly 😁

SLA is helpful with aux, but won't necessarily increase distortion if you're setting your gains properly.... it's still a balancing act with both high and low voltage. I do everything by ear, so while you will likely notice some amount of distortion when using an oscilloscope, it may not be audible enough to worry about as it will likely not ruin your sound.

@@Ahm-Creative I just replaced my old MB Quart components speakers for Focal (on deck power). I also moved my sub around, pointing up was the best sound to me, and it seemed to blend easier. Combination of those two and Fiio M11 through Aux, it has never sounded this good. I am starting to think distortion detection is not as important as speaker placement and tuning. You can totally hear if the speakers are suffering.

@@MrChipDouglas1 bro that's awesome to hear. Yes, I try not to be overly technical when tuning and listening. Yes, technical knowledge is important, but I don't want to go so far where I'm not enjoying the system I built.

Whoa my man, sounds like you had more than a pretty okay system...everything you mentioned is legendary gear!! I nearly went with MB Quart Q-Line and W6's, but instead went with Diamond Audio Hex's and Cerwin Vega-Vega series subs, and/or Crossfire BMF's with PPI amps. Loved the gear of yesteryear. I too got in the game in the early 90s...94 to be exact. This year marks my 30th, and I use your tweeters method too. For the most part, you can't even place my mids and mid bass, due to time alignment..same goes for the rear sub. My current box is a harmony audio prefab ported, and it is lined with a polyfil type layer that is stapled to the lining of the box, and it absolutely makes a great difference. Not only doesn't it help dampen the 60hz range, but it also adds volume, giving me even more of a boom without taking up more space. For my listening pleasure, I prefer polyfil lined boxes. That added boom is still controlled, and helps with the lower 30hz notes.

Absolutely!

Brotha, I really wanted to go, but I usually just go with Deron for support, since I don't compete. But it was crazy hot, so I chilled instead. I do want you hear my latest "perfect" tune, to get your thoughts on it. I'll likely be at the next show for sure, whenever that is.

I'm not knocking the scientific way, but my ears have served me well...and have actually impressed quite a few..,so I tend to avoid scientific methods before my tune starts losing personality. I've heard quite a few scientifically tuned systems, and was sitting there like 😴😆😆😆 I did a system with 2-JL13W7's and we timed the distance. We could hear him like 15-20 seconds before we could see him 😁

My man... thank you ✊🏿

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful!

LOL Bro, every time I SEE Boss tweeters, I make this face 😫

@@Ahm-Creative What brands do you recommend for SQ tweets that aren't so bright? I'm on my way to go active for the first time and I think I'm at a point where I think I need to change up my tweets even though mix-matching is bad

@@gabzor4716 Actually, mix-matching isn't as bad as I once thought. I see quite a few SQ cars that way, and they sound great! I'm all Morel, so of course I'd suggest the Elate Carbon Alto, but there's also Dynaudio tweeters, and you don't even have to get their flagship for good sound like I think you would with Morel. For the warmest Morel sound, I'd suggest the Elate Carbon Alto, or the MT450. For a warm Dynaudio sound, I'd suggest their Esotar or Esotan tweeters. If those exceed your budget, then my next choice would be the ScanSpeak Illuminator D3004/6020-00 Tweeter. It sounds very natural.

@@Ahm-Creative Haha I figured you would say morel, guess I might as well just save up for a set of those, I have some 20 year old focal mids with jbl crossovers and jbl tweets, but my buddy wants to buy the whole jbl set that's why, and I know focal mids are known for being overly bright Those scanspeaks might actually be decent, thanks for the suggestions!

@@gabzor4716 lol yeeaaah maaaann.... there's just none better to me. They're giving me everything I wanted in my dream system.

Thank you! Really glad you found it helpful.

Absolutely! Forgot to mention that. If you are not careful, you could mess around and blow everything instantly!

😂😂😂 painfully bright.

I wanted those, my Fiio player would need an external amp to drive them, and I didn't care to go that route...for now at least

I have a fiio KA5 and a Fiio KA17 and use them with my mobile phone, both work great, tbh they also work fine directly from a headphone jack, they're pretty sensitive, and even though the're 32ohms ,they don't need much power to drive them well, despite what people say. I inherited them from my father, who, was a hifi enthusiast.

@@BarryWhitfield-dj7xf I could have sworn they were 300 ohm, which is why I felt I would need an amp. That's why I bought the OneOdio

Oh yeah sorry I meant 300 ohm lol

@@BarryWhitfield-dj7xf lol it's all good, but I just looked it up and the HD650 is 300 ohms, but the HD650S is 120 ohms, so I SHOULD be ok, if you're driving yours off your phone at times.

What's up brother! I would use this amp to it's full potential by using channels 1-6 for your 3-way front stage, rear-fill off head unit power, with the head unit faded forward a bit, to cut the power so the rear doesn't interfere with your front stage, and channels 7-8 for the sub because of time alignment, and so you wouldn't have to buy another amp and tune another dsp. With the Alpine, you can do all your dsp tuning and time alignment within...it would make it easier for you both install and budget wise, if that is a concern.

Crank it up baby! That's the amp's own volume that's separate from the head unit's volume. Everybody knows that 😁

I'm Team Morel for life, brotha! My absolute favorite speakers, both amplified and on head unit power. As for U.S Acoustics, I was THIS CLOSE to getting their 6 channel Lanna, but read a few forums saying the build quality of the power and speaker terminals was less than stellar, but the sound quality was pure. I've only heard their Tony sub amp, but their full range amp specs look amazing. I say go for it. It'll make your Tempo Integra's sound insane!

The US Acoustics Barbara Ann sounds really clean. Had ZERO noise floor and it never went into protect, even when playing it near clipping in the Summer. They make them in Korea now, so they should be even more stout than the models of the past. I'd have ZERO reservations buying the Barbara Ann. Sound Solutions Audio also sells the exact same amp as the DM100.4 if you want to spend a little less. (It's the exact same amp, confirmed by Mike Nichols)

@@SeanOMatic Oh man, that is awesome information! Thank you! I am definitely happy with my Zapco's, BUT IF I ever decide to switch, it's going to be either Arc Audio...which is old school Zapco, or U.S Acoustics/Sound Solutions!!

@@Ahm-Creative I can say from personal experience that you're going to LOVE Arc Audio. I run their X2 monoblock on my SQL12 and use their PSM Pro DSP, which is excellent. I am saving up for their Blackbird DSP amp, right now. ($1600!)

@@Ahm-Creative Thanks so much for the input, y'all are amazing. I'll let you know how the Tempo Ultras run when I get it all set up. Cheers

Oh wow man, that is nuts! The Sony GS9 is THEE head unit to have. If I had one, I wouldn't necessarily care to use a Fiio player because the GS9 dac is so good. You have experience, so I don't want to be insulting, but I have to ask a few questions to narrow down the issue, as you have quality equipment. Is your head unit and phone music player, as well as your amps set flat, so that they're not fighting the tuning you did in your dsp? What about the phase of your mid bass in relation to your sub? Better question, what are you hearing that's making you unhappy with the sound? Process of elimination, I would play the tweeters with the mids only...no mid bass, no sub and see what it sounds like. I would play the mids and tweeters together, as it's kinda hard to hear tweeter quality when it's just them playing, or it is for me sometimes. If they sound a little off, play just the left mid/twtr and see if it sounds good, and if it does with just the left, or just the right, but bad when both are playing, then you have a good starting point....who knows if one of the 4 speakers could be out of phase. Once you get past that point, bring the mid bass in and see if it still sounds good. If so, bring in the sub. If it sounds bad when you bring the sub in, flip the sub phase 180-degrees, and that SHOULD fix the problem...if that is the problem to begin with...then you can finish your tune from there. But based on what you have, you should be enjoying your music to the fullest.

@@Ahm-Creative thanks for the reply. To me it doesn’t have a great dynamic warm sound.. it sounds like i have a cheap set of speakers in my doors.. the vocals sound very muddy, almost like the band is playing upstairs and the vocals are in the basement.. could it be my rca’s i mean there not cheap ones but there definitely not sq kimber rca’s ..really the gains should probably be set by a dd1 and the dsp should probably be set by a professional… but with this kida of equipment you would think that it should sound ok.. here in Michigan thers not alot of people who can honestly help me im kinda in a dead spot for sq. Its all spl.

@@williamwilson2303 it sounds like you're using a preset tuning option like rock, jazz, country, e.t.c. The gain wouldn't necessarily have much to do with the muddy sound you're hearing, unless it was just pure distortion. Sounds like your speakers are receiving the wrong signals. Are you running active or passive?

@@williamwilson2303 if you can, send me a video or two so I can hear it and also see your amp crossovers, head unit EQ and dsp tune. I might be able to help you narrow it down. ahmed@arobersonphoto.com

Hello brother... thank you for viewing my channel. Yes, that's exactly how I'm connecting mine. 3.5mm to aux, then RCA out to my dsp.

How about sir if i use a dac? Like the topping dx1. From iphone to dac to aux (radio). Is it okay?

@@MrAlberto356 yes, that way works great too. If you view my video with my boy with the DynAudio Honda Accord, he's using an iPhone connected to a D10S topping unit, and it works great.

@@Ahm-Creative yeah man saw that too! That mans a genius!! Sadly though my dsp dont have a digioptical or a coaxial Its okay to run it with aux (radio). Right?

@@MrAlberto356 yeah, that's my man. But yes, aux to the head unit is perfectly fine.