Question About Settings Gains With Volt Meter?

Question

I Have an Alpine SWE-1043 powered by and Alpine MRP M500.

Alpine MRP M500
mono subwoofer car amplifier
300 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms (500 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms)
variable low-pass filter (50-200 Hz, 24 dB/octave)
variable bass boost (0-12 dB at 50 Hz)
subsonic filter (15 Hz, 24 dB/octave)

Alpine SWE-1043
frequency response: 29-1,000 Hz
power range: 100-250 watts RMS
peak power: 700 watts
sensitivity: 84 dB

After some research into regards to setting the gains for my amp, I came across Sparky’s (top contributor) Guide. http://www.datafilehost.com/download.php?file=6d26c621

It says that the Volt Meter should read around 31.62 V in regards to my setup’s 250 watt (lowest of the sub/amp combo) to my 4 ohm Impedance.

1) My question is in regards to tone and frequency settings. He offers a 60hz 0db, but other videos use a 50 Hz 0db tone. Which is better or should I stick with the tone that he uses with his excel file where all his calculation are?

Secondly my amp has 3 controls Gain, Bass EQ [0db-12db], an the LP Filter [50 Hz-200Hz].

2) Should I set all these level to the minimum and just adjust the Gain. I read since I’m just powering the sub with the amp, to leave the LP Filter to the Hz I’m using at the deck is this true? If so what’s the best to use (80Hz?) and what should I do the Bass EQ Filter setting.

My Head unit has these options

Bass Control:
Bass Centre Frequency: 60Hz, 80Hz (default), 100Hz, or 200Hz
Bass Band Width: 1 (narrow) to 4 (wide)
Bass Level: -7 to +7 (+/-14dB in 2dB steps)

Treble Control:
Treble Centre Frequency: 10kHz (default), 12.5kHz, 15kHz, or 17.5kHz
Treble Level: -7 to +7 (+/-14dB in 2dB steps)

Which setting would be recommended>? Thanks In Advance!

Answer 1

Firstly, pink noise is best in setting up all the amps. Pink noise is all frequencies at once and is calibrated to take into account that in order to reach the same db level, speakers use more wattage as the frequency being played through them gets lower and lower. In other words it will play 60hz and 50hz and every other hz at the same time and will net you the flattest response. A straight 60 hz or 50hz doesn't do that. Neither does white noise, which sounds just like pink noise.

Secondly, I would set the bass eq to flat, and the lpf as high as it can go. Then set the gain from there.

The lpf is usually best at aroud 80hz, then set the bass eq to taste.

On a side note, when setting gains, most people say turn the volume to 75% before adjusting the gain, then just don't ever turn your volume no higher than that. Hmmm ok, that just means it will start to distort when you hit 75%. Personally, I like to set the volume to max to adjust gains, that way I can turn it up however much I want without it distorting. Maybe it's just me, but I like full control of it, not just 3/4.



The settings on your head unit are pretty dependent on your speakers the response your car has to them, and your personal hearing and preferences, which differs from person to person. There's nothing really universal, just gotta play with it. Set it to your taste, not ours. Good luck with it!!

Answer 2

Either tone should work. I use 50 typically, but the idea is to simulate the frequency at which your sub will present its nominal impedance (in your case 4 ohms) to the amp. 50 or 60 should get you pretty close.



Leave the bass EQ at zero to set the gain. After your gain is set correctly you can mess with that a little if you want, but adding more than a few dB will just throw off the frequency response of your sub and is rarely a good thing.



The low pass filter can vary a little bit, and it's mainly personal preference, but in my experience subs tend to start sounding muddy over 100hz or so. The general rule of thumb is to set it at around 80hz and tweak it from there. I like to set mine as high as possible before the sound gets muddied. With my old sealed enclosure I was able to get up to 90hz or so. With my current low tuned ported enclosure about 70hz is all I can get.

For gain setting purposes - as long as it's as high or higher than your test frequency it won't effect the gain setting procedure.



It sounds like your frequency control from the deck is just an eq. It's not really filtering anything, just boosting or cutting a little bit at the selected frequencies. If you set your bass/treble levels to zero while adjusting your gain they should have a neutral effect on your gain setting regardless of the width/frequency settings.

And again, after the gain is set you can adjust those as you like. However - like the amp's bass boost -- to deviate much from zero probably isn't going to be good for sq, but a +/- 1 or 2 at any range might make a nice improvement. It will vary from song to song. It's just something you'll have to mess with and see what you like.

Answer 3

50Hz and 60Hz signals are used because that is what AC voltmeters read. Either one will do fine.



Set ALL bass on ALL EQ's to ZERO (including the amp), thus not needing to change band width or center frequency.



From there, turn up the volume on the head unit to about 3/4(with sub disconnected) and adjust amp gain to get your desired voltage on the speaker terminals.

Answer 4

usually the lower the hz on the LPF the louder the bass is

and of course u want to turn the bass eq all the way, or most of the way, up

u can just use the gain to control the power, if u keep gain at about 3/4 u should be fine as long as ur running 4 ohms



and on the head unit turn ur treble to +7 and the bass to w/e sounds best for u

the rest of the settings just work with em until it sounds good to u

Answer 5

The answer above me is exactly right. That's the proper way to do it..