ok, i searched and could not find anything, but i need help tuning my deck. like to manual is here http:http://vault.alpine-usa.com/products/documents/OM%20CDA-9830.pdf
page 15.

i dont know what freq. and band width(Q) to set. as for now, truck is a s10 ext cab, 2 10's, and for speakers i so far only have infinity ref. 6.5" 2way in the doors and stock rears, now come spring im going to change to something better front and rear. but could anyone give me a hand on helping me tune this right? im getting a lot of distortion on metal type music when loud. im looking for more highs then mid bass really as i have subs. and the speakers are only powered by the deck.

 

You have other issues to look at before you even start to deal with unit tuning.

Problem#1: A head unit lacks the power to adequately power speakers at extrememe volume in such a way as to keep the sound clean. What is happening here is you're probably turning the head unit past the point where it's capable of putting out a clear, unclipped signal in order to try to get the right loudness of it. As a result you're getting distortion. Running non-amplified door speakers is fine if you recognize the limits of your system and can be satisfied with the loudness level. If your front stage is HU-powered infinities competing with two tens then I can understand why you are not.

Your first step in tuning your system should be to lower the volume. Next step: Decent speakers with an amp. Your substage is taken care of. It's time for fronts. Seems to me like you began building your setup a bit back-asswords for the type of music you're listening to. The sub is the last thing to worry about if you're into more than just going bump in the night and yet it seems to be the first thing alot of people want to spend their money on.

Oh and by the way when you upgrade in speakers don't waste money on rears first, throw it all towards an amp and good speakers for the front. Especially for a compact x-cab truck.

 

if your deck has a HPF (high pass filter), set is to 80hz so you rid of anything that the subs should be playing.

i have my CDA9886 set up like this:
Low: 60hz Q3 0
High: 12.5khz +2
Sub level: 15
HPF: 80hz

 

ok, i know i did things backwards, but its the way i wanted to, i was playing with it yesterday and got it to sound better as i think i had to much bass coming out of the fronts, they do seem cleaner and i got a bit more highs out of them, but i do understand i need an amp for them, just 1 thing at a time, i need to build a better box for my subs, get rears, get a better amp and a 4 ch. but again 1 thing at a time. also jalat, what do you set your low pass filter at? so far both my hpf and lpf are set to 120hz. sub level i always changing depending on what im listening to as my sealed box has its limits, and then the custom eq i have set.

 

On my deck I dont believe i have a LPF, so on my amp its around the 80hz-100hz area.

 

so should i put both of mine at 80hz then? or what, and how come mine was set at 120? (car audio guy set it for 120)

 

Why rears first? By the time you get to the most important speakers you won't have much money left.

 

im doing rears first as i already have fronts, and my rears are stock, its hard trying to get my fronts to sound good when my rears are stock POS. so im buying an amp and rears, and amping all 4 speakers, then later on doing components up front

 

when EQ'ing you really generally want to stay away from going to the + side of things. THis electronically adds signal gain to that frequency. If you find your lacking in 1 frequency band and going up 1-2 DB's is okay. If your EQ is all +'s across the board.. turn it all back down, and turn the volume **** higher...find out what frequencies are overkill and reduce them.. Digitally adding signal should be avoided if necessry. Always cut when possible.

Also as mentioned above. You are most likely asking too much of your head units tiny IC chip/amp.

 

ok, well when i get my 4ch amp, and all my speakers in, i will set everything to 0, then go from there, thanks!