Last year I bought a new car and upgraded my car stereo to a high end
Alpine CD Player (CDA-9835), 6 Infinity Kappa speakers (4 speakers and
2 tweaters) and my old McIntosh MC420 amp (4 x 50 watts). The amplifier
is amazing, but ever since I bought the system, it has never sounded as
good as I thought it should. I never did anything about it until today,
when I took off the frontplate on the amplifier and moved the levels
from 2V to .3V. Wow! What a difference it made. It was like listening
to a whole new system! Besides kicking up the power considerably, the
bass is finally where I feel it should be. I think the reason the
installer brought down the levels was because of a hiss that I heard
when I first bought the entire sytem. It is now gone. Unbelievable.
It's amazing what a little tinking can do. My question concerns the
other knobs on the amplifer. I don't want to touch anything else as I
don't really know what it all means. Here are the current settings:

First button says 150 Hz. There are three options (Flat, -3 and -6dB).
It is set for -3.
Second button says Channels. Three options (2, 3, 4) It is set to 4.
Third button says Hipass Filter. Three options. (120, 80, OUT). It is
set to 80.
Fourth button says Subwoofer. Three options. (120, 80, EXT). It is set
to 120.
The remaining buttons are the levels I was tinkering with. The option
are 1, 2V and .3V.

I do not have a subwoofer in the car and it is using the standard
battery. Can someone explain to me what these other settings are and
what they will do to the sound/power of this system? What else can I
adjust that will make the sound come alive even more without damaging
anything? Thank you all in advance.

Steven

"Steven" wrote in message
oups.com...
Last year I bought a new car and upgraded my car stereo to a high end
Alpine CD Player (CDA-9835), 6 Infinity Kappa speakers (4 speakers and
2 tweaters) and my old McIntosh MC420 amp (4 x 50 watts). The amplifier
is amazing, but ever since I bought the system, it has never sounded as
good as I thought it should. I never did anything about it until today,
when I took off the frontplate on the amplifier and moved the levels
from 2V to .3V. Wow! What a difference it made. It was like listening
to a whole new system! Besides kicking up the power considerably, the
bass is finally where I feel it should be. I think the reason the
installer brought down the levels was because of a hiss that I heard
when I first bought the entire sytem. It is now gone. Unbelievable.
It's amazing what a little tinking can do. My question concerns the
other knobs on the amplifer. I don't want to touch anything else as I
don't really know what it all means. Here are the current settings:

First button says 150 Hz. There are three options (Flat, -3 and -6dB).
It is set for -3.

This is like a tone control (actually, a bass control), this will turn your
bass down either 3 dB, 6 dB or nothing. I would go ahead a experiment with
this one, just make sure your system isn't turned up too loud as you don't
want to blow your speakers. The "flat" setting will strengthen your bass,
and the -6 setting will further reduce your bass.

Second button says Channels. Three options (2, 3, 4) It is set to 4.

This just tells the amp how many channels you will be using. With any two
or four channel amp, you can bridge two of the channels to create a single
(much more powerful) channel. With a four channel amp it is common to
bridge channels 3 and 4 to drive a subwoofer, in this case you would set
this to 3. Get it?

Third button says Hipass Filter. Three options. (120, 80, OUT). It is
set to 80.

This is your crossover setting. This restricts low frequencies (a
"high-pass" filter restricts low frequencies, a "low-pass" restricts
high-frequencies) from going to your speakers. This is VERY useful when you
are using a subwoofer as your front speakers no longer have to play bass and
therefore you would want to restrict bass frequencies going to them (this
way they can play louder without distorting). But this is where it gets
weird to me. You say you are NOT using a subwoofer, yet it appears your
high-pass filter is engaged. Why? You are restricting frequencies below 80
Hz from going to your speakers. This would make sense if you were using a
subwoofer to play those frequencies below 80 Hz, but without a subwoofer,
they are just lost. You might want to try turning this to "out" and see how
it sounds. Again, be careful not to have the volume too loud when you do
this as this will mean more bass going to your speakers.

Fourth button says Subwoofer. Three options. (120, 80, EXT). It is set
to 120.

OK, this is what I ASSUME is the "low-pass" filter (restricts
high-frequencies). And if it is set at 120 Hz then this means that no
frequencies above 120 Hz are going to these speakers. Again, this is
confusing because you say you have no subwoofers. Perhaps there are other
buttons you are not mentioning that tell the amplifier that you are not
using a subwoofer and therefore this switch doesn't do anything.

I'm assuming that you have all four speakers (we will count the midbass and
tweeter as one) connected to each of the four amplifier channels, right?

If so, you do not want the subwoofer functions on. Perhaps try turning that
switch to "EXT" though I'm not sure what that means (usually it just say
"out").

As long as you keep the volume low, you should be able to experiment with
these switches without anything blowing up. It sounds like by removing the
crossovers that are engaged, you can improve your sound some more. Hope
this helps. Also, check out this group's FAQ (do a Google search for R.A.C.
FAQ and you will find it).

MOSFET



The remaining buttons are the levels I was tinkering with. The option
are 1, 2V and .3V.

I do not have a subwoofer in the car and it is using the standard
battery. Can someone explain to me what these other settings are and
what they will do to the sound/power of this system? What else can I
adjust that will make the sound come alive even more without damaging
anything? Thank you all in advance.

Steven

Thanks Mosfet. This is very helpful. I'll try these things out.

Steven

i just saw this ..hhmm i just woke up..all i can say is keep your volume
low. making small changes on your knob setting might be ok to see what
it does..
i'm sleepy now but.. i dont even remember all your questions now.lol
i never seen a knob that cuts your bass unless it has a minus sign
infront of the number.
id say any knob increases the bass..
good luck...

i never seen a knob that cuts your bass unless it has a minus sign

"There are three options (Flat, -3 and -6dB)."

There ARE minus signs, so yes, it cuts bass.....

I know you mean well, but honestly, please don't waste your time responding
to Bob's posts. He truly DOESN'T care and often posts nonsense and
ridiculous rebuttals JUST IN THE HOPES he gets a response from well meaning
people like you.

MOSFET

"mfreak" wrote in message
oups.com...
i never seen a knob that cuts your bass unless it has a minus sign

"There are three options (Flat, -3 and -6dB)."

There ARE minus signs, so yes, it cuts bass.....

For your ready reference here are some of the replies given to this creature
in various groups he trolls:

He also didn't continue school past the 3rd grade

Webtv. Can't even manage a computer.

What is with those Web TV users? Anyone have any idea? Is there a test you
need to take that if your IQ is too high they refuse to sell to you?

How else would we be plagued by folks who can't find their asshole with both
thumbs stuck in it?

Is this the best you can do? A poorly written diatribe, complete with typos,
on a sport about which you know nothing?

Talk smack all you want but at least get your **** right man!

Bob is some1 hoo is nut smarts...lol

you dumb bitch!



"mfreak" wrote in message
oups.com...
| i never seen a knob that cuts your bass unless it has a minus sign
|
| "There are three options (Flat, -3 and -6dB)."
|
| There ARE minus signs, so yes, it cuts bass.....
|

i am on a wireless keyboard..sometimes letters dont go up..no big
deal.if you not smart enough to get what i'm saying.whos the dumber? me
or you.
i'm on a webtv. cause i bought 1 n liked it..
so why change?