I am not very experienced with tuning Alpine head units. I don't even know where to start. Any recommendations on how to configure things for the best sound? I am using the stock speakers and have two JL 8s, with and alpine amp behind the drivers seat. The highs are two high and the lows are two short. Can anyone lend a hand?

 

I could use some help here as well!!

I just installed an Alpine CDA7998, great HU but with all of the controls??? Time delay, cross-over, base focus wow. The manual doesn't explain these things very well.

Does anyone have any links to a tuning FAQ or something?
Mabey I just need to play with it more.
Thanks

 

An untuned stock Head Unit with new speakers would sound way better, I would start there.

The stock speakers suck. Take them out and take a look. You will feel like torching them they are so cheap.

 

I really want to replace them but for at least a few weeks I don't want to spend another $300 on the speakers. I just spent $700 on the headunit, amp, subs, and dynomat.

Any tuning you can recommend would help me out a lot. Thanks!

 

I have the 7995 but same manual as the 7894 so
try these:

1. Turn off sub woofer.
2. Leave everything flat (don't use Mix on, Deafeat OFF)
3. Leave the time-correction alone ( meaning all 0s)


what you want to do is test out your stock speakers with the sound coming from your head unit without equalizing the sound.

Most likely because you stock speakers cannot handle the output and thus give you the uncontrolled highs and lows.


FYI :
there are corrections on the HU to lower the highs and cutoff the bass output, but that can only help you so much

 

Thanks for the help Cintel!

 

Anyone else have more suggestions?

 

yeah, i got some suggestions.
start by throwing out this part:

1. Turn off sub woofer.
2. Leave everything flat (don't use Mix on, Deafeat OFF)
3. Leave the time-correction alone ( meaning all 0s)

what you want to do is test out your stock speakers with the sound coming from your head unit without equalizing the sound.

Most likely because you stock speakers cannot handle the output and thus give you the uncontrolled highs and lows.

FYI :
there are corrections on the HU to lower the highs and cutoff the bass output, but that can only help you so much


i'm not sure what this will accomplish. ok, "testing" the system with all flat and no time correction (which isn't equalization, btw, but i'll get to that) will just let you hear the stock speakers. are they wonderful? no. but they work. i know - and they can handle more than you think - i'm running a CDA7998 with Xtant amps, and they're handling the power just fine, both with sub and without.

i'm not sure what he means by Mix on (mix is the alpine term for shuffle, usually on preset button 5), but if he means MX (media expander) you can use that to 'uncompress' .mp3's and satellite radio if you desire. it has three custom modes on it that the manual sometimes doesn't mention - hold down the MX button to access the custom modes.

now, my favorite part; time correction. this rocks. period. use the formula in the manual, work out the numbers, and enter them into the head unit. (now, if you have a 7998, you can use the iPersonalize alpine site, which you can ask me about in a PM.) the imaging difference is staggering. don't believe me? try it with t/c on, and t/c off. if you can't hear the difference in imaging, you shouldn't be reading this anyway the sound will go from hearing the speakers distinctly in each door and spread way out from your focal listening center to a dead-on center (to you) image, hopefully just above the instrument cluster. your passenger will not enjoy the benefits, but it IS your car.

that's my rant for now, and before anyone decides to question it, yes, i am qualified; it's what i do for a living.