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Tuning your amp is usually the final step of installation after you have done wiring everything. However, many people often forget it and as a result, the sound of the whole system becomes terrible and mixed up with the car engine.
I used to have that problem about a year ago, when I had my new car sound system and installed the amplifier by myself. Two weeks after wiring was a disaster because I could not listen to my favorite songs or the morning news while driving to work. And for a music lover, it was such a horrible experience when you have to hear the sound of the car in every soundtrack.
Therefore, I started searching on Google to find out why and completely regretted not doing that earlier. The reason was so simple that I did not tune my amp and did not know how either. After watching some videos along with my brother’s help, I finally fixed the problem.
And I know that plenty people out there, including you, still have problems with amps. Therefore, I will share with you how to tune an amp in this article today. With my experience, I believe there will be no annoying sound in your car anymore.
First of all, here is what you need:
- An-already wired head unit and amplifier
- A screwdriver
If you have not set up the sound system yet, you can watch the full tutorial in this video:
Now, to make it run smoothly with no engine noise, you can do step by step following these:
Step 1: Turn the gains down to the minimum level and turn all of the filters to off.
Gain is an input that is used to adjust the sensitivity and is the connection between your amp’s input and receiver’s output. It is responsible for reducing noises, distortion and protects your speakers from getting damaged.
Filter is a switch that is responsible for passing the signals of the speakers at their highest or lowest pitch. There are two filters you need to know: Low-Pass (LPF) and High-Pass (HPF). Are the abbreviations familiar? Just look closely and you will see them on your amp.
In this step, shut every gain and filter as a restart to the whole system.
Step 2: Play your music
You need to turn on the music to hear the sound quality and adjust it on your amplifier. It’s best to put a CD on your head unit because it gives the clearest sound. Otherwise, just plug your cell phone cable or USB in and play some songs with much bass.
Step 3: Turn up the volume and adjust the gain
This step will ensure the best sound quality for your system. First, slowly turn the volume up until you hear distortion. It is a sign of incompatibility between your amp and the receiver. Now you leave it there and go back to the amp. Then, turn the gain up until the distortion disappears.
Step 4: Turn up the filters and repeat the process
When you have done with the gain dial, you have been through a half way. Now turn the volume down to the minimum level and turn the filters up. Go back and turn the volume up until the distortion is over. Tuning up process is complete. You can enjoy your music without getting horrible noise since then.
These steps are easy, aren’t they? I’m sure you will feel comfortable while tuning your amplifier.
Some secrets with a multi-meter
And sometimes, people even use a multi-meter to work on the process, which is to prevent the amp from overpowering or getting electrical surge. If you want to set your amp in its appropriate voltage while tuning, I have some tips for you.You need to memorize this formula before beginning, which measures the maximum level of the gain and filters:
Your amp = √(P.Q) (volt)
- P: Power of the amp
- Q: Resistance
You can find these figures on the manual instructions of your amp and it shows just like this:
Just make a calculation and you will know how high you need to adjust your amp. For example, in the picture, 200W represents the power of your amp and its resistance is 2. Put them in the equation above and we have 20, the highest level and also the number you would want to see in your multi-meter.
Then, get back to the gain and filters; use your screwdriver to turn them up until the multi-meter says 20 or under 20. It’s often a little hard to turn it to precisely the maximum number so I would be very glad if you can make it closely. 19 or 19.5 are perfect in the example.
After that, you can try turning your music up. The sound will perfectly fit your ears no matter how loud you want. If there is still something not clear about the process, this video will help you:
It’s a very specific tutorial and my brother introduced it to me when I first asked him about making measurements with multi-meter. Although I did not apply the method, I learned quite a lot about tuning up with it. You can try if you want.
Conclusion
Have you been enjoying my how-to article?I believe that the entire process was not as difficult as you imagined before reading.
If you are having troubles with noises from the engine while listening to music, tuning up your amplifier is just the solution. I hope the steps that I introduced above are helpful to you and wonderful songs will resound in your car right after fixing.
And if you like this article, please share it. No one will have to suffer from engine noise anymore, just like you and me. Moreover, whether you have any opinions or thoughts, do comment them down below. It would be my pleasure to reply.
Lastly, thank you for reading my writing about how to tune an amp and I hope to see you in my subsequent ones. Goodbye.
