hey guys I'm in the process of installing comps and I've gotten everything hookd up, however when I listen to the speakers and try to turn up the volume on the cleansweep or the headunit it starts clipping. The speakers work fine when hooked up starigt to the amp outside the car. My installer thinks the stock speaker wires in the wire boot aren't big enoug to run the wires. Has anyone experienced this? And know how I an fix this? Its been a NIGHTMARE getting everything installed.
need help! Problems installing components
- Thread starter TinC
- Start date
- Did you install a seperate amp? or is this running off the stock amp?
- The stock wires are I believe are 20awg(TurboCad??). This is just good enough to run 100wtts through...but if you are running more power than 100wtts, get 16awg run through the doors.
-How loud are the speakers getting before clipping? With that, did you get speakers that are 2ohm? If you got 4ohm speakers, you will have to turn up the volume, cleansweep gains, amp gains, to get to the volume of what stock was. This just results in clipping everywhere. Since, 1st there is less resistance to power the speaks, and trying to get all pieces of audio in line with adjusting gains is a pain in the a$$.
- Try test tones to set gains.
60Hz for the subs at 3/4 volume with 0 or +1 gain
1000Hz for front speaks at 3/4 volume with 0 gain
with the test tones running(put on repeat) then set the gains. Use a multimeter to find out power output....
Take the square root of (Power*Resistance) = Voltage
so say you have an amp that is rated at 100w at 4ohms (RMS POWER)
sqrt(100*4)=V
sqrt(400)=V
V=20
so to get 100w into your front speaks...set your gain on your amp to 20v using your multimeter with the volume at 3/4 playing a 1000hz test tone.
IF you wired up the front speaks for 2ohm(or it is a 2ohm speaker):
sqrt(100*2)=14.14v
Set amp gain to 14.14v playing 1000hz test tone.
Subs are done the same way, but using a 60Hz tone. Bumping it up by +1 for rap music or by +2 if you listen to rock. +3 really is not recomended.
- The stock wires are I believe are 20awg(TurboCad??). This is just good enough to run 100wtts through...but if you are running more power than 100wtts, get 16awg run through the doors.
-How loud are the speakers getting before clipping? With that, did you get speakers that are 2ohm? If you got 4ohm speakers, you will have to turn up the volume, cleansweep gains, amp gains, to get to the volume of what stock was. This just results in clipping everywhere. Since, 1st there is less resistance to power the speaks, and trying to get all pieces of audio in line with adjusting gains is a pain in the a$$.
- Try test tones to set gains.
60Hz for the subs at 3/4 volume with 0 or +1 gain
1000Hz for front speaks at 3/4 volume with 0 gain
with the test tones running(put on repeat) then set the gains. Use a multimeter to find out power output....
Take the square root of (Power*Resistance) = Voltage
so say you have an amp that is rated at 100w at 4ohms (RMS POWER)
sqrt(100*4)=V
sqrt(400)=V
V=20
so to get 100w into your front speaks...set your gain on your amp to 20v using your multimeter with the volume at 3/4 playing a 1000hz test tone.
IF you wired up the front speaks for 2ohm(or it is a 2ohm speaker):
sqrt(100*2)=14.14v
Set amp gain to 14.14v playing 1000hz test tone.
Subs are done the same way, but using a 60Hz tone. Bumping it up by +1 for rap music or by +2 if you listen to rock. +3 really is not recomended.
the amp is running bridged off aother amp I had put in for subs, we were thinking doing bigger speaker wires because the amp is pushing 135wats to each component. The only issue is will the wire fit through the boot in the door? My installer thinks it might be to big, but thanks for the few tips i'll pass it on to him. And yes the speakers are 4 ohm I believe, so hopefully this fixes the problem! Thanks ! Ill keep you updated !
Are you sure you are running your amp bridged? Unless it is a 4 channel amp, this wouldn't be recomended. A 2 channel amp bridged basically is taking the two channels and making them one. That creates only 1 channel, so your music essentially stops really playing in "stereo" and plays more like mono. Great for subs, horrible for front speakers. Front speakers need separation. Subs are mono and omni-directional anyways, so no need to make them stereo.
Also, if your installer bridged the amp, you are either pushing 2ohm output into the speakers, or 8ohm. Depending on how your installer wired the speakers. If they ran it as 8ohm, it would have a lot less output, and you wanting more output from the speaks, would keep upping the gains.... causing clipping.
If you are going to run 135wtts rms, you should upgrade your speaker wires to 16awg. BUT I do not think this is the problem that is causing the clipping. Clipping isn't caused by running too small a wire. Too small a wire wont be able to efficiently run all the power you are running without over heating....it can cause a melt down of the wire. But even 135 watts through the stock wire, isn't going to melt it down. You have to get a little bit more power than that.
Your clipping, I expect, is due to the HU, Cleansweep, and amp gains needing to be adjusted correctly. It takes time and patience to get these straight and your system running at full tilt CLEANLY without damaging anything. I have my other car's system running cleanly. It took me a week - two weeks to get everything tuned and straightened out in order to run it full tilt without damaging my equipment.
If you still have issues, try and get a hold of TurboCad....he used to compete in car audio SQ.
Also, if your installer bridged the amp, you are either pushing 2ohm output into the speakers, or 8ohm. Depending on how your installer wired the speakers. If they ran it as 8ohm, it would have a lot less output, and you wanting more output from the speaks, would keep upping the gains.... causing clipping.
If you are going to run 135wtts rms, you should upgrade your speaker wires to 16awg. BUT I do not think this is the problem that is causing the clipping. Clipping isn't caused by running too small a wire. Too small a wire wont be able to efficiently run all the power you are running without over heating....it can cause a melt down of the wire. But even 135 watts through the stock wire, isn't going to melt it down. You have to get a little bit more power than that.
Your clipping, I expect, is due to the HU, Cleansweep, and amp gains needing to be adjusted correctly. It takes time and patience to get these straight and your system running at full tilt CLEANLY without damaging anything. I have my other car's system running cleanly. It took me a week - two weeks to get everything tuned and straightened out in order to run it full tilt without damaging my equipment.
If you still have issues, try and get a hold of TurboCad....he used to compete in car audio SQ.
so do u suggest i leave the system installed as is and play around with the gains? or should i get the amp rewired.
p.s, my installer mentioned the orginal speaker wires were 16awg, and he blieves its the speaker wires giving resistance when we try to turn it up causing the clipping. he had said he tried to play with gains and stuff but it still clipped, but when the components were wired directly to the amp outside the vehicle there was no clipping.
p.s, my installer mentioned the orginal speaker wires were 16awg, and he blieves its the speaker wires giving resistance when we try to turn it up causing the clipping. he had said he tried to play with gains and stuff but it still clipped, but when the components were wired directly to the amp outside the vehicle there was no clipping.
Are you sure you are running your amp bridged? Unless it is a 4 channel amp, this wouldn't be recomended. A 2 channel amp bridged basically is taking the two channels and making them one. That creates only 1 channel, so your music essentially stops really playing in "stereo" and plays more like mono. Great for subs, horrible for front speakers. Front speakers need separation. Subs are mono and omni-directional anyways, so no need to make them stereo.
Also, if your installer bridged the amp, you are either pushing 2ohm output into the speakers, or 8ohm. Depending on how your installer wired the speakers. If they ran it as 8ohm, it would have a lot less output, and you wanting more output from the speaks, would keep upping the gains.... causing clipping.
If you are going to run 135wtts rms, you should upgrade your speaker wires to 16awg. BUT I do not think this is the problem that is causing the clipping. Clipping isn't caused by running too small a wire. Too small a wire wont be able to efficiently run all the power you are running without over heating....it can cause a melt down of the wire. But even 135 watts through the stock wire, isn't going to melt it down. You have to get a little bit more power than that.
Your clipping, I expect, is due to the HU, Cleansweep, and amp gains needing to be adjusted correctly. It takes time and patience to get these straight and your system running at full tilt CLEANLY without damaging anything. I have my other car's system running cleanly. It took me a week - two weeks to get everything tuned and straightened out in order to run it full tilt without damaging my equipment.
If you still have issues, try and get a hold of TurboCad....he used to compete in car audio SQ.
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ahhh, speakers still clip! its strange they work perfectly when freely hooked up to the amp outside of the car, but once they are put in they start clipping almost the second we try to turn them up. Is there a way to run a bigger speaker wire through the doors? my installers to scared to try to go through the boot.