Amplifier Tuning Tutorial

Quick Amplifier Tuning for Dummies..Well not really, but this is a quick and easy way to tune and calibrate your car amplifiers.

Once you have all your speakers, amps, radio, and whatever else installed, set your equalizer to flat. This will be different on different radios, but basically you want the Bass, Mid, and Treble levels set at 0.

First you need to download these two mp3 files and burn them onto CD. (MP3 or regular audio will work) There is a 60Hz and a 1000HZ file. The 60HZ file will be used to tune your subwoofer amp. The 1000Hz file will be used to tune your mids/highs.

• 60hz file (for bass)
  
• 1000hz file (for mids/highs)

• I do not accept responsibility for speaker/amp damage, hearing loss, death, sickness, etc..

Let's start with radio / head unit level adjustment. Turn the Gain on the Mids/Highs Amp almost all the way down (~1/4). Set your amp OR headunit output to high-pass filter which will filter off any subwoofer signals so you do not have bass going to your regular mids/highs (Ignore this if you do not have a subwoofer installed!!!) Unplug your subwoofer amp (or turn it off).

Load in the CD that you burned with the two test-tone files. Play the high pitched tone (1000hz) and begin increasing the volume on the head unit steadily. At some point you will hear it "clip". This will be a noticeable difference in the sound of the tone (the pitch will change). Once you have found the point where you hear the clipping, turn the radio down 2 notches and leave it at this level. Now pause the CD. This is the maximum level your radio will output without distortion. It will vary from radio to radio. Some brands have very bad output and will begin clipping very early, while others may not clip until the very end (if at all).

Now let us move on to the Mids/Highs Amplifier. Since we already know where the head unit clips, this part is easy. Make sure the head unit is still at the previous max level we found earlier. You may need some ear plugs for this one because it is going to get loud (especially if you are pumping some mean juice into those speakers ) Make sure you have quick access to the Amp's Gain (or level) adjustment. Play the high pitch tone (1000hz) again, but this time begin increasing the Amp's Gain. Increase it until you hear the same "clipping" or tone change you heard earlier. Now turn the amp level down just slightly under the clipping level. Done! Pause the CD (unless you want to go deaf). Your Mids/Highs Amplifier is now calibrated to your head unit.

Now to shake the house and piss off the neighbors.. The subwoofer amp! Make sure you turn the sub amp on and the mids/high amp off (or unplug the RCA cables). Just as we did before, turn the Amplifier Gain almost all the way down. Turn the bass boost down to 0 (both on the head unit and the subwoofer amp. You should also turn on a low pass filter either on the head unit or on the Subwoofer Amp so that you get only bass tones going to your subwoofers. Make sure you can easily access the subwoofer amp's Gain level quickly. Turn on the the low pitched tone (60hz) on the CD. Begin steadily increasing the Amplifier Gain until you audibly hear distortion and/or a tone change. There are two things going on here:

1. Your amp will be stronger than your subs and will cause the speaker to over extend. (distortion)
2. Your subs are stronger than your amplifier and the amp will clip way before any damage to your subs will occur (tone change).

If you do hear distortion do not exceed that level or your speakers may blow. You have now found the optimal subwoofer level for your system. Eject the CD and appologize to anyone you woke up in the neighborhood.

Make sure you hook everything back up and turn your head unit back down to a normal level. Now each of your stereo components are calibrated to each other. Go ahead and listen to your favorite music and tweak the head unit settings to your taste. If you want a little extra thump, increase the bass boost on the subwoofer amp slightly. Again this is a way of calibrating your system to reproduce music as it was recorded! Some people enjoy hearing nothing but bass so they should not follow this guide and just crank up the bass boost to +100. Everyone will look at them like they are idiots, but thats ok because that is how they enjoy music.

If this guide was helpful or hurtful or you want to comment, email me at josh@350z-tech.com