Why Does it Sound Like Shit

Pioneer NEX4000 head unit
Focal Flax 165f Components front
Focal Access 6.5 rear
Alpine PDX v9 Amp
********* 12" IDQ Ported sub and box
Sound deadened doors and rear wall by soundeadnershowdown.com
Decent Stinger wiring set

When i built this about a year ago, i felt like i was going all out for my stereo.. and i would reap the benefits of the money spent and work put in. But the truth is it sounds SHITTY. Punchy bass, tinny ear piercing highs, general poor quality.

What i am looking for is FULL sound, smooth bass and excellent mids, and great highs when the song calls for it. I think there is some AHA thing that i can do to turn this system around... Right now i would rather listen to most factory stereos than this.... any input is appreciated

P.S. I already did swap the speakers with some more basic Kicker speakers to see if it would be any better and the speakers are not the issue, at least no the only issue.

 

It seems like your equipment would make for a decent sounding stereo, so I call a few things into question.

• Did you install this yourself?
• How did you tune your amp gains?
• What setting do you have your tweeters at on your crossovers?
• Where did you mount your tweeters?
• Which "Decent Stinger wiring set" did you use, specifically?
• Describe the sound related settings you have chosen on your head unit.
• Post any pictures you have from your install.

I should be able to give some helpful advice based on your response to those things.

 

i was going to blame Focal, then i read you swapped out speakers.

still gonna blame Focal, so overpriced!!

they are the Bose headphones of car audio IMO

this is either going to be a settings issue or a source issue. what quality of audio files are you playing? ALAC? FLAC? 320 MP3?

please don't tell me you are listening to streaming radio stations and expecting quality audio? your issue could stem from being able to hear the terribleness of internet radio. download some ALAC files and give them a go.

 

Yep, installed myself and i like to think i know what im doing
Gains are all the way down currently to be sure im not overpowering the speakers
tweets are on the lower setting to try to fix the tinny highs
tweets are mounted on the mirror cover in the door
Not sure about the specific model of stinger wires, but they for sure werent the cheapest
most sound settings are at 0, trying to start at the amp settings and go from there.

Basically i am just frustrated that i cant get quality sound like in my house. when i listen to music on my surround system at home it just sounds the way it is supposed to, full sound that is clear and crisp. no "noise", distortion or constant tuning to get it close like in my truck (and all vehicles ive ever heard). theres gotta be a way to get quality sound in a vehicle like that.... thats all i want

I use all sources, mainly music downloaded to my iphone, some streaming, and some cd's. this problem is bigger than the source tho. I am very aware of varying sound quality from streaming sources.

 

Well you're running all good stuff. Can't say I agree on the comments on Focal. Awesome components. If I was guessing I would say you have a power issue going on. Looking at the deck it's more than capable of giving the amp a decent signal, and has lots of capability to fine tune the signal you're getting to the amp. With the amp sensitivity all the way down you are not getting your output to make the speakers do what they do. You can over power speakers, but you can also under power them, and especially with high end speakers, under powered speakers sound like shit. If it were me I would take it to a reputable shop with somebody who has experience with tuning a system like this. Have them set your gains with an O-Scope and adjust your timing and EQ with an RTA. Once you get a flat curve at the right power you can then fine tune to your listening preferences. You don't mention the crossover, but I assume you are running passive? If so not much to adjust there. You will be amazed what tuning can do.

That's my 2 cents.

 

You are asking a lot for a sound system in a truck to sound like a home stereo, not even realistic due to the design of the truck.
Did you use baffles with the speakers? not sure what you used for sound deadening, I'm guessing a mat? that is more for road noise and such, not for improving speaker function.
Probably should've went a non-ported sub cabinet and a brand that is actually well known for good products. That ********* looks like a rip off and I find it sketchy the only places to buy image dynamics subs are places like Amazon and ebay. I don't see any well known suppliers that even carry that brand.
Use a different amp for subs. You have a higher end alpine, but you are maxed out on its capabilities just from the components and rear door speakers. It should be a fairly quiet amp, if you are getting a lot of noise, you have something wrong in the installation somewhere. The components need a lot of power.
Even though you bought good speakers, you will have to do a lot of tweaking to get rid of the tinny sound from the components.
Use your EQ and the time alignment to help with the components and rear door. Turn off any surround sound or "concert" crap. I'd unplug the subwoofer to get these sounding the best. They are little speakers, so won't handle much low end. I would guess that head unit had cutoff frequencies for the speakers? That will be necessary to utilize, if not you'll need to cap the speakers(the components probably already are, so keep that in mind)
You should be able to get pretty good sound, the only place you will struggle with are crisp mids, like bass guitar slapping/popping if you listen to jazz/funk music. The 6.5's might be able to produce those ranges, but the speaker location being so low might just make them muddy sounding at volume.
Volume will affect the settings and sound a lot, so keep that in mind. I would suggest a volume knob for the sub, also.

 

Sorry not to throw out anything negative, but IMHO there are a few things in this last post that would chase you in the wrong direction. You absolutely can build a SQ system in a truck, and what you have going is a good start towards that. The amp is not the issue. Its a high end 5 channel and has more than enough to drive your front and rear stage at 100W X 4. In fact it matches up to your speakers very well. Alpine is notorious for under rating their amps, but even still you got good clean power. Looked at the response curves on both stages and again you got the hardware. Should have no issue driving the mids down if that is what you are after. I have seen guys run those Flax components without a sub and get amazing results. If you are gonna run passive, (I am not a fan of running passive), you should still get good results. Focal knows what they are doing with their crossovers, so I would trust what came with the set. As far as the sub, sealed or ported is a preference thing. I've run an Image Dynamics once. Wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't bad. I mean a sub is really just an air mover. I don't see anything in the sub to be alarmed with. Again not to disparage anybody's opinion I would just caution against throwing money and hardware at the problem. Been down that road and it can be an endless exercise. Trust the decisions you've made. To me they are pretty good ones. And again IMHO.

 

You have some nice equipment. Before you start swapping out parts, I would suggest double checking all your connections. You could have something simple like the polarity swapped on a speaker that could be causing issues.

 

Thanks all for the input. Im gonna stop by a local audio shop and see if they have an expert, and what theyll charge to check it out. Sad that in my area (Minneapolis) there dont seem to be many audiophile companies...

 

they are few and far between anymore, as a lot of newer cars have decent stereos anymore or idiots listen to their earbuds while driving

 

There has been a good deal of misleading feedback given in this thread, so I'm just going to ignore it and give my professional opinion.

Based on your responses to the questions I asked in my first post, I'd say that you have your ducks all in a row to have a decent stereo, but you are missing a key piece to the sound quality you are trying to achieve in your truck; an audio processor. You seem to have a very high standard of sound quality, and based on a few things that you said, an audio processor would really be the only way to correct the issues that you're having. My recommendation is the Audison Bit One or Bit Ten. They can be complicated to tune, but once you get it down, it is the best thing you can do to correct the issues that are present in car audio. Time alignment, equalization, and electronic crossovers help greatly in improving your sound. Also, do consider sticking to a more robust source. On my high end stereos I pretty much only listen to lossless audio files (FLAC or ALAC). Do, however, keep in mind that the likelyhood of you achieving the same level of clarity and dynamic range that is found in high end home audio or professional venue stereos will be very hard to match inside of a vehicle regardless of how much time / money you put into it. While an audio processors time alignment can make a huge difference, it can not change the physical sound stage that you are given in a vehicle.

 

Probably getting more than you asked for with this thread, but it has a lot of good info so far. I am a HUGE fan of the BitOne processor, and in fact just installed one in mine, but in this case I don't think it will help you much. Since you are running passive the crossover settings in the BitOne would basically be "Full Range" front and back, and LP 60 or 80 Hz to the sub. All stuff the deck is doing already. The deck has time adjustments built into it, so although they may not be as extensive as the BitOne I am sure they are adequate. The deck has an EQ that again is probably not as extensive as the BitOne but enough to be able to get the conditioning you are looking for. I mean the BitOne has a lot of functionality but their expensive, and for what you would be doing with it not sure its gonna be worth it. They are cool though. Love mine. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

His head unit can do all the things a processor can do.

 

I try to keep the head unit adjustments to a minimum, i believe all those settings superficially mess with the signal and can make the sound worse. It might sound good on one song, but ruin another genre of music. I have the EQ slightly adjusted, along with fader toward the back a few ticks, and the EQ is adjusted. Everything else is off or at 0 (time alignment, position settings, etc.) Turning those things on makes the music real quiet.

A good way to describe the sound i have now is harsh. i find myself wincing at certain sounds; it is abusing my ears. My definition of good SQ is being able to comfortably appreciate all tones, without a "clap" or guitar riff hurting your ears, making you want to turn it down.

 

well, shane is an expert, so anyone else's advice is wrong. Wonder what his credentials are that make him an expert, blue shirt?
a year is a long time to "put up with it". I have the same components you are using up front and you are gonna have to change settings to get good sound and match the other speakers and adjust for volume differences. After all, that is why you have high end stuff with all the fancy settings.

 

To many keyboard commandos. Not worth trying to give advice anymore. Everyone's an expert.. Goodluck OP

 

which is why he should've used baffles. There is a reason focal recommends them

 

I'm no expert but I have a couple of things to say

1) cab of a truck is a bad sound stage. hard to compare to a home theater system. low volume and ambient noise is terrible with the engine and road noise.

2) with your current setup the output will be very flat. that's what you want in a studio for monitoring purposes but for general listening it does not reproduce the "best" sound. all of the premium systems from the factory are specifically tuned by professionals for the specific cab they are in. This makes a big difference and it's exactly how they make cheap speakers sound really good... the take away is tuning is VERY important... it makes a huge difference.

3) double check all of the wiring/amp setup if it really does sound awful... something could be hooked up wrong or the amp might not be set up properly.

Good luck figuring things out

 

What???? The speakers he has installed do not require and should not be installed in a sealed enclosure. These are not Sub-Woofers.

Baffles?? Pure garbage and totally unnecessary. Never ever needed for a set of components. You want to make a set of Mid range components sound like shit. Add baffles or and enclosure.

 

how many component speakers in vehicles have you had experience with? Do you even know the purpose/function of using a baffle? Obviously not