Thom...need some advice man!

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DAlba
DAlba Posts: 124
edited August 2002 in Car Audio & Electronics
Hey Thom, I just received my two Alpine M500's. I hooked them up to four Polk M100's until ya'll release the MM12's.

Anyway, have you had a chance to go through the setup on these amps? I would appreciate any tips you have because the manual does not explain in detail what each setting actually does. My headunit is an older Alpine 7940. Still waiting on my Alpine 7998.

I only played with it for a couple of hours but it does sound better than the MTX1000d's I had. It seems alot cleaner and the bass is tighter and a bit more snappy with no distortion. There is something I can't pin point though. I guess it kind of sounds more digital. Maybe its just me. I might actually keep the M100's now. I just tore my car apart to start applying Dynamat Extreme so now it sounds like crap. Its amzing how much of a difference the acoustics in a car can affect the sound.



Thanks
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited June 2002
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    bump!
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  • Thom
    Thom Posts: 723
    edited June 2002
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    Sorry for the late reply, IT stole my computer from me last week and the POS loaner they gave me doesn't have 'net access. I'm at home now, so if I don't respond to anything quickly it's because I still don't have my computer back.

    Anyway- I still haven't hooked up either M500. The Protege 5 is done except for the amp rack, but we're waiting on the other two Alpine amps right now. I'm told it may be weeks before we have them. Next week I might hook up the M500 even if the other amps aren't here but I don't want to build anything yet in case plans change. Did you get the control piece? It all looks very cool and I can't wait to get it hooked up. Remind me next week sometime if I don't say something about it sooner...
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited June 2002
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    Yes I got the control piece. That was the main reason why I went with these amps. I listen to all kinds of music and a simple bass knob was not enough for me to make my car sound right. It would be nice if the AINET headunits could do the controlling though. The amps and control unit look great but the manual really sux. For example it does not say what the subsonic filter is or how you should use it. Same with all the rest of the controls. It doesnt really even say how to adjust the input level. I went to Alpine's tech webpage and downloaded a doc on setting up the amp which did explain alot more but it tells you to adjust level differently than the manual says.

    Anyways, I'll check back.
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited July 2002
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    Reminder!
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  • Thom
    Thom Posts: 723
    edited July 2002
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    Would you believe we still haven't hooked one up yet? We're still waiting on the 540 for both cars and although the Protege is 95% complete we wanted to wait untill we had everything before hooking it all up. As of now the car might be leaving Friday so if so I'll let you know this week.
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited July 2002
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    Damn, Im waiting on a 540 too.
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  • Thom
    Thom Posts: 723
    edited July 2002
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    Still no amp to run the front stage...
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited July 2002
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    Yup, I called Alpine about my order and they said they are expecting two shipments of 540's in the next 1-1/2 weeks so it should ship out by the end of this month.
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  • Thom
    Thom Posts: 723
    edited July 2002
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    They sent us (2) 320's instead of the 540. The car's up and running finally. I like the M500 amp a lot, but I agree that the manual isn't the best. Was there anything in particular you were wondering about? I'd like to know what the bass compensation is supposed to be, it seemed to raise the level but it sounded bad. I left that turned off. I like the crossover controls a lot since you're not guessing like with the adjustable pots on the other amps (this would really come in handy when running multiple sub amps). I wish they'd use the digital controls on all of the amps.
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited July 2002
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    Well I got my 7998 hooked up and i now have to turn the level on the amp all the way up. I agree, the bass comp is too muddy. How did you go about setting up the level on amp and how do you have the P EQ setup? Are you using the subsonic filter?

    Thanks
    Derick
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  • Thom
    Thom Posts: 723
    edited July 2002
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    I believe the level is all the way up on ours, too. No EQ, and the subsonic is set at 25 Hz.
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  • DAlba
    DAlba Posts: 124
    edited July 2002
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    Sorry to be a pain Thom but I have more questions.

    Are you using the x-over built in the head unit or the ones on the amps and what are your settings?

    What is reason for no P-EQ? Are you using the P-EQ on the headunit instead? I was affraid of using the headunits b/c I thought i would be sending too much bass to highs.

    So what are your eq settings like anyway?

    Are you using a capacitor?

    Thanks. Cant wait for the new momos.
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Polk Woodpecker Posts: 0
    edited August 2002
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    The head unit we're using (CVA-1003) doesn't have a built in EQ or crossover. The crossover in the amp is set at 85Hz. Since the M500 is only running subs, there is no need to use the parametric EQ. The P-EQ is primarily used to fix holes or peaks in the frequency curve. The freqencies that the subs cover (15-120Hz) is a very small section of the curve. There is usually no noticeable loss in these lower notes. We are using a 1 Farad cap from Monster Cable. The Protege 5 is complete and ready for depature. Circuit City will probably pick it this week or early next week.-Josh
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