Car Stereos: NEW STEREO SUBWOOFER SETTINGS, alpine m500, factory speakers

Question
We recently installed a new stereo in our Suburban.  The new head unit is the Pioneer P3300BT, Alpine M500 AMP and 2 JBL GT5-10 Subs.  For now we are using the Bose Speakers.  What are the correct settings for the sub?  when EQ is set to Powerful (and other settings) the bass sound seems distorted..using the head unit settings...I have tried the different KHZ settings...63, 80, 100 etc..? There are filters etc....do you leave them at one setting or do they change based on music...there seem to be a ton of options and I cannot seem to find just the right combination!!

Answer
Hi Suzanne,

Sorry about the delay in answering your question.

I'm assuming, since the AVH-P3300BT is a double-DIN head unit, that your Suburban is a 2003 or later.  If so, what adapter are you using to integrate the new head unit and the Bose audio system?

The first thing I'd do is simplify things a bit, to determine where the distortion is coming from.  Start by turning off the subwoofer, and adjust the EQ setting to "flat".  Turn the "loudness" and "bass boost" functions off.  See how the system sounds with just the Bose speakers playing, without the added subwoofer.  Are you hearing distorted bass from the factory speakers?  If so, you might want to adjust the high-pass filter (HPF).  Turning this feature on will cut the deep bass out of your factory speakers.  This might be a good idea, since you have a subwoofer available to play the bass.  Normally I'd start by setting the HPF to 80.

Once you've got the factory speakers sounding good, then turn the subwoofer back on.  Use the built-in subwoofer volume control to adjust the subs to a level that blends well with the Bose speakers.  The subwoofer cut-off frequency isn't critically important, but I usually try to set it around 80 as well.

I'd try to stay away from using the built-in preset EQ modes.  In particular, you'll want to be careful of using the variety of bass boost features built into the head unit.  This includes "loudness", "bass boost" and the EQ settings.  All of these will increase the bass level going to all the various speakers, and some of them may not be able to handle it as well as others.  I'd set the EQ manually, not using the presets; and just adjust the midrange and treble controls if possible.  If you want more or less bass, try using the subwoofer volume first before using bass boost or EQ bass controls.

Hope this helps!

Brian