So I have two 10" subs and when I want to listen to the radio or Sirius they sound like shit, but when I put on a CD they sound great.
Any suggestions?
I have an issue like that where if i’m listening to the radio, when the bass hits, i get staticy sound. But, listening to CDs, its fine.
Let me know if you figure it out. I tried regrounding and everything, and it still does it just the same…
I have woked in the car audio field and interned in recording studios…so im gonna make an attempt to put 2 and 2 together here…
radio stations do all sorts of sound processing to the audio they are broadcasting out (i could go on for a while about the details, but it would be useless information to most people, so i wont), and basically what they are trying to do is optimize the sound for regular car speakers (so Joe Shmo can hear some beats on his stock stereo). What happens when you put that signal through a ‘real’ stereo with subs and such, is there is already so much ‘stuff’ done to the signal that its too ‘impure’ (thats not the right word, but thats the best i can think of right now) for the system to do anything positive for it. when you put a CD in, the information on a CD is the original, unmolested sound, so your car stereo can adjust that sound and make it work with your system, whereas the radio station signal has already been messed with.
also, im assuming this is on a music radio station? if its a talk station, just turn the subs either completly off or rutn them way down. talk radio deffinately sounds like ass when played though subs lol.
sorry if that seesm a little confusing, misleading, or difficult to understand. I know what is happening, I’m just having troubble to find a way to explain it in layman’s terms.
:word: to what he said. I would also check your high and low pass and subsonic filters on your amp. It’s possible that if your reception isnt great youre picking up some static and it’s being played through the subs.
Make sure your head unit doesnt have seperate settings for CD and Radio…u maybe have to adjust the radio settings to get better sound clarity.
can you define what “sound like shit” means? on radio/sirius, are they staticy, or is the bass too low, or too high?
my head unit has power level adjustments for CD versus am/fm, because typically CDs BLAST through the system while radio is at a much lower level. it allows to turn up or down the various sources so that they are all pretty much even.
definitely check and play w/ the hi and low pass filters. a decent head unit will have them, and the amp should also have some.
i just thought of this:
take your headunit out, and disconnect the RCA cables going to the sub amp from the headunit. turn the radio on and turn it up. if it sounds fine, then its the radio station. if you are still getting a shitty sound, then make sure that the antenna is plugged in all the way, peel back a little of the wire in various places to make sure that the antenna wire isnt corroded or anything (sounds stupid, but u wouldnt believe the shit i’ve seen :bloated: ), make sure that there are no places where the bare antenna wire could be exposed, make sure that no power wires are touching the antenna wire or connector, and if you are feeling really ambitious go get another head unit and hook it up and see if u have the same problem.
Also, how is your Sirius hookd up? is it through an FM modulaotr ro direct connect to the headunit if its FM mod, there may be an issue with that.
if fm mod the ur prob is 100% attenta