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Tweeters melt my ears in new system!!?!

4520 Views 65 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Holmz, 
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Hi all I just did an overhaul on my audio in a 2016 chevy cruze limited and that install is complete but now the techy stuff needs tinkering with.

I'm gonna try to list everything in this system so that there is no confusion and hopefully I can narrow down my issues.
Main Concerns
1. My tweeters overpower my mids and blast my ears before I can get close to my distortion number(32) on my factory headunit. Hit about number 20 and it's about the loudest I can comfortably listen but the mids are no where near how good they can get.
2. My door chimes/turn signals are now annoyingly loud and i'm not sure if there's equipment I need to install or how to bypass this.
3. I have a whining noise now that I would like to address.

I'll start by detailing the install. I disconnected my rear door speakers and am only running 2 front door woofers and 2 tweeters. They are each ran to their own channel on a compact 4 channel amp. I have an lc2i running from my factory radio and that feeds from the main output to a minidsp which then leads to the 4 channel amp that powers my front stage and then the bass output runs to a mono channel amp that powers a single 10" subwoofer. I have 4 gauge wiring that runs to a fuse block and it's grounded to the chassis of the vehicle and everything runs off of the block.

Equipment:

2016 Chevy Cruze Limited

Front stage setup
Door Speakers: Silver Flute W17RC38-04 ohm 6-1/2" Wool Cone
Pillar Tweeters: Vifa BC25SC06-04 1" Textile Dome Tweeter
LOC: Amazon.com: AudioControl LC2i 2 Channel Line Out Converter with AccuBASS and Subwoofer Control : Everything Else
DSP: miniDSP 2x4
DSP Isolator: miniDC Isolator
4CH amp: Amazon.com: Alpine KTP-445U Universal Power Pack Amplifier : Electronics
Fuseblock: Amazon.com: WUPP 12 Volt Fuse Block, Waterproof Boat Fuse Panel with LED Warning Indicator Damp-Proof Cover - 6 Circuits with Negative Bus Fuse Box for Car Marine RV Truck DC 12-24V, Fuses Included : Automotive

Bass:
Subwoofer: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_575P1S4102/Rockford-Fosgate-Punch-P1S4-10.html
Mono Amp: https://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fos...ds=rockford+fosgate+amp&qid=1632792888&sr=8-7


I tried to include everything but I'm sure I've missed something. I'll add some more install notes now.
Each door was treated with deadener and I installed custom mdf speaker ring adapters with speaker foam tape as well as silicone baffles
to help seal the door speaker to the panel and direct the rear waves into an eggcrate foam pad. This whole setup was recommended on another
forum regarding chevy cruze audio installs. This person posted their setup piece by piece and had at least 20 other cruze owners using the components
and having solid results with them. They also posted the "tuning files" that matched the speakers I'm using and the same car interior which should get me
in the ballpark of a nice sounding system. Everything was great until I started setting the gains and here's why.

I started by setting my gains on the mids in my car. I had already come to the conclusion that my headunit sends out an undistorted signal at the number 32 so that's where I'll have my volume at. I unplugged all of the other speakers and ran a -3 db 1,000hz test tone. I heard volt matching is what you want to do to get your peak performance from your equipment and be sure you're getting the most powerful clean signal from your head unit to your amps. So my 4ch amp states it accepts 0.2V-4V and so on my LC2i I turned my main output up until it was hitting close to 4V. From there I started turning my gains up on my mids until I heard distortion. Then I played some music just to check and listen for distortion and wow my door speakers were sounding amazing! I was so happy with how powerful they hit and how much rumble I was getting from my doors. It really brought the sound to life. After that I plugged my tweeters in to match them and immediately boom! They were so powerfully loud I couldn't even break number 20 on my radio without my ears screaming. So at this point Idk what to do. I start fresh and cut the Volts in half from the LC2i. Now I'm sending 2Volts to my amp and this makes me have to turn the gain up much higher on my mids channel now and it doesn't sound nearly as nice. Even at this 2 Volst setting my tweeters are still overbearingly loud with 0 gain on their channel.

I wanna mention that in between the LC2i and the 4ch amp there is a miniDSP which is supposed to set my crossover points and set latency on each individual driver so that I have a more clean sound stage. Other than loading in this persons file that had "hours" of tuning and plugging it into my system I've done zero tweaking with how this person has the crossovers set. I'm curious if I bought a rta mic and tried to tweak the system and possibly roll the high frequencies down if it would solve the insane shrill noise they seem to have on my ears when trying to enjoy a nice booming sound.

But that then leads me to my next issue. If I do Volt match again and bring the Volts back to 4 where the mids sounded amazing previously then I will have a lot more noise in my system. There is a whining noise that increases as I rev the engine. On top of that a higher output from my LC2i means that my door chimes and turn signals will be even more insanely loud then they already are at 2volts. I've got a solid ground but I haven't done the big 3 upgrade which some sources claim may solve the whining issue. I'm tempted to take my vehicle to an audio shop and see if they could possibly tweak everything right but for whatever reason I have more faith in myself to learn it and adjust it properly then to trust the shops around here to touch my stuff lol.

Anyways I think I've covered the majority of my install and issues that need resolved so I hope someone could possibly shed some light on what could be my issue. I didn't mention any bass related stuff bc it's perfect and has no issues. I volt matched to 4 on that as well and set my gains with my oscilloscope and it packs way more power then i'll ever need so I mostly keep the bass knob turned to the lowest setting for regular listening.

Thanks in advance everyone!
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Holmz said:
There is no dishonour in getting some help
Click to expand...
It's not that I don't want it, I just never have luck having others do work for me.
I trust myself in learning the process and actually enjoy knowing how things work at the end.
For example I didn't know much about installing all of the components in the whole system but now I have a better appreciation.
I had to run new wire to each speaker location, through factory molex connectors and up into pillars and it was tough but I'm happy I did it all.
Also had to learn how to get power to everything and built a custom box shape to fit behind my wheel well so I have max trunk space still.
I feel like the hard part is done. I just need to learn the process of tuning and make the system sound crisp. Attached box cuz I'm proud xD.

SWRocket said:
I believe the default is 0.9, but I would switch it 2V since the LC2i can output that much.
Click to expand...
I would like to do that, however, currently at 2v the tweeters are just too loud and idk how to turn them down unless maybe using the dsp?
So I figured maybe going down to .9v from the LC2i would put my tweeters in a better spot. But I would ideally like to get the highest output
from my LC2i to the amp so that my mids have the most potential without cranking up the gain on their channel.

NW JLUR said:
You mentioned a fuse block in the trunk. Is there a fuse at the battery under the hood?
Click to expand...
Yes there is a inline fuse within 6 inches of the battery and then that runs to the fuse block. From the fuse block each terminal going
to a component also has an inline fuse for the proper rating per the equipment.

LBaudio said:
is power and ground from distribution block or it is connected to cars original
Click to expand...
I'm using the factory headunit. I only tapped into the signal behind the headunit to get the outputs to my LC2i everything else is stock. I don't know where
my noise is coming from at this point. Trying to get a good idea of all of the things to try before I take my trunk back apart since
everything is tucked under my spare tire location.

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Cross said:
It's not that I don't want it, I just never have luck having others do work for me.
I trust myself in learning the process and actually enjoy knowing how things work at the end.
For example I didn't know much about installing all of the components in the whole system but now I have a better appreciation.
I had to run new wire to each speaker location, through factory molex connectors and up into pillars and it was tough but I'm happy I did it all.
Also had to learn how to get power to everything and built a custom box shape to fit behind my wheel well so I have max trunk space still.
I feel like the hard part is done. I just need to learn the process of tuning and make the system sound crisp. Attached box cuz I'm proud xD.
,,.
Click to expand...
Totally understood.
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e39 touring
Take the dive with REW. Download it and read Andy’s guide on the AF website. It steps thru some of the REW specifics
My Dayton mic was like $70

Seems like you’ve got the install down, now it’s time to tune for YOUR car and it’s specific install. The copy m paste may be a good start but it may end up making it tougher. IdK honestly never tried a copy n paste-I know Some BMW boutique audio site offers that with their dsp amps.


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ckirocz28
Cross said:
It's not that I don't want it, I just never have luck having others do work for me.
I trust myself in learning the process and actually enjoy knowing how things work at the end.
For example I didn't know much about installing all of the components in the whole system but now I have a better appreciation.
I had to run new wire to each speaker location, through factory molex connectors and up into pillars and it was tough but I'm happy I did it all.
Also had to learn how to get power to everything and built a custom box shape to fit behind my wheel well so I have max trunk space still.
I feel like the hard part is done. I just need to learn the process of tuning and make the system sound crisp. Attached box cuz I'm proud xD.


I would like to do that, however, currently at 2v the tweeters are just too loud and idk how to turn them down unless maybe using the dsp?
So I figured maybe going down to .9v from the LC2i would put my tweeters in a better spot. But I would ideally like to get the highest output
from my LC2i to the amp so that my mids have the most potential without cranking up the gain on their channel.


Yes there is a inline fuse within 6 inches of the battery and then that runs to the fuse block. From the fuse block each terminal going
to a component also has an inline fuse for the proper rating per the equipment.


I'm using the factory headunit. I only tapped into the signal behind the headunit to get the outputs to my LC2i everything else is stock. I don't know where
my noise is coming from at this point. Trying to get a good idea of all of the things to try before I take my trunk back apart since
everything is tucked under my spare tire location.
Click to expand...
Part of learning the process would involve ditching the "borrowed" tune and starting fresh. We don't know what is in that tune, but we do know the default is everything is flat, no eq. Start with factory default settings in your dsp, then set the gains.
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ckirocz28 said:
Start with factory default settings in your dsp, then set the gains.
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That's a good idea. I'll reset the tune and then set my gains again. After that I'll do what e39 is suggesting and go back with a mic and an REW and fine tune it!
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N
One of the first things I do is set crossovers, especially for the tweeters, to help protect them from damage.
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e39 touring
Yeah good point if you’re starting over establish some crossovers as a first point on your retune


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ckirocz28
Definitely don't forget the crossovers!^^
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LBaudio
Cross said:
I'm using the factory headunit. I only tapped into the signal behind the headunit to get the outputs to my LC2i everything else is stock. I don't know where
my noise is coming from at this point. Trying to get a good idea of all of the things to try before I take my trunk back apart since
everything is tucked under my spare tire location.
Click to expand...
Im asking because in a lot of cases this might be the couse for noise issues you are dealing with.... this is obviously the only system component that has its own power/ground wiring....
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SWRocket
Cross said:
I would like to do that, however, currently at 2v the tweeters are just too loud and idk how to turn them down unless maybe using the dsp?
So I figured maybe going down to .9v from the LC2i would put my tweeters in a better spot. But I would ideally like to get the highest output
from my LC2i to the amp so that my mids have the most potential without cranking up the gain on their channel.
Click to expand...
I understand, but cutting the input voltage is not the ideal way to solve this issue. If you can get clean 2V from the LC2i into the 2x4 (set to 2V input) you should do that as it will be less noisy (not the whine) then set gains on the outputs and then the amps. after you have a clean and proper gain structure all the way down the chain, then you can start to solve the tweeter issue; You will need to tune with a mic and REW.
I think I know whose tune you are using (I used to have a 2014 Cruze and was on the forum) and it's a good starting point, but you can't just use it blindly.
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SWRocket said:
You will need to tune with a mic and REW.
Click to expand...
Ok I will be ordering a mic soon. Probably the UMIK-1 from mini dsp. Ideally I would like to get the 2v from the LC2i but I'm curious on what I would do about the door chimes. They are quite loud. A buddy of mine had a "chime box" that was inline with his aftermarket head unit. Does that piece of equipment just cut a certain frequency down? And if so would I just cut that specific frequency in the dsp to lower their volume?

LBaudio said:
Im asking because in a lot of cases this might be the couse for noise issues you are dealing with
Click to expand...
So are you saying I should cut the factory ground from behind my radio and run it to the same point where all of my other components are grounded at? Could that potentially solve my whining issue?

NW JLUR said:
One of the first things I do is set crossovers
Click to expand...
So when I set the dsp back to default I should set the crossover points before I go back and set my gains on the amps? Otherwise my tweeters could be subject to harmful frequencies?
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ckirocz28
Cross said:
So when I set the dsp back to default I should set the crossover points before I go back and set my gains on the amps? Otherwise my tweeters could be subject to harmful frequencies?
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Yes!
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e39 touring
While you wait for the mic, get in the dsp software and lower tweeter levels by ear.

Read the AudioFrog guide to tuning. Google it- it is your fastest way to learn with a straightforward process.

I’m not a sales guy for Andy.


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e39 touring said:
While you wait for the mic, get in the dsp software and lower tweeter levels by ear.
Click to expand...
Ok I'm gonna try it out. Still need to learn the basics of the process. Not even sure atm how to do that lol. Do I just keep plugging the dsp into my laptop and adjust settings then plug back into system and listen? I know it may be an obvious thing to you but I'm completely new to this process. I'm posting the current settings my dsp is set to just to see if maybe you guys will see something that looks out of the ordinary. The input gain setting is set at -7.2db. I'm curious about one thing. On the output channels there is a setting for gain. Is this where I could crank my tweeters down to make them play nicely into the system? If so that'll be a great solve for the 2v issue i'm having with them.

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e39 touring
e39 touring said:
While you wait for the mic, get in the dsp software and lower tweeter levels by ear.

Read the AudioFrog guide to tuning. Google it- it is your fastest way to learn with a straightforward process.

I’m not a sales guy for Andy.


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Google audiofrog tuning guide


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e39 touring
Cross said:
Ok I'm gonna try it out. Still need to learn the basics of the process. Not even sure atm how to do that lol. Do I just keep plugging the dsp into my laptop and adjust settings then plug back into system and listen? I know it may be an obvious thing to you but I'm completely new to this process. I'm posting the current settings my dsp is set to just to see if maybe you guys will see something that looks out of the ordinary. The input gain setting is set at -7.2db. I'm curious about one thing. On the output channels there is a setting for gain. Is this where I could crank my tweeters down to make them play nicely into the system? If so that'll be a great solve for the 2v issue i'm having with them.
Click to expand...
Most dsp you can tune then save and listen with laptop plugged in
Adjust the output level to the tweeter down until it sounds blended.

Read the audiofrog guide while the mail comes

And don’t forget to have fun learning and experiment a little
Just don’t forget to save your progress into a base tune and keep tweaking from there.


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ckirocz28
Cross said:
Ok I'm gonna try it out. Still need to learn the basics of the process. Not even sure atm how to do that lol. Do I just keep plugging the dsp into my laptop and adjust settings then plug back into system and listen? I know it may be an obvious thing to you but I'm completely new to this process. I'm posting the current settings my dsp is set to just to see if maybe you guys will see something that looks out of the ordinary. The input gain setting is set at -7.2db. I'm curious about one thing. On the output channels there is a setting for gain. Is this where I could crank my tweeters down to make them play nicely into the system? If so that'll be a great solve for the 2v issue i'm having with them.
Click to expand...
You should be able to hear the changes as you make them. Play (on repeat) a song you are very familiar with, start with making cuts to the tweeters (in eq), don't boost anything yet. You'll figure it out.
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e39 touring said:
Most dsp you can tune then save and listen with laptop plugged in
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Ah i'm seeing that there is a usb plugin on the miniDSP. So I could use it while it's plugged in. I'm excited to actually start tweakin everything myself and finally getting the sound I'm after.
I need to take the cover off of the DSP and see if the jumper is set properly or if I need to swap it to 2v.
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ckirocz28
Cross said:
Ah i'm seeing that there is a usb plugin on the miniDSP. So I could use it while it's plugged in. I'm excited to actually start tweakin everything myself and finally getting the sound I'm after.
I need to take the cover off of the DSP and see if the jumper is set properly or if I need to swap it to 2v.
Click to expand...
Yeah, if it's anything like the C-DSP 8x12, and I'm sure it is, you can tune in real time while listening.
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I'm messing around with the dsp software today in my car seeing if I can adjust my tweeters by ear. I'm about to reset back to default and set my gains again. Someone mentioned I should set crossovers before I do anything. I'm looking at the settings in the program and noticed that the input is set to -7.2db on both channels. Is there a reason for this? Should I have this set at 0 and then set gains? Or should I leave at -7.2db, set crossovers, and then set the gains?

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