Getting distortion at higher volumes

Ryan711 · 09-24-2007, 03:41 PM

I'm just curious if this is normal: When I turn up my volume on my computer I get a lot of distortion when there is a lot of bass in the song. It sounds alright, but not great when the bass is minimal in the song. Here is my current setup, I know it is by no means good but it is decent for the time being.

Kenwood KAC-8403 4 channel amp
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-SW5Klrb...3&i=113KAC8403
Kenwood KFC-1661S 6-1/2"/6-3/4" 3-way Speakers(Front Doors)
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-SW5Klrb...S&i=113KFC1661
Infinity Reference 3012cf 3-1/2" 2-way Speakers(Rear Doors)
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-SW5Klrb...2cf&i=1083012C

It kind of sounds like they are almost rattling but I installed them with dynamat to prevent just that. I've been trying to mess with the settings on centrafuse to help aleviate but it hasn't been working to well.

I had the speakers installed with the factory head unit of my 2001 chevy silverado and they sounded fine. So is there anything I can check that may be the cause, or is it just that the equipment is not too good. Thanks.

boomintrac · 09-24-2007, 11:27 PM

on the amp where is the x-overs set? where are the gains set. My guess would be impropper settings.
Gm started doing some stuff that started in about 2000 that alters the frequency curve as the volume is increased in their factory radios, in short the louder you crank it the more bass is cut. That could be why you were happy with it in the silverado.
Aron

Ryan711 · 09-25-2007, 12:20 AM

I think i've found out the problem, I didn't install the bass blockers on the rear speakers because I didn't know what they were for and the instuctions didn't say anything about them. My amp has a high pass filter so i'm just going to set that at 75 hertz which is what the lowest frequency that the rear speakers can handle. I think that what was causing the massive distortion on the bass.

I'll probably end up getting a sub because the mids and highs on the speakers I got are decent but the bass sucks bad.

Crawdaddy · 09-25-2007, 10:19 AM

when you are dealing with amps and mixers, you want to keep your input signal as "hot" as possible, however, there is such a thing as too hot of a signal. If the signal coming from the computer to the amp is higher than what the amp can support, it will start clipping and possibly even shutting down the amp (protection). So, I would try to turn the gain up on the amp a tad, and turn it down on the computer. either that or leave the computer alone, and turn the gain down on the amp, but this may not work either. Try lowering the volume on the computer, and if it isn't loud enough, turn the amp up slowly until you start to hear distortion, then turn it down a hair so it doesn't distort. Hopefully this will help.