Car speaker time alignment

[Guy]

Ok....


So someone help me out.

JL 800 watts going to front left a pillar tweeters

Doors mid bass

Rear fill

Two 12 pioneers in the enclosure .

I have the image up on the dash now. But it feels skewed to the right front of the truck.

Do I need more delay over there or less delay on the left?

I’m close... but I just can’t quite get there.

 

[dhmcfadin]

How is your time alignment measured? Are you setting your listening position for the drivers seat or for the center of the truck?

 

[autokraftgt]

Are you using test tones or music? Use test tones. Also, level matching the front speakers can shift your stage right or left...make sure you are level matched. Don't over think time alignment...make measurements to your ears, set them accordingly and the rest of your imaging should be done through level adjusting, eq work, proper slopes & phase. Diyma has TONS of tutorials on getting the perfect stage. My recent install had a image wondering off to the right as well...a bit of level adjustment fixed the problem without too much work....baby steps

 

[Guy]

Guys.

Appreciate the advice already.

I’m aiming the stage for just right of the driver seat near the middle of the truck, but skewed just a little towards me.

I made a lot of adjustments today. I followed the tutorials, etc.

Part of my issue was level matching the speakers. I finally got them all level matched.
It took a bit of work and I had to fine tune the gain on the different channels via the amp pots. I used a db meter until I go acceptable sound levels +/- 2 dB. That helped bring the stage in ALOT.

Then I went back to the RTA.... and one pair at a time fine tuned so that the frequency response was pretty level. I also took some readings to see where the speakers fell off for frequency response and set the crossover and slopes based on that.

Some were predictable and some not. The tweeters needed 24db but the cutoff is set lower at 2k. The front mids run from 125 to 2800 with a 24db slope. The rear fills hi pass at 150.

After all that.... I’m about 90 percent there. The harshness is out of the tweeters. The stage is there. It’s prettt awesome!

 

[dhmcfadin]

When you say, “one pair at a time” do you mean that you are tuning both a left and right speaker simultaneously? Because you really should tuning each individual speaker separately considering each side of the truck is different.

 

[Guy]

I do have them chained.

I figured it was a good way to rough it in.

I’m not sure I’m good enough to do them individually... but I should at least try.

Any idea on where I can get a test cd for staging and tones and everything?

I have great pink noise. I have the Rockford test tones...

When you say, “one pair at a time” do you mean that you are tuning both a left and right speaker simultaneously? Because you really should tuning each individual speaker separately considering each side of the truck is different.

 

[dhmcfadin]

Here’s the app I use for white noise and all tuning tones. In fact, this app was recommended to my by the engineers at Rockford.

Audio Function Generator PRO by Thomas Gruberhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audio-function-generator-pro/id895074703?mt=8

Do you have an rta yet? You don’t need to have an ear for perfect sound to tune properly. You need an rta which is like a Ultra high definition electronic ear. Once you hear what a truly flat frequency response sounds like when all of your speakers are tuned individually, it will completely change your perspective what SQ means. I promise you.

Here are two suggestions. Either way, to tune properly, you need an rta and you need to tune each speaker of the truck separately. That is the only way to get it dialed in properly.

This first one is super cheap but will work with any basic rta tool for iPhone/ iPad.

Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone for iPhone, iPad Tablet and Android https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADR2B84/?tag=fordraptorforum-20

The second is a professional rta tuning mic from mini dsp. 75 bucks. This is what I have and I love it! It plugs into your laptop via usb. What’s nice about using your laptop is it allows you to really spread out the frequency curve so you fine tune to small details. This is what I would strongly recommend.

https://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1

 

[Ruger]

If it seems skewed to the right front when sitting in the driver's seat, sit in the front passenger seat and see if it seems skewed to the left front. If it is, it's simply due to the speaker placement low on the front doors. The angle to the ear from the far side is muck less than the near side.