We are all in the same hunt for the best sound quality/volume possible out of our systems.

Do have to have to newest fad of speaker and amp combo?? My answer would be NO.

You dont have to go out and buy what the COOL kids are running. Take some time and think of the equipment you have and ask yourself how could I make this better.
What frequencies are missing??
Do I need more mids?? Highs??Lows??
What will my budget let me do?
Do I want to give up any bag space for my goal?

There are some 4 speaker systems that sound EXTRAORDINARY and some that have every available space covered with speakers that lack any and all of the above.

Does the equipment you currently have allow for the adjustments to make you system go from good to extortionate? Do you feel confident in your tuning or should you ask for help?

The next question is can you have a system wired in series or parallel and/or bridged to get a stereo sound??
Is it possible to get your current equipment to sound optimal??

 

I'll say I have learned a few things along the way. Most of it has been very recent. In my quest for a fairing setup, I kept looking for the best sounding front stage. I tried and listened to the fairing alone, trying to get the best I could, stand alone. From there, build upon that. Each stage or speaker pairs I looked at and listened to, I tried the same approach. Trying to get each stage to sound the best, stand alone.

I have since learned to NOT listen as a stand alone setup, but rather listen as a system. I talked with, and read posts from several on this forum that eluded to that, but didn't fully grasp it.

While trying different speakers is still a thing, I listen and tune them together with my other stages. It really helps the overall sound quality. It also helps being more satisfied with what I already own. At this point, I wouldn't like any of my speakers, stand alone as a 2 speaker setup. I do however like my system when playing and tuning as a system.

I now starting tuning them in pairs, getting each close. I then go back and fine tune with all stages playing, with my ears in the center of it all. I also gave up on separate tunes for parked versus riding. I spend a whole lot more time behind the bars than in a parking lot. Don't get me wrong, I want it to sound good parked also for the MnG fun, but riding is where I want my happy place to be.

 

I'm very interested in this. I live basically in Daytona so I'm hoping to catch up with some of the people that know about tuning and hear their systems maybe at Biketoberfest.

I have been given a lot of great advice here from people who really know their stuff, but I'm an audio newbie and the tuning part of setting up a system is the part I understand least.

 

I’ll be at Biketoberfest with a good squad of killer sounding bikes. Hit me up as we get closer.

 

Same here, I have everything I need and tried to get them set up in sets. when I try tuning with all speakers there is too much of one thing and not enough of another. I'm running two amps with 10 speakers. for some reason to do that I have to run one set of speakers on 5&6 which supposed to be for the rear speakers, but labeled as "front mid-bass" on my DSR-1. it is also connected to the second amp so when I try to tune the channel 1&2 or 3&4 it effects channel 5&6 Idk why that is . if I trim it off to tune 1&2 and can't get the same sound. so maybe I can get to Biketoberfest to get is looked at.

 

Just my 2 cents here,
Advanced tuning is skill that must be learned, just like any other. It requires time, effort, instruction ( in personal training or lots of reading and experimentation or OJT). It is a science and art combined. No martial artist can get to the Bruce Lee level without time effort and experience, no guitar player can get to Jimmie Hendrix level without the same, and no doctor with med school and residency.
If you cant go to school for it, you have to read a lot, get some experience with a lot of hardware( xpeakers, amps etc) and put in the time trying things out. The expense, time and frustration can be daunting.
You can't just throw bunch of stuff together with no end goal in mind. Have a goal, set a budget, do your homework, assemble, tune, get some help and tune again.
My own personal system has all of the components that Babyboy mentioned, multiple amps, speakers brands. Speakers wired in parallel, stereo and bridged mono. How the end result comes out is directly related to the pre-established goal and the homework done in it's execution.
M

 

Great post M!

Juice

 

Great post Marco!!

What I'll offer to the group is that when you really think about it is ANY of this "Advanced Tuning" or just the fundamentally correct way of doing things?? Like I anything, this stuff takes a while to learn and it takes some trail and error to figure out....but I could say the same for anything in life. It's not advanced....it's correct. The downside is time is what we have least of and most of the audio consumers are just that -- audio consumers looking for a now solution.

 

Agree with Haze but will take it caveman a bit. Over-tuning or trying to get all "advanced" while not understanding various basic fundamentals can be a larger problem than anything.

T

 

On that note, I have seen three sleds in the last week with aftermarket HUs that are trying to get their shix so damn loud at half volume (even though it's technically distortion free at full volume), it's a bit of a head scratcher.

Let's just say 40 is the max clean signal on ur HU, are u better off having a very steep volume / gain slope to get to a ridiculous max volume set by a DD1 / DMM or are u better off with a shallower volume slope that gets u the most viable listening volume at max?

The gain setting sticky at the top applies in most basic setups but with the higher performance products being used with big watts, does it apply. I simply turned the gains down on all three of those sleds and their SQ dramatically improved with more that enuff DBs to rip ears off.

So what are the basic fundamentals regarding the HUs and volts/output and the slope to viable top end volume?

It's the simple stuff that can send dudes deep in the SQ weeds, but it sure is cool to have all that volume at 20 out of 40 right?

The ultimate question for the engineer & technical types, what is the optimum/basic strategy to maximized the output volts of that HU? I know my HU plays best in the 5/8 to 3/4 range regardless of DD1 capabilities thus I tune to that wheelhouse.

T