A subwoofer is an indispensable thing for those who want to get complete pleasure from listening to music. But the trouble is that the power of the radio is not enough for its normal operation. You have to connect an amplifier. And installation is only half the battle. You need to know how to configure the amplifier correctly. We will talk about this and more in our article today.

How to connect?

Let's see how to connect an amplifier in a car:

• First, the subwoofer and other speakers are connected to the corresponding connectors on the amplifier.
• Next, the device is connected to the radio.
• The amplifier will then automatically distribute the signal. Some will go to the subwoofer, and some to the high- and mid-frequency speakers.

Let's understand the design

On the back of any amplifier there is a panel with connectors. It has two separate blocks. The first block - “Front” - is intended for the front channels. The second - “Rear” - is used to connect rear speakers or a subwoofer. It is this block that we will configure.

Acoustic amplifier controls

The process of tuning a car amplifier involves changing parameters, each of which has a separate function. To configure even the most simple amplifier there are controls:

• So, Crossover Selector is nothing more than a filter switch.
• In the LP position, the amplifier operates in
• When the regulator is set to the HP position, the operation is in high-pass filter mode.
• In the AP position, the filters are disabled and do not work.

In addition, there is a switch on the rear panel that controls the cutoff frequency of the filters. “Level” is a knob for adjusting the power level. And with the help of “Bass Boost” you can enhance low frequencies, but you shouldn’t try too hard.

If this is a high-power device, then experts recommend installing a capacitor first.

Starting point for acoustic tuning

On entry level Anything beyond adjusting crossovers and gain levels is irrelevant. In addition, it does not matter how the amplification part is implemented. The basic principle is always the same.

Here's how to set up the amplifier:

• To begin with, turn off any sound adjustment schemes.
• If this is not possible, then the correction is set to zero. It is worth remembering that this is not the same thing - in the first option, the signal will not go through the correction circuits. This means that its path will be shorter and the level of distortion will be lower.
• In passive crossovers, the RF control is set to approximately the average level, even if it is different from zero. You should select a value of -3 dB.
• In the case of active crossovers, the crossover frequency of the low-pass and high-pass filters is initially made the same. The level should be around 75-80 Hertz.

The gain level on any channels is set to the very minimum position. If all these conditions are met, then optimal basic settings can be achieved.

Gain Setting

Setting the amplifier's input sensitivity is an important step. Any instructions for the amplifier will indicate how to adjust this coefficient. But in practice, you may find that the level is set incorrectly. In the most innocuous case, these errors can only lead to inconsistent sound. At worst, there will be significant distortion (perhaps even some system components will fail).

If the high-frequency speakers in the car are constantly on, the culprit is an incorrectly set gain. Subwoofers also burn, even if they are well and correctly matched in power to the amplifier. This sometimes happens to those who do not know how to set up an amplifier in a car and try to get everything out of the device. But high quality sound- not necessarily loud. The main parameter is its purity.

If the goal is not to achieve maximum volume, then the main thing in adjusting the gain is not to be greedy. There is no need to squeeze everything that it can out of the device. It is intended for other purposes. Speaker, amplifier - everything should sound clean. It’s better to make a little mistake and underestimate the coefficient. This will reduce the volume reserve, but the sound will be of higher quality. Considering the power reserve that most low-end amplifiers have, losses in maximum volume do not lead to quiet sound.

Gain adjustment is very closely tied to crossover adjustment. There is a simple rule - the narrower the crossover range for a separate speaker system and the higher the slope, the more power can be supplied to the speaker. Hence the gain may be higher. This is important to know before setting up the amplifier for the speakers in your car.

The basic principles of adjusting this coefficient are simple - while listening to certain tracks, the level is gradually increased until distortion appears. When a point of distortion appears, the level is lowered.

Before setting the amplifier to a high gain, you should decide at what volume the distortion appears on the radio. This is often about half the audio range, and sometimes lower. Therefore, the coefficient on the amplifier must be adjusted within this undistorted range. So, if the radio scale has 60 units, then the range from 30 to 60 is not suitable, it is better to forget about it. These losses will be made up by the amplifier.

First of all, adjust the described coefficient for the front speaker systems. In the most basic case, they can operate via a passive crossover. Then they move on to the subwoofer channels. But here it is necessary to monitor not possible distortions, but the tonal balance. It is necessary that the sound is not “thin” or excessively “fat”. If there is a big difference between the power of the channels, then it is very difficult to get distortion in the subwoofer channel.

Setting up for working with a subwoofer

Let's get on simple example Let's see how to set up an amplifier for a subwoofer. Let it be connected to Rear on the amplifier, and the front speakers connected respectively to Front. Experts recommend the following settings:

1. Gain low frequencies set to zero for both channels. The level or gain is also set to zero.
2. The crossover for the Front channel is set to the HP position.
3. For the Rear channel, the crossover is set to the LP position.
4. Next, all that remains is to adjust the sensitivity by adjusting the gain so that the sound is as harmonious as possible. It can be adjusted for front and rear channels as desired.

Here's how to set up an amplifier for a subwoofer in practice. As you can see, there is nothing complicated about this. All you need is good hearing, acoustic tracks and enough free time.

DIY setup without a subwoofer

In this case, the speaker system consists of four speakers. In this option, the settings will be the simplest. With this design, the amplifier filters are disabled. All parameters are set to zero, and the crossover selector is set to the “Flat” position. With these settings, the speaker, amplifier and all other components will produce high-quality sound without distortion.

All that remains is to set this. This can be done by selecting from ready-made equalizer settings. The volume is turned up to 90 percent and the track starts. During the sound process, the gain is adjusted until the sound is loud and clear, without distortion. This is how you can set up a simple amplifier for the average music lover.

Setting up household amplifiers

The principles of adjusting home amplifiers are practically no different from the method described above. But there is an exception - if it is an amplifier and not a receiver, then it often has two channels and an equalizer.

First, everything is set to zero, and then, by ear and taste, the equalizer is adjusted to the desired level. frequency response. They also adjust the input sensitivity so that there is no distortion at the output.

Conclusion

Here's how to set up an amplifier in your car or home yourself. Having high-quality audio recordings, you can adjust the sound so that everything is balanced, and the sound is clear and without distortion.

The first mission that Adam Jensen will have to complete in his new history Deus Ex: Mankind Devided, called "Black Market Shopping," is about stopping Sheppard, a terrorist and arms dealer, while ensuring the safety and identity of undercover agent Singh, who lured Sheppard to a meeting. The player is given an additional task: find and jam the terrorist signal amplifier, otherwise they may intercept the agent's conversations and expose him. In any case, the player fulfills the main goal, but finding a signal amplifier is not so easy.

When completing a mission, it is easy to get lost in the labyrinth of rooms, including many secret passages, and miss the amplifier. But no matter which way you take, you won't miss the room with the vertical metal staircase.

Having chosen a convenient moment, climb it and, secretly or with a fight, overcoming the enemy’s barrier, go along the corridor to the right to the door. As you approach it, you will hear Miller's message that Chan has hacked Jinn's radio signal. This is a sign that you are on target.

Get into the room and close the door behind you. In the room on the right there are two enemies working with a signal amplifier. Both of them can be easily neutralized at once by adopting invisibility.

After dealing with your opponents, turn off the amplifier. This will raise your reputation in the eyes of your colleagues and in a few minutes you will hear MacReady's approval for the first time.

Category Audio equipment materials in the category Subcategory Audio effects console circuits

The device can be used as a useful additional attachment to any stationary audio amplifier and allows, in the absence of a signal at the output load (speakers in speakers) for a time interval of more than 4 minutes, to automatically turn off the power to the radio equipment from the 220 V network, if you forget to do this yourself earlier.

Amplifier circuit breaker circuit

The electrical circuit of the device is shown in the figure and does not contain scarce or expensive parts. The signal from the outputs to the speakers of a stereo amplifier (if the amplifier is single-channel, only one input is connected) through separating capacitors C1 and SZ is sent to a rectifier from diodes VD1...VD4 (they can be replaced with one diode matrix KD906A). If there is a rectified voltage on capacitor C2, comparator D1 opens and with its output (pin 7) short-circuits capacitor C4 through diodes. With absence sound signal the comparator does not work and C4 is charged through resistor R6 to a voltage of 7.5 V in 4...5 minutes (the time can be increased or decreased by changing the values ​​of C4 and R6).

As soon as the voltage on the capacitor exceeds the switching threshold level of microcircuit D2.1, zero voltage will appear at its output (pin 11), which will lead to switching of the trigger on the elements of microcircuit D2.3, D2.4 (zero voltage will appear at pin 4). In this case, relay K1 will turn off and with its contacts K1.1 will de-energize the power supply circuits of the amplifier, as well as other radio equipment connected to sockets X2, X3.

To manually turn on (S2) and turn off (S1) the radio equipment, two independent non-latching buttons, of any type, with contacts designed to operate at a voltage of 220 V are used.

The device circuitry provides the ability to remotely turn off radio equipment. To do this, a positive pulse with an amplitude of 7 V is applied to input D2.2 through diode VD7, for example, from a timer.

The circuit is powered by the positive voltage of 16...30 V available in the amplifier.

When you press the S2 button, the amplifier transformer is turned on, from the secondary winding of which, immediately after the rectifier, the supply voltage is supplied to the circuit. Relay K1 turns on and with its contacts K1.1 blocks button S2,

Relay K1 is of the TKE54-PD1 type, but many others are suitable, for example REN34 XP4.500.000. When choosing it, it is necessary to take into account the permissible operating voltage on the contacts, the switched current, as well as the operating voltage of the winding: it will be determined by the voltage present in the amplifier.

The resistors and capacitors used can be of any type, the comparator D1 can be replaced with a 554СЗ, but the numbering of the pins will change; it is indicated in parentheses in the diagram.

An audio power amplifier is one of the key elements of a car audio system. We will tell you how to correctly connect it yourself. Installation of the amplifier requires minimal technical skills.

There are several types of car audio amplifiers

1. A two-channel amplifier for a car involves connecting two front or two rear speakers. Also used to connect a subwoofer. It is very rare to connect 4 speakers.
2. A four-channel car audio amplifier allows you to connect two front and two rear speakers. Another option is possible: in two channels there are two speakers, and the other two channels are connected by a bridge to the subwoofer. In the case of a subwoofer, it is difficult to achieve good sound pressure. It is preferable to use two two-channel amplifiers.
3. If the device is five-channel, four channels are for speakers, and the fifth is for a subwoofer. As in the previous option, when connecting a subwoofer, most of the amplifier's power will be used to reproduce low frequencies. It may not be enough for mid and high frequencies. Five-channel amplifier - a good option for listeners who are undemanding to volume levels.
4. Monoblock - amplifier with one channel for a subwoofer.

On car amplifiers, connectors are grouped into groups depending on their purpose:

Power connectors (power supply).

Three contacts marked - +12V.

Power is supplied from the positive terminal of the battery. The supply wire should not be thin. It is advisable to install a fuse at a distance of 40 cm (or less) from the battery (pictured). It is designed to protect the vehicle's electrical wiring.

R.E.M.

The control wire from the head unit (radio tape recorder) is connected. The interconnect wire usually has a third thin wire, which is used as a control wire. It is needed so that the amplifier turns on and off together with the head unit.

GND (ground), connected to vehicle ground.

The wire must have a cross-section no smaller than the supply one and be as short as possible.

Connectors for speaker systems (speakers or subwoofer).

The wires from the speakers are connected. It is important to connect the “+” and “-” contacts on the amplifier to the corresponding “+„, “-” contacts on the speakers. How to connect a subwoofer with a two-channel bridge? We connect one wire from the subwoofer to the positive terminal of one channel on the amplifier, and the second wire from the subwoofer to the negative terminal of another channel of the amplifier. We connect the free positive and negative terminals on the amplifiers with a short wire to each other (not required for all amplifiers, see the instructions).

Line input (lineinput), sometimes there is also an output (output).

These are RCA standard connectors (“tulips”), designed for connection to the linear outputs of the head unit via interconnect cable. If there are linear outputs, then they are used to connect another amplifier.

Tools and materials for installing the amplifier in the car

• Amplifier
• Interconnect cable
• Power wire, long enough and a small piece to connect to ground
• Wires for speakers. Those that come with speakers are usually not suitable, as they are very thin
• Screwdriver
• A set of hexagons, needed for some amplifiers
• Wire cutters
• Self-tapping screws for mounting the amplifier.

Installing an amplifier for a car

1. We choose a place in the car. There should be good ventilation - the amplifier heats up quite well. Also, the place should make it possible to later reach the amplifier for tuning.
2. We fasten the amplifier using self-tapping screws or bolts.
3. We secure the main fuse with two self-tapping screws near the battery.
4. We stretch all the wires to the amplifier (speakers, interconnect wire, power supply) and connect them. It should be noted that it is better to route the power wire away from the speaker wires and interconnect wires to minimize interference.
5. We supply power to the head unit, amplifier. We check for short circuits. Most amplifiers have an LED to indicate problems. If it lights up green or blue, then everything is fine. If it's red, it means something is connected incorrectly or has a short to ground. If two wires going to the speaker are shorted together (for example, at the speaker terminals), protection is also triggered. Cheaper amplifiers may not have protection, so you should check everything carefully before applying power.

Now the car audio amplifier should be configured

There are usually several typical settings:

1. Sensitivity level. On amplifiers it can be indicated as “level” or “Gain”.
2. Low pass filter. LowFrequency or LPF. Cuts the upper frequency limit for the subwoofer.
3. High pass filter. High Frequency or HPF. Cuts the lower frequency limit. Used when midrange and tweeter speakers are connected to the amplifier or these channels.
4. Crossover or x-over, switch between low and high pass filters. Also has a third position when filters are not enabled (Full or Flat).

Setting up an amplifier for a car

1. Set the sensitivity level to minimum (turn it counterclockwise until it stops).
2. Turn on the head unit and do maximum level volume (or almost maximum, until sound distortion appears), now smoothly turn the sensitivity control on the amplifier until noticeable noise and sound distortion appear, turn it a little lower and leave it. Caution: May be very loud.
3. We turn down the volume level on the head unit (radio tape recorder) to a normal level.