Where to Fine Tune Sub Settings?

I'm getting ready to install my new 4-channel amp and powered subwoofer, running everything off an Alpine UTE-73BT mechless (no CD) head unit and through a Rockville R7EQ 7-band equalizer. I have VERY little room in my car for a sub, so I started looking for powered subs. I found that Rockville makes the smallest powered sub out there, an 800 watt (max) 10" sub that has better frequency response than their powered dual 12" box! It's less than 3 inches thick, so will work perfect when I mount it to the back of my rear fold-down seat!

But what I keep wondering is about setting up the subwoofer frequencies, crossover points and other stuff. My head unit has all these settings, and the equalizer has a sub volume control as well as sub frequency control. Well, then the powered sub amp has sub frequency controls also! SSSOOOO... with 3 places to tweak the sub settings, I'm getting confused on the best unit to adjust my sub settings! Should I leave everything alone in the deck and equalizer and just set everything at the sub amp? Or should I leave stuff alone on the sub amp and adjust the sub settings at the deck? What about the equalizer?

I've never had any issues setting frequency stuff in a head unit and equalizer, but this will be my FIRST ever powered sub. It just seams like if I adjust sub frequencies at the deck, the equalizer might not get good enough low frequencies to pass on to the sub amp. And vice-versa, if I adjust the crossover point on the equalizer, what good would it be to mess with the sub settings on the head unit? Or should I just leave the head unit's and equalizer's sub settings alone and adjust everything at the sub amp?

After 45+ years of installing my own (and for friends & family) car audio, this is the first time I've gotten overwhelmed by choices of where to make subwoofer frequency and crossover adjustments! Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially if follow by an explanation of WHY your suggestion would work better.

Thanks! Glad to be back in the forum finally! And even more happy to finally have another car stereo in a newer car! Can't wait to get all this stuff installed and jammin!

Set the Alpine controls for flat frequency response. Set the powered subs cross-over frequency as high as possible. Use the equalizer's controls to optimize the sub.

Makes sense, but let me provide more adjustment abilities from each.

My head unit is an Alpine UTE-73BT, and the subwoofer menus gives these options: Subwoofer Level (volume), Subwoofer Phase (Normal or Reverse), Low Pass Filter Frequency (80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz).

Equalizer is Rockwood R7EQ, which allows Subwoofer Frequency control of 40Hz to 250Hz.

The powered sub is a Rockwood RW10CA with 10" sub (thinnest sub box on the planet that I found!). It allows adjustments of:
*Phase Shift (0 degrees or 180 degrees).
*Low Pass Filter (50Hz to 150Hz).
*Bass Boost (0dB to 18dB).

Not sure if any of that helps, but figured it wouldn't hurt to provide it.

So, you're saying if I set my Alpine's sub frequency to flat and maybe the level to 0dB (right in the middle of the level adjustments), then sent the sub's low-pass filter dial to max (clockwise), I should be good to just use the equalizer to adjust my bass? What I don't really like about this sub is that the LPF doesn't show numbers on the dial (kind of like gains), but only a minimum and maximum. I've chosen to NOT hook up the sub's dash-mount level control because that would be too many ways to adjust the bass, and it's already confusing enough!

Thanks for the info! I'll give this a try! Should be going in this next week!


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