My ears hurt!

Hi all.  I'm really lost when it comes to car audio.  I recently purchased an Alpine CDA-7894 head unit and a Kicker ks80 sub with an Alpine amp.  I'm really enjoying the sound from this system, but I find that it hurts my ears.  I do not have it loud at all, in fact I sometimes find that it isn't loud enough to enjoy the music.  I do not have anywhere near as loud as I had the factory system that was in my car.  Since I don't really understand all the settings on my system, I was wondering if anybody could suggest something that I could try tweaking to see if it would help my ears?  There are many bass settings on this head unit and I'm wondering if there is something in here that is bothering me since this is my first sub. 

Thanks....

Hello Maggiepotatoes,

I am pervitizm's wife and a doctoral candidate in audiology.  I just wanted to let you know my two cents about your situation.  It sounds like since you have gotten your new system, you don't have to turn up the radio as loud as you did when you had your factory system in. This makes sense because the new system is pushing more SPL than your old system, with the new speakers and amp.  However, with all this new SPL, you could be creating an environment for noise exposure that can damage your ears.  I would suggest that you get your hearing tested at your local audiologist.  You could then have a baseline test in case any other testing is warranted.  You can also tell them further what you percieve to be your problem (when your ears hurt, at what volume you are keeping the system, etc.)  If you have a hearing loss, you can also have what is called recruitment which is an abnormal growth in loudness, that is, the point between where you can barely hear sounds and the point where sounds are too loud are very close together.  Also, you might have hyperacusis which is when you are or have become over time very sensitive to sounds that some people wouldn't consider that loud.  Because I don't have a full case history, I can't say that you have either of these things or anything else.  However this is what comes to mind when reviewing what you have stated above. 

Please consult with an audiologist for testing.  They would give you guidence as to what might be causing your ears to "hurt."  I am sure someone else here might give you suggestions on tweaking your system to better suit your needs, however I think you should see the audiologist for your own health's sake  Good luck and keep us updated!. 

Hi Pervitizm's wife,

Thanks for your response.  I had never really considered that the problem could be related to me instead of the stereo.  I do know that I have less tolerance to loud music than my boyfriend.  He likes everything loud and I'm always turning things down! 

I will look into seeing an audiologist, but would still be intersted in any tweaking suggestions that anybody out there might have.

Thanks again.

Hi MaggiePotatoes,

     There are a few ways you can turn down your bass.  I'm not sure how to get to the bass setting on your head unit but looking at the manual will help.  You head unit should have strictly a bass setting or subwoofer setting.  If you can get to that just turn it down.  Or you can turn down the gain on you amp.  It might be turned up all the way which is not good on the sub.  So you might want to turn that down some if you want to save yourself from blowing the sub.  I hope this will help!

From me not my wife,

What I would suggest that you do is that you go through and turn down all your setting, trebble, bass,(for those head units with built in eqs) Highs, Mids, and Low. Turn them all the way down with the radio at the desired volume level that your gonna listen to. Know that you've done that, began to slowly turn the setting up one at a time until you reach a setting level that is comfortable to you and your ears. Also as what htlee said, turn down the gains on your amp too. 

That should be enough info to help you out with the basics, but if your ears are still hurting you after that, then you really really need to consider talking to an audiologist. Because once you start losing your hearing, then its gone forever.

Hey that's not the wife's statement. I'm the one who lives and die by that creed. Hell she's the one who talked me out of getting 4 15' L5 down to only 2.

Now how can someone like that live and die 4 the luv of BASS???

Pervy