Volume Decrease? Options

[seank426]

@ Fastline
what is the tech package. I thought there was only a sun/sound, navigation and touring package. Sorry I no this is really off topic

[FastLane1000]

just nav i guess, i thought they called it nav and tech for some reason.

[erik09gts]

I just got my 09 GTS last weekend and noticed right away this audio problem. Many years ago I worked in the live sound reinforcment industry(setting up and running PA systems for concerts, and it sounds to me like the HU has a limiting/compression feature built into it to protect the drivers. If it is as simple as accessing the amp and making adjustments that would be great. But I would guess it may be hardwired in the HU or perhaps someone at RF may have info on how to bypass it by somehow accessing the main processor.

Just my thoughts.

[brakeman302]

I just got my 09 GTS last weekend and noticed right away this audio problem. Many years ago I worked in the live sound reinforcment industry(setting up and running PA systems for concerts, and it sounds to me like the HU has a limiting/compression feature built into it to protect the drivers. If it is as simple as accessing the amp and making adjustments that would be great. But I would guess it may be hardwired in the HU or perhaps someone at RF may have info on how to bypass it by somehow accessing the main processor.

Just my thoughts.

It would be nice to know if it was the amp or the h/u. I do not want to replace my head h/u but the amp I would in a heart beat if I knew it would solve the problem. It drive me nuts! I get so mad at it I don't even bother to turn it up sometimes......

[erik09gts]

I have a message into RF tech regarding this problem and they are supposed to respond within 24 hours. As soon as I get their response I will post it.

[erik09gts]

I have a message into RF tech regarding this problem and they are supposed to respond within 24 hours. As soon as I get their response I will post it.

Here is what I received from them today:

Response (Steve) - 03/03/2009 11:12 AM
Erik,

"Thanks for contacting us. The head unit is designed to go full volume unclipped, but the DSP will indeed cut the volume if you reach a certain percentage of distortion. So depending on what you are listening to along with where your bass, treble, etc. settings are that can affect the distortion."


I replied back to him if there is a way to change or bypass this feature. Or if the DSP he speaks of is in the amp unit and if changing the amp to an aftermarket amp would keep this from happening. So I will see what his response is on Wednesday and let everyone here know as soon as I can.

[brakeman302]

Here is what I received from them today:

Response (Steve) - 03/03/2009 11:12 AM
Erik,

"Thanks for contacting us. The head unit is designed to go full volume unclipped, but the DSP will indeed cut the volume if you reach a certain percentage of distortion. So depending on what you are listening to along with where your bass, treble, etc. settings are that can affect the distortion."


I replied back to him if there is a way to change or bypass this feature. Or if the DSP he speaks of is in the amp unit and if changing the amp to an aftermarket amp would keep this from happening. So I will see what his response is on Wednesday and let everyone here know as soon as I can.

So did you ever hear back from R.f.g? Would be nice to know if it's in the amp or h/u

[erik09gts]

He told me they don't have tech specs on the OEM units they are handled by other people at RF. The guy I was talking to deals with the aftermarket product.
The next time I'm at the Mitsi dealer I am going to look at a lancer without the RF system and see if it does the same thing. If so then it is in the HU, if not then it is in the amp.

[Jorge Fierro]

bump for a very annoying feature in the system, any fixes, more info on this?
I have the s&s gts and my base dies just seconds in the song. sounds like the amp discharges a certain amount of power an then needs to recharge this is how it sound to this base freak. Is there a direct amp upgrade from RF, that will keep the features of the head console and bluetooth?

[mhmayhem88]

This is a problem I've always noticed in cars with BOSE sound systems. Sounds great at low volumes, but once you start getting up to higher volumes it starts cutting back on the amount of bass being output (it's pretty drastic). I have the RF system and I think it's wayyyy better than any Bose system I've ever heard and while the RF system has superior sound and output it still seems to follow the same pattern. I'm thinking there is a limiter of some sort or it might be the way the equalizer is programmed. It'd be nice to know if it's just the amp that can fix the issue. I have a spare amp lying around and I'll install it if it will unleash this 650watt system.

[erik09gts]

I'm thinking there is a limiter of some sort or it's might be the way the equalizer is programmed. It'd be nice to know if it's just the amp that can fix the issue. I have a spare amp lying around and I'll install it if it will unleash this 650watt system.

It definitely has limiting or compression in it. The ? is, is it in the head unit or the amp unit? Even if it is the amp does the amp supply power to all speakers and the sub or what? I am waiting for someone to swap out the unit under the seat to see what if any changes take place. But like anything else it is probably easier said than done. I would like to see a wiring diagram of the whole audio system to have a better understanding.

[mhmayhem88]

Well, there's a Quality Auto Sound and a Car Toys shop both in my area. Maybe I can swing by one of them this weekend and see what they think. I'm curious to know. There's the one guy that already said the swapping out of his amp did wonders for him but obviously we're not going to run out and spend the money if we can't confirm that for sure is the issue.

[mhmayhem88]

Ok, well I talked to a car audio expert. He is a coworker of mine and I forgot that he does car audio. Anyway, the gist of the conversation that I had with him is that yes, there is a limititations being put on the system. It's for good reason and it's complicated...well to me anyway. He's the expert so i'm sure it's quite simple to him. There's no way I could describe what he was describing to me but at the end of the day, it sounds like if you can match up a proper amp for the system, then yes you should get more volume out of it. Now, he was just guessing having never seen the system, but he drew it out on a piece of paper and said that you would probably need a 5 channel amp in order to have success. Now, there really is A LOT more to this and the conversation we had. Bottom line, I wouldn't go run out and buy a 5 channel amp and try hooking everything up. If you're not an expert at this then I would say don't attempt it yourself because you'll either brake something or the amp will blow up in a month.

[SRSONE]

so did anybody ever take there car back too the dealer and get the hu replaced?

cuz i did on my outy
the volume would go up and down for no reason....even with the speed sense turned off
and they replaced the head unit...havent had a problem since...

[DuffmasterFresh]

I have the RF system and Nav. I am also curious if the amplifier runs the speakers and the sub or just the sub. I personally have a hunch that it runs just the sub, but I only briefly looked at the amp. In my experience in car audio, all stock and advanced stock sound systems suck. Including our RF system. An after market headunit ($150) with 4 aftermarket speakers attached ($140) sounds much better than any stock advanced sound system. My dad has a newer acura with bose, and it sounds awesome low volume but not so much higher up. Its the nature of the beast, our system if for a younger crowd while his is for the older crowd. In my van, its after market system destroys our RF system and costs less than 300 bucks. Now if you add an amp and a sub, you could get away with 500-600 bucks.

Most stock and advanced stock systems have crappy speakers. The magnets are super small, the cones are made out of paper, and they have little excursion. Just replacing the speakers alone will make a noticeable different, especially to our RF systems. The mids and highs will be much clearer! right now it sounds like someone stuffed a pillow in front of my speakers...compared to my vans speakers of course. They sound muddy and...almost held back from their potential. The subwoofer is also muddy sounding, its not as punchy as i feel it could be, and it has very very little excursion. I think Kicker has a subwoofer line that is great for replacing stock woofers.

A 5-channel amp would be great because it would power all the speakers and the sub. But that doesn't remove the problem of crappy speakers and a crappy sub, but it will make them sound loads better. you increase your chance of blowing your stock speakers if you amplify them though. For us Navi guys, replacing the nav unit would probably be devastating, as a lot of stuff pops up on the screen, like when i change air conditioning settings. Using the AUX jack, i get great sound, but if i unplug it i get the humming buzzing noise, that's standard with everything. As for the volume decreasing, yeah i definitely think there is a governing device on there for distortion levels and what not, if they didn't all the younger kids would be at the dealership every week for new speakers. I think its the head unit doing the governing here not the amp.

OH, and its not actually 650 watts. Its 650 watts MAX power...which means grossly over exaggerated power ratings. all car audio companies do this. my after market radio in my van was 22 watts per speaker of TRUE (RMS) power and it goes twice as loud as this RF system. I estimate this RF system to be about 100-200 watts RMS. Sorry for the rambling lol, its late and im tired and just so happen to like car audio. Sorry if this is off topic or what not.

[Smokey09]

The factory desk has an option build into it that increases the volume as the noise increases from the engine,
im not sure is this can be turned off, it havent bothered me so i havent even looked.