My options are limited but I would like to maximize the sound of my RF system without replacing the amp and speakers:

1. What are the best EQ settings?

2. Does turning OFF speed compensation actually help the gain cut?

Thanks to anyone who comments because they decided to make the most of what is there instead of replacing the amp or speakers.

 

Your best bet is to sit in parking lot and play with all the settings. I'm not trying to be a jerk...just trying to be helpful. Reason being is that what sounds good to me (or another guy) may not actually sound good to you. Here are my settings:

EQ: Rock and sometimes Rap
DSP: Normal (I don't like the way any of the other settings sound...they sound too fake)
Punch: +4
Treble: +2
Bass: 0

That works for me.

To your question about the Speed EQ, that will NOT stop the amp cutting the overall volume.

 

Agreed I am doing this now trying to find the best balance. Thanks for the input!

 

What you are attempting to do is impossible. When you turn up the bass or treble, the amp still actively takes steps to lower those levels, no matter what the volume level. The punch level is about the only thing you can really notice a difference, but even then, the sub is part of the overall volume limiting. You may find that certain adjustments help slightly, but there is no "best sound" out of that stock piece of crap. IMO, sometimes the best sound comes from just turning the damn thing off.

 

There isn't anything that you can do that will provide satisfying sound with the current RF setup IMO. That's why I gutted everything. The EVO's RF stereo is awful.

 

What is the true RMS of the RF amp?

 

I'm not sure if anyone has posted that before. My guess is that it's probably 40-50% of the peak 650 watts.

 

Replace the rockford amp under the seat with a nice 5 channel amp.. It will make you smile.. period..

 

Yeah since others have clearly expressed their opinions, I will throw out that installing a JL Audio Cleansweep should give the system a very nice improvement in sound quality. I can't help you with the "perfect" EQ settings because I'm far from an audiophile

 

I wish there was a way to defeat the volume limiting...it's super annoying when listening to a song and it's constantly getting quieter and louder! When it's loud, it sounds pretty good! Then it loses volume... Really screws with your head.

I wonder if there's any system menu that can defeat it.

 

CleanSweep fixes that...

 

The cleansweep doesn't fix that unless you're running it after the stock amp. It's the RF amp that's doing the volume limiting, so replacing the stock amp solves the problem. The Cleansweep would be a great solution if it were the head unit doing the volume limiting, but in the case of the Lancer, it's not necessary. As awesome a product as the cleansweep is, it's a waste of cash if you're replacing the stock amp.

 

I've heard that also replacing the headunit and keeping the rockford amp with the Metra kit will also defeat this problem. It's a combination of the two it seems, most likely the headunit "telling" the amplifier to use dynamic compression using the CAN-BUS.

On my 350z, it was found that disabling the "bose" microphone underneath the steering column would get rid of problems like these. This system was more of noise cancelling though, taking road-noise and pumping the opposite sine-wave into the system. Someone took the mic out and put in a reisistor to emulate no "noise" and got a much louder system. Apples - Orange, I know..