Hello,

I installed my Mark2a into my 97 Chrysler Sebring LXi with the infiinity system. I used the PAC OEM interface to hook it into my factory (amplified) speakers. My question is this, the volume just doesn't go as high as I would like. at 7db overdrive, it is pretty loud, but not as loud as the Alpine CD player was that I took out. I have read through the posts here and the FAQ and realize that if I really want a "top notch" system, I should replace the factory amp and speakers, but is there any way that the gain can be adjusted on the infiinty amp, or some other solution besided ripping it all out and replacing it? I have the PAC inputs cranked all the way up already. Thanks for any help in advance.

ED7

The PAC OEM-1 has gain adjustment knobs which must be cranked all the way up. At least that's the way it was on the one my friend and I installed in his Durango. Did you turn up the gain adjustment knobs?

Even with the knobs cranked, it still isn't as loud as his factory radio was. I think this is the fault of the PAC unit, it should have a wider range of gain adjustment for line-level devices if they're going to offer it as a Line-Level-To-Infinity-Amp solution like that.

I turned them as far as I could without thinking I might break them. I only got about a half turn out of each. Does that sound similar to your experience? I mean, I guess I shouldnt complain, it is loud, just not REALLY loud like before. Thanks.

ED7

That was our experience in the Durango: The OEM-1 was OK, but it just won't crank massively loud like the original factory stereo.

The reason for all of this is that the factory Infinity amp expects low-speaker-level inputs instead of line-level inputs. The OEM-1 is supposed to amplify the inputs up to a level that the factory amp expects. It just doesn't do quite enough for the Infinity amp. I wonder if there's a way to "mod" the OEM-1 to get louder?

I had similar issues with my BMW. The BMW head unit and amp talk their own special voltage (5.6V?), leaving the 4V outputs on the empeg sounding quiet. I was seriously unhappy until I installed VolAdj/Hijack. Now, I tend to run my empeg between -4db and +0db and I'm happy. If you do manage to come up with a low-cost mod, I'd be curious to hear about it.

That may very well be a worthwhile venture. They are only $60 here, I may buy another and see what I can find on the inside.

Sorry to ask a question that I know has surely been asked before, but what is the VolAdj patch? I have the latest release of HiJack, and I see the volume adjust option in the menu for HiJack, but I dont get how it works? It doesnt seem to do much for me. Do I need something else? It seems like there should be a way to boost the volume even more from the source, but I dont know much about it. Thanks

ED7

and I see the volume adjust option in the menu for HiJack, but I dont get how it works?

It is a dynamics compressor for the player. You shouldn't hear a sudden gigantic difference when you use it, but it should allow you to leave the volume control alone more. Quieter songs will seem to sound a bit louder, and the quiet parts of some songs will be louder compared to the loud parts. It should be rather subtle.

Details in the series of FAQ entries starting here.

I found the difference wasn't subtle at all. I have a bunch of MP3s that I made before I figured out how to get normalization working on the PC. In many cases, the difference was as much as 10dB.

Also, maybe I'm crazy, but it appears that in 2.0b11, Hijack is able to apply volume adjustment to the radio, whereas 1.03 with VolAdj only seemed to work on MP3 playback.

Anyway, those few extra dB of difference were just enough that I'm no longer seriously looking to put some kind of pre-amp between the Empeg and the factory amp in my car. (Although, the original factory stereo did get significantly louder than the Empeg ever gets.)

Nope, Hijack doesn't touch the Tuner for voladj, although there are separate Hijack parameters which can apply fixed up/down/bass adjustments to the Tuner.

-ml