I apologise if this has been asked before but i can't search for 'eq' as it's only 2 characters.

Anyhow, my car stereo has a paramteric EQ instead of the usual bass/treble controls.

I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the best way to set these up in general, i.e. how do you know which bands need boosting, how wide the band should be, where the band needs to sit etc? I think it's a six band EQ so there's a serious amount of trial and error for just sitting and trying.

Is there a better way?

Any help greatfully received

Cheers!

Paul.

Parametric? Not graphic? Gee, that's quite unusual... what brand is your car stereo?

Usually with a parametric EQ you must first measure the room response with a sweeping frequency.

Thinking about it I think it has a graphic EQ as well, you get the choice.

It's an Alpine 9855R I think, was top of the range a bit ago

I've never done this in a car, but I imagine it would involve playing (and recording with a good microphone) a sweep or white noise then tweaking the EQ until the response of the system (speakers+"room" response of the cabin) is flat.

Yes and problem is, since the volume of the cabin is small, the driver must sit in the driver seat. And if you routinely bring your girfriend/boyfriend/dog on the seat next to the driver, she/he/it must also sit there during the sweep.

Plus the mic must be suspended ear-high, between the driver and passenger seat.