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the voltage thingy is your gain....it is used to match the output level of your hu to the input of your amp.....as far as the difference in alpine and kenwood in this case it shouldnt be much....i myself dont like the newer alpine stuff and havent since about 1990 or so...i would double check the polarity of the subs even thought they sounded good with the kenwood hu and make sure that they are correct......

My gain/bass boost/xover freq knobs are on the top of the amp.

wait smoker I think what Vindicate is saying is that the amp is a Kicker...the Kenwood was just an old HU he used where the bass used to be great...but now with this new Alpine something isnt right and its not how it used to be.

am i right or am i totally off?

Thats exactly right Lotas.
Kenwood KDC-Something Deck + Kicker KX350.2 Amp = Good Power
Alpine CDA-7897 Deck + Kicker Amp = Bad Power

yea i finally caught on to that part. i was confused at first though......i would still check the polarity of the subs....usually when subs sound bad for no apparent reason it is the polarity..

They don't sound bad. The thing I'm worried about is the fact that I have to turn them up to a higher level to get the same ammount of bass. With the Kenwood deck I could have Half Gain Half Bass Boost and 0 on the +6 down to -6 on Bass level thru the deck. With the alpine. I have Bass at 0 on the +6 to -6 level. 10 on Subwoofer level and full gain full bass boost. The new setup sounds cleaner though. Like I said, I'm just worried about the fact that I gotta set the levels so high.

JL's site and BCAE1 have everything you need to know about setting up an amplifier, how crossover curves work, etc.

for a sub, these are a good starting point:
input sensitivity: one-quarter turn up from minimum. no higher.
bass boost: off/zero level.
XO freq: 60-80Hz
XO Q or Slope: 18dB/octave
filter type: LPF (low-pass)

see how that works for starters.

Sigh... all that shit is Greek to me. I have no clue what I'm doing. I have no clue where to go from here. How much would u car audio installers charge if someone asked them to check all their wiring and connections and stuff? Cuz I'm getting the feeling I'm in over my head at this point.

A good shop should do that for free. Go to a few and see what they'll do for you.

I went to a local car audio shop. He says everythings hooked up fine and it sounds fine. He said it was cuz my Kenwood have 2v Preouts whereas the Alpine has 4v preouts.

Dilemna over. Woot woot.