Just a sanity check I have the fostgate with Infinity Kappa 62.9i. Anyone else have this? What is your gain set to.

I used the ear method but my music seems to have intentional distortions which makes it hard.

It seems there are particular amps and speakers which are popular here, shouldn't be too hard to collect recommended gain levels.

 

1.) you must make absolutely sure your bass/treble/eq settings are flat before you do this
2.) even if you and I had the exact same system, my gains would likely be different than yours. This is why it's important to "tune" your sound system

 

These are some of the top-rated songs recommended for testing a stereo system. Try one of these when setting your gains:

1. "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. Listen for Norah's voice to sound natural, and centered in front of you.
2. "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez. Listen for strong vocals, and for the instruments to be set across a wide sound stage.
3. "No One" by Alicia Keys. Listen for clarity in Alicia's vocals and spacious background sound.
4. "Hotel California" by the Eagles. Listen for the clarity and dynamic range during the opening guitar solo, and of course the powerful drum beat.
5. "Boom Boom Pow"by the Black Eyed Peas. Listen for powerful, accurate bass beats, even at full volume.
6. "Rock that Body"by the Black Eyed Peas. Listen clear, intelligible lyrics over the powerful, persistent bass beat.
7. "Hide and Seek"by Imogen Heap. Listen for the enveloping ambience of the song, building on the openness and dynamic vocals.
8. "He Mele No Lilo" by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu from Lilo and Stitch.Listen for the ambience and staging as the children's chorus is offset by powerful bass.
9. "Bird on a Wire" by Johnny Cash. Listen for the clarity in Johnny's distinctive voice, and his guitar to sound natural and free of any coloration.
10. "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" by Radiohead. Listen for the punch from the percussive bass, and the ring of the steel drums.

 

I bought an oscope. I'll see how it goes.