Dealing with shrillness

[luckystrike]

Hello,

I don't know how I got myself into caraudio, but it's been giving me much headache as finding the right sound is a lot more challenging than I ever thought before.

My journey began when the stock infinity stopped working in beloved Mitsubishi 3000GT. Starting out with the in-dash navigation, I ended up putting Boston S60 components in front along with 6x9 kenwoods in rear, JBL 4-channel amp, and the MTX 2-channel amp - subwoofer.

The biggest concern for the time being is the Bostons. To be more specific, I think it's the tweeters that are making sound so shrill-harsh. I'd consider myself as a all around listener when it comes to the music preference, but the shrillness is more apparent when listening to rock/ metal music. If put the other way around, it's more forgiving when playing hip-hop/ less congested music. However, the shrillness is still there. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

I havn't got much luck finding more smooth-playing components/ tweets as couple of tries at the local shops including high-end Bostons and Focals were not successful. I understand that the angle plays a big role with tweets and the optional kickpanel is another consideration. However, I'd assume the easiest way to deal with such issue is to find the right speaker sets.

Any advise will be appreciated!

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[DeViOuSoNe 10+ year member]

Maybe If your amp Is powering them you need to do some adjusting to the frequency?

 

[luckystrike]

Thanks for such a quick reply.

Yes, I've been wrestling around with amp settings as well. The frequencies, the bass boost, the input level, and the cross-over. I hate to say though, all that trouble didn't make much difference. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/blackeye.gif.66a1670f5aaf7f406e783a63e3387dc5.gif

 

[Headbanger 10+ year member]

I've heard aluminum tweets are harsher than silk dome. So if those Bostons are aluminum I would suggest switching them out for some silks.

 

[luckystrike]

Getting the silk tweets sound very convincing!

I'm a little confused though, are you suggesting to get them separately or is there a brand name/ model name of the component sets that come with such?

 

[luckystrike]

I found this one brand name "soundstream" that offers silk dome tweets. I believe this brand's got some decent amps if I'm not mistaken. I might locate one of the dealers, go for a little field trip tomorrow. lol

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Do you not have any equalizer abilities? Cutting a bit around 3-4khz in my experience can help with that kind of assault.

 

[Latina33 10+ year member]

I dealt with the shrillness of my Focals by picking up a set of Rainbow SLC 265 Kicks! Now I have MORE detailed sound, smooth highs, excellent midbass, and an overall better sounding system! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[tbasile1 10+ year member]

it must be a personal preference but i dont find Focals to be harsh, IMO they are pretty smooth to my ears

and all this talk about Rainbows, i want to hear some!!!

 

[frzninvt 10+ year member]

It's no secret that metal domes tweeters can sound very harsh, shrill, edgy to people. I can't stand them, they sound like a dentist's drill running full tilt. Get some textile or silk dome tweeters for a smoother top end.

You might be able to Eq it out but that is a band-aid type fix.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

It's no secret that metal domes tweeters can sound very harsh, shrill, edgy to people. I can't stand them, they sound like a dentist's drill running full tilt. Get some textile or silk dome tweeters for a smoother top end.
You might be able to Eq it out but that is a band-aid type fix.

Agreed.

You can get some of these tweeters for little investment to try out. Quite popular with the DIY car audio crowd. Just make sure your xover point is around 2500Hz.

 

[michaelsil1 10+ year member]

Hello,
I don't know how I got myself into caraudio, but it's been giving me much headache as finding the right sound is a lot more challenging than I ever thought before.

I feel for you, I have been on the same journey. I came to these forums not to long ago myself looking for a fix.

I have done a lot of reading and taken some advice as a result my sound has improved dramatically.

Good luck

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

It's as easy as adjusting the equalizer...

oh, and I run titanium tweets, and they blend in quite nicely. Might be shrill to some, but I like mine a hair more edgy.

 

[chucku 10+ year member]

I switched from mbq to boston pro's cause the mbq were too harsh, the bostons while not as prominent, are smooth sounding and the headaches are gone from listening at loud volumes.