Need advice regarding my front stage

[abcheng 10+ year member]

My current setup is: RE comps in the front, no rear fills, and an AA Avalanche 12" sub w/ DEI 600D amp on a Eclipse 8445 HU.

I recently got the 8445, and replaced it with my stock HU. I did notice an improvement in the front stage overall, but the harshness of the tweeters are worse than before, since I'm obviously using a better HU than before. I tried messing with the EQ to try and soften the tweeters, but they're still pretty harsh as it is. The midbass is ok, but not what I'm desiring.

I've heard quite a few good things about AA Poly Mids which seem to be very cheap for their performance. I was either thinking about sound deadning my doors, or going with AA Poly Mids. If I was to go with the AAs, what tweets would you guys recommend, and what kind of crossover would be recommended to be bulit?

Would you guys suggest sound deadning, or going with the AAs?

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[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

I would recommend you pick up an external crossover, and run them active; You'll be able to trim your tweets and mids up and down all day long, until you find the sweet spot.

I'm using a Coustic XM-7, it's the most important part of my system IMO.

Here's an XM-5

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

are the tweeters simbliant? try cutting between 8-10khz with a wide Q.

 

[abcheng 10+ year member]

I would recommend you pick up an external crossover, and run them active; You'll be able to trim your tweets and mids up and down all day long, until you find the sweet spot.
I'm using a Coustic XM-7, it's the most important part of my system IMO.

Here's an XM-5

Is the crossover in the 8445 not sufficient?

are the tweeters simbliant? try cutting between 8-10khz with a wide Q.

I don't think so. I think I already lowered the 8-10 khz band. How would I change the Q ?

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

read the manual on changing the Q. i'm not positive as i don't have the manual in front of me but i believe it is buttons 5 and 6. 5 to lower the q and 6 to widen the q. most of the time when people complain about harshness, anywhere from 5-10khz is the usual suspect.

 

[abcheng 10+ year member]

read the manual on changing the Q. i'm not positive as i don't have the manual in front of me but i believe it is buttons 5 and 6. 5 to lower the q and 6 to widen the q. most of the time when people complain about harshness, anywhere from 5-10khz is the usual suspect.

I tried to widen the Q and lower the 5-10 khz frequencies, but it still seems harsh.

I'm still not desiring the midbass that I would like to have. I did have to replace the stock speaker mounts with a 3/4" MDF baffle, but didn't seal the surrounding area since it's only held on by 1 screw. Would sealing off the area around the speaker help?

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

I tried to widen the Q and lower the 5-10 khz frequencies, but it still seems harsh.
I'm still not desiring the midbass that I would like to have. I did have to replace the stock speaker mounts with a 3/4" MDF baffle, but didn't seal the surrounding area since it's only held on by 1 screw. Would sealing off the area around the speaker help?

did you deaden your door? and yes seal it all off with at least 4 screws and use modeling clay to seal off the rest of the baffle.

also try to lower those frequencies more. try the max possible and see how it sounds.

 

[dak0ta_g33k 10+ year member]

dunno where your RE tweets are mounted, but i put mine into kickpanels and they're less harsh sounding down there

 

[abcheng 10+ year member]

did you deaden your door? and yes seal it all off with at least 4 screws and use modeling clay to seal off the rest of the baffle.
also try to lower those frequencies more. try the max possible and see how it sounds.

Nope, door is not deadened. It's hard to fit all 4 screws on there since the design of the original speaker mount is strange. How much would deadning the door help for midbass? When I lower the frequencies, it seems like I lose quite a bit of detail.

dunno where your RE tweets are mounted, but i put mine into kickpanels and they're less harsh sounding down there

Mine are mounted on the door. I don't really have much room for kicks especially on the drivers side of the car.