Need help, getting frustrated with budget components jbl ms62 and p660

[steele6794 10+ year member]

Ok, I've been playing around with budget component sets. I have 115x2 watt amp and want to keep the comps passive. My doors have a layer of second skin pro on the outer and inner doors skin and all access holes are sealed.

Installed the jbl ms-62 set and loved the midrange and the midbass. The tweeters were very easy on the ears but distorted when playing old acdc and volbeat, which I couldn't tolerate.

Figured I could deal with a little less detail so I bought the jbl p660 set because reviews said they will get louder with less distortion and have very stout midbass. So I installed and the midbass is definitely lacking compared to the ms-62 set. I think they have the potential for strong midbass but the tweets get very harsh on my ears before acceptable midbass is reached.

Right now the tweets are in the stock dash locations for a trailblazer. They are pointing straight up at the windshield. My old double din kenwood only has a three band parametric equalizer for bass, mid, and treble so not much to play with. Any suggestions or rip them out and go with some dls rm6?

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[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Tweeters aimed at the windshield usually sounds bad.

Too many reflections, and it splatters the highs in too many directions.

Try an experiment, take the tweeters out and use some double sided tape and try them at the top forward position on the door.

Move them around to find the best spot, and it should make a ton of difference.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Tweeters aimed at the windshield usually sounds bad.

^^^^ This all day.

 

[steele6794 10+ year member]

I already have Velcro going all the way up the a pillars when I was playing with tweeter placement with the ms62 tweets. I will definitely do the same for the p660's. I just wanted to throw out my problem and see what responses I got.

Any idea what the cause of the distorted acdc was with the ms-62's? I know going active would probably of solved it but it ***** because if they could handle angus' guitar I would of stuck with them and wouldn't have to keep pulling my car apart.

 

[garychoffmann 10+ year member]

What is your amp? An amp can make a huge difference.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I already have Velcro going all the way up the a pillars when I was playing with tweeter placement with the ms62 tweets. I will definitely do the same for the p660's. I just wanted to throw out my problem and see what responses I got.
Any idea what the cause of the distorted acdc was with the ms-62's? I know going active would probably of solved it but it ***** because if they could handle angus' guitar I would of stuck with them and wouldn't have to keep pulling my car apart.

strange, i never had a problem with my set playing ACDC, black sabbath, led zeplin, and older metallica stuff. I have it in the sail panel near the sideview mirrors, having them off axis pointed down.

 

[steele6794 10+ year member]

Amp is a ppi ion 115x2. Again, I bought the amp because of the reviews on car audio forums.

I'm almost tempted to buy another pair of the ms-62 because there is no way that people couldn't listen to them louder than the level I was able to get them to play cleanly at.

It's Bon Scott era ac/dc that killed these speakers...highway to hell, problem child, if you want blood, high voltage ect. The guitar riffs would make the tweets crackle. Played with speaker placement and my limited ability to equalize but to no avail. Almost everything else on my ipod it was able to play perfectly and made me very happy. I also used multiple quality levels of the same ac/dc tracks to test if it was the material.

The p660 set midrange just seems hollow in comparison...like I didn't spend a dollar treating the doors.

 

[calebkhill 10+ year member]

You need to go active.

That's the problem

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Amp is a ppi ion 115x2. Again, I bought the amp because of the reviews on car audio forums.
I'm almost tempted to buy another pair of the ms-62 because there is no way that people couldn't listen to them louder than the level I was able to get them to play cleanly at.

It's Bon Scott era ac/dc that killed these speakers...highway to hell, problem child, if you want blood, high voltage ect. The guitar riffs would make the tweets crackle. Played with speaker placement and my limited ability to equalize but to no avail. Almost everything else on my ipod it was able to play perfectly and made me very happy. I also used multiple quality levels of the same ac/dc tracks to test if it was the material.

The p660 set midrange just seems hollow in comparison...like I didn't spend a dollar treating the doors.

What's the source for the AC/DC audio files? (I'm assuming you downloaded them somewhere) Maybe you just have bad quality files? Try the same songs from a store bought cd?

 

[steele6794 10+ year member]

You need to go active.That's the problem

I'm sure someone somewhere was able to play distortion free ac/dc through a passive component speaker setup. If not, I would really like to be the first in history to do so. Thank you for your input though.

 

[steele6794 10+ year member]

What's the source for the AC/DC audio files? (I'm assuming you downloaded them somewhere) Maybe you just have bad quality files? Try the same songs from a store bought cd?

I did download ac/dc but the same songs distorted on different levels of quality on multiple files of the same tracks. Volbeat I downloaded from iTunes and the ms-62's didn't like to play them at all. The distortion was very present, with both bands, during guitar riffs with no percussions, like the opening to highway to hell. The distortion was coming through the tweeters.

 

[bbeljefe]

You have a pretty sensitive ear, which isn't such a bad thing in one sense but is a curse in another. For those of us who can pick out the details, music sounds so awesome when it's right but when something isn't right it sounds like.... shite.

If I were you I would go active. After all, it isn't as though you have to install and setup the system every time you get in the car to go somewhere. However, if you're persistent in staying passive, get some silk dome tweeters. Active or passive, I cannot stand the sound of hard tweets (especially metals) in my vehicle and silk always seems to have the right sound for me. Matter of fact, whether you stay passive or go active, I would get some silk if I were you.

You can also buy some very nice midbass drivers from Parts Express or Madisound along with crossovers so, you don't have to put up with what a manufacturer packages for you. Doing things that way will allow you to either save some money or get a h3lluva lot more bang for your bucks.

 

[calebkhill 10+ year member]

You have a pretty sensitive ear, which isn't such a bad thing in one sense but is a curse in another. For those of us who can pick out the details, music sounds so awesome when it's right but when something isn't right it sounds like.... shite.
If I were you I would go active. After all, it isn't as though you have to install and setup the system every time you get in the car to go somewhere. However, if you're persistent in staying passive, get some silk dome tweeters. Active or passive, I cannot stand the sound of hard tweets (especially metals) in my vehicle and silk always seems to have the right sound for me. Matter of fact, whether you stay passive or go active, I would get some silk if I were you.

You can also buy some very nice midbass drivers from Parts Express or Madisound along with crossovers so, you don't have to put up with what a manufacturer packages for you. Doing things that way will allow you to either save some money or get a h3lluva lot more bang for your bucks.

I second choosing raw drivers from parts express our madi sound....