New system, JBL speakers, Sundown X8

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

the 3.5s in the dash, and the 6.5s in door it sounds balanced.

Hey, if it sounds good it is good. Throw those 6x9s in the back and if you like it, roll with it. Like I said, the more speakers (locations) you have the more potential for trouble from an acoustics standpoint, and conventional wisdom when discussing "sound quality" is that less is more and if you're really trying to get reference quality sound in a car you will get there much easier with fewer drivers.

But seriously, at the end of the day YOU are the one listening to it and if you slap in your favorite CD, roll up the volume, and it puts a smile on your face then you're doing it right.

 

[AudiophileZach]

Hey, if it sounds good it is good. Throw those 6x9s in the back and if you like it, roll with it. Like I said, the more speakers (locations) you have the more potential for trouble from an acoustics standpoint, and conventional wisdom when discussing "sound quality" is that less is more and if you're really trying to get reference quality sound in a car you will get there much easier with fewer drivers.

But seriously, at the end of the day YOU are the one listening to it and if you slap in your favorite CD, roll up the volume, and it puts a smile on your face then you're doing it right.

Hell yeah totally agree. But since it's been so long since ive messed around with car audio I really need some tips.. lmao bear with me.

 

[AudiophileZach]

Hey, if it sounds good it is good. Throw those 6x9s in the back and if you like it, roll with it. Like I said, the more speakers (locations) you have the more potential for trouble from an acoustics standpoint, and conventional wisdom when discussing "sound quality" is that less is more and if you're really trying to get reference quality sound in a car you will get there much easier with fewer drivers.

But seriously, at the end of the day YOU are the one listening to it and if you slap in your favorite CD, roll up the volume, and it puts a smile on your face then you're doing it right.

I really want high quality sound, highest I can get. Less drivers = higher quality? Wouldn't components have the same amount of drivers? Idk I'm confused now, I get really OCD when it comes to my build and now I'm feeling like it's gonna sound like crap.

 

[MattinMO]

JBL/harmon Karon makes good stuff just wish they would bring back the crown amps or big power amps that are 1 ohm stable

 

[Seth F.]

Car Audio is a journey and you won’t ever feel like it’s right. That’s kinda what makes it fun honestly. The best way to do things is to go active where all channels are amplified separately with their own crossovers. This can get expensive but if you put 3 way components up front and a properly tuned sub to cover the bass with say two four channel amps and a good DSP, you have full potential to create the best sounding system for your ears. I don’t subscribe to the mantra about brand as much as design. Obviously there are shitty brands out there, so you will just have to do research. (Part of the design) I think those JBL’s will sound great with the proper setup and a DSP.

Truth is, everyone on this forum has gone through many a brand and for each one we thought that was the one. Like others have said if it sounds good to youdon’t worry so much about what brands others use, try different things out on your own because you can’t hear through anyone else’s ears.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Less drivers = higher quality?

Components meaning 1 pair 6.5" mids and 1 pair tweeters up front, seal/deaden doors and play around with position and aiming of the tweeter than blends best. 3 way fronts can be nice but you'll really want all 3 as close together as possible or have some good digital processing plus a lot of patience to try to dial it al in.

The other thing about just one set of components is that the two pieces are engineered to blend together nicely and give a flat response (provided you're buying a good quality set) so they really shouldn't be leaving any gaps in frequency response that need filling in or anything and adding other stuff in other locations is as likely as not to make peaks and nulls in your response where they overlap.

SQ types shoot for a realistic soundstage where if you close your eyes and listen to good recorded live music, each singer/instrument is coming from its own place and everything seems to be coming at head level and from somewhere in front of you out beyond the windshield. This will be difficult or impossible to accomplish with speakers all in different locations in front of and behind you even with a lot of processing power. Then again, you may just be happy with loud and clear which is very feasible with what you have listed. I've used a lot of JBL over the years and never been disappointed, so at least that shouldn't be your weak link.

 

[AudiophileZach]

JBL/harmon Karon makes good stuff just wish they would bring back the crown amps or big power amps that are 1 ohm stable

Yeah man same those were good amps

 

[AudiophileZach]

Car Audio is a journey and you won’t ever feel like it’s right. That’s kinda what makes it fun honestly. The best way to do things is to go active where all channels are amplified separately with their own crossovers. This can get expensive but if you put 3 way components up front and a properly tuned sub to cover the bass with say two four channel amps and a good DSP, you have full potential to create the best sounding system for your ears. I don’t subscribe to the mantra about brand as much as design. Obviously there are shitty brands out there, so you will just have to do research. (Part of the design) I think those JBL’s will sound great with the proper setup and a DSP.

Truth is, everyone on this forum has gone through many a brand and for each one we thought that was the one. Like others have said if it sounds good to youdon’t worry so much about what brands others use, try different things out on your own because you can’t hear through anyone else’s ears.

I never learned all the strategies to get the best quality sound from your set up, I could get a pair of decent tweets, and crossovers to see how they would sound up front, compared to the back

 

[Firewalker]

Truthfully you don't even need a DSP if you are on a budget. One of the Pioneer radios like the DEH-80PRS or the 99PRS or some of their double din units have the same functions as those 2 I mentioned. I have full control when going active with my DEH-80PRS. Can't wait to finally really tune that thing once my 6.5" Silverflutes are in and the Alpine Tweeters are installed in the front. Along with a bigger amplifier for my new 10" subwoofers in a custom box set at 37hz which is just right for the music I listen to. I might even go up 2 12" down the line like a SSA setup or DD setup sometime next year around this time. I have really missed hearing a loud system for so long.

Btw don't get me wrong DSP is the way you have the most control over everything. But when on a budget before adding in a costly DSP those radios I mentioned really can get you close to it. Idk if jeffdachef uses one but I know he has a DEH-80PRS and those are Stage 3 radios FYI with the 99PRS being a Stage 4. Problem is they are from 2012-2014 and you don't see many new in box ones come up often and if you do expect to pay 350-450 now because of them being out of production. My hope is Pioneer brings out a successor to them but with more options built in.

 

[Firewalker]

I never learned all the strategies to get the best quality sound from your set up, I could get a pair of decent tweets, and crossovers to see how they would sound up front, compared to the back

Best way is to ditch the crossovers they come with and go active. You won't go back to using those crossovers they come with. I've heard the difference and it is night and day when you can control them with said DEH-80PRS or if you have the money a good DSP.

 

[AudiophileZach]

I quickly drew up an idea... Does this make sense? I drew a really rough diagram of my

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'd put nothing in the rear or on the dash, throw the money saved into the Stadium GTO600c for your doors and put proper care into sealing/deadening the doors. Use a 2 channel amp on those with the passive crossovers included.

2000W is way too much power for a single 8" woofer so you could probably go smaller on the amp unless you have plans to add more/bigger subs down the road.

Alternately if you simplified into just the one set of components and single sub you could probably do it all with a nice 5 channel amp (the DD D5.1500 comes to mind) and have options to run active crossover or just bridge channels 1-4 for more headroom.

Seems you're pretty dead set on just filling every factory hole though so give it a whirl and see if you like it, but I can assure you, you won't be lacking output with a strong set of 6.5" components up front on 125W or so.