Passive Crossover with Kicker KSS6904 - Can I skip its use on the woofer?

[cptab2002]

Hi all. Apologies for the newbie question from this newbie member. I've hit a roadblock from the retailer and haven't heard back from Kicker customer support, so I'm turning to your collective expertise. Help!


Bottom line up front: The crossover included with the Kicker 47KSS6904 does not have a low pass filter. It only filters the tweeter (see full description below). With that said, I’d like to wire the 6x9 woofer directly to the factory wire. Can I do it without problems? More details below:


Background:

I'm replacing the front door woofers (6x9) and tweeters (1" silk) in my Jeep Grand Cherokee with Kicker 47KSS690 (Link and specs below). The Jeep has the "upgraded" Alpine system, but the speakers leave a lot to be desired. From what I've read on Jeep forums, the signal to each 6x9 woofer and each 1" tweeter are independent and imaged for a certain sound. I want to maintain that aspect of the Jeep system. Consequently, I don't want to run the component set from a single factory wire/signal. I would instead reserve the crossover for the tweeter, and hook up the 6x9 woofer directly to the factory (woofer) wires. The relevant description on Crutchfield's site (bolded for emphasis) has me optimistic:


"Crossovers: The component system includes 12 dB/octave passive crossovers for the tweeters. (Both the woofers and tweeters are wired through the crossovers, but only the tweeters are filtered.) The crossover point is 4,000 Hz. A switch on each crossover allows you to adjust the tweeter output; 0 dB, +4.5 dB, or +9 dB. Each crossover has input and output wires are attached; the 34" woofer output has quick slides that connect directly to the woofer terminals and the 32" tweeter output has quick slides that mate to the terminals on the wire attached to the tweeter."

My novice take is that the crossover does nothing for the 6x9 woofer. Consequently, I can run the factory wire directly to it. Given the 6x9’s mid-range capability, the higher frequencies may roll off (not sure if that's a correct use of the term) and not cause any problems.


What do you think?


Kicker 47KSS6904 KS Series 6"x9" component speaker system at Crutchfield

Click to read more...

 

[cptab2002]

If it's helpful, here's info from Kicker (KICKER | KS Series 6x9" Components):

Specifications

Woofer [in, mm]

6x9, 160x230

Tweeter [in,mm]

1, 25

Dome Material

Silk

Rated Impedance [Ω]

4

Recommended Amplifier Power [Watts RMS]

15-150

Sensitivity [1W, 1m]

92

Frequency Response [Hz]

35-21k

Woofer Mounting Hole Diameter [in, mm]

5-5⁄8x8-7⁄16, 143x215

Woofer Bottom Mount Depth [in, mm]

2-15⁄16, 75

Flush Mount Tweeter Hole Diameter [in,mm]

1-¾, 45

Flush Mount Tweeter Depth [in,mm]

11⁄16 , 17

High Pass [dB], at Frequency [Hz]

12, 4,000

Low Pass [dB], at Frequency [Hz]

none

High Frequency Output Attenuation [dB]

0, 4.5, 9

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Weird that they would have a LPF for the woofer. Pretty beefy crossover to just to low pass the tweeters at 4k.

Are you running a factory headunit that has no crossover points?

If the factory woofer is full range it wouldn't make a difference bypassing the crossover.

 

[cptab2002]

Weird that they would have a LPF for the woofer. Pretty beefy crossover to just to low pass the tweeters at 4k.

Are you running a factory headunit that has no crossover points?

If the factory woofer is full range it wouldn't make a difference bypassing the crossover.

Good questions/points. I am running the factory system, which is a head unit, and a 12 channel mopar/alpine amp (500w approx). Unfortunately, there is little to be found online about the amp.

I removed the stock speakers and did not see any external crossover or capacitor on the woofer (at least not next to the harness input). There was, however, a small capacitor glued to the tweeter's magnet. I assume that was it's crossover. All that leads me to think there's a crossover in the amp for the woofer, or it wasn't necessary (perhaps because the factory woofer was full range? And maybe the Kicker can handle the full range given the included crossover?

 

[LsGuy]

Good questions/points. I am running the factory system, which is a head unit, and a 12 channel mopar/alpine amp (500w approx). Unfortunately, there is little to be found online about the amp.

I removed the stock speakers and did not see any external crossover or capacitor on the woofer (at least not next to the harness input). There was, however, a small capacitor glued to the tweeter's magnet. I assume that was it's crossover. All that leads me to think there's a crossover in the amp for the woofer, or it wasn't necessary (perhaps because the factory woofer was full range? And maybe the Kicker can handle the full range given the included crossover?

My experience with the alpine Chrysler systems (working with one now) is the signal is processed in the amplifier per channel. The amp only sends certain frequencies to each speaker. You likely will not see a huge improvement replacing the speakers because they aren't getting full signal. The external crossover is also likely not going to make a difference. Look into the maestro and PAC pro kits. Also the DSR1. Need the grab that signal before it hits the amp while it is full spectrum, run it into a DSP and an aftermarket amp. You'll see a huge improvement.

 

[cptab2002]

Evening everyone. Thank you all for the feedback and suggestions. I planned to hook it up directly to the factory wire with the confidence you gave me. Just as I was about to begin, I wound up hearing back from Kicker customer service. They definitively indicated it was safe to run the woofer directly to the factory wire. After some rewiring, I'm back in business. The lows/mids are tighter/crisper(?) and the highs are clearer and louder as I desired. Is it perfect or all it can be? Of course not. But that would take a DSP and many more mods. But is it an improvement over stock? Most definitely. Thank you all again and have a wonderful 2021!