quick question on backfill

[evamodel00]

Hey all I just had a quick question to ask you since I just purchased everything for a new system, and am on the fence about rear speakers.

I used to have a Honda accord which had a decent sized cabin, but really not too crazy big. Anyways, I had a pair of 6.5'' polk audio DXI components up front, and a 12'' polk subwoofer in the rear. The speakers sounded amazing however I really felt like I was playing them "Too loudly". I don't blast my speakers so loud that the whole neighborhood can hear them, but I do crank it up when I play one of my favorite songs. Anyways, I felt like they got a bit distorted when I turned them up.

The front speakers and amp were all powered by a 4-channel soundstorm amp. I forget the exact power output, but it wasnt a real expensive amplifier.

Anyways, my new system is:

Polk Audio MM 6501 component

10'' champion pioneer subwoofer in a sealed box.

Both of these will be powered by a polk audio PAD4000 class D amplifier.

I planned to use each component to 1 amp channel and then bridge the subwoofer to the remaining 2 channels.

(This is all in a mitsubishi lancer which has a smaller cabin than my accord did)

So I guess my question is, would these components be able to put out some big sound without the risk of damaging them? Or, would you recommend me getting a pair of non-components for the rear doors as well to get the fill? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the staging of only having the front speakers, but I don't want to risk damaging the MM components by cranking the volume.

Another one of the reasons why I think that my DXIs stopped sounding so fantastic was because I raised the bass level on my head unit. I really like the thump thump that you get from the woofers, and maybe the DXIs just couldn't handle it. I have heard that the MMs put out great woofer bass though. The 10'' sub that I got I really just want it to create a full sound. I would have gotten a 12'' but I wanted to conserve space.

Any opinions?

Thank you very much.

-Dan

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[bbeljefe]

That amp and mids are a good match so I wouldn't worry about hurting them so long as your gain and crossover settings are correct. As for playing "woofer bass", mids aren't supposed to do that. They should be crossed over at ~80 Hz and sub bass duties should go strictly to the subwoofer system.

Mid bass is what the components should be playing and it's mid bass that's the hardest thing in car audio to make sound good. You should seriously consider deadening the hell out of your doors, as that will help the midbass more than anything else you can do. And... using rear fill to compensate for crappy mid bass response is like putting a bandaid on a flesh wound... it won't stop the problem, it will only mask it.

Consider spending the money you would otherwise spend on a second speaker pair on some 80 mil deadener and do some work to get the mids sealed up good in your doors and you will have a good sounding front stage with no mud coming from the back. ;-)

 

[evamodel00]

hey thanks a lot! I really appreciate the reply.

I actually have a couple more questions if you have the time which are a little more specific. On the subject of the deadening material, I definitely plan on doing this. I used dynamat on my old accord and it made a huge difference not only in how the audio sounded, but in how warm my car was haha.

Anyways here are my questions:

1. I hear what you are saying about how the woofers should only be playing the mid-bass. So say I set up the crossovers so my 10'' sub is playing

2. My current lancer is a 2013. Do most modern day stock HUs go well with connecting to an amplifier? On my accord I wired everything to an aftermarket HU which was super simple. But I have read that some people needed to purchase new HUs because the quality of the signal(??) (I may be way off) wasn't as good to the amplifier and it diminished the sound quality. I'd like to keep my stock HU if possible. The only one I'd really consider switching to is one that has time alignment, a feature I have always wanted but is unfortunately out of my budget at this moment in time. Unless they have come down from the $300.00 price range in the past 2 years.

Anyways, I appreciate the info and you taking your time to answer.

Thanks again!

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

hey thanks a lot! I really appreciate the reply.
I actually have a couple more questions if you have the time which are a little more specific. On the subject of the deadening material, I definitely plan on doing this. I used dynamat on my old accord and it made a huge difference not only in how the audio sounded, but in how warm my car was haha.

Anyways here are my questions:

1. I hear what you are saying about how the woofers should only be playing the mid-bass. So say I set up the crossovers so my 10'' sub is playing

2. My current lancer is a 2013. Do most modern day stock HUs go well with connecting to an amplifier? On my accord I wired everything to an aftermarket HU which was super simple. But I have read that some people needed to purchase new HUs because the quality of the signal(??) (I may be way off) wasn't as good to the amplifier and it diminished the sound quality. I'd like to keep my stock HU if possible. The only one I'd really consider switching to is one that has time alignment, a feature I have always wanted but is unfortunately out of my budget at this moment in time. Unless they have come down from the $300.00 price range in the past 2 years.

Anyways, I appreciate the info and you taking your time to answer.

Thanks again!

You can easily get an aftermarket HU for under 300 if you willing to go used. I just got a Alpine 9887 which has that and much more for only 225 IIRC, for a friend. A 10inch sub, really ANY well designed sub should have no problems with 80hz bass lines. My current sub is a 21 and last setup was 2 15's, both of which could play MUCH higher than 80hz if you wanted them too, they could actually be used as dedicated midbasses if you could somehow fit them in front of you. While those are both a bit "extreme, getting a fast sound is all about getting proper frequency response and level matching. Deadening your doors will increase your midbass and that in turn makes it much easier to get your subwoofer to blend. Pick up a little extra, and if you find you have any rattles in the rear of the car you can try and stop those too, as those that draw the sound behind you make things sound slow and loose too.

I don't have any experience with the pioneer champions, but unless their inductance is outrageously high, you shouldn't have a problem with 80hz. Which way was the woofer facing? Often if you fire the woofer towards the cabin, unless you seal off the back half of the trunk behind the woofer, you lose upper bass output. If you haven't, try firing toward the trunk latch. That keeps all the bass bouncing off the trunk back to you so it all stays in phase.

 

[evamodel00]

I actually did have my 12'' facing towards the trunk latch, and I'll do that again this time. I guess maybe it was just was not getting enough power.

I did just look around and I actually found quite a few basic HUs with time alignment. I found a basic sony head unit that has time alignment for $70.00. CDXGT575UP, seems to have good reviews.

Is there any sound deadening mat you prefer thats cost efficient?

Thanks again!

 

[evamodel00]

Think this one will get the job done?

Sony CDX-GT575UP CD receiver at Crutchfield.com