Speaker Troubleshooting

[asdaven]

Hi- I just installed new speakers in my truck and am having problems. Basically, I want to upgrade my stock stereo system without modifications. So, I don't want to do a sub or an amp. So, I started with a new JVC headunit I got several years back with the stock speakers, which Best Buy installed. Now, I decided I wanted to put quality speakers in to get better sound. So, basically I want to get the best sound I can get from an aftermarket headunit and aftermarket speakers. There are four speakers in my truck. The front two are 6.5's. The back two are 6x8's. So, I got Alpine SPS-600's for the front and for the backs got the TS-D6802R's, which sound good. Although I wired the backs out of phase with the fronts, but wired them the right way, which tightened up the sound now that they are in phase. But, im having a problem with the Alpine SPS-600's. Now, everyone raves about these. Basically on certain songs, the midranges are distorting and on certain songs it dosen't matter if I turn the volume or bass boost way down, it still does it. That helps it minimumly. But, many songs I do have to turn the bass boost down and sometimes the volume yet it seems like it can handle the bass no problem. But, throw lots of bass, mids, and highs at them at the same time, they distort. Im not sure if distortion is the right word to describe it, some body mentioned the word "harsh". It dosen't seem to be clipping from the headunit and the speakers are rated like 80 watts rms and the headunit produces 50 watts max. I was also told it may just be a matter of breaking in the speakers and stretching the surrounds by using them. I was getting a "clicking" noise when there was a lot of bass, but that seems to have gone away. Or thats because i ve been more careful with the bass boost and volume lately. But, they should be able to handle it, provided the headunit dosen't start clipping, which I don't think it is. Should I try bass blockers? The bass dosen't really seem to distort, its the midranges. Theres also a possibility that the woofer cones are hitting the back of my door speaker grilles, theres like a little less than a 1/8 inch clearance. I don't know how much the speakers move around. But, I was able to turn the volume way up with my old stock speakers, now I can't. But, these speakers produce a lot more bass and are louder at the lower volumes. I guess they draw more power. But, basically it sounds like when someone is trying to record a concert with there cell phone or something and the tiny microphone distorts. Its something along those lines but not quite as bad. I don't think the speakers are blown because one they are brand new, two I don't see any visible damage to the cone, and three they perform perfectly at high volume on some songs. The back Pioneer TS-D6802's don't have these problems. But, maybe cuz theyres bigger speakers? I don't know.

Thanks for any help-

Click to read more...

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

that's a long post...

 

[asdaven]

Yes I know, Im trying to fully describe the speaker problem im having.

 

[ahole-ic]

Set your crossovers in your head unit. Turn HPF on and set it as high as possible at first. Turn the volume up to where you want to be. Then turn the HPF down one setting at a time until the popping comes back. Turn it back up one and you're done. If your sound is muddy, your head unit is clipping. It might say 50 watts per channel max but it's more like 15 wrms. You have mids... not subs. They don't put out a lot of bass. Nothing you can do about it.

 

[asdaven]

Hi-

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, im new to this, what are crossovers and HPF? How do I know if my headunit has this? Another concern I had was the speaker wire. I was told just to use the stock speaker wire if I was not doing a sub or amp. could that cause problem? I made soldered connections and wrapped them tight in electrical tape.

Thanks again-

 

[ahole-ic]

Hi-Thanks for the reply. Sorry, im new to this, what are crossovers and HPF? How do I know if my headunit has this? Another concern I had was the speaker wire. I was told just to use the stock speaker wire if I was not doing a sub or amp. could that cause problem? I made soldered connections and wrapped them tight in electrical tape.

Thanks again-

a HPF or high pass filter is a form of crossover. A crossover is either a capacitor or inductor. It significantly reduces the volume above or below a certain frequency. In this case, you are trying to keep some bass out of your mids. You select a high pass filter which means it allows everything ABOVE(high) a certain frequency to pass while filtering everything below. A low pass crossover does the opposite. You will open the manual that came with your head unit or find it online and read about where your Equalization or crossover options are. I don't mean to confuse the two here as they are not the same thing, but we can make either work here.

 

[asdaven]

I will look further into the manual if the head unit has that. If not, I just have equalization. Some body mentioned to me installing high pass filters on the speaker wires?

 

[ahole-ic]

I will look further into the manual if the head unit has that. If not, I just have equalization. Some body mentioned to me installing high pass filters on the speaker wires?

Well the wires are actually fine. If you're running head unit power, those wires are perfect. If you have equalization that's just fine. Turn everything below 120 hz down significantly. The farther below 120hz you go, the more you need to turn it down. Your first step should be at least -3 if not -6. If the popping doesn't stop then you can move the point you start stepping down a little higher until you reach about 200hz. You should always keep stepping down progressively as you go down. So if you DO use 200hz. Go -3 at 200. Then you might have a 160 or 150 hz option. Go -6. 120hz -9. 80hz -12. You get the pattern. If that helped but didn't solve the problem, then decrease each by 2. So 200hz would then be -5 etc. that is IF it works like an eq.

 

[cebbeler7 10+ year member]

are you sure all speakers are in phase?