Speakers Lack Bass!

[RebelDan]

Hi everyone, I've got some Kicker KS60's 6-1/2" speakers in the rear sound bar in my Jeep and basically they lack almost all bass. The stock speakers had substantially more bass than these and they were the typical garbage 5-1/4" factory speakers. I know it's not a wiring issue as I've had them hooked up to the stereo and my amp and they perform exactly the same. Now I know enclosures are important so that may be a potential cause...? The sound bar in a Jeep Wrangler is basically a hollow steel box with two chambers (one for each speaker) and covered in vinyl or something to look pretty. Could this be an issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I attached a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.

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[bbeljefe]

Kicker drivers need a lot of air space behind them in order to make bass... even the mids. You removed 5.25" speakers and installed 6.5" speakers into a volume of air that's designed for a 5.25" speaker. There's not much chance you're going to hear anything resembling bass from them now.

But just in case... make sure you don't have one of the speakers wired out of phase.

 

[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

Like mentioned above check wiring just to make sure they're in phase. Something that happens a lot when people upgrade to aftermarket speakers is they think they lose all the nice bass/midbass over stock and this happens for two main reasons. One is most of the bass you hear from those cheap factory drivers is actually distortion and the lower frequencies that we perceive as bass. The second is that most aftermarket speakers don't sound all that great running off the factory headunits power. They need power from an amp to meet potential. The airspace as mentioned above could also be an issue.

 

[argenis69 10+ year member]

Hi everyone, I've got some Kicker KS60's 6-1/2" speakers in the rear sound bar in my Jeep and basically they lack almost all bass. The stock speakers had substantially more bass than these and they were the typical garbage 5-1/4" factory speakers. I know it's not a wiring issue as I've had them hooked up to the stereo and my amp and they perform exactly the same. Now I know enclosures are important so that may be a potential cause...? The sound bar in a Jeep Wrangler is basically a hollow steel box with two chambers (one for each speaker) and covered in vinyl or something to look pretty. Could this be an issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I attached a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.

Kicker drivers need a lot of air space behind them in order to make bass... even the mids. You removed 5.25" speakers and installed 6.5" speakers into a volume of air that's designed for a 5.25" speaker. There's not much chance you're going to hear anything resembling bass from them now.
But just in case... make sure you don't have one of the speakers wired out of phase.

I believe the airspace issue is true.

 

[RebelDan]

I have them powered by an amp and they hit pretty hard (they shake the sound bar) but audibly they're pathetic. I figured there'd be enough air space as the entire sound bar is an enclosure except for a small portion where the dome light is. Could anyone give me a very rough estimate as to how much air space they might need?

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Air space is irrelevant. Speakers arent supposed to play bass. The reason your factory speakers sound like they had bass is due to trickery and distortion.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

These vehicles desperately need help from a subwoofer. What you could try is putting full coverage, or as much as you can reach up in there, of a good vibration damper mat. The vibration of the soundbar is a waste of energy that you want to refocus into audible bass. Some speaker box acoustic fill might do a little bit of good as well.

 

[RebelDan]

I've got two 10" subs packed in the back so I've got plenty of bass from the subs, but the speakers lack so much that they don't produce the higher bass that subs don't do.

 

[Turbogus]

In my Jeep 'Black Betty' a '78 CJ 5

I built and installed (as I did with a '77 three decades ago) a tool box in place of the ineffectual rear seat.

Primarily this was to address the factory spare tire mount being attached to the sheet metal of non-tailgated CJ's. Put too large a tire on there or encounter extended peiods of washboard and the stress would tear the sheet metal at the corners. Shortly thereafter I installed a pair of Pioneer 6x9's (I know, I know Pioneer speakers ****) to the front and the bass has been wonderful. I've flirted with cutting holes for bass tubes (diaduct fashion like Pinnacle speaker boxes) but given how strong the bass is with this setup it's low on my to do list. Granted they're 6x9's not 6.5"'ers but the expansive cavity (save for my tool bag and winch equipment) is what's at play I suppose.

 

[RebelDan]

That's a pretty good idea you had for your CJ and 6x9's in my opinion are much better than 6.5 speakers. I have a TJ now but before this I had a YJ and I had 6x9's mounted on the fenders and they were spectacular.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

I've got two 10" subs packed in the back so I've got plenty of bass from the subs, but the speakers lack so much that they don't produce the higher bass that subs don't do.

I know what you mean. One of my customers has the same type of setup, and his 10s are sealed. Zero midbass. He has not come back asking me to change anything.

 

[RebelDan]

YES! It's so annoying, there's just a terrible flat spot.

I know what you mean. One of my customers has the same type of setup, and his 10s are sealed. Zero midbass. He has not come back asking me to change anything.

 

[jc4def]

Hi everyone, I've got some Kicker KS60's 6-1/2" speakers in the rear sound bar in my Jeep and basically they lack almost all bass. The stock speakers had substantially more bass than these and they were the typical garbage 5-1/4" factory speakers. I know it's not a wiring issue as I've had them hooked up to the stereo and my amp and they perform exactly the same. Now I know enclosures are important so that may be a potential cause...? The sound bar in a Jeep Wrangler is basically a hollow steel box with two chambers (one for each speaker) and covered in vinyl or something to look pretty. Could this be an issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated, and I attached a picture so you can see what I'm talking about.

Honestly it may be the speakers... I had bought some kicker 6x9s (can't remember model number but they were the 450 watt peak ones) and they had almost no bass I switched to powerbass 2xl 6x9s and was so impressed I bought a pair of 6x8s and made some custom enclosures behind each seat (in a miata) paired with my 10 it sounds brilliant. The speakers are wired at 1.5 ohms with around 100 watts rms going to each speaker

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Try reversing the phase on one of them for shits and giggles, also, double check the HPF settings on HU/AMP if any, make sure they are set low enough.

 

[NIHL8ION]

I have a 99' Wrangler I use for work and I just replaced the blown stock POS 5.25's with a set of old Polk Audio 5.25 coax speakers I had literally collecting dust in my garage. YES - This did help out and sounds much better than stock, however... This "sound Bar" setup in these is anything but a "GOOD Speaker Enclosure" Results will vary with different speakers, but nothing you put in there will ever sound spectacular or have the full range of sound you are looking for //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif