audio seems unbalanced or something

cnstarz · 08-05-2008, 05:13 PM

i dunno what it is, but it feels like the audio is really unbalanced in my xb. i can make it sound great up front, but then the ppl in the back will miss out on some of the mid and a lot of the higher frequencies. if i adjust the fader so that it's aimed more in favor of the back seats, then the front misses out on some of the bass and the higher frequencies sound more "canny". its like i cant win. i like a lot of bass, but not so much that it drowns out everything else. also, the bass doesn't seem to have that really nice deep rich tone. it sounds as tho you can kinda hear the cone bouncing, or like a really deep fart sometimes. rofl, i dont know how else to explain it; maybe i just have the volume up too high for the stock speakers. perhaps its just the eclipse avn6620 doing a bad job? or maybe my ears are inside out?

i'm thinking of replacing the rear speakers with 6 or 6.5 inch component system. i'm thinking either Blaupunkt GTc652 or Alpine SPS-600C. i'm not really an audio enthusiast but i can easily figure out how to install speakers and run wires, provided someone point me to some reading material to help me better understand. as said earlier, i have the eclipse avn6620 headunit. would i need an amp for either one of these component systems? how would i know if i needed an amp?

trebor · 08-05-2008, 08:24 PM

Well you don't need an amp but you will be much happier with the sound if you did get one. For a smallish/not to complicated system, I'd suggest a 4channel amp to run a front component set and a set of rear coaxials, AND another amp to run a subwoofer of your choosing in the back.

OR...

If you want to run speakers off of your deck and it has a built in crossover then use it to high-pass your stock mids(or aftermarket mids).......then add an amp and subwoofer. Either way I think you'll need a sub of some sort to get what your looking for, even a small one will improve the sound.

awinter · 08-05-2008, 09:34 PM

Check the owner's manual if you're talking about the stock head unit. On the 1st Gen, the radio was pre-programmed for the xA, xB and tC with the default setting as xA. It made a world of difference when you made sure that is was set-up for the correct vehicle.

cnstarz · 08-05-2008, 09:49 PM

thanks! for now, i think i'm gonna just stick with the component system - replace the rear speakers and mount the tweeters somewhere on the rear doors within a foot's range of the drivers. in fact, i'll probly put the tweeters in the same place as eviljack:

i've thought of getting a small sub of some sort. no bigger than 8". that's about as much bass i like and i dont want to lose any cargo area. i'm toying with the idea of adding a 6.5" sub in each c-pillar storage area. i think that would give me the perfect amount of bass that i want, if not more.

could someone point me to some articles on car audio? i'd like to learn how ohms, wattage, blah blah blah are all factored when planning something like this.

texicali_xB2 · 08-05-2008, 10:40 PM

well, if you are only going to be working with component sets, you shouldnt have to worry to much about resistance (ohms). almost every brand of speaker runs at 4 ohms, and every brand of amp is stable at 4 ohms. (the only exception i know of off the top of my head is that the infinity kappas are 2 ohm.)
when it comes to wattage, ONLY pay attention to continuous wattage. (also referred to as RMS or thermal)
many cheaper brands mark their amps as say a 600 watt amp, but that is the amps maximum potential, not its continuous power output.
match the rms power of the speaker with the rms power of the amp at the same resistance, and voila, you're good to go.

note: as a general rule, it is considered acceptable to buy an amp that is up to 15% more powerful than what the speakers rate, but you really don't want to buy an amp that is less powerful than the speakers rated handling. and i can tell you why that is, if you want some more detail

cnstarz · 08-06-2008, 12:50 AM

so if each subwoofer/speaker is rated at 100 watts rms, then i should get an amp rated between 200 and 230 watts rms (100w + 100w + 30w), right? provided i actually need the amp.

texicali_xB2 · 08-06-2008, 08:12 PM

that is correct
you would probably be safe up to 250 watts, just be careful with that volume knob!

cnstarz · 08-06-2008, 09:44 PM

ah cool cool. i have one more question.

my avn6620 head unit has an rms power output of 15w x 4(channels?). the alpine sps-600c component system has an rms power range of 2-80w(i assume per speaker?). does that mean that the speakers will operate fine, but wont perform at their best without an external amp?

texicali_xB2 · 08-07-2008, 03:18 AM

exactly. i have a pair of type r components in my truck that demand 100 watts. but then my amp fried so i am running them off the HU (head unit). without the amp, they dont even sound as loud as the stock speaks: better sq, but not as loud. i would say at least get a little 50x4 amp. if you plan on craking the tunes, fully power those suckers. but to start, it is totally fine to run the speakers off the HU.
even if you are clipping the shit out of the built in HU amp, it wont damage the speakers

cnstarz · 08-07-2008, 12:11 PM

awesome, thanks bro.

FrankH · 08-09-2008, 03:33 PM

Let me try and help by saying that too much power is better than not enough power. If your speakers are underpowered, they are more likely to blow than when they are over powered. When over powered, the speakers run tight and clean but when underpowered, they run very sloppy and move excesively.. causing failures..

-Frank

texicali_xB2 · 08-09-2008, 04:54 PM

sort of, you're on the right track.
running speakers on power less than the rms is not damaging at all. you do it all the time when you turn down the volume knob. its when you try to run your speakers at their rated power with an amp that doesnt have enough power. then what happens is the amp starts to clip and sends a distorted signal to the speaker. which even still isnt a problem until the amp starts sending a clipped signal with more power than the speaker is supposed to handle. for example, it would be virtually impossible to damage a 1000 watt sub with a 200 watt amp because even if the signal was fully clipped, it would only be sending 400 watts (it would sound like shit, but it wouldnt hurt the speaker)
now if you were running an 800 watt amp to a 1000 watt sub and then sent the amp into clipping, you would be sending 1600 watts to the sub and damage it
make sense?

FrankH · 08-09-2008, 06:10 PM

Ya that helps, thank Tex..

cnstarz · 08-09-2008, 07:28 PM

seems like someone could invent a sleeve that blocks electrical interference. shielded twisted pair cat5 and fiber optic cable are both resistant against interference like that because the wires are protected.

texicali_xB2 · 08-09-2008, 10:54 PM

well, if you could actually invent something that would do so efficiently, you would be a millionaire

cnstarz · 08-09-2008, 11:07 PM

i'll get right on it!

Exposure101 · 09-26-2008, 10:28 PM

The easiest place I have found to mount a tweeter in the back and have it easy to route wires and have it sound decent is in the C Pillar between the the AIRBAG symbol at the top and the cargo/storage are thing up at the top....put the crossover in the trunk and then run the wires to the speaker and the tweeter