[Car_Guy]

Well heres my setup

older JVC Head unit
Running through the Premium Sound AMP
Premium sound rear speakers
New Infinity Kappa 692.7i front speakers

I picked the kappa speakers from reading these forums and some other sources and they sounded like they were really good, and they look like they should be sitting next to the stock ones.

I just put in the 6x9's up front and was expecting for a little more bass. I was also hoping that these new speakers would allow me to listen to my music louder without distortion, but so far, they sound the same.

Even when I set the stereo to all the 6x9s, then all the original speakers, it is hard to tell a difference, they both start to distort at the same levels.

What can be done to fix this? Can anything be done?

Thanks

 

[Trunk Monkey]

There are a LOT of variables when talking about car stereos.

Is your amp hooked to the front, rear, or all speakers? You need to calibariate your amplifier. go to www.crutchfield.com and read their tech articles. You'll find a lot of help there. (See below)

You need to set the input sensitivity on you amp.

See item 10 on page 5 here: http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/ca/learningcenter/car/pdfs/amp_guide.pdf

I hope this helps.

 

[sinhumane]

if you want bass, just go get like a 10 inch sub and about a 250 watt amp. i got a visionik package from there. 300 watts, 10 inch. got it for fifty bucks. doesnt pound the hardest, but its enough to balance out my inside speakers. i set the treble up on those, and i can turn it upo to 40-45 wth zero distortion (highest it goes is 50) my intereior is a pair of pioneer 6 1/2" 4-way speakers with custom mounting adaptors, 220 watt max.

 

[thewishkah]

I will tell you right now its that "premium" amp lol. I had the premium sound in my explorer and after I ran all new wires for the speakers (14g) because I was hooking them up to an amp, but I hooked them up to the HU first and it sounded so much better then through the premium amp. My suggestion to you is if you dont feel like rewiring the speakers to the HU that you buy an amp bypass kit (simple plug and play) and then use you HU equalizers and you will be much happier.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Just get one of these.

Lyle: "... Speakers so loud they blow womens cloths off."

from The Italian Job 2003

 

[Car_Guy]

Yeah i had a feeling it was that premium sound amp (i've read before that it wasn't that great)

I'll have to try unhooking it sometime.

I know a sub would add a lot of base, i love my home theater one, i just don't feel like putting that much money into my stereo, i was just thinking that some good front speakers should make a big difference in bass and sound quality.

Thanks

 

[liquid134]

well if you want more bass, your not going to get the best bass with an oval speaker (aka 6x9 or 6x8) your going to want a round speaker. now im not saying ur going to get no bass at all, i run right now in front alpine type r component speakers (6x8) and they dont sound bad at all. def. alot better but still not the bass response i wanted, since i cant add subs......but eventually ill upgrade the rear too.

 

[sinhumane]

ummmm.. did u not see how much i spent on that sub kit? fifty bucks isnt that bad. then turn the treble up a little bit more on your cabin speakers. easy peasey. why cant oyu add subs liquid?


OMG!!!! POST #300!!!!!! w00t! *does a little dance*

 

[ben_cline]

OMG!!!! POST #300!!!!!! w00t! *does a little dance*

That's nothing...I hit 6000 last week.

But ya, it's your factory amp, scrap it. Imagine you want to run equipment for a concert, say, Metallica. You don't hook it straight to the outlet, instead, you have a regular $2 power strip there. Is that going to hurt your power? Yes. It would probably melt the power strip. Another example would be wiring that system up to a home receiver. Your home receiver only puts out 50wt. x2, and your big system puts out 5000wts. You aren't going to get that to come out of your home receiver. Your premium amp cannot output 50wt. x4.

I just bought a pair of used MTX Thunder8000 subs for $90 shipped off someone on here. I also bought a used Orion 2400D amp. Yes, a little overkill, but I'm going for looks and expandability, and it was only $255 shipped. I got it on CarStereos.org . One of the guys I work with got an old 8" Kicker Comp sub and box for $35, inverted the sub for space, and I sold him an old Sony amp for $30. He already had wire. So there you go, $65 and he has an amp and sub. The wire kit probably cost him $20 at Wal-Mart. Decent kits, but I HATE the fuses. I bought them when they had the sealed BUSS-style fuses. These Maxi ones suck.

Get a single sub, cheap. Build a box, and then get a cheap amp, which I'm sure there are tons of them out there. For material for a box, just go get a sheet of 3/4" MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). Doesn't cost much to build. I think the most I've spent is about $40 on a box, and that includes paint. I probably actually spent $50 on two boxes, since I built two at the same time.

And then there's my 10" equivalent to the 15" box, which is about 1.75'cu instead of 4'cu.

Meant for a JBL W10GTi, but I didn't like the sound.

 

[Maxion$Mulla$]

The technichians at cercuit city hooked my premiums sound up with my alpine deck polk audio speakers for me and let me tell you talk about loud. Id like to know what how he did it, as soon as i find out ill let you guys know. l8ter

 

[The Great Obucina]

its your headunit. get a better one with a "better" EQ. Also/or, find an earlier SC and put the JBL amp it comes with in place of the premium sound amp.......

A good headunit and 4 channel will do wonders for your sound system...as will a good quality sub and a small D class pushing it.

if you dont want to spend alot, hunt for a 250watt JL D class and a quality 10inch, such as an Alpine S Type.

 

[OnYrMrk]

I understand your delimma, you don't want to spend a huge amount of money on your system. The consensus is your amp isn't up to snuff. They are probably right. Here is my suggestion.

You have stock speakers in the rear, excellent, not a problem there, and you have some infinity's up front..again, good choice. So the only other thing that is lacking is amplification. Your have two options.

option 1: You could buy a headunit like one poster said that use the HU's output for your amplification, but sadly, that won't work. Even though it says 50wx4 on the front of the faceplate, that is ILS or "If Lightning Strikes". More than likely you are getting only about 12-15w/channel.

option 2: You could junk your current amplifier, and buy a true 4 channel amp. One that puts out a minimum of 50w x 4 to distribute the power evenly thoughout the cabin. You would have to run your own wires through the doors and through to the rear speakers, and you would have to have an amp kit, but....the sound will be much more to your liking. There is always time for a subwoofer, but some of us just don't need the deep bass one puts out. Try this option, I am sure it is exactly what you were looking for.

Joe W.
Section3 President
Team Wolfpack Audio

 

[silverbird97]

I'll have to try unhooking it sometime.

Ok so we can just unhook the amp and it will play through the speakers like normal? If not where can I get one of the bypasses? I went to best buy, curcut city, crutchfield, searched yahoo, ask jeeves, you name it I searched it. I even searched on here for where to get it and what it even looks like but could not find it. Mabie im not searching for the right thing. So if someone could lead me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

 

[Icarus]

silverbird:

Ford harness w/amp bypass

 

[Car_Guy]

Way late reply, but removing that factory premium sound amp really made a big improvement. I should probably look into a good amp, but i doubt i will.

Thanks for the help.

 

[silverbird97]

Yea it was but It really does sound way better than the stock amp. Thanks guys.