Speakers

[Eddie6th]

Hi,i know there will be a lot of you into sound systems in your vehicle.

I have a '93 civic hatch.It originally had a cassette/radio 25w per channel and two front speakers(doors) 12w each and no tweeters.(all factory spec.)

I was really happy with the sound,(i'm not mad about big sound systems for the car).

The speakers were the paper type,normal.But they were starting to break,so I changed them.

I then put in a kenwood CD/radio 50w/(4ohm) per channel and replaced these speakers with a pair of 'Infinity' 5012's. They are 45w each (4ohm).(with inbuilt tweeters).

(I think the size is 4"). okay,i know these speakers are small,but the sound really *****.They distort at a hint of bass. The old set-up was better.

I reckon this is the same for car audio entertainment: For hi-fi's and studios,you normally put in a smaller speaker wattage than the output of the amp.This is because you can drive the speakers,whereas,if the opposite is done,you can turn up the volume too much creating amp distortion which damages the speakers.

So,I don't know if this applies to cars?

I reckon that these infinity speakers are better used in combination with other speakers?

Also,I checked the phasing,and I wired it correctly.

Anyone have any suggestions as how to get a good sound(like i had before),by replacing just these 2 front speakers? Even a different type of speaker?

Thanks.Ed.

[MrCLRider]

Re: Speakers

Its always the smallest of things that can screw a sound system up. These new speakers, did they happen to have any type of in line resistor that needed to be inline with the positive wire? This resistor would help limit the amount of bass allowed to the woofer of the co-axial speaker.

Another thing you mentioned was that you installed a new radio, is there a possibilty that a inline filter might need to be activated within the radio to possibly reduce the low end output from the unit itself?

Alot of car manufacturers will have audio setups built to work perfectly together, and once going into the land of car audio aftermarket, its a whole new game. Please don't hesitate to ask questions about what I have just stated...if it matters, I was MECP certified through a shop called Stereo Sales based out of Tallahassee FL for 3 years..

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Its always the smallest of things that can screw a sound system up. These new speakers, did they happen to have any type of in line resistor that needed to be inline with the positive wire? This resistor would help limit the amount of bass allowed to the woofer of the co-axial speaker.

-That,I'll need to find out.Do I need to physically check or can the manual mention this? (Infinity 5012i)

Another thing you mentioned was that you installed a new radio, is there a possibilty that a inline filter might need to be activated within the radio to possibly reduce the low end output from the unit itself?

-The unit is Kenwood KDC-W3537.I have tried playing around with the set-up in the past. Speaker size/type.didn't make any difference. Filters--I don't know?

Alot of car manufacturers will have audio setups built to work perfectly together, and once going into the land of car audio aftermarket, its a whole new game. Please don't hesitate to ask questions about what I have just stated...if it matters, I was MECP certified through a shop called Stereo Sales based out of Tallahassee FL for 3 years..

That will help me out a lot.At least you've got good experience in this field. These infinity speakers weren't cheap either---about 80 euros.
I think what's making the difference here is,the old speakers had no tweeters and had quite a nice warm sound.these new ones are quite harsh.I actually have to reduce the mid gain and the treble way below their midway points,it's that bad. i understand being small speakers,that the bass will be limited,but the old set-up sounded really good.

Keep in touch....Any help would be great here....I suffered too long,my ears can't take this kind of punishment!!!!

[MrCLRider]

Re: Speakers

Look at page six of the manual, it states speaker size..

Page 8, make sure that your Bass Boost is all the way down..

this is where I was getting that from:

http://dl.owneriq.net/5/55b215c8-0da8-4c61-9a49-a84c51d1d34d.pdf

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Okay.The manual I have is identical to the adobe page

Okay,I know this one.I've tried the bass boost in all positions,and normally leave it Off or Level 1.

Page 6...Is that the kenwood manual or the infinity manual.If it's the kenwood manual,it mentions something about DAB.........etc.

The infinity manual spec. says 5-1/4" 2-way
4 ohms
45w rms,135w peak

What do you reckon?

[MrCLRider]

Re: Speakers

The DAB looks to be an additional tuner module you can purchase..I don't think it relivent to you problem..

On page 9 I would set the speaker type to the SP 5/4 option..

How are you testing that they are in the correct phase?

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Thanks.I know this part too. 5/4 setting for speaker type.

How are you testing that they are in the correct phase?

Okay.I used to be involved with studio work and recording etc. So i have got various test CD's for checking frequencies and phasing. The test on the CD plays a certain frequency(hissing) and if the speakers are wired the oppsite way round,you can hear that they are out of phase.I tried it on the car and they were okay.I also tried the left/right test to check that the wiring was correct.

[MrCLRider]

Re: Speakers

Thats a cool way to do it, I just use a 9volt battery, useing wires behind the radio I apply them to the terminals on the batter, if the speaker is hooked up the correct way at the wires in their location, the speaker should push out if wired correctly, in sucking it the polarities are wrong..

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Hi,I think your way is even cooler! A bit of practicality.

If you're interested,you can get them from any music store that sells recording gear.I don't think you'll get in hi-fi stores.But today?

A wee bit on the fly.If you're looking for a good amp for your house,try and get a Hafler diamond series(not sure about direct speaker attatchment).Its got mosfet tech.It's an excellent amp.I love Denon stuff aswell.

Really good speakers are Dynaudio/acoustics.They're really studio monitors,but the sound quality for a house is awsome.(Genelec's are just way,way too expensive).

So what do you think is the problem with the infinity's.....Wrong type of speaker?

I've got to go offline in a mo.If you're on tomorrow night,you can let me know what you think?

[MrCLRider]

Re: Speakers

Its really hard for me to mentally troubleshoot what might be going on..wish I could be of more help, but I'm tapped out..

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Its really hard for me to mentally troubleshoot what might be going on..wish I could be of more help, but I'm tapped out..

Yeah,it's difficult to describe somethings. I think what the problem is this:

Most modern car's today have more than 2 speakers.

A lot of people like putting additional equipment in their cars.

I think that these speakers,are really aimed at people who have more than just 2 speakers in their cars.When all these speakers come into play,you get a rich blend of high and low frequencies.

I don't know,but I think that could be the case here.As far as I know,Infinity is a pretty good make.

I think my only option is to change them for something more normal?possibly minus the tweeters?

Do you know of any decent brand of speaker that could apply here?

[MrCLRider]

Re: Speakers

Where your at, your best bet would be to ask the salesman at your local high end car audio shop and see what they have to say, and if you want, come back and ask me about what they said, and i'll try my best to help ya out.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think the radio that you purchased is on the lower end of what is available from that brand. My thing with car audio is, I don't care what kind of speaker you purchase for your car, if the speaker doesn't have a clean signal to reproduce, it will just sound like a **** speaker. The radio is the heart of the system, spend the extra money on the radio and you might find that you really enjoy the Infinity speakers that you purchased...

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Thanks MrCl,I'll go and do that.This was a budget model of CD/radio player,so I reckon you're probably right there.

I'll need to wait 'till next week(exams finishing soon),before i can go see a salesman at a car audio store,but I'll get back to you as soon as i have done this and let you know what happens...

Thanks for the info so far! i'll return the info in this post/thread next week.

eddie.

[Eddie6th]

Re: Speakers

Where your at, your best bet would be to ask the salesman at your local high end car audio shop and see what they have to say, and if you want, come back and ask me about what they said, and i'll try my best to help ya out.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think the radio that you purchased is on the lower end of what is available from that brand. My thing with car audio is, I don't care what kind of speaker you purchase for your car, if the speaker doesn't have a clean signal to reproduce, it will just sound like a **** speaker. The radio is the heart of the system, spend the extra money on the radio and you might find that you really enjoy the Infinity speakers that you purchased...

will do,thanks!

[bmwx5]

Re: Speakers

Hey Eddie ... I dont know how your setup is all stock equipment other then your upgrade of speakers ... but I had setup an elaborate system on my old 1996 Toyota 4 Runner ... I had a 12" Rockford Sub with 2 Infinity and 2 MB Quart midrange speakers ( all 4 spkrs 4 1/4 " ) then topped it off with 2 Boston Acoustics tweeters ... anyhow I use a crossover to split the frequencies so that only low frequencies would got to the subwoofer , midrange frequencies to the midrange speakers , and then the high frequencies to the tweeters . Of course all this powered by a 4 channel amp and a 7 level equalizer ... anyhow I dont know if the reason your speakers distort at high levels because the low frequencies are too much for your speakers to handle. You may need to check the specs on your speakers to see what range the capability is .