I'm destroying tweeters by turning up the treble too much for the volume setting I have. I need a louder front stage for my convertible! I've come to realize that, while liking music loud and clear, I am no audiophile. I am considering installing a 6x9" speaker in my door. Is that a bad thing? What are the drawbacks? Will it get me louder, and clear?
Thanks

 

I would put a set of 6.5 component speakers, amp, you should have more then enough trebble. I have a Set of JL 6.5 components and they are really loud and clear.

 

6.5 compoennts with an amp to push them is the way to go

 

Stay away from 6x9's IMO ... for the most part an inefficient and poor answer to your problem.

Loud (volume) takes power and efficiency .. get yourself a set of components and an amp .. one of the premade mounting options available here on the forums, and enjoy. A 6.5" component set would be my recommendation with some decent power behind it .. at least 75w per side.

The initial outlay of money will be worth the investment and performance return for almost all people .. and especially in a convertible where the somewhat pathetic factory blose system becomes overpowered due to lack of power and inefficient drivers.

G'luck and check out the "what do you run" sticky for a ton of ideas .. from basic to seriously custom.

Fej

 

Thanks for the replies. I actually have a set of the Pioneer 720PRS 6 1/2" components run from a PDX 4.150. I'm post #84 in the "What do you run" section. I've managed to cook both tweeters, not at the same time, with very safe gain settings. I think my need for volume/treble makes me push the speaker beyond its limit. Any other suggestions?
Thanks for the help!

 

u need something that can handle some more power, also aim ur tweets can make a huge diff

 

Depends which JL speakers they are. I have JL C5-650's getting 150w to each channel. They are loud and sweet. Stay with the high end. ZR or C5's.

 

I'm wondering if you're trying to overcome a hearing problem... not a volume problem.

Most the volume and power comes from the midrange anyway... Run just tweeters, you'll see what I mean.

Also, adding amped rear speakers will do wonders for volume (but not for sound quality...)

You can have your gain all the way down, but if you crank that treble up, your amp will start pushing a lot of power, clip, and, as you saw, eat your tweeters.

 

Gain settings are not the only thing in question, if you run your headunit into clipping then you are amplifying a clipped signal, and obviously the result can be blown speakers.

I ran the same exact scenario (720prs, 4.150) in my truck to ear bleed volumes without any problems whatsoever. In fact the last meet I was actually able to attend, I got a ton of compliments and a lot of shock as to what was installed and the quality (clear/clean/loud/ good stage) of the playback.

How old are you? As we age some of the first things to go is our high frequency hearing, and where we stop hearing at (starts at around 16/18khz and works down as we age).

You can certainly buy a more efficient tweeter (read can play louder under the same power) and go from there. Check out the Seas Neo ($60 for a pair on Madisound, the part number escapes me).

G'luck
Fej

 

Thanks to you guys for the constructive information/suggestions. The dirty amplified signal may be my issue, as most of my playback source is downloaded MP3s from an iPod. My hearing is checked annually and I've expeienced no shift in threshold, otherwise I too would have thought I was going deaf. How would those Seas tweeters work wih the Pioneer x-over? I will also explore my mounting options, once I get new tweets. Thanks Guys!

 

seas tweeters are 4ohm, Pioneer are 8ohm. They aren't compatible with the crossovers.

However you MIGHT be able to run FOUR total Seas tweeters, by running a pair in series off each crossover channel.

 

Sorry, I am so used to having an active set up I did not think of the impedance issue.

There are some 4 ohm options available that would work with the crossovers provided in the set. You can check out Madisound for auto sound or search by 4 ohm tweeters in their store. This might not be a bad option http://www.madisound.com/catalog/pro...roducts_id=633

Glad to hear you are getting your hearing checked ... wind and road noise are huge obstacles to overcome in car audio installations, and the convertible just makes it 5x worse. What HU are you using right now? If it is an Alpine for example ... about 75-80% of max volume (say 27 out of 35) would be the max signal that the HU could send unclipped to the amp. Using this number reset your gains accordingly and keep that HU number away from max.

G'luck
Fej

 

I think if you plug in a 4ohm to the crossover, it will be crossed at 1200 hz...

 

Kale,

You sure that the 720prs tweets are 8 ohm? I never tested my set, but I did not think that they were.

Obviously if they are, then the crossover was designed for an 8ohm impedance, which would be bad for a 4 ohm replacement as you mentioned. I just don't think they are.

If so, lots of 8 ohm options to replace them with at madisound.

Fej

 

Yeah pretty sure its designed for 8ohm. I actually picked up a PRS crossover set when I ran my 8 ohm dyn tweets + 4 ohm mids until I had the hardware to go active.

 

Good information. I am really digging on the idea of having 4 tweets for some reason, but I will look into my options through Madisound. Thanks Guys! I'll keep you posted.

 

Ordered 4 SEAS Prestige 27TAFNC/G tonite. I look forward to getting and hearing them.
So, if I connect 4 should mount the left/right pair close to each other or can I put one in each door and one in the door handle or a-pillar?

Thanks

 

You want wicked highs? HORNS FTW!



If you go active, try a set of USD Waveguides crossed over at 1000 Hz and up. The only problem then will be the lack of mids and lows.... unless you run 12" mid/midbass drivers and either 15" or 18" bass drivers. The horns are so damned efficient... it's hard to match them up to a decent set of drivers.

FWIW: I have the same speakers as you do, and I haven't had ANY problems with the mids or tweeters. Then again, I am running an Xtant 603 at 75 watts per channel. I can crank my system up to full volume with zero distortion and have yet to run into any problems. (I agree with Fej... it's crazy loud and clear as hell!)

If you are smoking the tweeters, then I would guess that you are clipping the amp and destroying the tweeters... or pushing so much power that the tweeters simply cannot keep up. You realize that they are only rated for 50 watts, right?

As for mounting locations for the tweeters... understand that two different mounting points will cause problems with time alignment/path length. Sometimes you can get away with mounting a set aimed directly, then have an additional set aimed for 'ambiance' at a higher point in the car... but with some type of adjustment like an L-Pad to be able to adjust the output.

Sounds to me like you need two sets of speakers... one for 'quality' when you are cruising, another set for when you are top-down with the wind in your face. (Think: Focal vs. Marshall Stack!)

Mark

 

I would keep them as close as possible.

 

Thanks. Will keep them together.