[b][red]Look at my last post for the update[/red][/b]

I just bought new speakers for my SUV. My SUV came with (stock) 2 front tweeters,2 front 5 1/4" speakers and 2 back 6x9" speakers.

My question is this:
I bought all new speakers and im keeping the stock tweeters in. the new 5 1/4" came with Voice condensers, do you really think i need to put them on? On the directions it wasn’t clear if i had to or not. it just said if i have a tweeter crossover i should put them on. im not sure if i have a crossover or the tweeters are hooked up direct to the stock head-unit.
Thanks for your help!!

[b][red]Look at my last post for the update[/red][/b]

I really cant get to the tweeter without goign through alot of BS. should I just try them out with the filter or "condensor" hooked up and then try it without it hooked up? do you think I will be able to hear the difference? sorry if these are dumb questions,i just dont know much about this stuff.

Thanks again!!

I would spend a little extra dough and get the matching tweeters for the speakers you got. Did you get a 5 1/4 woofer only or one with a tweeter built in(coaxial)? If you got the coaxial type the two tweeters will produce distinct high frequency sounds-not good. Always, at the very least have a capacitor on the tweet, but you have to figure out the prober frequency and dB/octave rolloff.

Drop the 5 1/4"s and get a seperate or component set. That way you have matching speakers with the same tonal balance, they cost more but sound way better, ex Boston Acoustics has some good speaks for a decent price, Sony, Pioneer, Infinity can't make a good speaker to save their lives IMO. Too tinny.

Don't get me started on Amps.

[url=www.cruthchfield.com]Try These Guys.[/url]
These guys have always been very helpful. If you call them, you can talk to a real person, who will get you the vehicle/component specific info. you need. When I have called them, even though I have never puchased anything from them, they have freely given the info. I needed.

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Well it looks like I didn't need to hook up the capacitor, the tweeter already had one and the speaker didn't sound right when I tried it out with the capacitor on the 5-1/4".

Ok now here is the damn problem. **Keep in mind I DO have the right connections connected!**

When I listen to the speaker there is no bass and it sounds all muffled when I turn the stereo up, any ideas? The new speaker can handle 200W so I know its not that my stock headunit is pushing them too much.
Damn I hate this stuff!

Well, the power handling of the speaker has nothing to do with your problem. First, double check the connetions to make sure everything is in phase, swap the +/- to check polarity.

The other major problem is you are running aftermarket speakers which are generaly less efficient(although much better) than the stock speakers and your stock radio doesn't have enough power to run them. When you turn up your stock 11watt stereo you start to clip the amplifier, which is basically like running beyond redline like in an engine, Less power, less efficient, more heat, more likely to explode.

You will notice a HUGE improvement with a new head unit and/or amps. It will sound clearer, more accurate, better tonality and you will be able to turn it up much louder with the same clarity without blowing up your speakers.

RULE No 1: You can never have too much power. People blow speakers by overdriving their amps not the speakers.

How much power is your head unit putting out?
Are your speakers out of phase?

Edited because JBear beat me to it and said it better.

I dont know how much power my head unit is putting out. I know it is a clarion even though it is stock. What do you mean are my speakers in phase?

From what little I know about car stereo systems on some models you can run into an impedence (sp) problem, the car stereo system speakers run on 4 ohms and aftermarket stuff runs on 6 ohms (something like that). Someone with more of a clue can help me explain this.

I was worried about that too,but it says on the back of the new speakers that they are 4ohms
What to do, what to do?

Good timing on this thread...

I just picked up a cheap beater car, ('85 Z-28) and put a sound system in it with some stuff I had laying around...

Power head is an OLD Alpine w/CD...
35watts x 4 channels...

In the back of the car is a 600W Bazooka single channel amp to power 2- 10" bazooka subs...

In the door pillars is 2- 6x9 MTX's, and in the dash is 2- 4x6 bazookas...

Problem is, at higher volume the sound seems distorted from the 4 (non-amplified) small speakers...
Is 35watts not enough to power them ?

I've got the speaker specs in front of me...

The 4x6's say "4-ohms" / "power handling - 80 watts"

The 6x9's say "4-ohms" / "RMS power 40 watts" / "Peak music power 150 watts"

The 10" subs sound fine...


Should I add an amp to power the 4x6's & 6x9's ???

If so, how big ?



Sorry to hijack the thread M4 [:D]

Your speakers would be out of phase if you have the polarity on one or more speakers reversed.
Your head unit probably is not putting out enough wattage to properly power the speakers, although this is probably not the cause of your current problem.

Sounds like you need a "component system".

A component system consists of two midrange speakers (5-1/4) or (6-1/2) and two tweeters.

The tweeters have crossovers with them wich will knock the bass out and pass treble.  And att the same time, you will keep the proper output impedence(z).

You can find systems like this at crutchfield, circuit city and places like that.


Car audio 4 ohms....Home audio 8ohms.

In/Out of Phase means having the + hooked to + and - to -. Having it wired wrong sounds odd and reduces the bass quite a bit.

For Dragracer the Alpine puts out a good amount of power compared to stock units but I think it is still only 11-14watts RMS at best.

RMS is the ONLY rating to look at. NOT peak, max, or anything else they want to call it. Unless a manufacturer list the wattage specs for power output of handling into RMS at a stated load (4-8ohms) in a given frequency range (20-20,000hz) it don't mean shit.

A quality amp at 30watts rms per channel usually does it for most people. Alpine, PPI Xtant,MTX,Soundstream,JL,(Fosgate-has gone downhill) are just a few quality companies I can name this damn early.