Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Unbalanced system (semi-long)

I have a system in my car right now, but I noticed today that it sounds unbalanced. What I mean by unbalanced is that there are a lot of highs in the front and a lot of bass in the back (trunk). My system consists of:

Head unit: Eclipse 5441 (high voltage pre-outs)
Front doors: MB Quart reference series 5x7's(I think that�s the base series)
Rear Doors: Eclipse 5x7's (white cone)
Door amp: Orion CS200.4 amp bridged right/left to run the front door speakers
Subwoofer: DEI Studio 12 inch (dual voice coil)
Subwoofer amp: Directed 250d

I know that my subwoofer and amp situation is getting a bit old, although it still has enough sound for me right now. In the future is probably a newer subwoofer and maybe a newer sub amp. But the problem is the front doors...

When I ran all the wires for the system and hooked everything up I 'tuned' the system. I tuned it like the following (let me know if this is wrong)... I started off with the door panels off, the seats out and my subwoofer off totally:

1. I turned the system up to about the max sound level that I would want to listen to it at.
2. I put on a song with heavy base.
3. I then adjusted the high-pass filter and gain on my Orion amp until the door speakers stopped bottoming out.
4. I then hooked up the subwoofer, put my subwoofer level at about 3/4 then turned down the gain until the sub stopped bottoming out.
5. I then set the top of the low pass filter on the sub to the bottom range of the high pass filter for the front doors.

That was about a year ago that this was all done and I used to think it sounded good, until I rode in my friends 95 maxima with the Bose system. He had bass, but it was coming from the front doors as well! Granted it wasn't the really clean bass that I get from my subs, but it really made the system sound balanced...

I remember dnewman sent me a link awhile ago to what I would need to build my own components, but I have long since lost that link. I think there were 7 inch rounds at that point. I also remember seeing a thread about steeda putting 8 inch rounds in his doors (or where the kick panels?). My goal here is to get more bass out of the front doors without investing in kick panels... I just don't like them. Although I could possibly be convinced otherwise if I see some pictures of them that look really good.

So the real question is this: Based on the parts that I have right now, what would be the best way of getting a more 'balanced' system? I am open to the idea of getting larger (or different) door speakers, but I don't know what to get. Would stepping up to 6x9's (I�ve seen a few threads about that) or possibly going to the 7 inch rounds be worth the hassle to get more bass? Help!

I completely understand as I've always had the same problem with all the setups I've had in the tour. I even had 7" Vifa's in the front doors at one time and it sounded pretty good but still not what I anticipated. The only thing I can think of is that it has to do with the design of the front doors & the enclosures that house the speakers. I recall a friend of mine way back in the day had MB Quart 6.5" components in the front doors of his 92 Maxima and they sounded fantastic. I eventually bought the same mids for my tour and ran them off the same exact amp he was using "PPI A300" and they sounded completely different. I think the best bet is to build kick panels if you really want to improve the sound.

I think I found a flaw in your tuning process. Pehaps try this series of steps:

1. turn off the subs in the rear, set bass & treble controls on the deck to center and set any eq's to a flat or bypassed setting
2. set the high pass filter on the amp for the front at about 80-100Hz.
3. start with the gain low on the amp and the deck volume at about 90-95% of max volume
4. play normal music, not super bass-heavy stuff, and slowly advance the gain until you hear the speakers distort a little and then back off the gain a little.

At this point you should have fairly balanced sound up front, missing only the lowest frequencies. If you think it sounds a little thin, try flipping the + and - wires for just the right speaker and see what changes. If the sound has even less bass, change it back. If it has more, keep it that way. (actually a better way to set this is using a relative polarity check from a disc that has the special tracks on it)

5. now set the low-pass filter on the sub amp no higher than 80Hz with the amp gain all the way down.
6. while playing normal music at normal to slightly above normal volume, not super bass-heavy stuff at high volume, have someone slowly turn up the gain on the sub amp while you sit in the front listening to the change in the system. Keep turning up the gain until the bass from the subs fills the sound of the system without pulling the bass to the rear.

Then the real tuning can begin. :-)

Let me know if you have any additional questions.