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I currently have a Pioneer DEH-73BT (14W RMS, 50W peak) head unit which I got off of eBay for $40 about 6mos ago because it was a display model with the faceplate glued on. So far it's worked fine. It's currently powering 2 Infinity 9632cf speakers in the rear (6x9, 2-100W RMS range, 300W Peak, 2-Way) and 2 Infinity 6032cf speakers in the front doors (6.75, 2-60W RMS range, 160W peak, 2-way). Everything was going fine since I installed them in February until about a week ago I noticed that the front door speaker started crackling pretty bad, so I took the panel off and reconnected the speakers, and tried switching the polarity of the speakers because they seemed to sound better when I did. I'm not sure which way was correct as these speakers sound good in different ways either way as far as polarity. Anyway, upon making this change, the entire system sounds different to me; it seems like bass distorts sooner when turned up to louder volumes now, and that the sound overall doesn't sound as good as it did before. Could this be because I changed the polarity on the driver's door speaker, or could it just be an indication that I need to change something else? I've read around and I'm still unsure if these speakers would sound better with an amp, if I should just get a small sub and use crossovers on all the speakers, or if a new head unit with higher RMS rating would help. Or maybe I should just switch the polarity back to the way it was? Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

 
Rep Power: 172

you have to realize ANY amp'd speakers sound better then using the stock wiring harness which only "has" to feed 20-25 w-rms to make them come on, therefore you stating your rms without the correct amp giving those watts to the speakers means nothing to figure out your problem ....it sounds like the reverse polarity is what did it but you may have done some damage to the actual door speaker when doing that thus causing it to sound different if theres something up with that coil you may be screwed if i were you id fool around with the filters on the deck and see if you get any different reactions with the speakers playing higher and lower hertz hope this helps, but your deck is fine

 
Rep Power: 812

powering 100w speakers with 14w is a good way to destroy them. you need to give them at the very least 50% of their max power handling, but 75% is ideal. you only look at rms wattage, not peak.

 
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Ok, that's what I thought. Is it possible that they're already messed up, or should they be fine if I get an amp? I'm thinking something like this Pioneer 4-Channel amp? This should allow me to run 60W to the front and 100 to the rear right? I think it's pretty obvious I don't know too much on this subject; I'll probably have someone install my amp for me. If I were to get something like that, my stock electrical system should be able to handle everything without too much stress right? Thanks for the help!

 
Rep Power: 243

Like gearbox said under powering speakers is bad and that is probably what destroyed the one speaker. Also speakers only work with the polarity one way (there not reversible). The speaker was probably bad from being under powered but now it's bad from reverse polarity. If its a good headunit then it should have protection built in for speakers if they short out. Either get a new headunit with higher RMS or new speakers with lower RMS. I would think headunit would be easier if you get same brand with same harness.

 
Rep Power: 243

If you use an amp to run the door speakers then brand new wires from the sub to the door and rear speakers are going to have to be run (more money). Just FYI. It be cheaper to get new hu or speakers.

 
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Ok well I found that amp on eBay for less than $200, and it looks like I can get it installed by Geek Squad at a Best Buy for probably $120, so total, I'm looking at about $300 for an installed amp. Is it worth that price to go through with that? It seems like most head units' price isn't justified by the performance they'd yield. I don't want to deal with getting new speakers if I don't have to. How likely is it that they're actually messed up?

 
Rep Power: 243

If you reversed the polarity I can almost guarantee you that you need atleast a new speaker to replace that one. If its still good, I would be surprised. Honestly an amp is a little over kill for door speakers in my opinion, but $300 sounds reasonable. I just upgraded my hu and run 2 10inch subs and it sounds good. You could get a nice hu with iPod/bluetooth interface for around $300 but it's really up to you. A good quality hu will provide what you need. That amp will provide you with either 75 watts per channel or 100 per channel which would work if the speakers you have are 2 or 4 ohm impedance. Am amp with high level outputs would sound best since that amp is designed to run subs.

 
Rep Power: 291

IMHO, I would just replace the deck and the speakers

 
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So I did a little bit of research on the whole polarity concept and found out that if the polarity on a speaker is reversed, there are no negative effects on the performance nor longevity of the speaker itself; just the fact if two speakers are hooked up at opposite polarity, the bass is cancelled out because of the way the sound signals travel. Otherwise, there's no difference in performance. I tried each speaker myself, and asked a couple of friends to listen, when each speaker was playing by itself, the polarity made no difference as far as sound quality. But I worked with all the speakers and now they're all on the same phase, whether the positives are connected to the positives and the negatives to the negatives, I'm not 100% sure as some of the wires were hard to judge, but it sounds better than it did before for sure. Also, as for the idea of an underpowered speaker damaging itself, first doesn't make sense to me at all, and second, is completely untrue as well. I don't know who told you guys that but try a simple Google search and you'll find that both of those facts are not true.

Infinity speakers are some of the best one can purchase for someone like me who prefers not to deal with the inconveniences of a sub. They provide adequate bass and great treble. And as for the head unit, I'm sticking with Pioneer, which means if I want anything better than what I've got, I'll be spending $500+ and I'm not down for that cause it won't be $500+ better.

 
Rep Power: 243

And you believe everything you read on Google? Here is a reliable source for you...
http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/lea...tml?search=Rms

Just keep searching until you find an answer you like...

 
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Way to contradict yourself, dude.

"Aftermarket speakers will certainly sound better with a little more juice, but most of our speakers will perform well even with factory power." - http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/lea...tml?search=Rms

"The speakers in your system should all be firing in phase — simply put, all the cones should be moving out and in at the same time. If they're not, you lose bass response, making your system sound anemic and unfocused...To determine if a pair of speakers in your vehicle are in phase, listen to some bass-heavy music with your stereo's balance control all the way to one side. Now return the balance control to the center — you should hear significantly more bass. If you don't, your speakers are out of phase. Switch the positive and negative leads on a single speaker, and try again. If you hear more bass, leave it!" - http://www.crutchfield.com/S-WX5AYzI...ur_system.html
Notice how they don't say anything that contradicts anything I said. In fact, they only supported me. I actually already looked at Crutchfield as well as many other sources before coming to my conclusions. Some sites were trustworthy and some not so much, however, they all seem to point in the same direction.

Make sure you keep arguing to the death, whether you're wrong or not.

 
Rep Power: 243

Sorry, I didn't specifiy. I was only contradicting what you said about under powering. It explains the RMS rating and how to match them. I actually thought that polarity did matter, I see that I was wrong! Clipping is what damages a speaker which can be caused by not matching components correctly.

 
Rep Power: 188

in my old pontiac shitfire i had alpine type r 6x9s on the rear deck. after installing them they were GREAT. i had a 200w rms hu and an amp powering a little 300w sub. rms on those speakers were 300w (together) i was giving them 50w each (100w together) still sounded great. however somehow after messing with them i scraped the wire in the deck and it was touching metal making the speakers 'crackle'. since then i sold the car a couple years ago and held onto the 6x9s. then sold them to a buddy who now has them in his jetta with a 200w rms amp on them. sound beautiful again.

tldr:

check the wires to your door speakers. make sure their not cut or scratched and grounding out to something.

if you still dont find anything before you go buying new speakers id say run new wires (even temporary wires doesnt have to be neat) to the speakers and see if they still make that noise. just to be sure

 
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Ok I understand where you're at now, but clipping isn't something I worry about because I don't listen to my music loud enough to create any distortion; if it even starts distorting I turn it down asap. My problem before was that it sounded like the speakers were distorting at a lower volume than normal, but in retrospect, that was just a phenomenon of at least one speaker being phased wrong. This has been a good learning experience for me, thanks everyone!

 
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Shitfire, that's a good one!
Turns out the problem was that one of the connections was coming out of the factory speaker harness, but everything's in tip-top shape now! Appreciate the input though

 
Rep Power: 188

thats what you get when a general hate towards GM and a few drunk VW dubbers decide to nick name your car lol

 
Rep Power: 291

Ok, in what context did you find me telling you to get a sub, and debating whether infinity speakers were bad?
I am honestly too tired to read through all the debate going on in here, but here I'll sum it up

1) It sounds to be the speaker's wiring/voice coils have gone bad, whether due to physical damage, water damage, clipping, etc.
So, a solution to that, would be to replace them, with whatever speakers you prefer.

2) Reverse polarity will work on speakers. However, think of the speaker cone receiving the opposite signal. The speaker, instead of pushing out the bass, it will pull the cone in instead.
So why do you hear the same music? Simply put, it's playing at the same frequency. But the bass is being pushed into the door, instead of the cabin.
That's why crutchfield tells you if you hear better bass, leave at that polarity, simply because it's the correct one.
Is it preferred to use reverse polarity? Definitely not.

3) Change your headunit, so you arent using someone else's second hand equipment that you have no idea what's wrong with.
Sure it may perform fine, but just because you chose to cheap out for a generic headunit, you also have to bear in mind that it comes with any type of problems that were originally in them.
You do not need $500 for a top of the line deck. A simple brand new deck can easily be picked up for $100~$150.


If you would actually like to read up on more car audio, feel free to read through this page
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...dio-guide.html

You can argue your lungs out whether whatever method you decide to use works or not, but the matter of fact is, the fellow members are here to help you. If you decide to call them out on everything, they arent gonna stick around and help you with your problem.

Best regards.

 
Rep Power: 172

love how this was all explained in the first post but the naivety is more prominent then the listening skills here, if you are getting crackle and muffled bass there is a problem, yes the speaker will "work" hooked to the factory wiring but its pointless to be stating your wrms when your not delivering it regardless, couldnt have said it better myself kennykid