New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

So, I just got a new head unit, rear deck speakers and door speakers for my 03 EX Coupe. I didn't have time to make the bracket for the door speakers, but I pulled off the panel and plugged one of them in just to see how they sounded. The new door speakers were noticeably quieter than the stock ones. I searched and someone suggested that they're underpowered and need an amp, but I have a hard time thinking that is the only solution. I have read of two other people with the same problem, not necessarily with the same car or head unit. Pos/Neg wires can't be switched since they're different sized spade connectors. Unless there is a stock crossover in there (which I'm almost positive there isn't), then I have no crossovers between the woofer and tweeter.

Kenwood KDC-252U head unit
-22W RMS

Alpine 610c in the doors
- 2-80W RMS
- 88dB @ 1W

Alpine SPE 6090 in rear deck
- 75W RMS
- 91dB @ 1W

And another semi-related note, how to I connect the tweeter into the woofer? I currently have it spliced into the red/blue wires that fed the stock tweeters. Would it be any different if I ran the wire directly to the second set of spade connectors coming off the woofer?

I'm new here
Thanks in Advance.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

MORE power! they need to be getting at least 60w rms per speaker, not 20w! there is no way to simply connect a tweeter to a woofer without damaging your speakers and possibly blowing the deck. you need component speakers that have a woofer and tweeter with a crossover to power each separately. if they are separate tweeters that you spliced in, you likely caused damage already. with a set of four speakers and set of two tweeters that are separate (non components), the only way is to run the 4 speakers off an external amp and use the deck power for the tweeters.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

Actually the way he wired the tweeters will increase the impedance from 8ohms to 16 ohms (assuming they are both 8) so it won't damage the head unit. But it is part of the reason why the volume is low as you reduced the power to each speaker by about half.

Are you adding a second set of tweeters to the speakers? I don't recommend it. I would cut the lead coming from the tweeter side of the capacitor on the speaker and wire the new tweeter to the negative spade and the cut side of the cap. This will protect the tweeter from low frequencies and keep the proper impedance.

The other issue is that your sensitivity is low at 88dB. Your stock speakers were probably about 92 dB which would cause the new speakers to require more than twice the power to reach the same volume.

Basically wire the speaker properly and add more power, or get more efficient speakers.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

Not adding a second set of tweeters, just replacing the OEM setup. Stock 6.5" in the door and 1" tweeters in the sail is being replaced with the Alpine 610C system. Using the current OEM wiring, other than the harness adapter. I'm assuming that the red/blue speakers that feed the OEM tweeter come right off the back side of the original harness that connects into the woofer in the door. Is this correct? If so, how could they be wired in wrong if it's all stock wiring?

I guess I didn't realize 4dB was a whole lot of sensitivity.
Front and rear speakers are 4 ohm impedance

Seeing as my rear deck speakers sound fine, but my fronts are super quiet, is adding an amp going to have the same effect but louder if I have, say, 60W per channel? If so, is there a way to adjust the gain in separate channels? (I'm pretty sure the answer to this is no)

Ok, this is probably ridiculous but just a thought. Tell me where I'm gonna blow everything up.

Head unit powering only rear speakers = ~ 40W/speaker.
Small (~240W) 4 channel amp. Two channels feeding the front component system, bridge the other two channels and power a small sub. Probably 8" in a low-profile box under the driver's seat if there is enough room.

I'm not looking for anything super loud. Just trying to get better sound quality with a little extra thump thump.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

So make sure the wires coming from the amp/head unit are connected to the inner spades and the wires going to the tweeters are connected to the outer spades.
A good 4 channel amp will let you set the gains independently for front and rear channels. If not, use the fader to control the volume level.
Every 3dB of sensitivity requires twice the amount of power. As you can see, even 3dB can have a huge effect.
Start with....88dB...91dB...94dB sensitivity rating
to hit 94dB...4w.....2w....1w
........97dB...8w.....4w....2w
......100dB...16w....8w....4w
......103dB...32w...16w....8w
......106dB...64w...32w...16w

You can hook it up the way you said. You might have trouble hearing the rears, but since they are just fills shouldn't be a big deal. (just don't try to bridge the headunit. You will kill it) If you have the funds, pick up a small 5 channel amp. You will have a lot more control and it will probably sound a little better.

You must have a lot more room under your seat than I do. I have the Alpine PDX amps and had to clearance my seats just to make them fit. And they are only 2" high.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

A bit of closure..
Well, I'm not sure if I ever posted that I had only installed one new tweeter and kept the stock on in the driver side. This was because I thought the aftermarket ones would fit the stock panel... which they didn't.

Long story short,I made brackets and finally fully installed the front speakers (including tweeters), and it sounds fine now. :flush:

wasn't actually planning on doing the front speakers and sub out of a 4 channel, but was wondering if it could possibly work.

Not sure if I'm gonna run a 4 channel to just the speakers, mono to just a sub, or leave it. Not sure how long I'm gonna have this car anyways.
The sub I'm looking at is under 4" mounting depth. That might barely be able to fit, but I'm not sure yet. I may try my buddies out and see if it fits before I commit to anything.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

Tis just physics.

Another physics tid bit. The loudness doubles with every 10dB you increase.

Re: New Speakers Too Quiet.
 

hello guys I am not sure about that i think you must have a lot more room under your seat than I do. I have the Alpine PDX amps and had to clearance my seats just to make them fit. And they are only 2" high.