What Do I Do!

[super_red85]

I just spent $4000 on a system.....and I'm not even content with it. I have 3 12" JL12W3v2's powerd by a Kicker 800.2 amp, 4 Pioneer 4-way 6 x 9's in the deck, and a pair of plates in the front with an Excelon head. What's my best bet for re-vamping this "system".

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[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

Man, thats crappy you spent that much and arent happy.

What arent you happy with, the over all loudness, too little spl, sound quality isnt great?

Give more info car or truck, selaed or ported, volume of box, ect.

 

[super_red85]

I have a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am. The JL's are in a 3.3 cubic foot sealed box and my main issue, i believe, is that the bass isn't tight enough, and my rears are OVERPOWERING my fronts, and I use that term very lightly. I need more punch, and more clarity.

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

three JL 12s in a 3.3 sealed box seems like it would sound almost as "tight" as you can get. Although i dont like pioneer speakers and think you should have gotten something else you can control how loud the rear speakers are with the fade control on your cd player. Overall, the system you bought was an extreme rip off. i might pay 1200 bucks for thsat stuff

 

[super_red85]

Since I'll take it that you guys and girls are all audiophiles, how should I go about getting a little more punch for my buck? Let's say I want to get rid of the 12's and get components (5.25") in the front, without spending OVER $1000, what would YOU fill the space with?

 

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

Well seeing that you spent 4K I dont think any of this should be done by you. I would go up to the shop and complain. If them doing it isnt a option. Get a friend to help you adjust the amp for the rear highs until you like them (turn the gain down, ect.) My advise about the subs would be to put them in a ported box as opposed to the sealed. My buddy has a grand am and the trunk is pretty big. What it all boils down to is for that amount of money you should be happy. Im not sure about JL audio, is that the correct amount of airspace for them? Man, I would go up there do whatever you can to fix it. The components are pretty good it seems the install is the flaw, amp settings, ect.

 

[super_red85]

The box is as tight as the subs allow for, and as for the install, I had a buddy of mine do it who's been doin it for about 10 years. But the bastard charged me 1 G for the install.

 

[skadude016 5,000+ posts]

1 grand?! wtf? y the hell did u pay so much for that... i know people who do it for free... u call that guy a buddy? lol ha! I fel bad for ya!

 

[super_red85]

Crap happens, ya live ya learn. I'LL learn someday to do it myself.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

What is powering all the highs? The fact that you have 4 6x9s in the back and only a set of plates up front is the reason your rears overpower the fronts. Get rid of at least one pair of 6x9s. Get a good set of comps that will fit in your car and an amp to power them. JL XR series and Kicker Resolution comps are both good and should be available locally. If you don't mind ordering speakers, the sky is the limit. CDT, Focal, MB Quart, Diamond Audio, and many others make comps that sound great. If you can find them locally, listen to them and decide what you like.

As far as the subs go, I think that messing with crossover frequencies and amp settings will go a long way toward making them sound better. It is also likely that a lot of the garbage that you hear is the cone breakup from the 6x9 getting beaten to hell and back by the subs.

 

[super_red85]

Powering the rears and the fronts is a kicker 800.4. BTW, how ARE the MB Quarts?

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

At normal levels they sound great. Turn them up and IMHO the tweets get really bright. I think the newer high end crossovers address this problem, but I'm not sure.

 

[Jim Boom 10+ year member]

**** I feel sorry for ya I spen $300 on my whole system and am more than happy with it. Id say just spend some time with it, (tuning) and ya are the subs pushing the 6x9's?

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

man what the hell, a grand for an install. i thought i was rippin someone off when i did theres for 50

 

[frozenfire89 10+ year member]

try and refund everything you bought, its everything you got was overpriced, if you still have 4 K what i suggest then is to get about 4 Magnums at stereointegrity.com and power them with two hifonics brutus amps. Alpine makes nice h/u's, you should be fine with the pioneer speakers, find a new friend who can wire subs for a more reasonable price.

if you can get your money back that would be a kick ass system, otherwise you might just want to stick with 2 magnums instead of 4 and only get one hifonics amp.