Installed New Speakers: Where Did I Go Wrong?

bouch620 · April 15, 2008

I just replaced the front door speakers on my 08 Sierra with two-way Infinity Reference 6022si's. I dont know much about audio equipment so I consulted the guys at crutchfield. I told them I wanted to keep the stock head unit and was basically looking for something that would give nice clean crisp highs. They recommended the infinitys because they would work well with my stock head unit. Well I did the install and they were right.. Clean and bright.. But now the bass sounds TERRIBLE. The speakers sound like there "poping" instead of giving a nice deep bass tone. Is it because I replaced a straight up woofer to a two-way? Do the speakers need more power? Im not sure what to do. Thinking about putting the stock speakers back in..

Suggestions Please!! Thank you

Bish · April 15, 2008

I just replaced the front door speakers on my 08 Sierra with two-way Infinity Reference 6022si's. I dont know much about audio equipment so I consulted the guys at crutchfield. I told them I wanted to keep the stock head unit and was basically looking for something that would give nice clean crisp highs. They recommended the infinitys because they would work well with my stock head unit. Well I did the install and they were right.. Clean and bright.. But now the bass sounds TERRIBLE. The speakers sound like there "poping" instead of giving a nice deep bass tone. Is it because I replaced a straight up woofer to a two-way? Do the speakers need more power? Im not sure what to do. Thinking about putting the stock speakers back in..

Suggestions Please!! Thank you

Somethings not right. No way you should get worse sound replacing a stock speaker. Do you have the Bose? If yes, they mess with the sound when they send it to their speakers and they run around 2-1 ohms. If it is just the stock head unit, it should power them enough to be better than stock. Did you double check the polarity (+ and -) of both speakers? If one is the reverse of the other, the bass will cancel to some extent. Make sure they are wired the same as the rest of your speakers. If some have crossed + - it will not sound as good as if they are all "in phase". Good luck.

bouch620 · April 15, 2008

I dont have the Bose system. I used a wiring harness provided by crutchfield to install the speakers. One connector is smaller then the other so theres only one way to connect postive and negative wires to the speaker. But I suppose there is a chance the wiring harness could be wrong? I'll try switching the pos/neg wiring to see if it makes any difference. Its just a little confusing because the tweeters are performing excellent, but the woofers sound horrible.

Thanks for the input

Bouch620

Hootowl · April 15, 2008

I dont have the Bose system. I used a wiring harness provided by crutchfield to install the speakers. One connector is smaller then the other so theres only one way to connect postive and negative wires to the speaker. But I suppose there is a chance the wiring harness could be wrong? I'll try switching the pos/neg wiring to see if it makes any difference. Its just a little confusing because the tweeters are performing excellent, but the woofers sound horrible.

Thanks for the input

Bouch620

I replaced my door speakers in my 2002 with the same speakers...lost all my bass sound

MustGoFaster · April 15, 2008

2 things to check on

1st -check the infinity reference number. IIRC awhile back the component speakers with the "2's" in the name were 2 ohm speakers - your stock stereo (non-bose) are 4 ohm - the people at chrutchfield might have sent you the speakers for the bose system.

2nd - infinities crave power - in my experience they are some of the better speakers out there, but they're hungry buggers. I didn;t want to mess with an amp - so I went with Kenwood components and have been very happy with them

generally though - the popping noise makes me doubtful that you're low on power, they'd just be weak, but usable. a pop or other odd noise sounds more like grounding or impeadance problem.

I guess a last possible check is that your connections are secure, the pop might be coming from a loose wire, or a bare spot that's grounding on you.

bouch620 · April 16, 2008

I pulled some information about the Infinity speakers off of the Infinity website. It does say that they are 2-ohm voice coils but then they state that they are true four-ohm speakers. The box that the speakers came in even have a little 4-ohm image with a check mark next to it. Indicating to me that they are 4-ohm? Anyway.. I shouldnt really say that they are literally "popping". I guess that was a poor choice of words. I should have just left it at "the bass doesnt sound right, or that it is much weaker then before". In any case I'm probably going to contact crutchfield and see what they have to say about my debacle. I really hope they didnt suggest speakers that wouldnt jive with my head unit. I hate having to send stuff back. Heres a little stuff that I found about the 6022si. Thank you guys for your help.

Bouch620

True Four Ohms— All Reference speakers feature two ohm voice coils. Original factory-installed speaker wiring in many cars is 18-22 gauge. This wire, and heating in the voice coil when power is applied, increase the impedance “seen” by the amplifier or head unit. The impedance of Reference Speakers has been adjusted to compensate for this increase and can be safely driven by any head unit.

Power Handling, RMS60 wattsPower Handling, Peak180 wattsSensitivity (2.83V @ 1m)93dBFrequency Response53Hz - 21kHzImpedance2 ohmsMounting Depth1-15/16" (48mm)

godfather55v · April 16, 2008

please keep me posted as to how you turn out. I also just got a 08 silverado and want a little cleaner base and crisper highs. I too want to keep the stock head unit and have little knowledge in audio equipment, however i do like fooling around w/ it. Had a nice discussion w/ thunderstuck on this thread if you haven't already read it. It may help http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77403

l8r

matt

thecraft · April 16, 2008

The box that the speakers came in even have a little 4-ohm image with a check mark next to it. Indicating to me that they are 4-ohm?

No, those are two-ohm speakers. Infinity just pastes that on there to show that they are "compatible" with four-ohm amplifier. Whether or not that's true is debatable, there was a big discussion about it on Crutchfield's forum.

Anyway.. I shouldnt really say that they are literally "popping". I guess that was a poor choice of words. I should have just left it at "the bass doesnt sound right, or that it is much weaker then before".

Well, for one, those speakers are shallow mounts, but did you ever check if your speakers are in phase (correct polarity)? Easiest way to check is to adjust the balance all the way to one side. If your bass comes back, you've found the problem.

I've also heard about some Infinity speakers having weak bass response. I really think some manufacturers design their speakers to have weak bass in order to push people towards subwoofers. It also keeps people from turning the bass to the max on their head units and turning the music into distorted garbage. Seriously, if you want GOOD bass, you need a subwoofer. You can't count on a 6.5" speaker to deliver the entire sound spectrum and sound good doing it.

MustGoFaster · April 16, 2008

not to be a kenwood whore - but I have to say, with the stock head, they sound way better than stock. similar level of bass, but without the midrange "muddle" that the stock speakers had, and way better highs. maybe crutchfield will allow you to swap if you note how unhappy you are with the infinity's. IIRC they have a "total satisfaction guarantee" or something like that.

bouch620 · April 17, 2008

Well I checked the polarity of the speakers today by doing the balancing left to right method. It seemed to check out ok. I didnt gain anything by balancing to either side. Emailed crutchfield and the guy said the following:

Factory speakers tend to output bass very well do to their poor overall design, but they lack overall sound quality. Aftermarket speakers are designed will overall sound quality in mind, so their plastic or polypropylene cones tend to be much more rigid and 'flutter' less than the cheap paper cones on factory speakers.

I could understand this statement if the bass output was the same or even a little less then the factory speakers. But there is a major difference between the two. And while the sound quality may be a little better as far as highs go, i'm not willing to sacrifice the bass for it.

I'd like to maybe add a sub, but I didnt really want to go that far. I will probably try to send them back and get something different. Does anyone think I should try to go with a component setup instead of the two-ways? I mean, thats how the truck is set up stock. Sorry that my questions and comments may seem elementary. Trying to educate myself as I go.

Thanks for everyones comments and suggestions

MustGoFaster · April 17, 2008

here's what's in my 06

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...P708&tp=105

or at least whatever version of that model was available in 06 - think they were the p707's IIRC

here's a cheapo way to convince youself that the speakers are or are not compatible - go to the local wally world and throw in a couple cheapo "roadmaster" or whatever replacement speakers they have. should only cost you like $20 and you'd know for sure if it was a 2OHM thing or not.

bouch620 · April 17, 2008

here's what's in my 06

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Ite...P708&tp=105

or at least whatever version of that model was available in 06 - think they were the p707's IIRC

here's a cheapo way to convince youself that the speakers are or are not compatible - go to the local wally world and throw in a couple cheapo "roadmaster" or whatever replacement speakers they have. should only cost you like $20 and you'd know for sure if it was a 2OHM thing or not.

Did you replace the factory tweeters with the kenwoods or did you just replace the woofers in the door?

MustGoFaster · April 18, 2008

did the tweets as well. just got a piece of plywood to match the opening as the factory tweets were a diamond shape and the kenwoods are round. painted the board black, used to stock mounts to attach it to the door panel, and attached the new tweets to the face of the board. plywood is invisible when the stock speaker grille is placed back on.

ATEYSIXED · April 23, 2008

I completely agree with everything "MustgoFaster", and "Thunderstruck" are saying. I run Infinity Perfects 6.5" in the front and Kappa 63.7i's in the rear. The Kappa's are rated 2 Ohms but I have them wired @ 4Ohms and they actually sound better than my Perfects. Infinity's are definately power whores!! In my opinion they produce amazing highs but lack a little in the bass department. Most reviews recommend them only if you plan to run subs also. I suggest you check to make sure they are in phase first, if they are go to Best buy and listen to your speakers with the amp setup. If that sounds good you need to get an amp. If the bass still sound poor with an amp to it, get a sub or find some new speakers with better midrange.

April 24, 2008

I installed Infinity Kappa 63.7i's in all four corners this past December. These are 6-1/4" 3-ways. They are being fed from a 4-channel Fosgate Power Series T400-4 which is good for 400W (100Wrms x 4 into 2 Ohms). I kept the factory head unit.

Compared to stock, the Infinity's highs are much more crisp and bright. It's almost too much because the midrange sucks. The bass is ok, but I don't even need it since I have them crossed over (high pass starting at 150Hz). The subs and sub amp take care of the bass.

I was quite satisfied with the two sets of Infinity speakers I had in the past. Both were "Reference" series, not the "Kappa" series and they sounded just fine. These new ones, though, sound horrible. I was hoping for a balanced and natural sound with clear highs and a solid midrange. Instead, these are all tweet. And, despite a few months of trying, I have yet to find a crossover, level, or tone control setting to make them sound good.

I should have listened to them first, instead of just buying their "top of the line" stuff. I wouldn't recommend them to others.