Aftermarket Speakers Having Issues

Ummm... I'm definately a sound newbie but isn't 111W rms to each speaker way too much for those speakers? The recommended range for them is 2-35 rms.... As for your other questions I think I know the answers but I'm not 100% sure so I'll let somebody else field those questions.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Experimental @ Feb 6 2007, 05:19 PM) [snapback]386451[/snapback]</div>

Sounds more like an impedance mismatch.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Experimental @ Feb 6 2007, 05:19 PM) [snapback]386451[/snapback]</div>

The spec for the amp states: "preamp- and speaker-level inputs",
It should accept signal from the "original" speakers but there might be ground noise issues;
In addition it is not clear how it matches the impedance of the original amplifier.
It looks as the PAC OEM-2 is the prefered solution.

It is not clear from the TS-A1671R specs if it has a built-in crossover network (To split the raw signal to Low-Mid-High frequencies for the woofer, midrange and tweeter); If it has a pair of connectors, it most probably has such a network.

As far as connecting the new speakers to the amplifier, use the largest gauge wire that you can fit. (Otherwise the bass will sound a bit "flatulent").


Wish you success

 

12 gage wire to three-way 6.5-inchers is overkill....even with the output from the amp.
16-gage is more than enough.....in fact, you could probably stick with the factory wiring, which is either 16 or 18 gage.

The new rear speakers should sound dramatically better than the factory ones they replaced...
maybe not as good as the fronts because the fronts have separate tweeters and are more efficient.
Makes me think that the rear speakers aren't getting a good seal on the door panel.

The previous poster was right about the line level converter.....it will do better than running high level
input all the way to the amp. I used a Scosche SLC-4.....hook it up right at the back of the factory head unit and then run RCA jacks back to the amp.

The amp will definately wake up the rear speakers....fronts too....

Good Luck.

 

I just finished doing a complete upgrade of my JBL-sound system. Some lessons learned...

- In spite of what the Monster cable people would like us to think, there's no need to overkill the speaker wiring with 12g cable. The McIntosh folks published a white paper on speaker wiring including a great table of wire gauge vs run length vs speaker impedance http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm For 4 ohm speakers you probably only need 18-20g wires. A nice surprise in the Prius is that the stock speaker wires look to be 18g. I've upgraded sound systems in other cars and had to completely replace the 22-24g stock wires. It's not a lot of fun having to run wires all the way into the doors

- For the bang for your bucks focus your audio system upgrade with the front speakers. These are the speakers that will establish your sound stage. The rear speakers add fill and can add to the richness of the sound, but really aren't the focus of a good sounding system. Use your Pioneers for the front doors and leave the stocks in the rear, or pick up a pair of Pioneer components for the fronts. Infinity Reference components are quite nice. I used CDT Audio Classic components in my car, and am very happy with them.

- If you can give up the trunk space, a subwoofer makes a HUGE difference in the perceived quality of the sound. I used a 8" CDT sub in a Q-logic sealed box.

- When installing the speakers, make some spacers out of MDF as described by DocVijay. These help absorb the vibrations that would otherwise be transfered into the door metal and cause distortions. The spacers also ensure the face of the speaker is sealed to the back side of the door face. Otherwise sound sort of bangs inside the door and sounds dreadful. My opinion--stay away from the Scosche adapters. These are light weight plastic and just don't give you a very well sealed system.

- Your Infinity amp gives you a nice base for an excellent system. It is 2ohm stable and channels 3 and 4 can be bridged. What does this all mean? Well, you can use channels 1 and 2 to drive the front and rear door speakers on each side hooked in parallel (4ohm + 4ohm in parallel = 2ohm). Put an L-PAD (you'll need two Parts-Express.com Part Number 260-260, one for each side of the car) in front of the rear speakers. The Parts-express L-pads each have two 8ohm pads ganged together. Wire these two 8ohm pads together to get a single 4ohm L-pad. The L-pads let you attenuate the volume level of the rears to get the right balance between the front and rears. Install the L-pads in the trunk(?) with your amp, our in the center console for on the fly adjustments. Hook the stock head units front speaker outputs to your amps channels 1 and 2. This drives the doors. Take you headunit's rear speaker outputs to channels 3 and 4 of the amp. The amp's bridged channel 3+4 can drive a sub, and with a 278watt output you can drive just about anything from 8 to 12" sub.

- Miscellaneous enhancements. I intalled B-quiet Extreme in all the doors as well as a couple of square feet of their accoustic foam against the outer skin of the doors directly behind the speakers. The B-quiet dramatically decreased the amount of road noise, and makes the Prius' doors sound when closed more like those of a Lexus than well... a Prius. The B-quiet also eliminated a bunk of vibrations/distortion at low frequency.

In my set-up I attribute sound improvements...
- 40% just replacing stock speakers with better ones (in my case CDT Audio Classic series)
- 10% adding an amp (Alpine MRP F250) to drive the door speakers. Note the CDT's are pretty efficient so the amp wasn't as big a contributor as one might see with other speakers. An Audiocontrol LC-8 was also added to combine the high and low signals of the JBL amp output.
- 20% adding a subwoofer (CDT Audio ES 8") in Q-Logic sealed enclosure
- 20% adding the B-quiet
- 10% adding a Audiocontrol EQL equalizer to flatten out the JBL systems crazy base and treble bumps.

Hope this helps!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Experimental @ Feb 6 2007, 10:39 PM) [snapback]386605[/snapback]</div>

Don’t know, but it should be in the 2 to 4 ohm range.

Then the crossover is built – in; But GeoGeek (post #6) made a valid point in reference to the tweeters. Your speakers have the tweeter and mid range, a bit off axis with the center of the speaker and there is a good chance that they will sound a bit “muddyâ€

With the short wire runs involved, #16 should do OK; Personally I’d use #14, soft multi-stranded.

I’ve no experience with car audio installation since I prefer to do my listening in the comfort of my living room with a good <strike>glass</strike> bottle of single malt;

Finally a note for Mr. Wizard. I almost agree with you except that in the case of vacuum tube power plants wire size does make a difference.

Cheers
Nicos