I just had some new speakers installed in my 06 Scion XB. Two pairs of 6.5 inch Alpine SPS-170A and one pair of 4 inch Pioneer TS-G1040R speakers. I know that these are not top of the line, but I am floored at how thin these sound in my car. Seems that the stock speakers sounded much fuller. There's just really not sufficient bass at all. I can hear some lower frequencies, but overall the music sounds like it's coming from a tin can. Wife works at Best Buy, so I got a great discount on the speakers and the install. Two things I wonder--maybe a crappy install? maybe speakers need some time to burn-in?

Anybody have any ideas what's wrong or suggestions on what to do? I am not a car audiophile--I don't need big amps and subs and a monster system, just reasonable bass for a regular guy given the price I paid.

 

Are they in the stock locations? Stock HU? Stock wiring harness? Should be OK. Sounds like one or more speakers are wired out of phase. Just replacing the stockers should sound as good if not way better!

 

something went wrong with the install. If you put in new Alpines and Pioneer speakers, it should sound much better, with fuller bass.

 

Yes, everything's stock. HU, wiring, locations, etc. I hadn't thought about out of phase, but that makes sense. I'm not a car audio guy, but I'm a home theater guy. I have a test cd that has in/out of phase tones to test that, but I wouldn't know how to fix it (how to get to things) if it was the problem...

 

I have those 6.5's and am using them as midbasses and get loads of bass. Don't let anyone tell you their no good, their good speakers. Maybe it's a phase issue, really I guess it could be a lot of things.

If you sound deaden your doors, they will have more bass. Make sure that the front of the cones of ALL your speakers are completely sealed off from the backs of the speakers, if it's not it will cause cancellations. Talk to your installer and see if they installed any bass-blockers to help protect your speakers, if so you could try removing those. Try disconnecting the 4's in your dash and see if you get better bass, they might be causing some cancellations. Man, this could go on forever...........

I know you may not want to but you just might need to install a small sub and amp. If any of the speakers are hooked up backwards, that could ruin everything too(or help it depending)

 

Your speakers are out of phase or sync with each other. Here's what you need to do.

From the head unit, set the balance all the way to the left or right and the fade all the front or back. You should hear better bass this way. Now then, move the fade/balance all the way to the front left and slowly move it to the right. If the bass drops out in the middle, your problem is in the front speakers for sure. If this is true, swap the pos/neg leads on one of the speakers. Once you have the front set the way it needs, test both the left and right side individually the same way. Fade from front to back and if the center of the fade has a bass drop-out, change the pos/neg of the back speaker (left or right side depends on which side you are testing of course).

The issue is the pressue needs to be all going in or removed from the listening area. When the speakers are out of phase it's like shifting the listening room a direction removing the lower end of the sound wave. Just one speaker out of phase will cause a major loss in bass reproduction without some sort of low end dependant woofer.

 

I wouldn't have thought of that--I'll give that a try to see what it sounds like. I've also been told just to take it back to BB with stern words to have them check that it's in-phase. I like your idea--it gives me some power to actually check myself.

 

exactly!

 

they need more power than the crappy stockers did .

 

I sell those spkers. the pioneer 4 inch suck to begin with, the Type S will not do you any good unless they are sealed completely where theyre mounted and have the doors dynamatted. the first thing to go in a toyota when you replace with aftermarket speakers is the bass.

 

i have those speakers in my dash . i just used a 200 hz bass blocker and have them amped they sound good as all hell. i have the pioneer a series 6.75 inch 4 ways in my doors and the cheap 5.25s in the rear. the 5.25's are the worst of all three

 

200Hz? What size are you talking about again?

 

the 4 inch two ways.

 

Ah k. Thought you did something like 200Hz on the 6.75" door speckers.

 

oh nah. and then i run the 80 hz blocker on my deck so the doors stay clean. the rears suck. lol i need to just turn them down or buy another pair of 6.75's . especially since my rear seat passengers always complain about not being able to hear anything. lol . but my front imaging is near perfect

 

I would say your sound stage is done. Take out the 5.25" back speakers completely. If they can't hear anything in the back, turn up the front. After all, you are the driver and the sound stage was intended for you and maybe a second passenger. The rear speakers are nothing more than an afterthought. At least, I've never gone to a concert and watched the show with my back to the stage. If they still complain, install two vid head rests and a playstation 2 (or 3) and setup the audio of the game console to only the back seat. Try not to install an Xbox though, it's from the macroshaft corporation after all.

 

screens will not enter my headrests . sooo played out it's unreal.

ha ha macroshaft. NICE

oh and yeah my speakers are amped in case anyone was wondering. pioneer 600 watt 4 channel.

 

I hate to say it, but it sounds like you need either a new HU to give you more control of your speakers, or an amp on the speakers for more power... or both...

Going from the stock HU to an Aftermarket HU should add about 5-10 watts RMS to each channel and would probably give it better sound....plus having any additional EQ should help out a lot

 

I've wondered about replacing the HU... I've heard that all decks actually put out about the same power and that it doesn't really make a difference which one you have. Supposedly, the only way to really make a difference was said to be an amp.

Do you really think a new HU would provide a noticeable difference? I went and talked to the guy at Best Buy and he made some comment about the stock HU powering the stock speakers just right, implying that I might have to replace the HU to get it to sound better. I didn't know if that was just marketing BS to get me to buy another HU. They haven't done the fix-it work yet, so the final product is still yet to be seen (who knows--could sound great with the HU after they re-examine their work).

 

aftermarket headunits will always be better than what comes stock. you'd be amazed what a difference it can make. just make sure to get one with a great eq and you're set.