Hi,

I just got the Polk DB6501 component speakers installed just for the fronts. The rear speakers I kept stock but they sound a tad bit louder than the fronts now. I can't fade the speakers to the front and rear with my alpine head unit at all. When I fade to the rear the sound doesn't move but when I turn to fronts the sounds just muffles where I only hear a slight bass. Did they install it correctly? Shouldn't I be able to fade from front to rear? Fading from left to right works. Please let me know. I might have to go back to circuit city.

 

Adjust your amplifier. You can turn down the rears or turn up the fronts, whichever you prefer.

 

Why only the fronts?

 

depends. you don't have an amp hooked up to your rear speakers. so when you adjust you're adjusting different levels.

if it bothers you just pull the plugs on the rear. thats what i did. lol

 

Wait, you only threw on a 2 channel amp? Or do you have a 4 channel amp that controls both fronts and rears?

 

he said he just put in the fronts which made me assume he only got a 2 channel.... no way he's amping the stock rears.

 

Are you running them off of an amp or are you running them off of the headunit? If it is just off of the headunit, i would assume the stock speakers would get louder since they were made to get loud with little power. An amp will bring a lot more sound out of those components. I'm not sure about the fading problem. I wonder if the spliced into the rear speaker wires when they put the components in.

If you are running an amp, then your amp probably needs to be adjusted. Another problem with an amp could be that they accidentally plugged your amp rca inputs to the headunits rear outputs. If that its what happened then it is very simple to be fixed. Just plug them into the front outputs.

 

Yes, I have a 2 channel amp for the fronts only.

I will try tinkering with the amp and see if it makes a change.

Thanks!

 

it wont. its a two channel. you need to disconnect the rear speakers.

 

You can keep the rear speakers plugged in if they are running off the headunit's amp. If you are trying to run your rear speakers off the same amp as your front speakers then you won't be able to fade them since it is only a 2 channel amp.

But you may as well unplug your rear speakers like nebster said. I have my rear speakers plugged in still, but i have it basically faded all the way to the front because it sounds better without the rear speakers.

 

I don't get it. If I have two front speakers amped up why are the rears so loud? They're just powered from the head unit.

What can I do without cutting off the rear speakers?

 

bc what you did is are giving all the power from the headunit to the rear rather than splitting it. its like you bridged your headunit to your rear speakers.

 

Maybe they did "accidentally plugged your amp rca inputs to the headunits rear outputs."

 

the reason your rears sound so much louder is that when your headunit feeds the signal out to your fronts and rears, the factory rears are much more efficient speakers than your new aftermarket front speakers. The rears sound louder because for the same amount of power, they produce more sound.

 

The tC speakers stock are very strong IMO. In my new car I have bose and they suck compared to the stock tC speakers. Hmmm... fading it doesn't work? Could it be in your head? Tell someone the fronts sound louder and ask if they notice it too. If they say yes then you will know it's just in your head.

 

Aha! Surprised no one mentioned that earlier, as it's a very logical explanation, and possibly the answer to your fader issue.

As for the rear speakers, people are making all kinds of guesses here, and while those can all be contributing factors, they don't tell the whole story. Look where the rear speakers are located in the tC, where the fronts are, and where your head is in relation to both speaker locations. The way most people sit, they're ears are actually closer to the rear speaker than the front, which greatly contributes to the rears appearing to be louder, even when they aren't getting as much power as the fronts.

Anyway, yes, you need to go back to circuit city and have them correct the issue. You paid them for the install and it's not functioning as intended, so make them fix it! If you're going to pay then you shouldn't have to be concerned about what the issue might be or how to resolve it. If you're really interested and want to prevent this situation in the future, then educate yourself and get some experience, stop paying others to do it and get it right the first time by doing it yourself.

 

Lots of good explanations.

When I had my stock speakers I never felt that the rears sounded louder though.

I'm going back to Circuit City today and hopefully they can fix it. I don't want to spend more money buying a different amp, rear speakers and wiring. I know cutting off the rear speakers can work but I like having a little sound from the rear, it's kinda like surround sound, you know.

 

Everything you already have can be made to work the way you want, and it would be that way now if they'd installed everything correctly the first time. There's no need to spend any more on anything to fix this, and they shouldn't charge you anything for whatever additional time/labor it takes for them to correct their own mistakes.

They should be able to fix it quickly too;
- Connect RCA to front preamp outputs, run to amp.
- Connect rear speaker outputs to rear speakers.
- Set fader to center, adjust amp gain so front is louder than rear.
- Ask customer to listen and if front to rear balance is acceptable.
- Show customer how fader now works so they can adjust if/when needed.
- Send happy customer on their way.

 

I went back to Circuit City and yes, they installed it wrong. They put the rca's in the wrong output. It's all good now. Thanks everyone!

 

Lol, somebody did mention it earlier. Can be easy to do if you already have the headunit installed and you're reaching back there trying to plug those in.