Installed rear speakers and they sound like poo.

Gah, nothing can ever be simple. I installed some Infinity 6012si 6.5" in the rear sound bar and they have absolutely no bass. The stock speakers sound better. When I turn it up moderately loud the bass makes a popping sound which would suggest that I have the wires crossed, but I don't.

Left Rear (+) Brown/Yellow
Left Rear (-) Brown/Light Blue
Right Rear (+) Dark Blue/White
Right Rear (-) Dark Blue/Orange

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That is how I have them wired. I even switched them around just to double check and it made no difference. I am going to install one in the front door tomorrow and see if that sounds the same. (I have a set of 4).

I have a Pioneer P6700MP deck with no amp or sub. I have also messed with every single setting in the deck. My XJ is a '97.

What could I have done wrong? I'm puzzled.

well if you're running them off of the radio, i'd imagine as you're turning up the volume you're clipping the amp and thus you get the popping in your speakers. This is kind of expected when you really underpower speakers and continue to turn up the volume

but, infinities aren't known for their bass.....i tried them once before and sold them pretty soon afterward

my recommendation would be to amp the speakers, they'll love it

Fred85 said:

well if you're running them off of the radio, i'd imagine as you're turning up the volume you're clipping the amp and thus you get the popping in your speakers. This is kind of expected when you really underpower speakers and continue to turn up the volume

but, infinities aren't known for their bass.....i tried them once before and sold them pretty soon afterward

my recommendation would be to amp the speakers, they'll love it

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I agree with all of the above. I am not sure what the frequency range your infinity's have, but I have Pioneer speakers in my rig that go from 20hz to 20,000hz and have good bass response and amazing high end.

Because at this time I do not run a seperate amp, I have to keep the low frequencies in check to avoid clipping at volume.

My next move is to buy a high-quality four channel amp to use the full potential of my speakers.

:cheers:

About a year and a half ago I replaced my stock am/fm/cass with a Jensen am/fm/cd bluetooth head unit and put Pioneer speakers in at the same time. The improvement was amazing and all for under $220.00 too....

Well damn, I figured anything would be an upgrade over stock and these speakers got pretty good reviews. I'll be considering an amp now, but would my deck be the reason why the lows in the speakers pop rather than "umph"? And an amp would fix this problem?

Agree with the rest here it does sound like the speakers are underpowered.

Also check the Phase of each speaker, the quickest way to kill base is to run one or more speakers our of Phase.

Quick question when you installed the deck did you use a wire harness or cut the stock one off?

If you used a wire harnes check to make sure all your speaker wires colors match.

If you want to check the phase with the speaker hooked up there are two ways.

first you can play the music of your choice and Fade to the rear so only the rear speakers are playing. Next listen to the the track and get a feel for the base sound, then Balance to each side, If the base sound better and more crisp when you balance to one side or the other, the speakers are out of phase. if the base cuts down even more they are prob ok. if you cant hear the differnce you will need to move to the next way.

A better way is to do it is below, but it takes cutting into the wires at the front

Take a 9volt battery and touch the Pos and neg marked speaker wires to the the Pos and Neg side of the battery if the speakers are wired correctly the speaker will move out, do this for all 4 speakers make sure all the speakers all move out, thus they are in phase.

Oh and another reason the speakers will pop is if the contact are grounding against the roof, the rear mounting isn't that deep and it's common to have the contact exposed and touch the roof or cross brace.

To put it in perspective, when I put in some 5 1/4 kenwoods front and rear and tried to run off stock head unit it could only power ONE speaker. Bigger magnets in the aftermarket speakers need more juice. And even if they don’t need it ... it cleans up the sound allot. Just go to Best buy for an experiment (maybe it was circuit city) any ways in the mobile audio they have a button to listen to the speaks off a head unit power or off an amp. Sound difference is huge for the cost of a $100- $200 amp it’s definitely worth it.

I installed jl audio front and rear (I have the 'sound bar' in the ceiling of my 95.) Running off of Alpine deck power for now, and the rear set have NO bass. I think it's a combo of enclosure & lack of power. I plan to install an amp, then seal up the backside of that sound bar somehow. Then we'll see how they sound.
Do you have the sound bar?

I have very limited know how on this subject, but isn't kind of hard to get good bass out of the stock speaker bar in the back of our rigs?
I mean if you look at sub boxes they provide plenty of sealed room, where as the bar is un-sealed and small amout of room anyway. Should you expect great bass from the bar?
If so I'd like to know how to get the most from my Roskford Fosgates I put in there. I like the idea of sealing them in, I may do that with some fibre glass this summer.
My Sony head puts out 50watts each channel, that isn't enuf to run infinite components up front (5 1/4") and the Rocks out back (5 1/4")???? Maybe an amp is in the cards for me aswell.

beakie said:

My Sony head puts out 50watts each channel, that isn't enuf to run infinite components up front (5 1/4") and the Rocks out back (5 1/4")???? Maybe an amp is in the cards for me aswell.

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most head units are rated between 40 and 60 watts per channel maximum power (10% or more distortion at 1k Hz)

if you look in your manual the actual continuous RMS power will be more like 10-15 watts per channel.
even a amp rated at 25 watts RMS or more will make a large improvement.

And sealing the sound bar will provide better sound from it

I should have installed one in the doors first. I'll do that tomorrow. Also I hooked one of the speakers up to a stereo amp and it sounded much better so it looks like I'll be getting an amp soon.

mike86xj said:

most head units are rated between 40 and 60 watts per channel maximum power (10% or more distortion at 1k Hz)

if you look in your manual the actual continuous RMS power will be more like 10-15 watts per channel.
even a amp rated at 25 watts RMS or more will make a large improvement.

And sealing the sound bar will provide better sound from it

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yep mike is right, that is max power. Not max as in it can safety run at that all day or that you can turn it up to max setting etc. That is the maxiumum output that it produces when certain signals are sent. Think like peak power versus average power output. Its not putting out 50 watts per channel all day. Like mike said 10-15 watts per channel maybe 20 i am not an audiophile by anymeans.

Trust me a cheap good brand amp like kenwood or alpine $200 will make all the difference in the world.

If money is tight this week or this month just run the front two speakers off the head unit till you get some more cash.

check out the local classified papers/websites in your area.

we have a place called cash converters it's basically a high end pawn shop, I picked up a orion xtr component set (replacement cost about $500can) for $90can.

even check pawn shops but stay away from no name stuff there

also ask friends and check on ebay

I find great deals all the time, with a little luck you can as well
I'm sure I could find a 50rms x 4 amp for under $100can locally and we all know $100c is about $2us

I installed the 6012si's on a factory radio and had the same response. They will loosen up a bit, and the bass will get a tad better. The speakers are underpowered though. You can also see that the foam ring is a lot stiffer on the new speakers. I would also suggest that you get an amp. I haven't gotten one yet (low on the priority list). Like I said, it gets a bit better, but you wont' be satisfied until you power the speakers...