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I'm pretty sure you were directing your comment to someone else.

An EQ can adjust out peaks and dips in the frequency response. As you increase any EQ adjustment you are increasing distortion. The properly designed and cleanest sounding system won't even need an EQ. An EQ is a crutch to assist failing parts of the frequency range. With that written, if my head unit didn't have a built in EQ and crossover my 3 speaker system would sound a lot worse.
I looked up your JL speakers because I've been out of the industry for 8 years and I like JL. At first glance the specs look great. That is a hard dome (aluminum) tweeter. I'm not implying all hard dome tweeters all sound bad, I'm stating if any tweeter is going to sound harsh and shrill it will be a hard dome tweeter. But then something struck me as very odd and it screams "marketing department" at me. JL gives a really good efficiency rating and follow it up with a worthless fact as if they are backing up.their efficiency claim. For decades speakers efficiency tests have been done exactly the same. 1 watt of input measured 1 meter away at 1Khz. JL lists a voltage and not a wattage. Without knowing the amperage draw there is no way to determine how many watts it received during the test. I can make ANY speaker play 120 db, list a worthless voltage fact, and then call it an efficiency rating. When I see shit like that I look elsewhere.
That's the latest gimmick I've seen that has re-entered the car audio market, completely bullshit tests to prove how great their crap is. I've read several different manufacturers recently claim an efficiency rating will not determine how loud a speaker will play - BULLSHIT to the 9's. The test is literally testing how loud the speaker plays. Marketing department. The reason they do that is because you can't build a subwoofer that can handle 2,000 watts and expect it to be efficient. Everything that goes into that type of a subwoofer screams "I'm not going to be efficient". So they derive bullshit tests, they claim efficiency ratings have nothing to do with how loud the speaker will play, and fake everything else.

 

indeed it was not intended for you, but for @Icarus II who asked the question how to take care of shrill highs. The right parts for the sound you want are always the correct solution, as I’m finding with my subwoofer setup, but throwing more money/parts at the problem isn’t always in someone’s budget and if they can tune around it to their satisfaction why not try?

For example, I really wish I had skipped the kicker tweeters and the C1’s and just gotten some better 6x9 components and an amp from the jump at this point, but I’m not in much of a mood to drop $200-300 on a set of speakers right now especially now that I have them working well.

 

I didn't read a reason for you to change your system either other than you wish it had more power. That's how the disease starts my friend... hahahaha! Jk

I like writing about car audio/security is all. Is it possible to have too much information? Absolutely. Unfortunately all of my information is at least 8 years out of date, lol.

 

"I want it louder."

To increase the sound decibels by 3 db you have to: double the speaker cone size OR double the power output of the amp OR lesson the ohms by half (as in 4 ohms to 2 ohms - assuming that your amp can do that without smoking itself).

Windows down driving down the freeway is around 90 db. If you don't want to hear the freeway with the windows down the db needs to be higher than 90 db across the entire frequency range, otherwise you'll hear the freeway in your music. A complete guess is my trucks stereo is in the middle to high 90's db range. I had a truck that did 138 db, really ef'n loud, but no match for today's competition systems with comparable wattage. Idk or care but I think they're in the 140's somewhere.

My friend jumped into the Fosgate show van and cranked it up and cracked the van's windshield hahahaha!! But it's ridiculous though, a bank of subwoofers on a wall, huge cords going into the van - that ain't car audio to me.

 

I have a Sony MEX-N5200BT. It’s 20 watts RMS with equalizer settings. I’ve been trying all kinds of eq curves, even flattening the three highest frequency ranges. I just can’t get it right without shrillness. I suspect the stick tweets are just shot. Hopefully doing a component set soon. I just would prefer to NOT have to add an amp.

 

More info and a couple of useful tools for the average car audio enthusiast that doesn't enter sound off competitions and doesn't have a DSP.
With this app on your cell phone...




... you will be able to make your car stereo produce white noise...


Then you can use this app...




... to literally see the sound and then you can use whatever means you want to smooth out the curve. When its properly set up you will see a frequency curve with no dips or peaks within the curve. Use things like this to smooth the curve, other that the curve being smooth don't concern yourself at all what the curve looks like other than smooth transitions. If there are no dips or peaks and you like the way it sounds you're done.

Your phone will need to be able to run both apps at the same time and your audio system needs to have a way to receive the white noise generated sound (aux in, bluetooth, etc...).

I just found these apps for this reply and I haven't used them ever... should work REALLY well for the average enthusiast. The sound level meter cuts the upper frequencies off a little sooner than I'd like it to but there really isn't much information that high in the frequency scale so no big deal. I can literally look at a graph and make a system sound great - with my ears plugged. You however probably aren't going to know what the curve you like looks like so set it up to where you're reasonably happy with the sound and then run your tests and make your adjustments.

 

By the way, if your phone can't run two apps at the same time then try to find this CD (or similar). It has a track ("song") for every needed frequency and a white noise generated sound in it as well.

It also has several test run type tracks that can be useful as well.

 

A couple tips for great subwoofer sound. It takes 20 feet of distance to fully and accurately create a 20 hz note. A 20 hz note for our purposes is the lowest note we can hear. We don't have 20' inside a Tacoma. The bass needs to bounce off of walls/floors as much as possible before it reaches your ear. You can play with the subwoofer box to change the subwoofers sound. Porting can help if set up at the correct curve for that subwoofer/box/vehicle. Once a hole is cut in the box for the port, it's very difficult to "go back to not having a hole in the box". You can however change the length of the port and create very different sound quality traits. You can also add pillow stuffing (polyester I think) inside the box (sealed or ported) and it will trick the woofer and create a larger box without the box actual being larger. Pull apart the stuffing into hand sized tufts and loosely drop them into the box. You'll need to fill the box at least half way to make a difference in my experience but you can completely fill the box loosely if you want to. If you choose that route you'll want to play with the amount of stuffing inside the box. Some manufacturers use a pillow type stuffing but theirs are in sheets instead of tufts for ease of manufacturing purposes.

Have a fantastic Sunday.

 

I hate Sony everything except a few of their speakers. I can not stand Sony head units. I've owned one, installed thousands of them, and will never own a second one.

 

I appreciate all of the information.

 

You're welcome. I enjoy sharing it. You can definitely achieve your goal that I think you have in your mind. Now that I'm older I actually can't think when music is REALLY loud so my setup suits my needs perfectly. I can play music louder than most things around me and that's really all I wanted to achieve. I still hear uncorked Harleys lol. AND it sounds bitchin.

 

Installed the Subaru tweeter yesterday afternoon... Very nice and very easy provided you have the right tools. Plug and play as advertised. Have some JBL Club 9630s, and 6520s that I will put in soon to complete the system . Thanks TW


Edit: Just had time to install one front passenger 9630 before it got too cold/dark. Was able to do a good comparison (JBL bass pre-break-in) and the sound quality from the JBL is amazing. I am rather impressed by the stock speaker that it has as much bass as it does for being made from paper mache and a fridge magnet (not exaggerating by much either). Also Noico'ed behind and immediately around the speaker opening but didn't go crazy with it (Noico tends to not work as well when it's in the 40's without sun on the door).

 

Thanks guys. Installed all 6 plus the kilamat. Incredible.

 

Have now done tweeters and fronts. Didn’t feel like taking the plastic barrier off the inside of the door so just have Noico around the inside of the speaker opening as far as I could reach. Cutting the Noico into smaller pieces enabled me to get a good bit in. Nice improvement in sound, will get around to the rear doors eventually. One tip for those looking to do this, take the whole piece with the green and white door cables out, don’t disconnect the cables as some have done. Follow the Crutchfield instructions on this point, or watch Jesse Rizzos video on this, it walks you through the process perfectly.

 

Definitely recommend taking the plastic off and doing the entire door interior, vastly improves the sound and the door even feels more solid when you close it. The adhesive used on the plastic is super tacky, and if you're gentle taking the plastic vapor barrier off, you can just set it to the side and reapply it when you're done. Exactly what I did, easy peasy.

 

That was my plan but I got impatient lol. I’ll try it on the back when I get to them.

 

I hear ya! Certainly a time consuming endeavor. What part of the country are you from? Weather/temps are pretty perfect to do it this time of year. I did it in the middle of July and it took me about 4 hours to do everything (speaker swaps, wiring, sound deadening, etc.) and I thought I was going to die by the end had a little sunburn too haha

 

Mid - Atlantic DC area. I started on the driver door which was not facing the sun. I did give the barrier a pull and it didn’t want to move to easily so I said the heck with it. When I did the passenger door it had been in the sun and the Noico stuck much easier and I’m sure the barrier would have come off better. So that’s actually a tip for everyone, this IS a mod you want to do in the hot sun.

 

Yup, it's a catch 22 for sure haha

 

Anyone install then sound deadening just to realize they don't like how it sounds anymore? I upgraded kickers all the way around plus the kicker key amp. My pic for attention.