installing component speakers

I will be installing pioneer ts-d1720c components up front in my access cab. I've never installed components before, only 2 way coaxial. With the coax setup I ran my head units high and low pass filters at 100hz. I will be using an alpine cde-hd149bt. Will I have to adjust the head unit crossover differently since I am using a component setup with passive crossovers?

 

Passive components will have the necessary hardware to crossover the higher frequencies for the tweeter. Don't know what they are for your speakers but my Hybrid Audio Imagines are high-passed at 5Khz.

Low pass on the HU is what is sent to your sub (if you had one). The high pass filters on the HU will determine where signal starts getting sent to your new component set. From there, the signal will run through the passive crossover splitting up the signal for the mid-bass and the tweeter.

Hope this helps

 

Gotcha. So the passive crossover takes care of the tweeter frequency on it's own.

Thanks!

 

"normally" passive cross overs take care of the entire " mid or component/ coax setup"

 

So technically I would adjust the head units high pass filter so that none of the low frequencies get to the components and then the passive crossover will take that signal and send the proper frequencies to the mid and tweeter. Am I getting this right?

 

Exactly. Then you'd tune it to how you like it.

I started tuning at 80Hz high passed to my Imagines. Sounded good but I landed on 65hz for my setup. Your mileage may vary.

 

80Hz high pass is a good starting point. I recommend you start with a steep slope (24dB/octave) and adjust crossover point up and down if 80Hz doesn't sound right.

 

This whole slope adjustment is new to me. I have a lot to learn with this head unit, but so far I am happy with its functionality. I have yet to install the components, but will soon after I dynamat my doors. Thanks for the help so far!

 

Slopes play a key role in minimizing interferences / phase cancellations between multiple speakers, as well as allowing you push your speakers louder while staying away from damaging resonant or nasty distortion frequencies. A shallower slope may sound better and give you more sub-bass response from your doors, but you're limiting your power handling because you're allowing the speaker to play more of its resonant frequency. In the end it's based on how you listen to music and where you're willing to compromise.

In reality there are more things that play into a speaker's power handling and ability to play loud, but resonant frequency is one of the more basic aspects. In my truck, I tried going as low as 63Hz crossover and playing with 18dB and 12dB slopes, but to my ear it started causing phase cancellation issues with my sub. It's like my sub wasn't playing as loud. So I set it back to 80Hz at 24dB and left it there for about the past year. This setting gives me some tight impact (kick drum) up front, while allowing my sub to fill the cabin with lower bass. It's what works best for my type of music.

I could go on and on about tuning stuff, because I'm a geek and constantly play around with my setup. But I don't want to bore you all.

 

While I haven't messed around with the crossovers yet, I did spend the last 5 hours removing a door panel, applying dynamat extreme, and installing my component setup. Yes, that's 5 hours for one side lol. A lot of that time was spent on the dynamat application. Also, I have never seen worse looking factory speakers before...

Back to the garage for the other side!

 

How much a diff did the dynamat xtreme make for you?

 

it makes a massive difference , you won't know until you actually feel the difference in the door. i.e how much more solid it feels when closing the door etc and how it sounds.

 

It does. Just helped my brother understand this too when I worked with him on his truck stereo upgrade. Sadly, still a little too cold and neither of us have a garage to keep us and the truck out of the cold. We'll be doing it when it warms up around here.

 

Good idea,
95% of the products out there don't have the "proper " adhesive type and if you don't more than adequately heat it before application, clean the surface perfectly and have the surface warmish it won't hold out between seasons.

 

Get a small space heater and warm up the interior of the truck for awhile before you install.

 

I'm not sure to what degree the dynamat helps because I upgraded the speakers and added the dynamat at the same time. It does do its job of adding mass to the door skins and I can hear the difference when I knock on the metal before and after the application. The dynamat extreme door kit had just enough material to cover the inner and outer skins of two doors. The speaker adapters are made by member Mr Marv. Please wear mechanix type gloves and don't be like me and get cuts all over my hands. The edges are sharp!