Why Does it Sound Like Shit

40 years worth. Yes the function of a baffle is to extract unnecessary money from somebody that does not know any better. Pure gimmick for low end car stereo consumers. They should sell them at Wal-Mart next to the Xplod amps.

 

90% of mids SHOULD NOT BE INSTALLED in a sealed environment. They are made for IB applications, Please reference a PROPER IB application.
Speaker baffles can be used, but are not required( not for them or against them but they CANT HURT ANYTHING) AS long as you have a solid seal to the door, solid mounting as well as the clearance required to clear the window.

speaker baffles are nice if you want to mount after market sized speakers that don't directly or exactly match the OEM location. Should you spend a ton of money on them ? hell no, its SO simple to make them. A steady had on a jigsaw can do the trick just as easy.

The Ops problem is "Punchy bass, tinny ear piercing highs, general poor quality."
Are the doors treated with sound deadener, Is the front of the door panel sealed off from the rear ( no i don't mean a sealed box but a true IB application)

Bass being to punch, and tinny tweeters makes me believe that there are a few other factors tuning/ setting wise that aren't quite right. There is nothing wrong with your gear, nor do i think you need a processor. The deck has enough to get these mids sounding really good, you may just need to play with the phase, amplitude(db down to -3 or -6 on cross over for tweeter), cuff off and some general eq'n

 

no need for baffles needed. enough said about that

 

It may be able to do some of the things that a processor can do, but it is not even close to being in the same category as a dedicated, high end sound processor. No head unit is.

I had the same experience with one of my first stereos comprised of high end equipment, without an audio processor. Adding the Audison Bit One to that same system, along with a few other tweaks turned it into, hands down, the best stereo I have ever built.

Previous mentionable experience and knowledge:

• Several years as a high end, expert installer at a custom shop.
• An in depth understanding of the physics, acoustic constraints, and electronic science behind what makes a sound system sound proper in any given vehicle.

I currently develop products for a well known 12v company that has been around for 35 years.

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/le...kers_best_sound.html?g=410&i=091PS165F&tp=106

 

This is correct, and I think the discussion surrounding this post needs a little bit of clarification, since a few other people in the thread don't seem to be on the same page regarding terminology and correct applications.

Just to clear up what manethon means by saying IB; this is Infinite Baffle. This means that there is no limit to the air space behind the baffle that the speaker mounts to. Unlike home audio speakers, car audio door speakers are engineered to perform in an UNSEALED environment, therefore they do not need to be in an enclosure, and they will not perform correctly in an environment with limited air space.

A BAFFLE, as referred to in this thread, effectively an adapter in most door speaker installs. It provides a solid, flat mounting surface for the speaker when one is not present in the door. Typically made from one piece of flat 1/2" to 3/4" wood or polyboard, or if purchased, made from thin plastic. Opt for the thicker, more dense ones whenever possible.

He did say that the doors were sound deadened, although the extent of which is still left to be questioned.

I definitely think that tuning is where his described problem lies, assuming that his install is proper. I based my recommendation of a sound processor on indications from what he was comparing it to being something that I've only seen achieved through the use of a high end processor. I typically try not to use much of the built in EQ on head units since they are generally not very robust.

 

Find it a little bit strange that an online marketplaces proposed solutions for making your speakers sound better are all based around buying new products that they sell? Hmmm....

 

Install foam baffles behind your speakers

Fitted foam speaker baffles serve a dual role when installed around your full-range and component speakers. First, they help keep dirt and grime away from your delicate driver components to help maximize speaker life. Second, by forming a tight mounting seal around the speaker, the baffle can actually help reduce panel-to-frame resonance for better sound. This extra material in the speaker cavity can even help reduce road noise by dulling the external vibrations that can sneak into your sound system via the back of the speaker cone.

On certain vehicles the panel-to-frame resonance is very possible, especially with the focals. the crossover for the components also has a tweeter setting of 0 or -3, being it's on the door, probably want that on -3 as the focal tweeters can be ear bleeding. judging by the fact water drips out of my doors for days after washing, the inside of the Tacoma doors aren't sealed from the environment very well. For as cheap as they are, a foam baffle will help protect those really expensive speakers

 

What crutchfield says is def not end all be all. The foam baffles serve very little purpose or than "keeping them clean and dry". There are other things that can be done to improve the sound (some have been done) than using cheap foam baskets.

 

That's a great opinion you have, there.

I respectfully disagree. I've installed hundreds of door speakers and I can say with confidence that foam baffles are not necessary, and can be more harmful than helpful. I recommend using conventional deadening methods to reduce road noise and "panel to frame resonance"

 

Well, one thing we all agree is that it is most likely the settings, so there is that. It seems something the OP doesn't want to mess with, but is most likely the only way to get good sound. No use arguing with all you "experts", or professionals, or whatever you want to call yourself on the internet

 

Well, you can question my credibility all you want, but based on your suggestions and responses, I know what to call you "on the internet" in regards to the current topic of discussion; unqualified. So far you have provided the least valuable and most misleading advice in this thread, so I implore you to keep a more open mind to what myself and others are suggesting here. You might actually learn something.

 

I cannot speak for anyone other than myself. That includes you too. I don't consider myself an Internet "expert" as you call it. I just don't quote crutchfield. I AM a professional in the 12v industry working for the SAME very reputable place for 22 years. (Started when I was 16 and about to be 39). I have the luxury on pos vehicles to 700k vehicles, multimillion dollar prevost, motorcycles/atvs, boats/yachts. I work with all sorts of products under the sun from bazaar garbage to some audio products that cost as much as a used car.
I'm considered by myself a professional and my employers and customers
Mecp master cert
Abyc cert

 

If this is a truck that goes off road or exposed to allot of moisture you WILL NOT catch me dead putting anything with foam in my doors.

There is Very little opinion in this thread assists the OP in anything other than pretty much irrelevant D... measuring, making statements and regurgitating already stated info found on the internet to make them seem more knowledgeable instead of addressing the specific details associated with his problems

I think the OP has his Xover set to high on his deck, leaving him with only the higher freq punchy bass or a gap in the freq spectrum. Change your tweeter jumper on your x-over to a low - DB setting if they are to harsh--- are they Alum tweeters ? if so, try dropping it a lil lower.

 

whatever. I guess you are unqualified as well because my first response wasn't much different than what you have said other than trying foam baffles, and given money is apparently not much of a concern given what he has purchased, why not run a separate amp for the sub? Subs like it.
Again. we all agree it's all in the settings, which I was the first to suggest if you go back and look. actually, gary suggested it before me and I didn't see
I also wonder, was the gasket used when installing the speaker?

 

If you have ported sub enclosures you can expect "punchy" bass at the frequency range that the port is tuned to. Sealed enclosures usually have a more even response and can also be made smaller than ported enclosures. Subs that are designed to be in an enclosure (not free air subs) are designed to be in a box with a specific volume of air which is often different when the box is sealed or ported. The issue you have with the bass might be a design problem.

 

By "Xover on his deck" I assume you mean low-pass? I wouldn't put this above 80hz for most ported enclosures.

He already said that his passive crossovers are set to the lower point, and he stated that (edit: his tweeters) are mounted on the sail panel. If they're still too bright, the only way to fix it is to change DSP settings. Adding a sound processor and bi-amplifying his front stage would greatly improve his control over the sound and he wouldn't even have to delve into the more advanced tuning options that would trip up a less than well-versed user.

 

Sorry, i might have mis-read/ skipped over some info as your mentioning he already stated the above mentioned.

 

Our first posts are nothing alike. I recommended a single solution, whereas you threw out a bunch of misleading information and unhelpful, invalid recommendations. "Subs like it" is not a valid point to encourage adding an amplifier to an already well-matched system. That Alpine PDX5 is well capable of providing the right power to his components, and he's already said that his gains are set at minimum.

 

this thread is useless at this point, OP said it was going somewhere to have it looked at, so have fun playing with yourself.