hdrox88

Today I listened to just the left mid for a bit, then just the right mid for a bit. The right side seems to have a warmer sound compared to the left. The first place I notice problems is in the higher-highest vocal range, more so in female than male. It starts getting shrill/harsh and is irritating to the ear. J's description earlier in post #61 is pretty close to what I feel is going on, though I'd prefer not to lose anything in the 80-100hz area. From pushing these mids hard I have had them hot enough to smell twice and now I am getting an occasional clicking noise.

Ok, so with my truck running again I got about another hour in to listen. Going without my stereo for a week, I forgot that it already is decently loud. I couldn't tell much of a difference from the few CDs I tried compared to most of the audio on my ipad. I set the HP on the mids to 125hz @ 24db. Good clarity(by my standards) seems to fall off at about the same volume level as before the xover change. I was able to get quite a bit louder while keeping a mediocre clarity, though, only for short bursts as I was running into thermal issues. It seems to be an overall loss of quality, I can't really pin point any one area failing first. I have played with polarity and it didn't seem to make a huge difference in either way. I thought with T/A and phase adjustments in relation to left and right it is one or the other, depending on the install and tuning preferences. T/A dials them into phase?

Not what I expected. I thought I was going to see a plastic fork flying around in an open window, hoping it wasn't going to go in someones eye.

I met up with Mark when he still lived in AZ and took a listen to the two 18" XCONs he had in the santafe. That was the first time I saw windshield flex in person. I was like then then. I can't seem to remember how I ended up in contact with him though.

Makes sense, you can only get as good as the source material being used. The small amount of CDs I do have in my iTunes library, I ripped with Apple lossless.

I don't really have a whole lot of CDs to choose from unfortunately as I can't stand buying a CD for a few songs, but I'll do my best. I have the ipad eq off. Most of the songs don't have that flattened out or hollow sound, it's just a few here and there.

I use an iPad mini, connected via the USB on the 80prs. From what I have read, the digital signal gets converted by the hu that way, not the ipad. Majority of my music is iTunes purchased, though some tracks are mp3 from who knows where. CDs drive me crazy as I would be constantly swapping them out if I listened in the same way I do with the ipad.

Sounds good. Now I just need to get my truck running so I don't kill my batteries and roast myself in the process. 130 degrees inside the cab is not fun.

For the most part. They aren't terrible, though I occasionally find myself wanting to boost 125hz and 80hz a bit. I try to match the output of the sub to the front stage the best I can, but it seems like there is a lull in the 100hz-70hz area. The mid range on these things is great! At least in my narrow opinion. Vocals and guitars are very pronounced.

Well, I got to play for about an hour today when my fuel pump died(99% sure). I can't for the life of me remember when I did it, but my HP for the mids was at 100hz @ 18db when I started tweaking today, go figure. When the sub is on, I can't tell the difference between setting the mid HP to 80hz or 100hz. With the sub off, however, I can tell when I change it. 100hz at 12db seems to give a nice roll-off without getting out of control. I played with tuning left and right sides separately and noticed that the right side seems much more full than the left side. I got them sounding as close as I could and then played them together. It does seem to sound a little better, which is great. It just seems I have hit a brick wall in the output department with this equipment and install location. They sound pretty good, though I don't have a lot to compare to at this point. If I were to be looking for things to complain about with these drivers, this would be it. They could use a little help in the midbass(<125hz) area. At times, on different tracks the higher range(~2khz-3khz or so) of these mids seem to get a little harsh/peak and I find myself dialing them back a few db in this area to tame them. This next part I am pretty sure has to do with taking time with the eq, but some tracks sound kinda flattened out or almost like an old phonograph. That is a bit of an exaggeration, but there is a hint of that kind of sound to it. Or maybe it's just a bad quality track here and there. That's about it for now until I can get her running again.

May bad, sorry for derailing this thread a bit. I do understand the clipping of the signal causing power to increase as that is how I cooked the first xcon I had. I don't blame the equipment at all.

Actually, I have not. This is my first active setup so the learning curve is steep right now.

No one else in the room and I literally laughed out loud when I read that. Look, you don't understand why I made that statement so it is only fair that you listen and try and understand what I am talking about. Amplifiers are going to source current into a specified load at a specified voltage, as long as the power supply can keep up. When you take any amplifier that has a reliable rating of producing a sine wave (The standard waveform for power ratings) at a set voltage and then you have it produce a different waveform (like a square wave) it produces drastically more power, sometimes almost double. And you don't have to use just a square wave, it is an example, much music is compressed enough to almost do the same thing. So your 2.5Kw amplifier is capable of producing 5Kw of some type of power (mostly garbage) and your subwoofer will have to find a way of dealing with it if somehow all the power makes it to the voicecoil. This is worst case scenario, but it can happen. It happens on this site all the time, and user want to cry foul about a manufacturer when they simply overpowered and thermally cooked thier drivers. You should do your homework first, it will help you from making costly mistakes. What you are saying makes perfect sense, and I knew some of that already, though extra knowledge is priceless if it can be worth something. I was actually laughing as I thought your comment toward the OP was in the sarcastic variety. Gotta love text getting misunderstood without facial expression and tone of voice.

Will do, I should have some time after work today.

No one else in the room and I literally laughed out loud when I read that.

I understand, I am open to any questions. Getting the wrong speakers is definitely not something I want to do. I normally set the HP at 80hz with a 24db slope. I had it at 100hz with a 12db slope. It didn't sound terrible, I just wasn't crazy about what sound was lost.

I've tried it with the HP at 100hz and it seemed to help a bit, though I didn't spend much time like that as I didn't like how it sounded.

I haven't tried compensating with the sub as in the past setting the LP anything above 80hz just sounded off. As I increase volume, the first place I notice the sound break up is in the lower vocal range. Most times strong mid bass will fall apart at the same volume level.

Mid bass is the first thing that comes to mind with these particular drivers as far as lacking output. It's there, just not in plentiful amounts if that makes sense. I'm not sure if that's what you are talking about, or where the driver starts falling apart when pushed too far.

At this point it seems new mids are the next step. They seemed a bit harsh in the 1khz to 4khz area to me at times. 150hz and lower could have been a little more pronounced, but not too bad really. I'm looking for an overall jump in output by a fair amount. If I have to change tweeters as well, so be it. The zapco is my power source for now. I'd like to keep in the $300-$400 range for mids. I would also like to stick to stick door location which has about 3.5-4" mount depth with the 3/4" baffle I'm using. 6.5" drivers would be great, though I may be able to squeeze an 8" in there if it would really make a difference. I'm not too sure about making any enclosure in the door at this point so IB capable is kinda big.

That's what I was figuring. I spent hours searching to come to the ID setup. Looks like it's time to start over.

JUst looking at it while playing a variety of music I can't visually see contact, but I'm pretty sure eyes can't keep up with the movement speed of the surround. I'll have to pull the panel and see if the sound changes I guess, though I'm doubtful that will be very revealing.

I'm hitting thermal limits as well. I just got to work and with that extra few clicks on the volume knob it sounded clean, but half way through a song it got stinky.

I have been doing level matching within the HU, though the mids over shoot the tweets as they are on HU power right now so I could bridge the 4ch for the mids. What you are saying is making sense, but surely I can't be hitting a road block with output levels this early in the game.

I haven't tried resetting the gain on the amp yet, but i can get a few more clicks on the volume knob before they are sounding stressed. Adjusting gain at this point seems like spinning wheels at best, or am I wrong? I actually have a set of q logic kick pods, though they had a weird resonation at higher volumes when I first tried them. Is that a viable option if I were to layer some cld on them? I think that would be the only way I would consider doubling up drivers as I would like to keep the doors as stock looking as possible and not chop them up for dual driver set up. I might be able to squeeze an 8" driver in there if needed though.