Start with the need to know.
System:
Kenwood KCD-X492 head unit, Polk MOMO 6.5 components in the front doors, Pioneer 4-Channel (rated at 60W x 4channels but bridged to put all the power on the front stage as i eliminated the rear stage). Two Kenwood KFC-W2512 10" Subwoofers and a Kenwood KAC-8104D Mono amp for the bass.
The problem:
Large amounts of high range distortion even at low levels.
The MOMO's are rated at 125W RMS apiece, but at this point I'm afraid I'm running two much power for the tweeters to handle. They're not extremely high end speakers but they weren't cheap junk either. The carbon fiber woofers are great, very clear, but the tweeters have always been way too "bright" for my taste. It's like the treble is always too high. I have switched the tweeter level on the crossovers to -6 decibels and have fiddled with the parametric equalizer on the head unit but to no avail. I can't listen to my stereo very loud the distortion is so great. The highs are so muddy that they all just blend together into one high pitched racket. I guess my question is, am I on the right track thinking that I'm feeding it too much power? Or do I need to look into getting something different? And if I did get something different, would i be able to run different tweeters with the current mid-woofer or would I need to change to whole system out?
Well as for feeding too much power, that's all in tuning. You can have a million watt amp and still only get 10 watts out of it. I don't mean any disrespect, I simply don't know, but how much install/tuning experience and knowledge do you have? It might be an equipment issue or a wiring issue, but it could also be an install/tuning issues. These kinds of things are a pain in the ass to diagnose and resolve without being in person with the car.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Liquor is not a drug John, liquor is not a drug.
I see, as for my tuning experience you can assume none. By tuning what exactly do you mean?
Not to be someone who posts without reading, I read the sticky, is that what you're talking about?
I'm talKing about tuning your amp and head unit settings to get the right amount of power, clean power, right frequencies etc
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Liquor is not a drug John, liquor is not a drug.
I guess I'll have to do some reading to figure out what I need to do. If you have links to any useful articles ect. I would be immensely helpful.
diyma.com
Slightly unable to be super helpful right now, and probably all weekend. Got 2 big installs that I'm prepping for, and doing.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
Liquor is not a drug John, liquor is not a drug.
Thanks for the info. It looks as if I have found the problem. My Kenwood head unit has direct ipod control and thats what I listen to the most. I figured out that if you turn of the equalizer on the ipod all the problems go away. I knew it had an equalizer but I thought with the way it was hooked up that the head unit was merely reading that digital file stored on the ipod and that the equalizer would have no effect on it. Turns out my assumptions were not correct. So main problem solved. I am still going to look into tuning my amp properly though. Again thank for the help.
