i have 4 new 6.5" infinity speakers powered by a JVC 200watt max power headunit. while the dynamic range and clarity are far superior, the bass still can't match the fullness/low sound of a stock bose system. why is this? do i need amps? would that make a difference at all? is the speaker design just not the same as the bose? infinity's come with huge magnets and the bass still sounds miniscule and distorts at upper volumes.

 

I think most of it is because of Bose's factory EQ settings built into the amps. They are set to deliver a full sound and low bass. They run a lot more current than your Infinity speakers too. There is a 2 or 4 ohm resistance in your Infinity's compared to the 1 ohm Bose speakers.

 

Make sure you allow a break-in period to get the full performance of the new speakers. I took several days for my Kappas to break in. I find that, normally, the bass in the stock speakers are "boomy" and not tight. You might be interpreting this to be "more" bass.

 

You really don't want much bass in your 6.5's. Thats why they make subs.

 

if you really want a decent/nice sound system...not that your current setup isn't, I would advice you to add an amp for at least your front stage and a subwoofer. Then you'll really appreicate the new speakers your just bought...just my .04 cents (inflation)

 

lol yup. thanks guys. i know my setup is very basic. my interest has mainly been on making the car faster. however, now that i've been driving considerably more, i want better sounding tunes. i have been thinking about getting an amp to power the speakers along with a 10" sub with enclosure in the trunk. can someone recommend certain components to me? sticking with basics and in the interest of lightweight (i gotta be able to keep up and smoke punks in mustangs) what should i get? thanks again.

 

well what I would advice is that, you go with either a 3 channel or 5 channel amplifier. PPI makes decent amps, I have a 5 channel running in 3 channel mode. With the 3 channel hook up your front stage and your subwoofer and keep the rears hooked up to the headunit, for rear fill. You could also go with the 5 channel and hook all your speakers up to the amp. My sub is a JL 10W0, but I've heard that the new Eclipse Aluminum is a nice sub. Price was and is still an issue for me, but I have great sound. Sub cost ~$100 and I built the box for under $20. That should about do it. Keep us updated.

 

thank you for replying. is there an advantage to either 3 channel or 5 channel hookup? if i run a 3 channel setup as opposed to a 5 channel, will the subwoofer get more juice? also, what about adjusting EQs on each speaker so that the sub only gets bass frequencies? please bare these newbie questions.

 

I haven't seen any 3 channel amps for car audio, but they may exist. A 5 channel could have the four full range channels bridged to 2 channel yeilding 3 channels total. This would not give more power to the sub. Also, any decent sub amp has a low-pass crossover built in. The crossover rolls off frequencies above or below a certain point to keep the speaker in the ideal range for the particular speaker or system. Most multi-channel amps also have a built in crossover for the smaller speaker.

 

Remember what was said about speaker break-in and what a small speaker should sound like. The bose speakers tend to use light weight paper cones with lower resonant frequency. This creates a very warm sound that with most music muddies up the midbass.

 

Xtant makes a 3-channel amp X603 but it is quite expensive. I would recomend getting a four channel amp and bridging the rear channels for the sub. Then let your head unit take care of the rear speakers. This the the best option both economically and for weight (most five channels tend to be big and heavy). There is also a huge selection of good 4channels. If you are really interested in shaving the pounds, some neodymium type speakers may be in order. ID makes some neo coaxs and DEI has some neo components and coaxs all of which are pretty good sounding. My $.02.

Brett

 

main difference between running my amp in 3 channel mode vs. 5 channel is that more power for the front stage...the boston pros require around 120 rms, so thats what they get and they sound KLEAN! the sub gets about 120-150 rms...which is all it needs....so decent sound...feel free to email or pm me with any specific details/concerns