# Is Hertz HSK-165 a lot better than Polk DB6501?



## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

I'm running a set of DB6501s for the front right now, they sound good, but not great I wouldn't say.

There's a local deal right a guy is selling a set of HSK-165s for about $200. I'm wondering if the Hertz would be a big step up from the Polks at all. Are they considered same level speakers or are the Hertz a few levels up?

Thanks guys.


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

The Polk dbs are an OK budget speaker, but the Hertz should be much more detailed than the Polks...maybe at a cost of a little midbass, depending on your installation.


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

I have all my doors and hatch deadened, speakers are mounted with spacers, the amp will be an Eclipse XA4000, sub is IDQ 12'' when I get it repaired..

Thanks for the help. What Hz range does the midbass occupy?


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## tspence73 (Oct 14, 2008)

basicxj said:


> The Polk dbs are an OK budget speaker, but the Hertz should be much more detailed than the Polks...maybe at a cost of a little midbass, depending on your installation.


What regarding the Hertz driver makes it so much better than the Polk dynamic balance driver? Polk's dynamic balance technology is over a decade old and is still one of the most respected drivers for accuracy and low-distortion. Polk db comps were speakers I was originally planning on buying until the Infinity Refs won in the blind evaluation. I personally don't have any objection to how Polk's db speakers sound. They are very neutral, have good vocals and don't irritate at all. Polk's db series is to this day one of the best drivers you can buy at any price on the mass market for car audio.


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

tspence73 said:


> What regarding the Hertz driver makes it so much better than the Polk dynamic balance driver? Polk's dynamic balance technology is over a decade old and is still one of the most respected drivers for accuracy and low-distortion. Polk db comps were speakers I was originally planning on buying until the Infinity Refs won in the blind evaluation. I personally don't have any objection to how Polk's db speakers sound. They are very neutral, have good vocals and don't irritate at all. Polk's db series is to this day one of the best drivers you can buy at any price on the mass market for car audio.


As a former owner of the db series, I agree and they're OK- nice midbass response considering the price, but the tweeters could have been more detailed and there was a bit of a "canned" sounding anomoly in the midrange I had to EQ out by knocking down a couple of adjacent bands. All in all, the dbs were very good value for the price. I liked them much better than the Infinity product I had previously- the tweeters were much smoother and midbass was superior with much more snap. There have been a few incarnations of the Polk "db," and this series hasn't celebrated their 10th birthday yet (more like 7). The DX series came before that.

The Hertz sound much more lively and detailed and have a silky sounding tweeter that still has some sparkle, though the midbass is more reserved or neutral specifically compared to the Polk dbs. Having used the Polks and heard the Hertz, the Polks offer better bang per buck and the Hertz are a superior sounding product.


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

lh0628 said:


> I have all my doors and hatch deadened, speakers are mounted with spacers, the amp will be an Eclipse XA4000, sub is IDQ 12'' when I get it repaired..
> 
> Thanks for the help. What Hz range does the midbass occupy?


You'll probably have your Polks crossed over somewhere around 60-80hz, and the db series will probably have somewhat more output near this point compared to the Hertz product.


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

I had the Polks crossed over at just about 80Hz. I had to set the tweeters to -3 dB since they were too bright and almost harsh to me.

More detail and neutral sounding would be nice. I just won't be able to listen to the Hertz unless I purchase them, hence the thread here hoping for some help.

Car audio is a weird thing to me. For example, I was running Alpine MRP-F450 for the speakers, for the life of me I could not get rid of the static/ticking noise from the tweeters. I tried everything. Then I bought this Eclipse XA4000 amp, the static/ticking noise just went away. But the floor noise is a lot louder now.


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

lh0628 said:


> I had the Polks crossed over at just about 80Hz. I had to set the tweeters to -3 dB since they were too bright and almost harsh to me.
> 
> More detail and neutral sounding would be nice. I just won't be able to listen to the Hertz unless I purchase them, hence the thread here hoping for some help.
> 
> Car audio is a weird thing to me. For example, I was running Alpine MRP-F450 for the speakers, for the life of me I could not get rid of the static/ticking noise from the tweeters. I tried everything. Then I bought this Eclipse XA4000 amp, the static/ticking noise just went away. But the floor noise is a lot louder now.


I'm going to assume you've properly set your gain levels with the Eclipse amp and the Alpine before it. The db tweeters can get edgy sounding when the signal is clipped, and if you don't turn it down that can lead to static or popping sounds as the driver breaks up with the clipped signal. Too high a gain setting can also give you prominent hiss in playback due to the amp running balls out too early on the volume dial in relation to the pre-out voltage of your head unit.

It sounds like you have other things to sort out first before throwing more money at the system in the form of used Hertz speakers .


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

tspence73 said:


> What regarding the Hertz driver makes it so much better than the Polk dynamic balance driver? Polk's dynamic balance technology is over a decade old and is still one of the most respected drivers for accuracy and low-distortion. Polk db comps were speakers I was originally planning on buying until the Infinity Refs won in the blind evaluation. I personally don't have any objection to how Polk's db speakers sound. They are very neutral, have good vocals and don't irritate at all. Polk's db series is to this day one of the best drivers you can buy at any price on the mass market for car audio.


you are a moron, you need to back the **** away from the keyboard and go do something else, please


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

Thanks for the reply.

I did adjust the gain settings on the Alpine amp. The static/ticking increases in volume as I turn the gain up, the frequency also increases with engine rev, but not volume-wise. Even setting the gain at minimum I can still hear the very faint static/ticking noise.

With the Eclipse, I didn't play with the gain setting because I only hooked it up to test before buying. The static/ticking wasn't there, so I'm assuming I have a bad Alpine amp, and the floor noise should decrease after I set the amp up correctly.


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

lh0628 said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> I did adjust the gain settings on the Alpine amp. The static/ticking increases in volume as I turn the gain up, the frequency also increases with engine rev, but not volume-wise. Even setting the gain at minimum I can still hear the very faint static/ticking noise.
> 
> With the Eclipse, I didn't play with the gain setting because I only hooked it up to test before buying. The static/ticking wasn't there, so I'm assuming I have a bad Alpine amp, and the floor noise should decrease after I set the amp up correctly.


What type of head unit?


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

Alpine CDA-9886.


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

Still debating on the Hertz.

But taking this thread OT a bit  Power wire ran along driver's side, RCA, speaker wires, and remote wire along center console. 

With the old amp, I tried:

- Ran a spare speaker right to the amp (skipping the current speaker wiring), noise.
- Wrapped RCAs on the HU with wire and grounded it to the HU rack, noise.
- Grounded AMP and HU to the same grounding point, noise.
- Ran a spare RCA, PS3, and Wii to the amp, noise.
- New ground for the HU, noise.

There is no noise when I unplug the RCA from the amp. 

The noise is only there when the car is turned on.

I think I've tried almost everything in the book.


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

lh0628 said:


> Alpine CDA-9886.


Could be something like a bad amp, but could also be a poor RCA cable or RCA connection, poor ground, ground loop...you'll have some troubleshooting to do.

edit: just read your latest post...seems you have it narrowed down to the amp. Have you tried pulling the amp apart and eyeballing the solder job on the RCA inputs?


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

I could take an attempt at that. Would it be something easy to spot to untrained eyes?


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## basicxj (Jan 1, 2008)

lh0628 said:


> I could take an attempt at that. Would it be something easy to spot to untrained eyes?


A cold solder joint isn't as shiny and smooth as a proper one. Missing solder or too much wiggle on the connection inside might provoke me to hit it with an iron and allow the joint to re-flow. 

You could always post a macro picture of the inside for dissection from the amp gurus on the forum.


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## johnya84 (Nov 24, 2007)

lh0628 said:


> I'm running a set of DB6501s for the front right now, they sound good, but not great I wouldn't say.
> 
> There's a local deal right a guy is selling a set of HSK-165s for about $200. I'm wondering if the Hertz would be a big step up from the Polks at all. Are they considered same level speakers or are the Hertz a few levels up?
> 
> Thanks guys.


Where is this guy located I would like to get a set with that price. Is he an authorized dealer?


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

I will do that probably this weekend, thanks man.

I'm getting this used johny


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## johnya84 (Nov 24, 2007)

Thats cool..Have fun with it then..


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## lh0628 (May 25, 2009)

I just saw someone selling the HSK-165s in the classified forum for $220, you might want to check that out.


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