# kenwood 6x9's, NO BASS



## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

I had kenwood 6x9's in the deck lid of my '88 monte, and for some reason they produced ZERO bass, literally they were 500 watt 3 way tweeters  they also distorted at high volumes

at first i thought it was just because i was powering them off of my HU, so i bought a 70x4 kenwood amp. the amp fixed the distortion completely, but the bass is still NILCH. WTF?

im not a COMPLETE noob, so in other words, no backwards wires or any of that crap. looking back on my install though, i can only think of one thing i may have messed up. My radio only has two sets of rca outputs, front and back/subs. So i used a speaker wire to RCA converter to convert the rear speaker wire outputs to rca and then sent that to the amp. that way i could leave my RCA output as the subs. after installing the adapter and hooking it all up the speakers would emit a noticeable buzzing sound that didnt change in volume even if I cranked the radio up. but still NO bass.

any ideas? The speakers are Kenwood KFC-6982IE 
im gettin pretty sick of shrill BS sound lol


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

So there is no crossover for them? Like no highpass on? Also I would say if there is not a highpass going to them, then it has to do with install. How are they mounted? Are there big holes that lead into the cabin? How are they mounted and secured? MDF baffle, plastic baffle or mounted straight to the metal of the car. 

The induced noise you are hearing is form the way you are getting your signal input for the amp. I would run feed the amp with the front set of RCA outputs and use a splitter to get to 4-ch's, that way you still have the rear/sub RCA output for your sub.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

nope no crossovers

my car came stock with 4x10's, so i bought some adapters for 6x9's off ebay. what a [email protected]#$% to install. they fit right against the metal of deck. at the time i didnt know that i could connect my subs on the front channel. 

i guess technically a plastic baffle? the adapters are solid plastic that fit right against the 4x10 mounting location

:UPDATE:

I hooked up the speakers to my dads radio in the basement and they sound fantastic


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

It prob has something to do with the mounting.

I would redo it so that they are being fed with the rca outputs form the deck to the amp, to get rid of the noise. I am not a fan of using adapters that go from a small speaker to a big one. I assume you are using something like these

BEST KIT 50012 CAR CD STEREO 4X10" TO 6X9" ADAPTOR PAIR - eBay (item 180531153116 end time Feb-04-11 14:19:57 PST)

SCOSCHE SA41069 4X10 TO 6X9 SPEAKER ADPT (PAIR) - eBay (item 330514971564 end time Feb-02-11 08:51:39 PST)

4 x 10 to 6 x 9 SPEAKER ADAPTER PLATE MID KIT 4X10 6X9 - eBay (item 270662652698 end time Feb-09-11 15:38:26 PST)

Like I said the lack of bass could easily come form a bad mounting situation. If the mounting adapters can flex or vibrate at all you will get some cancellation in the low notes.

I would make sure that the amp has no crossovers turned on. Depending on what model of kenwood amp you have and how old it is, they used to use a fixed crossover point that was pretty high like 125-150hz. Maybe the switch was flipped and you didnt know it.

Other than check the amp, I would really look into the mounting of them.


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

Buy a subwoofer.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

Angrywhopper said:


> Buy a subwoofer.


I already have a subwoofer. But regardless, I'd rather solve a problem than work around it with a half-assed solution. Thanks for the Pro-Tip though.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

BeatsDownLow said:


> It prob has something to do with the mounting.
> 
> I would redo it so that they are being fed with the rca outputs form the deck to the amp, to get rid of the noise. I am not a fan of using adapters that go from a small speaker to a big one. I assume you are using something like these. Like I said the lack of bass could easily come form a bad mounting situation. If the mounting adapters can flex or vibrate at all you will get some cancellation in the low notes.
> 
> ...


Yea they do fit kinda ****ty. 
( I have the last ones, the light blue plastic brackets)

I checked the amp; no crossovers on. If you think its the mounting maybe I'll try some 6x9 boxes and give em a try. Only 30 bucks on amazon anyways so its worth a shot.


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

dedbroadSS said:


> I already have a subwoofer. But regardless, I'd rather solve a problem than work around it with a half-assed solution. Thanks for the Pro-Tip though.


Half-assed solution? How about you get rid of those cheap Kenwood 6x9s and buy a half decent speaker?


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

Angrywhopper said:


> Half-assed solution? How about you get rid of those cheap Kenwood 6x9s and buy a half decent speaker?



Like I said before, thats another backward solution. Just replace them? Why not just fix the problem? 

That's why I started this thread; to get help fixing the problem. 
Not to be told my speakers are crap lol
I don't need anything fancy, I'm just in this for fun. And you don't need to spend tons of money to get decent sound, as you should know. 
Their plenty good for what I need them to do.


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## The_man (Nov 5, 2010)

I'm betting that you have the wires backwards for one of the channels on the line out converter. it will be hooked up correctly at the amp but the input signal would be reverse polarity making it have no bass.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

The_man said:


> I'm betting that you have the wires backwards for one of the channels on the line out converter. it will be hooked up correctly at the amp but the input signal would be reverse polarity making it have no bass.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk


thats what I thought at first too, but I double checked that as well. Also, they didnt have any bass when they were powered by the HU.


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## The_man (Nov 5, 2010)

A lot of head units have crossovers also make sure you double check that. But other than that its gotta be some cancelation from the mounting situation.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

The_man said:


> A lot of head units have crossovers also make sure you double check that. But other than that its gotta be some cancelation from the mounting situation.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk


Yea that seems to be the consensus, I'm gonna go ahead and order those 6x9boxes. They should do the trick


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## Audioguy36 (Jun 10, 2010)

I would say that if you want any kind of sound quality and power handling to save some dough and upgrade the speakers. How much air space are they mounted in? Those boxes will definitely help on the power handling side of things.


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## Audioguy36 (Jun 10, 2010)

Also the shrill sound could be the high distortion that both those speakers and the amp put out at high volumes.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

Audioguy36 said:


> I would say that if you want any kind of sound quality and power handling to save some dough and upgrade the speakers. How much air space are they mounted in? Those boxes will definitely help on the power handling side of things.


in what way are the speakers lacking in quality or power handling? they got great reviews, are quite popular, and sound outstanding when plugged into another receiver.
(not objecting, just curious what you mean) any suggestions for decent replacements that won't kill the bank?
150 rms is pretty decent, they don't crackle when they are on the amp, I can max my HU out and they still sound perfectly clear, just no bass.
they were hanging off the decklid, over the whole trunk. I just ordered a pair of MTX "bass slammer" boxes.


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## Audioguy36 (Jun 10, 2010)

Well shrill sounding usually means distortion and If I were a betting man I would bet those 6 by 9's put out a lot of it, one thing to remember is what one guy thinks is great sounding might not be great to others who have heard better stuff. I am not doubting your hearing but I am wondering what other speakers you have heard to compare these to? One thing you can do to tell if your speakers are reproducing the music correctly without going out and buying expensive speakers is pick up a decent set of headphones and listen to your favorite music on them and listen for different things in songs like cymbal crashes and guitar riffs etc.., the key is to get familiar with how the music is supposed to sound and a 20-$50 set of headphones are going to have far more detail than most speaker sets under a couple hundred bucks. Also the 500 watt rating on those is Max power which is pretty much fiction, what you always have to look at in car audio is continuous power or RMS power rating, which is what the speakers can take continuously. What I meant by having better power handling in the boxes as apposed to free air in the rear deck is that the lower volume of the boxes will give the speakers better power handling, the smaller box means you can send them more power without worry about them bottoming out. Also a lot of guys don't run speakers in the rear and spend the money on a good front end set up which will get plenty loud some good components. Most people ditch rear fill for this reason: Think of when you go see live music, the music is coming from the front, a good sounding system will sound as if the music is coming from in front of you not behind you and you doors, this is called a soundstage, when listening to a singer a good system will sound as if the singer is dead center high on the dash in most cases and if the bassist was recorded on the left you will here it on the left, etc.. when you have speakers playing in the rear this confuses the soundstage. anyways...if you are serious about making your sound like the real deal this is the place to learn man! What speakers do you have up front?...sizes..etc?


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

Audioguy36 said:


> Well shrill sounding usually means distortion and If I were a betting man I would bet those 6 by 9's put out a lot of it, one thing to remember is what one guy thinks is great sounding might not be great to others who have heard better stuff. I am not doubting your hearing but I am wondering what other speakers you have heard to compare these to? One thing you can do to tell if your speakers are reproducing the music correctly without going out and buying expensive speakers is pick up a decent set of headphones and listen to your favorite music on them and listen for different things in songs like cymbal crashes and guitar riffs etc.., the key is to get familiar with how the music is supposed to sound and a 20-$50 set of headphones are going to have far more detail than most speaker sets under a couple hundred bucks. Also the 500 watt rating on those is Max power which is pretty much fiction, what you always have to look at in car audio is continuous power or RMS power rating, which is what the speakers can take continuously. What I meant by having better power handling in the boxes as apposed to free air in the rear deck is that the lower volume of the boxes will give the speakers better power handling, the smaller box means you can send them more power without worry about them bottoming out. Also a lot of guys don't run speakers in the rear and spend the money on a good front end set up which will get plenty loud some good components. Most people ditch rear fill for this reason: Think of when you go see live music, the music is coming from the front, a good sounding system will sound as if the music is coming from in front of you not behind you and you doors, this is called a soundstage, when listening to a singer a good system will sound as if the singer is dead center high on the dash in most cases and if the bassist was recorded on the left you will here it on the left, etc.. when you have speakers playing in the rear this confuses the soundstage. anyways...if you are serious about making your sound like the real deal this is the place to learn man! What speakers do you have up front?...sizes..etc?


thanks for the tips! I appreciate all the help! 
In terms of 6x9's I've only heard a few, JL, RockfordFosgate, Sony and my kenwoods. I'm not looking to spend hundreds but if you think theres a better deal for my money let me know.


I totally agree with you on the front biased audio. The only problem is that in my car the only front speaker mounts are for 3.5 inch speakers. I have THE worst speakers in there right now. Some chinese POS's. i'm not sure how else I can mount anything in the front, unless anyone knows any good 3.5's.


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## aphexacid (Oct 24, 2009)

hmmm...You sure you have the positive and negative on the speaker correctly? i would check that. even if it says positive on positive, and all is correct. swap them just for ****s and giggles, and see if it sounds better.

also, theres nothing wrong with 6x9's, or kenwood 6x9's for that matter. not everything needs to be ****ing dynaudio for the ultimate ESSQUE!

some people seriously need to get over themselves already, sheesh.


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

dedbroadSS said:


> Like I said before, thats another backward solution. Just replace them? Why not just fix the problem?
> 
> That's why I started this thread; to get help fixing the problem.
> Not to be told my speakers are crap lol
> ...


This was half ass to start. You replaced 4 10's with a pair of 6x9's and a single sub?

Start over.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

alm001 said:


> This was half ass to start. You replaced 4 10's with a pair of 6x9's and a single sub?
> 
> Start over.


Before you come in thinking you're some smart piece of work, read it twice.


i replaced the 4 X 10 ' S with 2 6x9's and a sub.

_not_ 4 10's.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

aphexacid said:


> hmmm...You sure you have the positive and negative on the speaker correctly? i would check that. even if it says positive on positive, and all is correct. swap them just for ****s and giggles, and see if it sounds better.
> 
> also, theres nothing wrong with 6x9's, or kenwood 6x9's for that matter. not everything needs to be ****ing dynaudio for the ultimate ESSQUE!


yea i tried that swapping back n forth, no cigars! the boxes will be in a few days and ill post back after trying those.




aphexacid said:


> some people seriously need to get over themselves already, sheesh.


:beerchug::beerchug::beerchug:


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

If the 6x9s are in the rear deck, they need to be sealed completely to the rear deck. The better seal you have, the better bass you have. This is why we harp on install quality, b/c a half-baked install will make good speakers sound like trash every time. 

There are ton's of good 3.5" speakers, look here: Parts-Express.com sells Speakers, Replacement Speakers, Speaker Building Parts plus HDMI Cables, Home Audio and Video, Pro Audio and Commercial Sound. We offer services for Speaker Reconing, Speaker Refoaming, Speaker Repair. Great selection of Elect. 

Personally, I would run a good set of speakers in the front, and run the 6x9's as subs in the rear. Just low-pass them like a sub, seal them up properly, then concentrate on your front stage. Or maybe if you have a sub, but the 3.5" you have can't blend down to where you are crossing your sub, you can band-pass the 6x9s to try to blend the two.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

6x9's have the same cone area, or abouts, as a 8" woofer, so you should be getting some bass with them.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

94VG30DE said:


> If the 6x9s are in the rear deck, they need to be sealed completely to the rear deck. The better seal you have, the better bass you have. This is why we harp on install quality, b/c a half-baked install will make good speakers sound like trash every time.
> 
> There are ton's of good 3.5" speakers, look here:
> 
> Personally, I would run a good set of speakers in the front, and run the 6x9's as subs in the rear. Just low-pass them like a sub, seal them up properly, then concentrate on your front stage. Or maybe if you have a sub, but the 3.5" you have can't blend down to where you are crossing your sub, you can band-pass the 6x9s to try to blend the two.


Thanks for the link, I'm thinking about getting the MTX TDX35's. What do you think?
I have two free air subs setup mounted where the back seatrest used to be, I'll post pics soon. So those should take care of most of the low end. The boxes should take of the 6x9's poor mounting equipment problem.

Also, thanks to the people who are giving me their valued input, and not just saying, "throw it away", "start over", or spend tons of money or you'll get crap


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

BeatsDownLow said:


> 6x9's have the same cone area, or abouts, as a 8" woofer, so you should be getting some bass with them.


yea they are supposed to sound great, i hooked them up to a home theater receiver and they sound excellent


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## alm001 (Feb 13, 2010)

Wow. Reading fail for me.
Sorry. (I had a car with QTY 4 10's way back when.)


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## Sarthos (Oct 29, 2010)

I would actually blame your Line output converter... I've rarely seen one that works very well, if the boxes don't fix your problem, see if you can borrow someone's headunit so you can give better signal to your speakers.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

haha I just noticed the 6x9s are a *5-WAY*. That is absurd  

If you do end up going a small enclosure, it should increase power handling a little bit, probably lop off a little bit of the low-end (which is covered by the sub anyway) and you should be good to go. EQ down the peak you will get based on the enclosure, get rid of any top end that is already being covered by the front stage, and make sure the phase blends with the front end. 

Do you have a separate location for tweeters in that mullet-mobile? (And I say that in the most endearing way possible). If you can go separate tweeters, even passive, I think your options for a quality 3" mid open wide up. I don't know about how the 3.5" Kickers sound, but I'm willing to bet a Bamboo and a passive crossover would sound pretty sweet. Where is the factory mounting locations in the front?


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

94VG30DE said:


> Do you have a separate location for tweeters in that mullet-mobile? (And I say that in the most endearing way possible)


:laugh::laugh::laugh:

rofl, yes I have some places i could put them, like in the back on the pillars, or in the holes where the air vents _used_ to be..



94VG30DE said:


> If you can go separate tweeters, even passive, I think your options for a quality 3" mid open wide up. I don't know about how the 3.5" Kickers sound, but I'm willing to bet a Bamboo and a passive crossover would sound pretty sweet. Where is the factory mounting locations in the front?


right up against the window, flush with the top of the dash. not much access room, but ive modified the mounts a bit to make em easier to get to and to allow deeper magnets


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

dedbroadSS said:


> :laugh::laugh::laugh:
> 
> rofl, yes I have some places i could put them, like in the back on the pillars, or in the holes where the air vents _used_ to be..
> 
> right up against the window, flush with the top of the dash. not much access room, but ive modified the mounts a bit to make em easier to get to and to allow deeper magnets


Not sure what you mean the back of the A-Pillars (unless you mean in the C-pillars, which is a bad idea). But in the air vents is a bad idea. Reflections would be terrible. 

The factory location sounds rough, but it might work. Again the reflections might be rough, but at least they will be coming from a good place. Again though, since access to that location is tough, installing with a proper seal will be difficult as well. I would see if you can find some other users on here that have done work on that car.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

my a's have gap that would allow tweeter magnets to set into them, so they would'nt have to be surface-mounted.

I have a pic to illustrate what i mean, but for some reason i still cant post pics or links.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Best thing to do is buy a spare set of door panels and put 6.5 in the doors and tweeters in dash or doors. I used to put pair of 10s in those IB all the time it sounded good, in the center of the rear deck. 

I would guess it is the speakers and maybe the amp is helping. I always use coax and rarely triax for 6x9 they seem to have more bass. The high power and 3/4/5 way often have hellish top end a few do not. Cheaper ones seem worse. As the coax are lower power they can blow easier if you beat them. Though I admit most of the time I had a high pass at 80hz or so on them and it was always the tweeter that blew. You could also get a cheaper used EQ and put on that amp to tune them in, that might be your best road for the moment it would be cheapest. A 7 band or more would do them wonders, even if you mount it hidden or in the trunk, or find an amp with an EQ in it there is a couple older sony that often go cheap on epay with the EQ in the amp.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

still waiting on the boxes


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Most 6x9 are made for IB mount. That means boxes usually give them tight bass and hardly any lows. You will get more high bass though.


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## dedbroadSS (Jan 5, 2011)

sqshoestring said:


> Most 6x9 are made for IB mount. That means boxes usually give them tight bass and hardly any lows. You will get more high bass though.


good, thats what i want from them. subs will handle the lows.

boxes coming today :laugh:


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