# How to fix harsh tweeters ? (four options)



## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

I've had the JBL 62C in my car for about six weeks and they sound great but the tweeters are a little harsh (very common issue with these particular speakers). 

Here's pictures of the tweeter and the location 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/14890939667/in/photostream/ 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/14890793859/in/photostream/ 

The JBL 62c according to the hundred or so reviews I've read can easily be fixed (four different ways where mentioned) so which one sounds the most logical ? 

1. Fade the sound to the back a little to take pressure off the tweeter (seems like the lazy man option). 

2. Adjust the EQ bands and try to find which frequency is causing the harsh sound 

3. Set the crossovers to -3 db (most common solution from what ive seen although I have no idea what it means). 

4. Change the location of the tweeter 

Which of the four makes the most sense for my particular issue ?


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

adjust the crossover to -3 db and see how it is. if that doesnt work make them more off axis


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## fcarpio (Apr 29, 2008)

Out of those four I would pick #3 as well. If you have acces to the passive crossover (the little boxes that come with the speakers) there should be a switch that may be labeled -3db or something like that. switch it to that setting, both of them.


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## snaimpally (Mar 5, 2008)

"Set the crossovers to -3 db " = turn the volume of the tweeters down 

Try positioning them off-axis.


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## Sine Swept (Sep 3, 2010)

Option 5 - go active and get level control over your tweeters!!


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

What kind of processing do you have? I know the JBL p660c tweets sounded pretty harsh in my silverado even at -6db on the crossover. A little eq and some attenuation from the 80prs and things smoothed out nicely.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

Sine Swept said:


> Option 5 - go active and get level control over your tweeters!!


Kinda beat me to it


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

harshness with well-designed tweeters is usually a function of install, harshness is either driving the tweeters into distortion or a resonant spike from reflections.

so if you aren't overdriving the tweeters you probably have a resonant spike somewhere in the 2.5Khz to 8KHz range, giving you the impression the tweeters are harsh.

this may be from a reflective surface nearby, (diffraction) or an interaction with a nearby surface (driver's side window glass) from further away.

You can change quite a bit about the sound of tweeters by re-aiming them, sometimes making harsh reflective nodes less intrusive, or moving the polar plot at the upper extended range to a point where the beaming isn't objectionable, but the JBL do not have a reputation for being harsh when run correctly.

so I suspect that it could be beneficial to try an acoustic fix like a piece of dash mat in the area immediately surrounding the tweeters, along with attenuating the output if that hasn't been addressed immediately and first off.


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## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

Lots of replies. 

I've heard -3db is a good idea and most like the idea that have posted. 

For the person who asked what processing im running, all im using is my alpine 153BT headunit 

Someone told me to try to lay towels on my dash and see if that helps (he believes that the tweeter might be reflecting off the dash which makes the harsh noises even worse). If that doesn't work then changing them to off axis will be next. 

This is the steps im taking based off what has been told 

1. Try dash mat/towels and see if that works. 

2. If that doesn't work set it to -3db. 

3. If towels and -3db don't work then re-install the tweeters to make them off axis. 

Do I have the right idea ?


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

are you going to permanently just keep towels on your dash if it does work??


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## Sparrow (Mar 6, 2014)

He could use it for testing purposes, and if so (I have no clue) he could try out one of those custom fitted dash mats.


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## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

SkizeR said:


> are you going to permanently just keep towels on your dash if it does work??


 No, the towels are just to see if it fixes the issue (if it does fix the issue then I will purchase the proper matts).


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Try with the easiest method then only other method as stated. 
But the size of the tweeter matters.
This is the limitations on a 2-way component set, setting the crossover points too high will result to lower sound stage, if crossover points too low may result to harshness.


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

the most obvious thing, I believe is being overlooked.

if the deck is driving the passives using internal power, then a lack of power through the passives is causing that harsh sound from amplifier clipping.

the few times I have considered my tweeters to be harsh, I didn't have enough power on them and with an addition of an amplifier in the >25 watt range, that has it's own power supply, the harshness at louder volumes absolutely went away.

when you drive a component set, a lot of the power is wasted in the passive crossover's residual power soak by the various elements, which means less clean power getting to the tweeters.

If your deck says "18 watts RMS, 20-20Khz" then you aren't dealing with an amp that has a power supply, you have a chip amp, an IC-based system that doesn't do as well.

Even if you drive a pair of passives with say, an amp rated for 22 watts/ch RMS, like the old Hafler or 20 watts/ch like old RF, you have a power supply in those, you have a beefier current capability.

so I'd add an amp first, before doing anything else and see how you like that, then start the process of elimination that addresses the acoustic response in the vehicle.


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

Setting the xover to -3db is basically cutting your tweeter by 3db. Do that.

Your HU has a 9 band parametric eq. Cut 2.5khz by 4 db on a wide Q=3. Next Cut 8khz on Q=5 and cut by 5 db. Listen. Is the harshness less?

If you're running only on HU power then look at getting an amp and keeping volume below ~60% of max. Look at getting an amp


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

Another thing to try is to reverse the polarity of the dominant tweeter.


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## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

In regards to power I have a 4 channel amp that's giving 145 watts to each speaker. 

I"ll will try both towel and -3db to see if that fixes it (I will also try the EQ band recommendation). 

Someone told me on another forum this quote but I don't fully understand what it means (the quote is "Also, those midbass drivers are fiberglass, which breaks up at high frequencies and can lead you to believe the tweeter is the issue, when it's actually the midbass driver").


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

geforce789 said:


> In regards to power I have a 4 channel amp that's giving 145 watts to each speaker.
> 
> I"ll will try both towel and -3db to see if that fixes it (I will also try the EQ band recommendation).
> 
> Someone told me on another forum this quote but I don't fully understand what it means (the quote is "Also, those midbass drivers are fiberglass, which breaks up at high frequencies and can lead you to believe the tweeter is the issue, when it's actually the midbass driver").


You can ignore what you read on the other forum. Set the tweeters to -3 and do the eq corrections suggested.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

The -3db setting takes seconds to do. I'm surprised it hasn't been done yet. I've had a set where I thought the tweeter was harsh but it was the midbass that had no lowpass. Applying a lowpass solved what I thought was tweeter harshness. I doubt that's the case here but it would be as easy as unhooking the tweeters and seeing if the harshness is still there. I have no idea if that set uses a lowpass on the midbass.


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## 2010hummerguy (Oct 7, 2009)

A good tweeter shouldn't be harsh even at high volume. -3db attenuation is only masking the issue that either 1. You're getting bad reflections or 2. It is just a crappy tweeter and the fact that so many people have issues with them is evidence of this.

The mid breakup issue is totally plausible.


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## Sine Swept (Sep 3, 2010)

I have in the past mounted tweeters in the door as shown in the pictures. After I relocated to sail panels I was much happier with them (JBL GTO 5.25 components)


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## Sparrow (Mar 6, 2014)

Architect7 said:


> ...2. It is just a crappy tweeter and the fact that so many people have issues with them is evidence of this.
> 
> ...


A lot of reviewers say positive things about these tweeters (component set).


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## 2010hummerguy (Oct 7, 2009)

cajunner said:


> the most obvious thing, I believe is being overlooked.
> 
> if the deck is driving the passives using internal power, then a lack of power through the passives is causing that harsh sound from amplifier clipping.
> 
> ...


Totally missed that these are not externally amplified, good catch! I would agree, I bet the mids are causing the internal amp to run at its limits which is also sending distortion to the tweeters.



Sparrow said:


> A lot of reviewers say positive things about these tweeters (component set).


I've heard the JBL tweeters though...they are just one of those sets that aren't especially graceful at high volume.


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## BuickGN (May 29, 2009)

I think he's running an external amp with 145w per channel.


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## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

BuickGN said:


> I think he's running an external amp with 145w per channel.


 Correct. The amp is PPI 900.4 and its doing 145w to each of the front speakers and the two remaining channels are doing bridged 450w in the back for an entry level sundown 12 inch. 

I'm meeting with my audio guy tomorrow and we will go over most of what has been mentioned in this thread (unplug the tweeters and see if its the mids, set crossover to -3db, move tweeter location....ect).


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

A tweeter need about 10-20W of power.


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## 2010hummerguy (Oct 7, 2009)

I am guessing you are getting bad reflections. I would try them in pods up higher on-axis.


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## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

Had someone adjust my amp and the problem is about 70% gone (I don't remember the exact technical term but he said one of the settings pertaining to the highs was set to 500 which was way to high). I should be able to get the other 30% by adjust the EQ band to my liking (if not I'll try -3db). 

The settings must of been bad since my volume on my headunit dropped 10 (my volume at 15 is now just as loud as it was on 25).


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## 2010hummerguy (Oct 7, 2009)

As in the tweeters were possibly playing down to 500hz?


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## geforce789 (Jul 6, 2014)

Architect7 said:


> As in the tweeters were possibly playing down to 500hz?


 I wish I had the exact answer (he told it to me real quick and his eyes where big when he detected it). He said one of the settings was set to 500 (I don't know what unit it was or if it was minimum or max). Looking at my amp he might of been referring to the LPF setting)


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