# Bass blocker... a couple questions



## Lifeisabeach (Sep 29, 2016)

Hey guys, I'm installing a new dash speaker in my wife's car and have a question about the bass blocker. I know the bass blocker goes on the positive lead, but this will make the positive lead longer overall than the negative lead due to the re-use of the factory harness. Does the negative lead need to be the same length, or no diff? We're talking about a 4" difference in length, perhaps 6".

Related to this... the speaker going in is a 3.5" Infinity Reference 2-way speaker. I've actually installed it, but used the wrong bass blocker that came in a variety pack and it's filtering waaay too high and effectively functioning just as a tweeter. I can use a 150 Hz bass blocker (which would be 200 Hz on this 3 ohm speaker) or a 300 Hz one (400 on this speaker). The door speakers are separate woofers/tweeters and a sub in the back, all factory. Any thoughts on which of the 2 I should use? The sound right now is a fair bit brighter and not so muddy as it was with the factory dash speaker. I don't want it to do more than what it's "good" at, being a 3.5" 2-way speaker. The door speakers (6.5") I'm thinking should be better at handling the sub-400 Hz range so I'm leaning to using that blocker on the dash.


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## Justin Zazzi (May 28, 2012)

The difference in length of wire is nothing to worry about and it will make no difference. It's not a bad question and it's a good thing you're being observant and thinking about stuff.

I am curious though. Why are you using a bass blocker? Doesn't the infinity speakers come with some capacitors to use for this?

Based just on what you're writing here, a high pass frequency of 200hz seems about right for a 3.5" speaker if you're using a factory radio to power it, or an amplifier with a reasonable amount of power like <50w per channel or so. If you also have the ability to low-pass the 6.5" woofers in the doors at 200hz, then I would give it a try.

But a high pass frequency of 400hz would be more foolproof in the long term if you're using a powerful aftermarket amplifier or you like to listen to music louder than usual, or you cannot low-pass the 6.5" speakers in the door.

If you tell us a little more about what equipment you have (and what you're trying to accomplish) we can offer a better answer for you.


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## Lifeisabeach (Sep 29, 2016)

Jazzi said:


> The difference in length of wire is nothing to worry about and it will make no difference. It's not a bad question and it's a good thing you're being observant and thinking about stuff.


Preeshiate! 



> I am curious though. Why are you using a bass blocker? Doesn't the infinity speakers come with some capacitors to use for this?


The Infinity does comes with a capacitor that is effectively a 200 Hz bass blocker, but it'd require soldering and that's a skill I'm completely lacking in. Also, with the cutout and space I'm installing this into (existing location of dash speaker, 2017 Ford Edge), that extra bulk on the side seemed it'd be awkward to fit in there. Having a pre-packaged "bass blocker" that gives me more leeway on moving the capacitor section out of the way just makes for more flexibility.



> Based just on what you're writing here, a high pass frequency of 200hz seems about right for a 3.5" speaker if you're using a factory radio to power it, or an amplifier with a reasonable amount of power like <50w per channel or so. If you also have the ability to low-pass the 6.5" woofers in the doors at 200hz, then I would give it a try.
> 
> But a high pass frequency of 400hz would be more foolproof in the long term if you're using a powerful aftermarket amplifier or you like to listen to music louder than usual, or you cannot low-pass the 6.5" speakers in the door.
> 
> If you tell us a little more about what equipment you have (and what you're trying to accomplish) we can offer a better answer for you.


I won't be replacing the factory amplifier. It's a "500 watt" factory system, whatever that means exactly since Ford doesn't break that down more specifically. I'm taking a stab at that being peak watts, with 200-300 for the sub and the remainder split between the rest of the speakers. The overall sound is very "muddy" and appears to be a widespread complaint with these cars. I've been conversing with some folks in an owners forum and there's a lot of interest in improving the sound here.

The car is my wife's, and she's not as fussy as I am, but I do have to ride in it when traveling so she's agreeable to me upgrading the speakers. Right off the bat, even she can appreciate how much better the sound is just from the dash speaker replacement. And that's with using a 2800 Hz bass blocker. She said she doesn't have to turn the volume up as much now to hear it. We both think the sound is "brighter" and not so muddy. I haven't spent any time with it since putting this together last weekend, so my impressions are fleeting for the moment. My concern is that using a 200 Hz blocker will be pushing the 3.5" woofer to do too much for its size and "muddy" the sound up again. I'm sure the factory speaker, which was a single 3.5" woofer (and a cruddy one at that), was completely unfiltered, so I'm sure it's win either way.

My plan was to replace the door speakers next, but I may settle on just the tweeters. I've reviewed a couple photos of the factory speaker in-place with the panel off, and there are 4 wires running to the woofer (located low in the door) over the factory harness. It appears the woofer has a crossover built into it and is feeding the tweeter (located high in the door) over that harness. Replacing the woofer may be more of a job to do properly than I care to tackle myself. Alternatively, I could replace the woofer with a 2-way speaker and leave the upper tweeter disconnected or removed entirely. That would save the hassle of installing an external passive crossover.

EDIT: I should mention that the dash speaker is a single one, so it's mono and thus having to do left and right channels. This is partly why I'm thinking limiting the low range a bit more may be preferable. According to a wiring diagram someone posted in that owners forum, it does get it's signal from the factory DSP, rather than sharing a lead from other speakers.


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## Justin Zazzi (May 28, 2012)

Well if you're not going to be soldering anything, why not try one size bass blocker and see how it goes? Shouldn't it be easy to swap out for the other size to compare them?


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## Lifeisabeach (Sep 29, 2016)

Jazzi said:


> Well if you're not going to be soldering anything, why not try one size bass blocker and see how it goes? Shouldn't it be easy to swap out for the other size to compare them?


Well if it's generally accepted it's best one way or another, I figured I may as well save the trouble rather than try to overthink it, especially since I really need to replace all the speakers to get the best impressions and I'm going piecemeal. I also don't have a 150/200 Hz blocker though I could just test temporarily with the provided capacitor. Ultimately, I just would rather not have to disassemble the dash speaker a 3rd time. My wife is already rolling her eyes for me needing to do it a 2nd time. :whoops:

What I think I'm going to do is sit on this for the moment. I want to replace the pair of speakers in the rear cargo area that are part of the upgraded "12-speaker" system in her model. They appear to be 3.5" 2-way speakers but there's no data available for what fits. I'm planning to pop one of those open, check the measurements, then order something that should fit and get the 150 Hz bass blockers while I'm at it so I have them ready. Really, I need to settle on what to do with the door speakers also and get it all done in one weekend so I can best judge which blockers work best on the smaller speakers with everything in.


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## Lifeisabeach (Sep 29, 2016)

Alrighty, so I experimented with both bass blockers in use. It sounded really great with the 150 Hz one, with surprisingly strong, "tight" bass coming out of the speaker, something I just wasn't expecting at this size. I did feel that the 300 Hz one seemed a little crisper with vocals while slightly less bass coming out, which I expected. How much of that was a noticeable difference vs me imagining it met my expectations is hard to say. My wife doesn't like a whole lot of bass, so I stuck with the 300 hz blocker. I don't think one could go wrong either way here. Anywho, thanks for the advice.


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