How to setup crossover frequencies etc
 

Hello all, I have a set of DB6501s, pioneer avh x4800bs HU with a 500w mono amp withe two 12" subs. After plugging everything in, the speakers were really crappy sounding. It has a crossover menu on it, but not sure on how to adjust the frequencies and lpf/hpf. Could the mid woofer not be pushing any bass because I don't have an amp for it?

Subwoofer low pass 80hz Components high pass 80hz give that a shot.

This is what I have it set to right now.. Still feel like I'm not getting the polks potential

I don't know how to post multiple images because I'm on my phone lol

This is what my sub has

Or because of your crossover settings.

I have a similar setup with a pioneer and the crossover adjustments aren't the best, but could be much worse. Don't recall what I have mine set at, and actually have to redo it anyways after my negative terminal was off the other day.

So you're running the Polk 6.5's off deck power and the subs off the amp?
I'd consider even a small 50w rms amp for them if you can swing it.

Double check your polarities to the door speakers? I have mm6501 in mine and they pound pretty good.

Could always turn down the level of the sub on the HU to even things out a bit.

how are your polks wired to head unit?

Speaker wire spliced into the L/R on the HU harness to polk cross over. Then mid to crossover and tweeters into crossover. Sub and amp through RCAs into HU

Maybe I'll try that. Before I hooked up the sub, I had my lpf filter off on the HU in standard mode (the line graph was flat), and the speakers sounded great, but once I wired the sub and switched over to network mode the frequencies changed and it sounds like the mids aren't doing anything and the tweeters sound like sh*t. Not sure how to adjust from the amp either. Don't wanna take it to my local audio shop because they charged me $180 of labor to do something that took me $20 and 2 hours. So if I can fix this with your guys help that'd be great!

because you are using the polk passive crossover, you should have it set to standard mode, otherwise, ditch the passive crossover, and wire the woofer and tweeter to head unit mid and high outputs, then run in network mode, and use your digital crossover.

Hmmm ok. What should I wire the tweeters to? The same as the woofer? I don't believe I have the mid an high outputs.. LOL newbie here

Tune the amp as recommended and leave the EQ on head unit set to flat unless you know what you are doing.

^ Those are the settings I have on my amp and it sounds the best.

Check your manual. when in network mode, your speaker outputs will be... Rear changes to Mid (for woofers) and Front changes to High (for tweeters) I believe.

Yep this :iagree:

As as aside... I just ordered a pioneer head unit after I discovered the existence of network mode. It's a feature I have wanted for many years!!!

I previously didn't consider the pioneers because they don't have a volume knob... but I had to have the network mode, particularly since I want to drive the front speakers off the HU.

Does anyone happen to know where the factory speaker crossover point is?

I do not. An educated guess would be 63hz on doors, and 2500 on dash. Just a guess, though.

i have a DEH-80PRS that ive used for about 3 years now, getting a hang of network mode, crossover settings, slope, TA, gain and lastly the EQ is a daunting process. I also have 2 arc amps and an IB sub in my rear deck, all speakers are run off board, nothing powered by the deck.

The most important part above all is to ensure that your crossovers are right and appropriate for the drivers followed by your slopes.

If you are just running a front stage with sub, this is relatively simple.

Be in 3-way network mode
Low is yours subs, cross probably at 60 or 80hz with a slope is 6db or 12db of , just depends, you can sacrifice amplitude for low extension if you want your front stage to go deeper. It states they go down to 35hz but that may not be as true as stated.

Mid is your front stage mid-woofers, cross at 60 or 80 hz, essentially where the subs leave off your mids pick up with a HPF slope of probably 12db or 18db and a LPF of about 3000 hz to start with a slope of 12 b to 18db,

you can dip the HPF to the 2500 hz region and see how it handles but it would help immensely to know what just the tweeter was rated for

High is the tweeter, cross the HPF around 2500-3000hz with an 18db slope, your mid should transition to the tweeter at the same frequency as the LPF of the mid.

Now that you did all of this, this is just to start. Next would be to play music that you know very well and begin to balance the individual driver levels by ear. This is where you can get brightness of the tweeter if its gaining way faster than the woofer, it'll send shrills down your spine so just reduce the level of gain. In my setup right now, my tweeters are like 9 notches below the woofers it just depends on placement and driver sensitivities.

Once you've dialed in the levels, this is a decent time, if you want to, you can start playing with driver slopes to hear what the different transitions hear like when you change slope. You can and often will get very different performance out of the drivers. Its a trial and error process and really, you need to cater to your taste and work within the limitations of the drivers.

Working with your EQ is a beotch. The best advice i can give you on this is talk to someone who knows the acoustics of the car and knows the different points in the frequency spectrum the car hampers so you can adjust for it. The other way is to actually buy a mic and some RTA software and record via the testing tones the RTA makes so you can visually see the dips or peaks in the frequency spectrum for the different areas of the car. Best place to start is where your head is, put the mic at ear level, maybe tape it to the headrest and get out of the car. Maybe put some pillows on the seat where you;d sit to simulate a human body.

I also initiated the Pioneer sound restorer function on mine and that function made an enormous difference in the sound of my media in a positive way, i never turned it off.

Getting car audio right now a days is not simple, truthfully, it never really was. I am just over joyed that audio companies have brought us this far to have processors in our cars to make things sound right. Its an intense process but when its calibrated it will often destroy whatever the factory system is, upgraded or not.

On top of that

I hope this helps!

Ahh ok I'll try that as well. And is this with the supplied crossover? Or are your mids wired to the rears and the tweeters wired to the fronts? I kinda cut those wires... LOL had them tied up but the harness was pissing me off because I had to tap into the oem harness for illumination and I had my axxess swc hooked up and there were just too many wires hanging around even though they were tied up. My dumbass managed to cut the e brake wire AND my amp remote but got them to work fine with some extra wire and a lot of cuss words.


Even though I am in standard mode with a flat crossover (HU setting) the tweeters sound great but I feel like the mids aren't giving any bass. Is it because I used the stock mounting bracket that came with the speakers? I have the zenclosures adapter but still haven't put them in yet

If you want to run a rear set of speakers than you can't use the 3 way Network mode and you need to be in standard. When in standard you have front, back and sub. Front would be connected to the pioneer crossover qhich has both tweeter and mid connected to it and then your rear is probably a coaxial so you just connect to the woofer and that send signal to the filter for the tweeter too.

When you run in standard like this you want front and rear to be full range or have a hpf set at 60-80hz.

You gave Nissan way too much credit. I grabbed the stock speakers from my 2011 which I happened to still have and took a look at them.

The mid is full range, and 2 Ohm.

The tweeter is highpass'd at 8.5 kHz (6 db/octave) and is 4 Ohm.

Kind of amazing that it sounds as reasonably good as it does considering how far away it is from what most would think is a "standard" setup. I'm planning on rolling with the stock speakers for now, so I'll probably remove the filter from the tweeter and tune it from the headunit. I'm interested to see how the Pioneer's internal amp deals with the 2 Ohm load from the mids, but my guess is that it will be fine.

Looks like I will get to try out some of these free phone app spectrum analyzers.

You really need to use real mics and recording equipment. Would be interesting though to compare your phone records vs real equipment.

The two ohm loads are usually fine as long as you aren't driving things super hard. Harder you run it the more that the amp generates. Its not a consistent 2ohm load either and constantly varieS.

You can find some really good extended range or full range drivers. Check out parts express