[968Z]

I just replaced the rear 4x6 speakers in my cab with two-way Boston Acoustics. They hardly have no bass at all, and seem to sound like they have no power driving them when the fader is shifted to the rear. The front speaks are fine. I have an aftermarket kenwood system and changer. The previous rear speaks sounded almost the same, but were cracked. Any suggestions where to look? I'm not an audiophile, but I know it's not the speakers, as I heard them in their previous car.

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[Glau]

The first thing that jumps to my mind is the polarity. Make sure the +/- leads from the deck are correctly attached to the +/- of the speakers. Some speakers play fine with the wrong polarity but with others its a bad thing.



If the polarity is correct, I would begin to suspect the amplifier in the Kenwood deck and would want to check all the channels with a good speaker (and preferably one that is still under warranty) connected with new wire. Signs of a dieing amplfier tend to be low volume output and blown/damaged speakers can lead to the premature death of an amplifier.



Another possiblity is that you have some of the highend Bostons that simply require more watts than your Kenwood can give them. I would make sure that the minimum recommended wattage matches what the deck can provide.



If you find that the deck's amplifier is the problem but still love the deck itself a good option would be to get an amplifer and use the RCA cable outputs from the Kenwood to drive the new amp.



I have Boston Accoustics 4x6s in both the rear and doors and they sound super but mine are blocked from even seeing any frequencies below ~60hz. My speakers and I suspect most Boston lines of 4x6s are ment to be midrangers used to complement a system with woofers/subwoofers. But if you have heard them sounding better in another installation this is probably a moot point.



Hope this helps, Glau

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[Darryl]

I concur with Glau...check polarity. If your speakers are out of phase, a quick check is to pan the balance all the way left or all the way right. If you get more bass with only one channel playing, you're wired out of phase. You should get the most bass response in the middle. It is also true that underpowering speakers is one of the worst things you can do; whether home or car!



I'm getting ready to change all of my foam rotted factory Nokia drivers with Polk Momo products. (I'm a Polk dealer - hard to beat the price!) I will, however, be adding powered subwoofers to complement the 4x6 rear channels.



Check some of the other threads posted here re:4x6 speakers as there are some other good recommendation(s) on manufacturers with varied frequency response and performance characteristics.



As you've mentioned, if the speakers sound good elsewhere, your problem may lie with the head unit itself.



- Darryl

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[968Z]

Thanks for the tips. Its not the polarity, so it may be the amplifier. Well, it gives me something to do tomorrow...

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[flash]

dumb german thing - stripe is negative, NOT positive on this car

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