Ok so finally forked down some dough and ended up with this new system that replaced my stock bose system:

HU: alpine 9886 (new) got good deal
amp: JL XD400/4 (mounted on side of box)
fronts: diamond audio da 5.6 (5.25" comps) - about 10yrs old
rears: none
sub: 10" IDQV.3 in a zenclosure with hole offset left (had to make hole bigger)
Stinger roadkill on doors for front speakers

Bass sounds clean, but may still need more breakin time i think. The highs are ok, but it just seems like its lacking the midbass. It just doesn't sound right and doesn't sound full i guess. What do you guys think?

 

Here's my stuff to check from most likely to least likely:

Turn off bass boost on the amp (but leave the LPF on) for the sub channels and turn up the volume on your headunit.

Check that your amp gain is set properly to give the right output voltage according to specs using your AC multimeter and the 0db test signals.

Check where all your headunit and amp crossover points are set to to make sure you're not leaving a gap in the signal anywhere.
- You could be sending rear speaker signal to the sub, and using amp gain or bass boost to restore the lost deep bass, but not boosting the mid-bass.
- Your headunit may be sending only 50hz and below to the sub channel when you might want to be at 63hz or so.
- You could be sending >80hz to the front channel and <80hz to the sub channel and the amplifier is using a 50hz LPF so everything between 50 an 80hz is lost to the void.

Try reversing the polarity of the subwoofer audio signal.

With the woofer in the trunk, facing rear and sealed from the passenger compartment, you might need a higher low-pass filter setting - somewhere between 60 and 80hz.

As good as they once were, 10 years is a long time for those DA's to still be putting out really clean anything, but that's probably not the problem.

Even higher-end D-class amps still aren't as good as AB-class amps, so you'll get some mild distortion from the JL XD series of amps.

 

Thanks man, I'll have to ck it out. There's definitely something off. My wife's car (MDX) sounds alot better and it's stock. Come to think of it, I think my stock sounded better. It was professionally installed so I may have to open some things up.

 

Don't forget to check the EQ setting on the headunit too, maybe the installers put it in an extreme "smile" configuration.

 

I actually have a similar issue. I am running DA Hex 6.5s instead though. Those components don't hit mid-low mid very well. I've been considering adding a some midbass rears to even out the sound a bit more. I think this would be your best option as well. Even if you widen the frequency on the sub, there is going to be a decent amount lacking in the mid range with those components unfortunately.

 

Problem with the 5.25's is just that. They'll be more vocal generally than 6.5's of the same model. Larger diameter speakers yield more bass.

The other issue could be the mids themselves. Some have better bass response than others.

Adding some in the rear won't be worth the difference. What you hear is up front, (front stage). Rear is just "fill" so generally speaking your stage gets pulled back, and it brings the vocals from the front backwards a little.

The EQ and XO settings would really make a difference. Another option is to go with some 8" mids and something like 3" mid range, thus having a 3 way setup once you add the tweeters in the mix.

 

When I said 6.5s I meant model, not size. I have 5.25" DA components. You option to add a mid up front would be ideal, but not everyone has the space or want a 3-way up front.

The main point that I was trying to make is that the components he has are going to limit his mid range. Even the 6.5" woofers are limited in mid range. I do realize that adding a set of rears would pull the sound stage back a bit, but I was going to suggest to set a crossover/amp for low pass to only work midbass duty. Yes it less than idea, but I can't fit a midbass woofer up front, so it would be my only option.

 

The BA Pro60SE's I dropped in have tons of midbass, in case you're looking for recommendations to replace it with.

 

Alrighty, I really appreciate all the input! Even with the "loud" setting set to on (Alpine) the mids are still lacking. I set the HPF to off on the head unit also. With it set at 80hz, it was just clearer with less mids I guess.
I really do think it's the speakers themselves. It just doesn't sound crisp and punchy and my ears end up hurting b/c I'm turning up louder to compensate.
I don't have the imprint so I can only adjust the bass and treble on the HU. I don't think the JL xd400/4 has a bass boost, but correct me if I'm wrong. Definitely gonna look into 6.5"s and ck out those BA Pro's. Any other recomm. for 6.5"s under $250?

 

I wouldn't use a bass boost regardless. Higher chances of clipping. All it does is boost a single frequency and the others surrounding it go up as well, like a bell curve.

Phoenix Gold RSD's are said to have great midbass. Tweeters are decent. But for ~$60, it's a pretty good deal.

It's a bit easier when you have some processing since you can adjust a ton of bands. Pioneer has some that are good too, forget the exact model but I believe it's the PRS-720. Don't look into CDT, they're sh*t IMO. I would recommend Zapco CK-16.2's but those are pricey. I loved those speakers. Tweeters are beautiful, so smooth. Had great midbass too. I ended up selling them for around $450 I think so I didn't take much of a loss since I got them for super cheap. You can look into Zapco's sister company, ESB Audio (made in Italy), but they're still pricey. The identical match would be the Ottomilla (forget if it's one or two "t's" and "l's"

 

$250's so close to the $300 I paid for the ProSE's that I would just save another couple weeks and get them.

I haven't much experience with anything in the $150-300 range, as my previous car's speakers were Infinity Kappa 6.5s and 6x9's so the 6x9's gave plenty of midbass, even though being on the rear deck it moved the soundstage back.

If I knew of something that came very close to the ProSE's at $50-100 less, I'd probably use them for my wife's car, perhaps somebody with more wide experience with brands/models can help out here.

 

Pro 60's are awesome, heard nothing but great reviews from them. Only thing I owned from Boston Acoustics was the Z6. I didn't like them only because they need a lot of power. But I'd say BA's speaker products tend to have good midbass output.

 

It helps that they've got a good 75watts RMS apiece too.

I doubt they'd sound as good with 50watts, and would probably sound close to stock at 15watts.

 

Love it when mids don't require much power. The Z6's I had, had 125w on them (passive setup) and wasn't enough.

 

yeah i've been a fan of BA (listened in a friend's car). it sounded rich without being too harsh. would the JL XD 400/4 be ok for it?