I just put Polk 460 4x6's in the front and Polk 690 6x9's in the back. I've heard that these are pretty good speakers, but I don't seem to be getting much bass from them. I understand that these speakers weren't designed to put out alot of bass, but when I listened to them at the store the bass sounded pretty good. What don't they sound like this on my car? I didn't pay any attention to the polarity when I was wiring them. Could polarity make this much difference?

 

The stereo shop listening room probably has a little better acoustics than you car, also if you are just running them off deck power they arent gonna sound as good as if they were hooked up to a decent amp.

 

in teh car audio store you heard those side speakers in, they are obviously going to be hooked up and powered by an amplifier so unless you do the same thing to power them, they are not going to sound the same.

also as you said, the speakers could be used for many difference frequencys. such as high/low/ or mid range. maybe the deck that those speakers were hooked up was running a different frequency than yours is.

 

Lax is right about the decent amp thing. Polarity is a pretty big deal too. If you get them reversed the speaker will not hit when it's supposed to it will do the opposite. It's alot more noticable in subwoofers (distortion will make the sound fuzzy). It can also damage larger speakers if they have enough wattage going to them. On smaller speakers, the sound will not be as crisp as it can be. If your looking to have a good sounding system forget trying to get bass out of the speakers you have. Setup a good amp and a crossover or equalizer with them and concentrate on mid's and high's. Get a seperate amp and a good subwoofer for some bass, wire it into your crossover to filter out mids and high's and you should have a pretty good sounding system.

 

First check your polarity makes a big difference check that first. If all that checks out then upgrade further for the sound you are looking for. Start with the simple stuff.

 

YES...

 

Ok...I'm gonna re-wire the speakers to make sure the polarity is correct. I did a seacrch and found this info but I just wanted to make sure that it's what I should be using.

Right Front(+) Light Green
Right Front(-) Dark Green
Left Front(+) Tan
Left Front(-) Gray
Right Rear(+) Dark Blue
Right Rear(-) Light Blue
Left Rear(+) Brown
Left Rear(-) Yellow

Also, when I wired the speakers, I just took the connectors on the old speakers and soldered them on to the new speakers, and plugged it into the speakers through the connectors. Is that how it's supposed to be done or should I solder them directly to the wires???

Thanks for all the help!

 

That's OK. Ether way you'll have a good connection.

 

Also, something else you have to consider, is those speakers are mounted in a box in the store. They have some space to "echo", so the bass responce is going to be more. Just like, if you were to take those same speakers and stick them in a car that had a truck, you'd probably get more bass response out of them. Whereas, our mounting depth in the sails isn't very deep.

 

I bet the speakers are fine...

you are expecting too much, as our cars pretty much need a subwoofer to have *ANY* bass...

clearly with some good components, in some GOOD kickpanel enclosures, and some good 6x9's... you could get SOME bass... mostly just punchy bass... not any deep stuff for sure.

do you have a sub at all?

4x6's on deck power put out just enough bass to feel it in your feet...nothing more... as long as its crossed-over correctly... I cross my plates at 200hz, that way I can get them louder with less distortion (that will all change when I get a good amp--because then my only limit will be how loud I want it, and how much vibration I can handle before I go insane)

I guess my kappa plates probably put out less bass than your polk 4x6's... so maybe you could get some deeper sound out of them... but I think you're looking for the pot of gold that doesn't exist...