Car Audio System.. sounds "tinny"

[Flunk]

Ok, so before i begin, here is a list of the components making up my car audio system:

Kenwood KDC-MP333
2x Sony 4" speakers in the front (150w)
2x Sony 6x9's in the back (400w)
2x Sony 12" 400w subs in the boot
Lanzar 800w amp powering the subs.


Alrighty, so this is highly likely to be my own fault, for not doing any research before i bought this stuff..

But when i bought my car, it was running a Pioneer mp3 head unit, factory speakers, no subs/amp.... so slowly i started replacing things, first added a sub/amps, made the car crank, then the pioneer head unit blew up, so i replaced that, and at the same time, replaced the factory speakers, with the sony speakers listed above. Now my whole system sounds as tinny as shit, and only really inspires headaches.. I have played with the EQ on the head unit as much as i can, same with amp, cant get much of an improvement, i wondered if this is a known issue with kenwood head units, or sony speakers? Or if theres some way i can make it sound better, without replacing all my gear, for a second time

Any help would be much appreciated

[soven]

speaker's fault. angle the tweeters away from you. should help.

[Flunk]

there are no tweeters wired with the system... just the small front speakers, rear 6x9's, 2 subs in the boot...

[thegreatestben]

change the speaker level so you got more rear bias

[snwtoy]

There should be a treble adjustment in the hu. Try turning treble down, and bass up slightly. If it's a higher end hu it may only have the EQ to adjust, so adjust it so it looks like this (decent general purpose setup). You may need to adjust the right hand end down further if it's still sounding tinny, as the right end is the treble.

[Flunk]

thanks for the info.

The problem with this head unit is it only has a very primitive EQ. has Bas-L, Bas-H, Treble, Fade, Bal... thats it... probly should have researched it more before i brought it, haha.. im tempted to go buy a better unit anyways, any reccomendations?

[Chickenman]

I'm going away for a week but will look at it when you get back if you like.

Credentials...

12" sub running off pc powersupply for my 'puter

But seriously, if it's just a configuration thing I can sort that for you.

[JT]

The problem is, the further rear you go on your setup, the more power you have. You want a decent front stage and a good 6 or 6.5" component setup will see you crankin some good mid range which you are missing out on with those tinny 4's.

I'd take one of the subs out, 2x 12's is honestly overkill, then you can use the spare channels to power a good set of fronts. You'll notice a big improvement.

[BROCKZILA]

This may sound dumb but have you checked the polarity on the speakers?

[Flunk]

This may sound dumb but have you checked the polarity on the speakers?

Yer its not that.

[big_boy]

once again this will sound stupid as well but put your sub 180` out of phaze if you H.U or amp cant do this just change the + & - round on it

note: thats + &- speaker wires not power

[kyliebrat]

You could aways mix up your brands that you have too. Sony isnt that great quality for car audio. Alpine make some awesome 6x9s ay. Also you could make your rear speakers louder than your front speakers

[AJz]

im surprised no one has thought of this earlier. You are missing the vital component......

A FLUX CAPACITOR!!!!!!

[B1NZ]

2x Sony 4" speakers in the front (150w)
2x Sony 6x9's in the back (400w)

I'm not sure of the specs of your speakers but I've found the above to be a major problem in the past.
Sony just plain suck at making speakers! I'm sure the higher end range ones are ok, but you can get mid to lower end alpines etc which are much much better

[Alex B]

Ditch the rears all togeather and get a decent set of components. Or maybe just use your small speakes in the rear for a bit of fill for your passangers.

[Cicak]

Ditch the rears all togeather and get a decent set of components. Or maybe just use your small speakes in the rear for a bit of fill for your passangers.

I'd go wtih that. Do you really need to run 6x9's with a sub? My guess would be the speakers and/or the head unit. Used to have tinny sound coming from my speakers, till i bought better components

[pjay]

sell all the sonys to fund a set of dls. everybody wins

[DeeCee]

look at installation and the enclosure you have them in.

generally most speakers will play in a free air environment but will lack some "authority" in the lower midrange to midbass regions simply because of where the speakers are installed - some leaky doors.

Speakers are like subs.. they sound a lot better in the right type of enclosure. So the aim is to make your door as much of a sealed enclsoure as possible to ensure that there is some air compliance for the speaker to work against..

closing up the utility holes in the doors is generally the easiest method to increase the air spring compliance (simply because your door will still be a leaky enclosure due to outlet holes for water and windows that go up and down).

Normally to cover up holes, use some plastic or coated wood and make a baffle in the shape of the utility hole make a better enclosure, attached securely with some closed cell foam tape between baffle and metal of door with some silicon and/or short screws and voila.. better sound

cheap ass method is to get some cardboard, and duct tape it over the utility holes.. cept the cardboard will get wet and disintegrate.. but it works and you have a mess afterwards.

don't forget to allow space for teh control rods of the door/locking mechanism.

also - that smiley face eq above is laughable.. if you setup and install your system correctly, you won't even need to tune that much or that heavily to get excellent sound..

[Simon K]

speaker's fault. angle the tweeters away from you. should help.

Please explain...I have 2 sets of Kenwood components in my Pulsar. The fronts sound OK as the speakers are inside the door enclosures and the tweeters are aimed at me(Upper innermost mounting point on the windowsill). The other pair don't sound anywhere near as good. The rear mounting points are either side of the removeable parcel tray. Main speaker facing upward and the tweeters pointing forward. There's nothing to enclose the speakers and frankly it sounds a bit ar$e in the back.

This was done to get me something decent to listen to while working but is there more I can do?