my amp is clipping, possibly tweeters?

OK, so I take it both from your description and from the low-end gear you are using that your goal is not sound quality, you only want it loud. Power Acoustik amps are supposedly 2-ohm stereo stable. You MIGHT be able to connect two of your Kicker coax and two of your tweeters (with their crossover) all in parallel to each channel. This will drop to a one-ohm load above the tweeter crossover frequency which might cause the amp to shut down, but try it. Be sure to set the gain properly. If the amp shuts down then you simply need more amplifier channels to do what you want. I recommend using at least a 4-channel amp, and if you are still adding speakers you might need a couple of them. So, to say that in the simplest possible terms, turn the system off and disconnect power from the amp. Connect the positive wire from each of two Kicker 6.5's, PLUS the positive wires from each of two tweeter crossovers, to one positive terminal of one channel. Connect the negatives from all four speakers to the negative terminal. you should have separate wires now running to two speakers, and also to two tweeters each with their crossover in the line. Do the same for the other channel. Turn the amp gain ALL THE WAY DOWN before you reconnect amp power, then follow the directions on the Hot Topics forum for setting gain. If you find the amp shuts down as you increase the gain, then you simply can't do what you want with that amp. More speakers does not always mean louder, by the way. You are often better off simplifying a system and choosing the proper equipment to get to the SPL you want rather than adding on more, especially with low-end stuff like you are using where the ratings are meaningless.Support the12volt.com

DYohn wrote: OK, so I take it both from your description and from the low-end gear you are using that your goal is not sound quality, you only want it loud. Power Acoustik amps are supposedly 2-ohm stereo stable. You MIGHT be able to connect two of your Kicker coax and two of your tweeters (with their crossover) all in parallel to each channel. This will drop to a one-ohm load above the tweeter crossover frequency which might cause the amp to shut down, but try it. Be sure to set the gain properly. If the amp shuts down then you simply need more amplifier channels to do what you want. I recommend using at least a 4-channel amp, and if you are still adding speakers you might need a couple of them. So, to say that in the simplest possible terms, turn the system off and disconnect power from the amp. Connect the positive wire from each of two Kicker 6.5's, PLUS the positive wires from each of two tweeter crossovers, to one positive terminal of one channel. Connect the negatives from all four speakers to the negative terminal. you should have separate wires now running to two speakers, and also to two tweeters each with their crossover in the line. Do the same for the other channel. Turn the amp gain ALL THE WAY DOWN before you reconnect amp power, then follow the directions on the Hot Topics forum for setting gain. If you find the amp shuts down as you increase the gain, then you simply can't do what you want with that amp. More speakers does not always mean louder, by the way. You are often better off simplifying a system and choosing the proper equipment to get to the SPL you want rather than adding on more, especially with low-end stuff like you are using where the ratings are meaningless.

Well I started for sound quality but best buy really didn't have amps with the power I wanted. And the ones they did have were like 3 times as expensive and they were just kicker brand so I went for this one instead because I figured the worse that would happen would they would be over rated or break rather than lose sound quality. I have spent a lot of money on top of the line stuff and I have had it break the same if not more than some of the free cheaper stuff I have got. If I run four speakers parallel I would get a really high ohm rating right or do I still not understand the crossovers. I have them set at 0 rather than- 2-4 or- 6 which from the graph shows should have no effect on the ohms.

The purpose of a crossover is to make a speaker reproduce only the correct frequency range. It does not change the impedance of the speaker. The "-2, -4" etc selections on a high-pass crossover are used to attenuate (cut the volume) of a tweeter so you can properly blend it with a midwoofer. After all the posts you've made about this same issue, I will make two serious suggestions to you: 1) if you really don't understand go to a professional installer in your area and pay them to do it for you, and 2) Stop being hung up on the power ratings on gear, especially low-end brands. It is not the power rating that makes a system sound good, it is the quality of the components. The ratings on a brand like Power Acoustik are only accurate if the amp is being struck by lightning while you are coasting down the mountain side at 100 MPH, so ignore them. If you are forced to use bargain gear, set it up properly and accept what you get, it's the best you can do.Support the12volt.com

DYohn wrote: The purpose of a crossover is to make a speaker reproduce only the correct frequency range. It does not change the impedance of the speaker. The "-2, -4" etc selections on a high-pass crossover are used to attenuate (cut the volume) of a tweeter so you can properly blend it with a midwoofer. After all the posts you've made about this same issue, I will make two serious suggestions to you: 1) if you really don't understand go to a professional installer in your area and pay them to do it for you, and 2) Stop being hung up on the power ratings on gear, especially low-end brands. It is not the power rating that makes a system sound good, it is the quality of the components. The ratings on a brand like Power Acoustik are only accurate if the amp is being struck by lightning while you are coasting down the mountain side at 100 MPH, so ignore them. If you are forced to use bargain gear, set it up properly and accept what you get, it's the best you can do.

I've been installing for about 10 years now and I understand a lot about how this works but I have never installed tweeters with these filters on them before. Everyone keeps telling me different ways to wire them so I am really confused. The Bestbuy installer told me to run the tweeters in series with other tweeters, alpine told me to run them in series with different speakers, someone on this site told me the crossovers change the ohms, and you tell me they don't. The only reason I'm asking is because I blew my amp. I figured it was probably because of the cheap amp but because of the tweeters I thought I would try and figure out if they act differently. I know that the ratings on my amp are off I just wanted to give a general idea of what I'm working with. Looking at the fuses though it does not seem to far off though from rms rateings.

You can ignore the advice of anyone that says to connect speakers in series unless you are wanting to increase their affective impedance/resistance and reduce power. The tweeter itself does not change impedance, but its crossover might. (Instead of rejecting frequencies (increased impedance), it might dump them instead.)

OK, here's a not real accurate, simplified way to look at it. A crossover works by adding impedance at the crossover point and adding none in the pass band. Meaning, a high pass crossover - what comes with a tweeter - will effectively become an open circuit at low frequencies and then change into a straight wire to the tweeter above the crossover point. It's more complicated than that, but that's one way to think about it. Below the crossover point, nothing gets through, above it, everything gets through. So you can see why, if it blocks the signal below the crossover point, placing it in series with a woofer is not a good idea. Above the crossover point, the amplifier is simply connected straight to the tweeter and that is the impedance (ohms) it operates into. If you've been installing for ten years and you don't understand crossovers, then I would not want to know where you've been installing. Or maybe I do, so I can direct people to not go there. In any case, if you blew an amp there are a million reasons for it but none of them are likely to be due to tweeters. Woofers, yes. Tweeters, no. Tweeters do not require much power and it is almost impossible to overload an amp with tweeters... and an amp that "blows" due to overload instead of going into protection must be a really cheap POS that lacks proper protection circuitry. So, bottom line: try what I suggested. If it works for you great. If not, then you need to change your plans.Support the12volt.com

DYohn wrote: OK, here's a not real accurate, simplified way to look at it. A crossover works by adding impedance at the crossover point and adding none in the pass band. Meaning, a high pass crossover - what comes with a tweeter - will effectively become an open circuit at low frequencies and then change into a straight wire to the tweeter above the crossover point. It's more complicated than that, but that's one way to think about it. Below the crossover point, nothing gets through, above it, everything gets through. So you can see why, if it blocks the signal below the crossover point, placing it in series with a woofer is not a good idea. Above the crossover point, the amplifier is simply connected straight to the tweeter and that is the impedance (ohms) it operates into. If you've been installing for ten years and you don't understand crossovers, then I would not want to know where you've been installing. Or maybe I do, so I can direct people to not go there. In any case, if you blew an amp there are a million reasons for it but none of them are likely to be due to tweeters. Woofers, yes. Tweeters, no. Tweeters do not require much power and it is almost impossible to overload an amp with tweeters... and an amp that "blows" due to overload instead of going into protection must be a really cheap POS that lacks proper protection circuitry. So, bottom line: try what I suggested. If it works for you great. If not, then you need to change your plans.

I never said I have been installing professionally lol. I have done work on the 4 or 5 cars I have had and am always trying to learn about new and different ways to get new sounds to my systems and I've helped people out with their basic systems. I think I might want to do this as a career eventually, or at least try and enter competitions, but I have to learn by seeing, doing and sometimes setting an amp on fire, that lesson was don't buy amps from people on craigslist lol. The people I have worked with have never used any sort of filters except on the amp itself. I like the way you explained that. So would the frequency be changed after the alpine to only high frequencys? When there is a heavy bass line the tweeters basicly don't the power go through to the other side. So theoretically if I put a different tweeter after the tweeter/crossover combination it should receive the the same high frequency, but if I put a sub after it the sub would receive no power even during bass lines? Do you agree that the crossover might increase impedance and if so how would I be able to tell if mine does? Could I just read the ohms with a volt meeter while it is on? I am really just trying to figure out all combinations I could do before I pick one. Over the years I keep adding stuff and I find it fun to try and make things work with each other, even if I blow an amp in the process. I consider that a great investment if I can learn something from it.

Firstly, forget any notion of connecting speakers in SERIES - that can only REDUCE output power. Secondly, as stated before, crossovers are designed for a particular speaker, you cannot add or change speakers. Thirdly, your crossover may increase impedance, but if so that is only for the rejected frequencies. It has no impact on output - the passing frequency (band) still has the same nominal impedance that it was designed for (eg, a 4 Ohm impedance for a 4 Ohm speaker). An exception may be filters that use a capacitor to dump frequencies (to GND) which may absorb frequencies/power from other speakers. I don't know if such filters/crossovers are used - I'm not familiar with audio systems etc - others will have to comment. Fourthly, re your frequency and resistance issue... Resistance is NOT effected by frequency, but IMPEDANCE is. Resistance of a circuit is its resistance to DC voltage. Unlike resistors, capacitor and inductor resistances change with frequency, but such "resistance" is called impedance. Since audio signals are AC (ie, contain frequencies) and circuits or speakers have inductance (and resistance and capacitance), the load impedance varies with frequency (unless it is purely resistive). Unfortunately some people use "resistance" as a general term for impedance whereas in fact impedance is the general term, and definitely the apt term for speakers and crossovers. So in summary: - Connect speakers in parallel to increase output power but ensure the total impedance is still within the amp's specs. (IE - use the common resistances/impedances in parallel formula, ie the reciprocal of the total/net impedance equals the sum/total of all the reciprocal impedances of all the parallel connected items. - more speakers may not mean louder (even if the total power has increased). - your crossover design should be irrelevant assuming they are designed for the speaker. Simply connect crossovers with matched speaker in parallel and treat then them as speakers.

littlenicky, you have PM...It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."