I have a JVC KD-R300 head unit. I wanted to hook up an old pair of MTX Thunder 6000 Convertibles to see if the still worked. Using the crossover I hooked everything up and powered on. The speakers worked but when I turned the volume up to around 30 (it maxes out at 50) both the mid and tweeter stated playing distorted and scratchy. Are the components ruined, or am I just not feeding them enough power. I will run them off an amp at 35 watts x 4 if I do put them in, but if their busted why bother. That would mean removing the door panel (again) for no reason. The rest of the speaker specs are:
Power Handling: 50w RMS/100w total
Sensitivity: 86db
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2005 Honda Accord DX
I would blame the sound on clipping the HU amps before I blamed the speakers.
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Support the12volt.comThe Stereo has a built in crossover. But yeah you will get better sound with the amp anyways. KD-R300 ? is the one that changes colors right? if you hold the "menu" key for 2 secs you'll get to the settings, up the HPF to lose some of the distortion.
DYhon is right, the HU is clipping the speakers. Use an amp that has at least the RMS of the speakers and you should be fine
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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA
Thanks for the replies guys. I thought it was the head unit amp as well just not being powerful enough. Just to cure my curiosity, is it because the sensitivity rating is so low? Right now I have some Infinity Reference 6.5's and Alpine (not sure what model) 6x9's hooked up to the head unit and the play louder. The sensitivity ratings on those are above 90db. I was just wondering. I'm so glad the the components arn't toasted cause I'd like to put them back in.
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2005 Honda Accord DX
jdubicki wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys. I thought it was the head unit amp as well just not being powerful enough. Just to cure my curiosity, is it because the sensitivity rating is so low? Right now I have some Infinity Reference 6.5's and Alpine (not sure what model) 6x9's hooked up to the head unit and the play louder. The sensitivity ratings on those are above 90db. I was just wondering. I'm so glad the the components arn't toasted cause I'd like to put them back in.
No it has nothing to do with sensitivity. All that means is the rated average output with one watt of input at 1KHz (usually.) Clipping is because of low power low quality amplifier chips inside the head unit.
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Support the12volt.comThis is taken from www.ofsoundmind.com:
< color=#ff0000>What kills speakers? The answer: Overpowering.
Let me explain. A radio, of any size is simply taking information, be it from the radio waves, a cassette tape or the D/A converter of a CD player, Minidisc or DAT, and then proceeds to amplify this signals voltage and current levels to a point where it will cause a speaker to move. In a typical in-dash CD player, there is a small Integrated Circuit which does all the final amplification (after volume, bass, treble, etc.). The best of these chips make a real world 13-18 Watts of true properly rated power. Any claims beyond that contain high levels of distortion, noise, and are in a limited frequency range.
We call upon our CD player to drive 4 or so speakers in a car. Each should get this max of 13 or so watts before distortion sets in. Lets look carefully at this distortion.
< color=#ff0000>CLIPPING
Clipping is the result of asking an amplifier to try and amplify a signal to a point higher than it is capable of. We know speakers move back and forth. The amount by which they move is determined by how much voltage we apply to the speakers voice coil. If we can't increase the voltage, then the speaker will move no further. The problem is that which we are listening to music and suddenly a deep bass line kicks in, the speakers are asked to move much further to reproduce these low frequencies. All amplifiers have a maximum output voltage (one positive, one negative). An amplifier can not put out more than this voltage. Any signal that tries to go beyond this voltage level simply stops there. The output voltage stays at the maximum until it drops back into the standard operating range. The motion of a speaker cone attempts to follow the output voltage of an amplifier. Once the speaker has extended to the point that equates to the maximum output voltage of the amp, it will go no further. The speaker cone sits still until the output voltage comes back into the operating range of the amp.
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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA