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B2 tweeters are not loud enough. What do I do?


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50 minutes ago, Zori.L83 said:

Well i mean im kind of looking clarity but louder. My subs overpower the B2's and my subs arent crazy by any means lol. I had Focal ICU690 coaxials before and they were much much louder than these B2's but the quality was no where near the price i paid which is why i returned them and got the B2's. I knew these were SQ components but i didnt think about the lack of power they have. Which is why I wanted to do that B2 tweeter and coax combo. I thought the resistor would have helped with the wattage situation but it looks like i have really no choice but to swap.

Well, I'll be honest, I've heard of people using bass blockers for tweeters, but have never done so myself. Maybe if used the right way, it could bring the wattage down. Though I haven't heard anyone use them in such a way. But that doesn't mean they can't. I don't know everything. 

If you do go the replacing rout, my Memphis VIV's, I love the sound. Best sounding components I've ever owned. They're expensive though. I had to double up though. I had 4 12's on 4000 watts though. People would tell me they liked how even though there was a ton of bass (in their opinion lol) they could still hear everything. 

I haven't looked at the prices lately, but I've never heard anyone say Fosgate components sounded bad or wasn't loud. 

Or, if you had the ability to go active, the combinations would be endless. 

Just some things to think about. Hopefully you find the sound you're looking for. 

2011 Chevy Silverado under construction

My build log here. Check it out! 

 

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2 hours ago, Zori.L83 said:

Well i mean im kind of looking clarity but louder. My subs overpower the B2's and my subs arent crazy by any means lol. I had Focal ICU690 coaxials before and they were much much louder than these B2's but the quality was no where near the price i paid which is why i returned them and got the B2's. I knew these were SQ components but i didnt think about the lack of power they have. Which is why I wanted to do that B2 tweeter and coax combo. I thought the resistor would have helped with the wattage situation but it looks like i have really no choice but to swap.

A completely random question, but have you double checked your polarity/phase for the B2 components?  30w RMS isn't a lot of power, but in my experience, the higher frequencies (like what the tweets play) take less power to shine.  We (humans) tend to be sensitive to those higher band feqs.  Personally, I can develop ear fatigue pretty quickly on systems that are driving higher power to the highs (pro audio applications with horns or higher power hard dome tweeters).

All that aside, if your tweeters are out of phase, they could be canceling each other out, one of the symptoms for that would be a lower perceived volume.

 

It's a long shot, but if they are out of phase, it might get you some more volume and save you some money.

 

If that doesn't work, Kicker has a few different tweets (the 46KST2004 and 46KST2504) that come with inline crossovers, look like they might fit in your sail panels and are rated at 65w and 75w RMS respectively.  They are still silk dome, but I suspect they treat them with some kind of resin or coating that stiffen them up to handle the power.  There are a few more options that would likely fit your location, but the price starts to climb pretty quickly.

 

If you are looking at replacing the whole B2 setup (you could probably get some of your investment back by selling them), if you want to stay with components, I've had good experiences with the Morel Maximo Ultras.  I ran those in a sedan with a pretty heavy bass in the trunk and they kept up their end of the deal, I never really had trouble with them getting overpowered.  Once you are in that price range, Rockford's Power series with the aluminum dome tweets are respectable as well.

 

Hope this helps and sorry I was late to the party!

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12 hours ago, Arthur79 said:

A completely random question, but have you double checked your polarity/phase for the B2 components?  30w RMS isn't a lot of power, but in my experience, the higher frequencies (like what the tweets play) take less power to shine.  We (humans) tend to be sensitive to those higher band feqs.  Personally, I can develop ear fatigue pretty quickly on systems that are driving higher power to the highs (pro audio applications with horns or higher power hard dome tweeters).

All that aside, if your tweeters are out of phase, they could be canceling each other out, one of the symptoms for that would be a lower perceived volume.

 

It's a long shot, but if they are out of phase, it might get you some more volume and save you some money.

 

If that doesn't work, Kicker has a few different tweets (the 46KST2004 and 46KST2504) that come with inline crossovers, look like they might fit in your sail panels and are rated at 65w and 75w RMS respectively.  They are still silk dome, but I suspect they treat them with some kind of resin or coating that stiffen them up to handle the power.  There are a few more options that would likely fit your location, but the price starts to climb pretty quickly.

 

If you are looking at replacing the whole B2 setup (you could probably get some of your investment back by selling them), if you want to stay with components, I've had good experiences with the Morel Maximo Ultras.  I ran those in a sedan with a pretty heavy bass in the trunk and they kept up their end of the deal, I never really had trouble with them getting overpowered.  Once you are in that price range, Rockford's Power series with the aluminum dome tweets are respectable as well.

 

Hope this helps and sorry I was late to the party!

Yeah man i ended up going with kicker 47KSS6904. Its does about 150w. Fingers crossed it sounds good.

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1 hour ago, Zori.L83 said:

Yeah man i ended up going with kicker 47KSS6904. Its does about 150w. Fingers crossed it sounds good.

Let us know how it turns out!

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On 6/2/2021 at 1:24 PM, nauc said:

did you set your amp gains right?  heres how.  the test tones are at the very bottom....

 

https://jlaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204374120-Amplifier-Level-Setting-Guide

Yeah the B2's right now are the best they are gonna get. The kicker KS did not work out so I'm in the process of returning them. I have a quick question. My factory dash speakers are not there anymore leaving a spot open for adding a 2-3/4in speaker in there. I'm thinking of getting a small 2-channel amp to power them. Something like a 30-50 watt per channel type of deal. If i was to add another mids and highs amp along with my current 4 channel, how would I get RCA signal to it from my headunit? My 4 channel now has a "preamp" output for the RCA's. Do I use that?

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11 hours ago, Zori.L83 said:

Yeah the B2's right now are the best they are gonna get. The kicker KS did not work out so I'm in the process of returning them. I have a quick question. My factory dash speakers are not there anymore leaving a spot open for adding a 2-3/4in speaker in there. I'm thinking of getting a small 2-channel amp to power them. Something like a 30-50 watt per channel type of deal. If i was to add another mids and highs amp along with my current 4 channel, how would I get RCA signal to it from my headunit? My 4 channel now has a "preamp" output for the RCA's. Do I use that?

Yes!  Most modern amplifiers have a set of "preamp" outputs, that is passing the signal from the RCA inputs of the amplifier so you can add additional amplifiers.  You just need to run a pair of RCAs from the output side of your 4-channel to the RCA inputs of the 2 channel amp and you will have signal.  You will still need to set the crossovers on the 2-channel amp.

 

If you have a 2-3/4 inch factory location, you could likely fit a compression horn tweeter in that spot.  Horns can definitely get loud....

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1 hour ago, Arthur79 said:

Yes!  Most modern amplifiers have a set of "preamp" outputs, that is passing the signal from the RCA inputs of the amplifier so you can add additional amplifiers.  You just need to run a pair of RCAs from the output side of your 4-channel to the RCA inputs of the 2 channel amp and you will have signal.  You will still need to set the crossovers on the 2-channel amp.

 

If you have a 2-3/4 inch factory location, you could likely fit a compression horn tweeter in that spot.  Horns can definitely get loud....

Perfect! I just needed that confirmation from the pros before I did anything. As for the tweeter, I have a 2015 Silverado so the mounting depth in that area is the biggest issue with these trucks. I dont want to cut anything out or modify. Apparently the Kicker KS also has the 3-way option that comes with a midrange driver. The KS I got was just the 2-way and it didnt come with that but that midrange driver is the perfect direct fit in the dash. Thats one of my options but I want to do something like a Super Tweeter instead of that. My goal for the dash is to hear more of the melodies and lyrics of a song. What speaker and amp combo would you recommend? Sorry if this is a dumb question. Im relatively new to car audio lol. These are the specs for the Kicker KS Midrange

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So, I you're going to go with 3 different size drivers (6.5", 3", and a tweeter) either get a 3 way setup with a passive crossover, or you're going to want to go fully active. If you have the 6.5's and the 3's crossed over at the same points, and playing the same notes, you're going to have blending issues (random peaks and valleys in your frequency response) and cancellation issues (when the speakers are out of phase and the sound waves are sort of fighting each other). So keep that in mind. 

What exactly are you looking for in your sound? More of the super high frequencies a tweeter plays? More of the lyrics and voice a 6.5" usually plays? Or just louder all around? 

2011 Chevy Silverado under construction

My build log here. Check it out! 

 

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17 hours ago, Dafaseles said:

So, I you're going to go with 3 different size drivers (6.5", 3", and a tweeter) either get a 3 way setup with a passive crossover, or you're going to want to go fully active. If you have the 6.5's and the 3's crossed over at the same points, and playing the same notes, you're going to have blending issues (random peaks and valleys in your frequency response) and cancellation issues (when the speakers are out of phase and the sound waves are sort of fighting each other). So keep that in mind. 

What exactly are you looking for in your sound? More of the super high frequencies a tweeter plays? More of the lyrics and voice a 6.5" usually plays? Or just louder all around? 

Well im looking to make the mids and highs louder because the bass takes over those and my subs are 2k watts which are rookie numbers compared to you guys lol. If I double up on speakers I have to modify or fab some things up which Im trying to avoid. If I was to add some mids in that and hook it up to another amp will the blending be really bad? Technically, those mids are gonna be ran active, im pretty sure with some tuning on the new amp it can sound decent.

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