Did I damage my DB3000 tweeters?

unrealii

I currently have my tweeters wired directly to my amp. The crossover on my head unit is set at 5khz with a 6 db slope.

Lately, I have noticed my tweeters are sounding a little bit stale at some frequencies and some very intermittent light scratching. My ears are very picky, so I've got to fix this.

I have found someone on ebay who has db3000 tweeters, but I am still a bit weary of buying them. My other option is to upgrade to the mmc6500 speakers. The cross over allows for inputs from two amps, which is good, but I'd rather have them directly wired to the amp.

Here is my cross over selection on my head unit:

slopes: 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 db

Freqs:

Hi / M-LPF:
200, 250, 315, 400, 500, 630, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 200, 2500, 3150, 4000, 5000, 6300, 8000, 10000

M-HPF / Low:
63, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200

Right now my tweeters are getting 50 watts, and the db6510 mid is getting 50. Once my new amp comes, my system will be reconfigured for 85 watts to tweeter, 130 to mid. I can adjust volume of each channel through my head unit, so the power difference isn't a problem.

Right now I am trying to figure out what I did wrong. Was my slope too small? I purposely went with a smaller slope so that the speakers blend in better. There were also two occasions where I ran full range audio to the tweeters for a split second before I muted and fixed the crossover settings on the head unit (this happens after the power has been cut )

Thom

Switch to a steeper slope.

unrealii

Oh, ok. I had originally assumed that I would have been safe at 5khz since the freq range starts at 4khz on the tweeters. So I should be good at 5khz and a slope of 12db or greater?

Now time to decide whether to buy grey market tweeters or brand new mmc's....

Anyone have the specs on the mmc tweeter? I couldn't find them in the manual.

MacLeod

Actually I wouldve said set the crossover a little lower. 5 Khz is a litte steep for a tweeter I would think. I would try it at 3150 and see how that sounds. If the tweeter has a roll off of 4000 maybe setting the x-over a little lower would let some more low end bleed in and fatten up the sound a bit. I dont see it hurting the tweeter cause 3150 isnt that low.

unrealii

Really? I assumed that anything below 4 could cause immediate damage? Maybe if I put a steep slope like 24db? I dont know.

Still deciding whether or not to go with mmc6500's or supposedly new db replacements. Not sure how much better the momo's are than the original db's.

Thom

5k with a 6 db slope is on 6db down at 2500k.

4k with a 24 db slope will be 24 db down at 2k.

Huge difference. A steeper slope at a lower frequency will almost always be better. Some guys have run 6db slopes for a- pillar tweets but they cross them over at like 12k.

unrealii

Oh, ok. Do slopes go by half of the frequency? So if I did 6k with a 18db slope, it would be 18db less at 3k? Is there any way of knowing which frequency will damage my tweeters?

unrealii

Looks like I'll go buy the mmc6500's to replace these speakers. I'm in the mood for something fresh, and with warranty.

MacLeod

It doesnt necessarily go by half, a 6 db slope would attenuate the response by 6 db's per octave.

Either way, youll like the MMC6500's much better anyway.

unrealii

YES YES YES!!! x'ed over at 2.5khz/24db ... omg, these things are unreal! Ran through about 4 songs I really know...couldn't pick up any distortion. If there was any, it was probably canceled out by the other freq's coming out. Compared the same songs on my yamaha/energy system and that distorted more .... lol This head unit I have has a habbit of exposing all recording flaws from the recording studio.

These db's just came to life...not going to dump em. I want to make sure, 2.5khz at 24db is safe, right? Just want to know before I run some pink noise through the sytem for the radio to autotune it.

I still can't believe I have been listening to my system like this for the past 8 months. :eek:

Thom

You might want to bump them up to the next frequency selection- I think we usually use 3.5k or 4k but with 12 db/ octave. Your probably OK where it's at, but if they sound just as good at 3k or 3.25k (or whatever the next frequency you have available) I'd say go with that just to be safe.

unrealii

Coool, I tried that. It took out quite a bit of the harshness and evened out the freq's a lot better. However now, I hear more of the nosies it shouldn't be making. I've been listening very closely with my ears and I think these things are done. My ears were hurting a little bit after that day when I made the adjustments.

Probably going to go install the mmc's. They are sitting right here

unrealii

I dont feel like throwing out my db mids. I really like the warmth of them. I'm going to look for a high quality set of tweeters instead. Wonder if the sr tweeters are available for sale seperately...

unrealii

Returned the momo's. Still waiting for polk to reply to my email if I can get the sr's seperately. Anyone have any opinions on the boston acoutics neo type s tweeters?

exalted512

boston acoutsics are really bright and have a teeny sound. im not their biggest fan
-Cody

unrealii

Oh ok, thanks for the info....that doesn't suprise me though, since the freq range starts at 8khz. Anyone heard of rainbow speakers? I'm thinking of getting a set of their tweeters

exalted512

rainbow makes some of the best speakers...period.
-Cody

MacLeod

We got to listen to some Boston Z's ($1000) up agaisnt some SR's ($750) at Polkfest and the SR's flat out SMOKED those Z's. I mean it was no comparison. Everybody even laughed when he switched from the SR's to the Z's!

unrealii

Ok, just got my rainbow cal 25's in. They sound just like the db's but less harsh and more linear. Maybe slightly clearer, I dont know...wouldn't be fair since the db's had a few months of an improper xover setting. I'm broke now....no more car audio...lol.

neomagus00

you mean no more car audio... for now...

unrealii

neomagus00 wrote:

you mean no more car audio... for now...

shutup

current configuration:

eclipse cd8454
eclipse pa5422
eclipse pa5532
polk audio db6510 140 watts each bridged through pa5532, active xover
polk audio db5510 85 watts each (pa5422) through polk passive xover
rainbow cal 25 85 watts each, active xover
image dynamics idq10 270 watts


I dont think I'll be upgrading anytime soon. :cool:
Kinda bummed about taking out the db3000's. The price I paid (bought a component set for $210, trying to sell off the 4" mids and xovers now) for these rainbow's really dont seem to justify the difference at all. Wonder if my db's are still good? I'm too lazy to pull the car appart to put them in. I'll just hang on to them and we'll revisit this in a few months. Maybe the rainbows need some breaking in.