bass blockers

soccerpharm

i just bought wiring harnesses, bass blockers, and polk gxr46 speakers. iwas just wondering if anyone knows how i should wire the bass blockers or has any tips.

PoweredByDodge

don't you just despise how they charge you 15 dollars for a pair of capacitors (bass blockers)that you can get at radio shack for 1.50 to 2 dollars each (which is still rape but when u don't buy in bulk there's not much u can do about it). all u've gotta do is crimp your own "ends" on them, or just use a butt connector and crimp it right to the speaker wire.

Jstas

I used bass blockers on the first stereo system I installed in my first vehicle and I have not used them since. Radio Shack has kits, or at least used to have kits, to make small crossover networks like what you get with your average component kit. They take some work to put together but, last I checked, they are 10-15 dollars.

Bass blockers can add noise because, in most cases, they are not insulated properly and pick up RF intereference from all kinds of fun sources.

If I am in a position where a thing like a bass blocker is needed or called for, I will go looking for either used, passive cross-over networks like what is found with component sets or find another crossover network like the Radio Shack deal. Its a much better solution in my opinion.

C-Man

I personally have never had good luck with them. I believe the ones I had were somthing like 15 hz blockers and in my opinion, the frequencies below that you couldn't hear out of my 6.5's anyway, so it didn't do much good. Of course that was when I was 16 and had no idea what I was doing with car stereo anyway, so who knows what it would sound like to me now. I agree that a crossover network would be a much better idea. IMO

sntnsupermen131

yes...my back speakers are kenwood xceleron 4x6s
they have bass blockers on them
they sound like crap
*hangs head in shame*
i shouldve known better...
when the bass hits..they still distort
-Cody

PoweredByDodge

cody u can build a third order 18 db/ octave xover for them.... might cost you like 10 bucks like Jstas said in parts... i wouldn't know abuut the kit, but if u bought it piecemeal at RS it'd be like 10 bucks.

www.the12volt.com has isntructions... might take u two hours to slap it all together.

sntnsupermen131

i would...but gm in all their wisdom....makes u take out the backseat...maybe even the front seat belts...i dont remember..but backseat and like every single panel in the extended cab part just to get to the 4x6s
and every time i take the panels off i manage to break one of the clips that holds it to the wall
the wiring is stock too
so thats part of the problem there
but its not noticeable to me in the front seat
and thats partly b/c theres no amp powering the 4x6s
but surprisingly...the staging seems to work great
the 4x6s give just enough even when theyre distorting to make everything sound ok...cuz u dont hear the distorting...just the music
i think i might be able to adjust what frequencies go to those speakers when my pioneer deh p940 comes in
list of problems im going to fix when the momos come out or i get a newer truck:
amp for 4x6s
new quality wiring
and bass blockers that actually work
anyways
es todo
-Cody

C-Man

If you get an amp for the 4X6's, you wouldn't need bass blockers, just use the internal crossover on the amp. That would be 100 times better and save you 15 bucks.

PoweredByDodge

cody the mock up xovers i spoke of can be attached anywhere in teh speaker line. this means u can actually just pull your deck out, and tie the xover (Two of them be about as big as a pack of cigarettes) into your deck's speaker outputs.


oddly enuff tho - smaller speakers... 4" and under... tend to do allright off deck power.

sntnsupermen131

hmm...ill look into that...when i get my new radio sometime soon i hope
it was out of stock when i ordered...i was told to call back next week so ill call around wednesday to check it
but ive had this problem with clipping in my tweeters though
well
actually just one
when i turn the radio 37 or above depending on the song sometimes when the bass hits the tweeter distorts
am i sending a signal to low for it to handle or is it something else
i got the front speakers installed for me to a rf punch/power...one of those 500w amp
dont know what it is
any ideas?
-Cody

Jstas

This is a GM speaker right? Is it a 3.5 inch tweeter or is it a dome tweeter? I have always know GM stock tweeters to be weak and there aren't that many viable replacements.

If it is aftermarket, what company made the tweeter?

If it is a cone tweeter like a 3.5 inch speaker, I would cross it over pretty high, like 2500 Hz. Usually they call this a mid-range speaker but it is really physically too small to be a mid-range. So cut out low frequencies entirely and cross it over high for a mid-range.

If it is a dome tweeter then the absolute lowest I would cross it over would be 6000Hz. Usually something closer to 8-10 kHz would be much better. Typical mid-range speakers cover from about 50-80 Hz all the way up to 11,500 Hz in some cases.

Make sure though that your crossover curves over-lap sufficiently enough so that you experience minimal drop-off and get maximum response. I'm sure you understand all of that though.

PoweredByDodge

last i saw cody's truck pics - he had momo comps up front w/ tweets in the sail. so me thinx he got around the factory stuff.

i could be wrong but i think he's talking about the rear tweeters in the plates distorting... if htis is so -- i'll tell ya -- its the damn deck power man, prolly not the speaker.

if its the momo tweets going out on you, well you're not sending them too low of a signal because the momo x-over is pre-set to what it ought to be. i doubt polk fudged it.

I've blown like 4 DX tweeters in the last few yrs... i dunno why... the momo tweet is prolly close to it in design... i'm not really sure why they kept going -- the closest guess i made was that the amps might have been clipping at the extremes of the freq range. i dont even know if that's possible though. i have heard audible improvement in what were "on their last leg" tweeters since i installed the blue thunder amp.... seems that running it at like 2/3 total rms makes it much more capable of making the components function "gooder".

i really dont have a clue about the tweeters in your truck tho -- maybe you have interference in the patch cable?? I know when I run my CD changer i get a little "crackly ****" in the passenger side tweeter, but its not there on CD's... logically this would indicate that running the signal cable for my CD changer through a very large bundle of 0 gauge has resulted in some picked up interference. so i dont even bother trying to fix it... one of these days i'll take some aluminum foil and wrap the signal cable to the changer...

Systems

its the momo tweets in the front sail panels
got them installed by the only polk/momo dealer around
if it was the patch cables wouldnt it be doing it at lower volume too?
its both tweeters
i listened to it better yesterday
but its ONLY when the bass hits
i have no bass enhancement thats turned on
just the bass itself
cuz i can turn the bass all the way down and turn the radio up and it wont crackle
-Cody

PoweredByDodge

cody -- that leads me more to think of the interference idea...

look at it this way -- current draw is not constant.

interference, contrary to popular belief, is NOT caused by your 12 volt power wires... it's caused by the CURRENT of your power wires (not the voltage).

so... when the bass is not "slamming" there isn't much current being drawn... so not much if any at all interference... as soon as the bass hits.. current gets sucked through the line and creates a field of interference through your patch cables or whatever and suddenly you have **** sound.

just a theory -- but i think its definately one worth checking out.

sntnsupermen131

how do i test that?
new patch cables?
the ones i have in their are the rf matrix gamma wires i think
-Cody

PoweredByDodge

there's one way to test patch cables but that only tests the cable, and the problem is, u end up routeing it differently and what you wanna test is your patch cables in the location they are (with proximity to your powre wires).

you can kinda do a hack test -- if u're stuff is tied down... untie it and scoot your patch cables to one side of the car, the power lines to te toher.. or just get them as physically far away from each other as possible... see if that decreases the noise... also -- if u notice some improvement from that.. take soem aluminum foil and wrap your patch cables in it anywhere that they're remotely close to the power wire (Even tho u pulled em as far apart as possible).

now if THAT kills your noise - then I'd say either A) find a way to leave it like that and tie everything down like that... or go get some patch cables that are "bulletproof" and when u lay em keep em as far as possible from the P-wire. Note - the ground wire from the amps or distro or cap or whatever will cause just as much intereference as the + power wire. so when u're pushin stuff away from the power line, keep in mind to push it away from the ground too.

that's the best "tesT" i can think of.... if that helps, then good... if not.... then chances are its something else (maybe a tweeter(s) is shot ? like u had suspeted... i still doubt that tho).

sntnsupermen131

ugh..that means a lot of work to reroute everything
all the wires are screwed under plastic panels or under the carpet
one day in the summer when im not doing anything ill reroute it
i dont have the time now
i really doubt the tweeters are blown though
the mystery continues...
-Cody