Well, never a dull moment in the Greco Family. The new topic of discussion is blowing the stock speakers. Mick is trying to explain to me that the stock stereo speaker have been blowing because the stock cd stereo is unable to separate the frequency response to each individual speaker thus blowing them. I have a different take on the reason why but after a heated debate the conversation came to an unresolved halt.

Mick if you read this and I misunderstood and somehow explained it wrong, please feel free to explain it better in your terms why the stock speakers are blowing.


Fellow members please try to restrain yourself on the sarcasm since the thread topic has not been taken lightly and this actually became a heated discussion. I don't want Mick to feel that he isn't been taken seriously.

Thanks.

Hi Don, as I mentioned in my original post, it has the stock stereo with the stock speakers. The gain has not been bypassed, and there is no new head unit.

In my experience the frequency response on the stock speakers should match up with the stock stereo, there should be no reason why the difference in FR should blow a speaker unless of coarse you've increase the volume beyond it'* acceptable level. If I'm not mistaken there are even crossovers built in to account for this.

Im no audio expert but it could be that they are now 12-13 years old.

Thought I would jump in on this as it'* what I do for a living and I've taken extensive schooling on this.

Any HU be it aftermarket or factory will distort the audio signal anywere between 1/2 - 3/4 volume up to max levels.
This has been proven by hooking up the speaker output wires to an Oscilloscope.
The only time this is Not true is when testing the RCA outputs on the rear of the HU as they are typically a cleaner signal even a close to max volume levels.

Are the speakers in question, truely blown (the true definition)? As in seperated voice coil (burned in side the magnet) which would mean that you hear absolutely nothing playing through them ? This results from distorted signal or over powering and heat.

OR

Do they just sound really bad which is sometimes refered to by most people as blown ?
Most of the time what happens is, with age, loud volume levels, distorted signal, or excesive bass settings, the surround (foam part of the speaker) weakens.
Once this happens the surround is no longer able to control the movement of the speaker and starts sounding like crap.

In either case just go with an after market replacement. If budget is a concern go with some pioneers.
To preserve the new set of speakers, try to keep the bass setting and volume levels to 3/4 or less.
If its not loud enough than get an aftermarket HU or 4 channel amp.

Good luck,
Dutch

Sorry, I didn't read this until now

What I was talking about with an aftermarket head unit is Low pass filters (LPF) and high pass filters (HPF)

With the low pass filter you can set it so your sub does not play anything over say 90hz, 120hz, etc.

Then more importantly in my case, with the high pass filter you can set it so that all the other speakers in the car do not even attempt to play certain levels depending where you have it set, like if you set it at 120hz on the high pass, your speakers are not going to even attempt to play ANYTHING under 120hz.

Right now I have 2 10" subs in the car and the fronts are still trying to play all the low frequencies that the subs are getting and they can't do it so it is distorting and then eventually they have blown. They still play but its really easy to hear they sound like crap.

I don't want to upgrade to better speakers without having the filters because again they are just going to try to play all the low frequencies they dont need to be playing because I have the sub, and then they will blow again and it will all be a waste of money.

Sorry if this was confusing to read..
Can anybody correct me or clarify on some things if they are not understood?

Thanks,

Mick

Mick : everything you said makes sense, but when your high pass filter is set at 120hz, the speakers DO play below that but the output drops off more and more the lower the frequency to the speaker goes.

If you are putting subs in your system you can just turn the bass setting down and turn the sub up to compensate. That way you get less bass to the main speakers while getting the bass from the sub.

When the subs were installed we (Cathy & I) and I emphasis the word we have developed a problem in the sense that even with the subs at the lowest level the bass is still way to high. In other words when the volume level is at let'* say 2 the bass response actually is annoying. The only way to remove the annoyance is to set the equalizer to the negative which makes the sound sort of tinny. I've asked for the amp to be adjusted and we're told it'* as low as it can go. There'* got to be a happy medium. In my opinion, the system mainly including bass in not set up properly.

As it is now, the gain on the amp is set at maybe 1/10. I turn the bass down on the equalizer really low to let the sub comphensate for it, but then it sounds bad too. Is there any way to maybe get some sort of module so I can have a lpf and hpf with the stock deck? I'm guessing no, but maybe I'm wrong?

Phoenix_flame, I know what you are saying about the hpf @ 120hz, I know it slopes off after 120 so its not RIGHT at 120, but thats 100X better than right now, and at least I can control it.