Tinny Sound

[keithyboy]

I recently threw a Kenwood CD head unit into my MKII which I'm happy with apart from the sound quality is slightly tinny.

I have decent speakers in the front but £15 ebay specials in the back on the parcel shelf with covers that look like wheel trims off a 1986 Lada Samara and assume that this is the problem. What sort of speakers can I use that won't cost a fortune and where should I fit them.

Bear in mind that my boot space is spoekn for with tools, bags of cement and other sh!te so is best avoided.

[BobbyT]

i would recommend getting an acoustic stealth shelf for the rear, i bought one for my mk1 and it made a world of difference to my 6 by 9's! Helps to add some bass to the system because its much stiffer and a better material to mount speakers on to! 

[Bluefox]

...stealth shelves also mean you don't have to cut the standard parcel shelf.
Incidentially, if you're using the standard dashboard mounted speakers they're a bit, er, pants. So changing them may help with the tinnyness, although as they're really small coned they'll never give good bass.

[Uku]

ive always heard people quote that the dash speakers arent any good as there not big enough to give bass , the thing is there not there for that purpose , because of the way there mounted they fire the high frequency stuff at you , thats there purpose , bass doesnt need to be directional it will reach you from the back of the car , yes  door speakers do help as they produce a better mid/low sound in the front , but never write off a good set of aftermarket dash speakers , ive had some serious sound systems in my time , currently im only running aftermarket dash speakers and 6x9's off the standard headunit (a good one albiet) im currently replacing all the standard wiring for aftermarket (done the rears and soldered em direct to terminals) , when i upgrade some more (gone are the single life days of buying it all at once!! familys are expensive things lol) im going to stick a vibe active prebuilt box + amp inc in the rear and some 16.5cm speakers in some door pods (gonna build em) in the front , ill keep the dash speakers though and run them off the headunit , have an amp powering the door units and 6x9's (gonna enclose there arse's to isolate there air movement from the sub) this should make for a good alround sound which i think the dash speakers will contribute to.
basically dont ignore these lil speakers as they actually do there job well.

[NewStu]

Yes but you need a headunit or amp where you can adjust the HPF otherwise there just gonna pop and distort when the bass notes hit them.

Or you could solder a couple of resistors in line for a cheap and cheerfull solution!

[Godzilla]

Tinny sound can be due to wrong polarity. Easy way to check this. Put the balance so its coming from the right speaker, see how it sounds, then to the left speaker and find how it sounds. Now if it sounds better i.e more mid/bass coming from either sides but not when the balance is centered then the polarity is wrong.

[Heyho]

Soldering resistors inline to a speaker will not reduce the bass being fed to them - it will merely cut the total power going to the speaker.  If you put a 4 ohm resistor inline with a 4 ohm speaker, you're simply halving the power.

As dash speakers aren't there to produce bass, there's not much point using them.  They don't produce strong mids either - so you're much better off with a tweeter in it's place, and a mid in the door.  A set of quality 13cm components properly amped will sound better than any 6x9's in the shelf.  If you're prepared to spend the time properly installing with some sound deadening, you'll reap the benefits.  A nice little sub in the boot would nicely round things off - well worth doing.

[8vRicey]

Yes but you need a headunit or amp where you can adjust the HPF otherwise there just gonna pop and distort when the bass notes hit them.

Or you could solder a couple of resistors in line for a cheap and cheerfull solution!

FALSE !

A capacitor in series with the speaker will create a simple HPF as in this diagram.


The crossover frequancy depends on the capacitor's value.

[8vRicey]

Tinny sound can be due to wrong polarity. Easy way to check this. Put the balance so its coming from the right speaker, see how it sounds, then to the left speaker and find how it sounds. Now if it sounds better i.e more mid/bass coming from either sides but not when the balance is centered then the polarity is wrong.

FALSE!
Sound is a waveform, and as such the negative trough will produce the same bass as a positive peak.
Reverse polarity will not affect bass reproduction, although it is advisable to have correct polarity.

[NewStu]

Resistor/capacitor same thing.  You know what i meant.

p.s thanks for clearing that up.