So I just bought some speakers from Crutchfield and replaced both the door and rear speakers, but there's absolutely NO bass coming from either of them. I've maxed the bass on my head unit but to no avail.

I want to re-replace the speakers behind the seats, but don't know of any budget-friendly decent-sounding speakers that would fit. Could anybody recommend any?

I don't have any amps, and I'm not interesting in getting a sub box all set up. I'm just looking for a decent upgrade that's easy on my pocket.

Thanks guys.

P.S. - Right now I'm using Boston Acoustics S65 behind the seats.

 

Are you still using the stock HU? If so, you know the stock head unit blows so why not replace with a good/decent inexpensive aftermarket unit, i.e..Kenwood, Pioneer, etc? You maly also want to consider a seperate amp. I too went without a sub for my audio install which consisted of a Kenwood HU and Kenwood amp, and FOCAL speakers front and rear. The fronts are seperates with the tweeter moutned in the stock sail fin. I have plenty of bass without a sub. I can turn it up and feel/see my windows rattle. Good luck with your choice.

 

just get a good head unit that has some built in cross overs and decent power.. it will be a simple install, and Isd highly reccomend Alpine.. they make a small "amp" just for guys like you.. and its an amp FOR the headunit.

If you run an Ipod only, id do this deck ALL DAY LONG on your car:
http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/cde-123/

and a step up if you want a cool screen on it for album cover displays.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ida-x305s

If you find after the fact you STILL want a little more power, but still keep it a no brainer, use this..

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ktp-445

With the crossovers set to 120 Hz HP steep slope, and the bass at maybe +2 you will be vastly more than satisfied w your new boston speakers.

Search the part numbers on ebay, the going rates are very very low. Far better than crutchfield.

 

Did you try listening to each speaker, one at a time.

If the polarity got reversed on a speaker, it will kill bas output when played with a speaker that's in phase.

If each speaker has bass when played by itself, but the bass is reduced when played together, there is almost always a phase issue.

 

Sorry I should have been more clear with what I'm using.

I have Pioneer's AppRadio head unit.

In the front, I have Sound Ordnance P-52 and in the rears I have the Boston Acoustics.

Looking at the components that I've purchased, is there anything to suggest that I shouldn't have any bass, or should these speakers be pumping?

I'll go through and check each speaker individually, but I really don't think I mixed up any wiring. I was really careful to put everything in correctly.

 

Not trying to be a wise guy, but how did you measure (quantify) bass output?

In other words: How do you know you have no bass?

I suspect that you adjust the bass setting on your H/U, but do not hear any difference. Is that the case?

--Spike

 

This is the story of my life too man. Iv'e probably replaced speakers on 5 different cars and each and every time it results in less bass than stock..

Last night I just installed my 180.00 a pair JL 6.5's in the rear and they have no bass at all - when I fade to the stock junk speakers up front the rear view mirror starts vibrating there is so much bass, its unreal. I have a 10" Im installing, but I don't like the idea that that will be my only bass once I replace the fronts with my other pair of JL's, what a joke.

I don't get it either, its happened to me so many times; all I can say is next car I buy I'm sticking with the stock speakers, I give up.

 

Here is a thought…

If you install cheap and weak speakers and drive these with the H/U low-power integrated amplifier, your result will probably provide decent bass output.

That’s not the case when using the H/U integrated amp and better quality speakers. Even mid-priced speakers (coaxial or component speakers) sound much better with an external amplifier, and your H/U’s internal amp may not be capable of coaxing the bass these speakers are capable providing.

--Spike

 

I have the bass on the H/U maxed but I can't feel or hear any of it. The stock set-up doesn't have much bass output, but it has more than this.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here...

 

RE> "I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here..."

Better speakers require more power to achieve their capability. If you drive a quality speaker with the little intenal amp in an H/U, your sound (especially bass) is poor. You may not even hear the bass in this scenario.

--Spike

 

So you think that my H/U isn't putting out enough power to allow my speakers to reach their potential?

 

^^ Could be the case. If this is the reason, the failure is most noticed on the bass output.

--Spike

 

It's a brand new H/U though and is supposed to be able to handle several more components

I think what I might try doing is moving the rear speakers to the doors and buying two smaller subs to stick behind the seats and see what that does. I'm really struggling to find a cheap solution to this...

 

Handling more components is meaningless. The important point is how it handles those additional components.

You mention “buying two smaller subs to stick behind the seats and see what that does. “

You don’t want to do that without careful planning. And, that purchase requires a dedicated amp just to drive the SubW’s. That will go way past the budget you proclaimed earlier.

--Spike

 

Spike I see your point and it makes logical sense, I have a 600 dollar pioneer head unit with decent watt output, but trust me from cheap to super expensive coaxials & components, kicker, kenwood, alpine, whatever, I have tried it all and nothing has ever come close to the base on my stock speakers for at least 5+ cars I have owned, not even in the same ballpark. I have also heard amplified components on a handful of other peoples cars and they never had any bass either. I'm not saying its impossible, but its gotta be 1 in 10 people that hit that combo just right and get more bass than stock, because I have never come close.

I really need to go by an audio shop and listen to some cars though, I would love to hear some components that actually did put out bass by themselves.

This all said I somewhat anticipated this and that is why I have a 10" and amp waiting to be installed, its just I think its comical that my super expensive JL's have 10x less bass than the stock front speakers. On a positive note the highs are awesome on the JL's and the system no longer has that muffled sound, but be sure to budget for a sub with these!

 

the stock head unit power matches the cheap paper cone oem speakers. Buying expensive, higher watt speakers and matching it with a head unit wont' sound that good, especially in the Z's door panels.

here is a true story that happened to me. Aftermarket headunit on stock speakers sounded better than aftermarket headunit on aftermarket coaxials.

 

I see your point and I am tempted to try amplifying my JL coaxials eventually, but I doubt it will matter, there rating is 15-60 RMS and the Pioneer puts out at least 15 RMS, so Im skeptical; also they already vibrate and get that total crap bass sound when turned way up, so I think all an amp will do is amplify the vibrating crap bass sound.

I think if you have bass, you have bass, I don't buy that you need an amp; I hooked up a 12" rockford to a stock deck before unfiltered and it had tons of bass - no amp. Once I hooked the amp up I hated the sound of it. All an amp does is amplify the sound and aggressiveness of the bass, its hard to explain, but to me an amp doesn't exactly cause a lower bass note to be hit. So my point is if a 15 RMS whatever alpine deck can pump HUGE bass out of a 12" Rockford, and you guys are telling me it can't do it with 6.5's?

btw, I have had this happen on so many cars, I installed cheap speakers on some, expensive on others, and there was never any difference; the only time I once got lucky with some boxed 6x9 sony xplodes that had nice bass, but have never ever been able to replicate it - bought some newer sony 6x9 xplode's a few years after that and not even close, no bass at all; I'm telling you guys its just like the original poster said and what you said above with your Z, its like hitting the lottery to get more bass with aftermarked than stock speakers.

 

I think I can help clear this up.

It sounds like a sensitivity vs capability question.

Stock speakerscan be more sensitive (make more sound with less power) than aftermarket speakers that are more capabele. (Able to make lots of sound if/when they get lots of power.)

When I set up the sub in my Z, I knew the amp I had was only going to be able to put about 125W RMS to whatever sub I bought.

Well, I have a W3 in my work vehicle getting over 200W RMS and it does well, but when I ran the numbers in my old Bass Box Pro software, I found that JL cheapest sub (the WX) would actually produce more output at 125 watts than my W3.

That doesn't mean there's no advantage to JL's higher-end subs. With 300watts RMS, the W3 is now pounding out more output than the WX at 125 watts and the WX becomes a blue-smoke generator (if you try to push it with 300 watts, it bottoms out the suspension and burns the voice coil out...and eventually no output)

However I wouldn't expect the sensitivity differential between stock and aftermarket to be so pronounced that you thought you had "no bass".

There's also the thiele small parameters to consider. The "enclosure" (the door?)may be better suited for the stock speakers than the aftermarket ones. However less sensitive speakers are usually less sensitive because of "heavy" compnents. Larger voice coils , differnt cone types etc. "Heavy" usually translates in to perameters that allow lower bass extension in smaller airspace. (although not always)

 

Although I agree with your point that you should buy lower RMS speakers for low RMS applications, I really think its just the speakers themselves and I think from experience you have like a 1 in 10 shot of buying a speaker that just happens to like the wattage and location you put it in - thats all there is too it. And when I say 1 in 10, I mean mostly Coaxials non-amplified; perhaps with amplified components you have a better shot.

I'm in the same boat as the original poster, this isn't imaginary, there is definitely a bass decrease almost every time you install aftermarket speakers - cheap or expensive ones.

The real question is what the hell does the 350z like best off of a non-amplified head unit that will at least match the factory bass but improve the sound quality?

 

You understand. I agree with your comment. --Spike