VRGNCD5

I have a Soundstream Reference 414S amp running some Kenwood XR-600's up front and some Polk Audio EXII 6x9's out back. The 6x9's sound sweet, the Kenwoods don't sound too hot. The volume is quite a bit lower than the 6x9's. I played w/the gains and all that and they just don't get nearly as loud as the by9's. They are noticeable, but I was expecting a more prominent front stage. The fronts are wired in stereo, same as the rear. Think the amp is malfunctioning or could it be the fronts are messed up?

SumAccordGuy94

there are many factors that could be possible... sensitivity difference... bad RCA cables... fader not even on the deck...

Try this, swap the RCA cables on the amp... use the front cables into the rear inputs, and the rear cables into the front inputs... see if there is any difference. (this will check the RCA cables) You can also try swapping the speaker cables... again, front to rear and rear to front... (this will check the amps channels)

Check the fader on the deck.

Make sure everything is wired properly... positive to positive, and negative to negative everywhere.

The Kenwoods may just not be as sensitive as the Polks... in that case, just turn the front gain up a little, or fade to the front more...

Also, the front speakers in that car sit very low, and point at your feet... which does not do anything as far as getting the sound up to your ears well... Components will help out here, as you can mount the tweeter higher in the door panel.

Theres a lot of variables... check some of the thing out that I mentioned... they are all possibilities... but I bet its just because the fronts are soo low in the door. I had the same problem in my car, untill I upgraded to front components.

Toxis

I'm 90% sure it's a sensitivity issue. Try swapping the RCA's and double checking your wiring...could be out of phase as well...who knows.

VRGNCD5

the sensitivity on the polks is 93db, the kenwoods is 92db. I find it highly unlikely that the human ear can tell the difference between 92 and 93db's. What do you guys think? Am I wrong for thinking that the single db difference in sensitivity between the speakers shouldn't the the reason for the difference is loudness between them? Here is an idea as to the difference. When I got the fronts, I had them running only to see if I could live w/fronts and bass only, I had to turn the volume up to 20 or 21 to get any decent sound from the fronts. Now that the by9's are in again, I only have to turn the volume up to 11 or 12 and the sound is very good(80% coming from the by9's ) I will try switching the rca's and see what happens. If that doesn't work, im probably gonna have the amp bench tested.

Toxis

ok, then sensitivity is not the issue. Check the polarity of the speakers. If that's not it, it's probably the fact the fronts are aimed at your calves and the rears are reflecting off the rear deck and giving you more wave length...

nando11211

I think thats it. The placement of the speakers in the car greatly affect what you hear and how you hear it. Just mess with the fader on the deck or amp to get more sound coming from the fronts. Thats what I did on my Civic and now I get almost equal sound distribution, I hear my fronts a little more though, but I would rather hear the fronts more than the rears.

The placement thing is probably it because I also had this same issue with the home audio system. It was a pain in the @$$ to fix.

daddykay24

Some amps have more power going in to channels 1&2 and less in 3&4, switching the channels via the rca and speaker wire would help if this is the case.

VRGNCD5

the only difference there would be if the speakers werent wired right would be sq, not volume. On my deck there is a HiFi and Normal setting, it was on HiFi, I changed it to Normal, played w/the decks crossovers and fader and got it to sound decent. I noticed that when I open the doors, the fronts sound so much better, I think its just a location issue to be honest cause the fronts sound much louder, due to no obstuctions, when the door is open. I was trying to avoid getting components, just cause im so paranoid now about getting my stuff stolen and I don't yet have an alarm. I plan on getting a Cliffor Concept 600 soon, and when I do, I may spring for some components, Polk Audio EXIII 6.5's.

VRGNCD5

My amp isn't like that, it's 50x4.

Toxis

You've obviously never heard speakers wired out of phase...there's a HUGE difference in volume and SQ...