How to clean up the sound?
 

I just got a new install. I have a '99 Civic EX with a factory HU and stock 6 1/2" door speakers. I just put in a pair of MTX 6X9 triaxials in the back deck. I am driving the 6 1/2's and 6X9's with a SoundStream MC120 (Hey! It was free!). I also have a MTX Thunder6152 amp driving a MTX T410X3 10" TriSub box.

It bumps, but it sound like ass above the low volume. I can't turn the bass knob up above centered without over-driving the 6 X 9's and no matter the setting, I lose all clarity on the mid-range above half volume.

There is no gain control, or any control, for that matter, on the MC120.

I want to keep the volume but clean up the sound. I am new at this and would apprecate any ideas for cleaning it up.

Jim

two words... new amp

Get some better front speakers as well....

Soundstream MC10, you say eh..... Never heard of that model. You sure its not SoundStorm???:confused:

It's a MC120 by Soundstream ( http://www.soundstream.com ). Though the MC120 isn't listed as it is about 8 years old.

So, you think the Amp is making the distortion in the MTX 6X9's in the rear deck? Will the amp cause distortion?

The stock front speakers actually sound better than the MTX 6X9's. The aren't distorting near as much. I'm hesitant to get rid of the speakers that ARE sounding good!

probably. replace your fronts with a nice component set, and get a new 4ch amp.

The amp is not causing the distortion in your back speakers. Your factory headunit is limiting your options to improve your sound quality. I would recommend getting a new headunit with a built in crossovers to seperate the highs and lows. Right now I have a pioneer headunit which seperates the highs and mids to come out of my interior speakers and the lows come out of my sub. One thing you can do right now, which is ghetto but it should help out alittle is to lower your bass on the headunit so you'll only have bass come out of your sub. This will help save your interior speakers from blowing.

external amp.. dei 4500...... (deck power blows)..... some new compenents. i'd prefer focal.... but pricey.. so go with infinity kappa.... upgrade the speaker wires.. i know it won't help much... but it will some. power wires to 4 gauge. all grounds to 4 gauge. this will help in the future. trust me i know. i like EQ's... helps tune the sound so much.

after all of this... i guarentee great sound.

I think a few people have hit on the problem, but no one has really given you the most effective way of fixing it. Your system is essentially ok...it appears that the only thing you are missing is a high pass on the cabin speakers.

By sending bass frequencies to your other speakers, you are causing them to distort.

There are two cheap and effective ways of keeping the bass out of your cabin speakers...then there are the expensive ways. If cash is tight, go with the cheap way, if you have some money to spend there are a few things you can upgrade:

Cheap ways:
1. Buy or build some passive crossovers. These are sold under the name "bass blockers" Essentially they are a capacitor placed across the terminals on the driver (someone correct me if I'm wrong....). You put this between the output on your amp and the speakers. This is the cheapest way to go about it. Unfortunately the slope is really shallow on the crossover (-6dB/oct) but it will keep you from distortion...I would shoot for around 80 for the rears, and 100 Hz for the fronts. Total cost $20-40

2. Buy an electronic crossover. MTX made one a while back (I think they still do) that is around $50 and is a two channel and they made a three channel for around $80. One of the two....again I cna't remember...it's been a tough day....accepts line level inputs. You can use that to highpass the soundstream, set the gains, and control the other MTX amp. I have one that is in my other car....It's a fairly good unit for the price, and will do what you need for a tiny bit of cash. Total cost $20-80 (look on ebay - I sold a really sweet PG MX3i for under 50 in mint condition not too long ago)

Expensive ways:
1. New Head: Like a few people touched on, some of todays headunits have crossover networks built in, along with sublevel control...this would be handy in your situation...it will provide you with RCA outputs for your amps, and will have a lot more features then your stock head. Cost: $150-1000 depending on what you want

2. New Amp: you could ditch that soundstream, and get a 4 channel amp to power the cabin speakers. Most all new amps have built in crossovers. Total cost: $100-2000