what an unbelievable difference! - kappa 3.5 dash speakers

[sandcrawler]

hmmm... the thick black cord to the crossover has 3 wires inside: red, black and white...

there's also two wires (white and black) that pigtail down through the bottom of the speaker. i'm assuming those are right ones to splice the factory wiring into; white pos, black neg.

please correct me if i'm wrong before i go cutting more!!

 

[harper7]

oh! you removed the Kappa crossovers, Gary?!
was pretty sure the JBL amp did the crossover-ing... never thought the Kappa crossover would be a problem. so i should cut off the Kappa crossover and connect the factory wires right to the speaker itself?

Been awhile. Wasn't the Kappa crossover in an external little box? Looking at the Crutchfield site now Infinity Kappa 32.9cf 3-1/2" 2-way car speakers at Crutchfield.com it looks like they changed the design and the crossover is made with the speaker now. I made spade plugs and hooked right to the Kappa .I can double check later but I'm busy at work now.

 

[sandcrawler]

this (kinda blurry, sorry) pic shows the thick wire connecting the Kappa crossover and the white and black wires running down thru the bottom of the speaker under the label/sticker.

you can just barely make out the additional red wire that's inside the crossover cable along with the white and black wire.

thanks very much for your help, Gary. don't mean to be a bother... bet it's hard being "Answer Man" sometimes, huh?! :cheers:

 

[Hawaiian4runner]

Infinity Kappas

Are you guys crazy? No you do not cut off the crossover. The crossover is to separate the highs to the tweeter from the mid. The amps crossover is a high pass that passes the mid and tweeter range. That is why you do not need bass blockers. Yes, the Kappa plays softer than the stock cause it is not as efficient. Factory speakers are always more efficient than aftermarket. No you cannot just connect one side and then make a comparison. Replace both speakers before you pass judgement. Difference from stock to the Kappas is night and day and you either screwed up the install or are deaf if you don't agree.

 

[terra4r]

sandcrawler,

hook up the kappa black box, directly to your vehicle speaker wires, green (+), blue (-) and give that a try. The capacitor (Bass blocker) may not be needed for the JBL, but the crossover (black oval box) is needed for the kappa mid/tweeter speaker.

 

[sandcrawler]

Are you guys crazy? No you do not cut off the crossover. The crossover is to separate the highs to the tweeter from the mid. The amps crossover is a high pass that passes the mid and tweeter range. That is why you do not need bass blockers. Yes, the Kappa plays softer than the stock cause it is not as efficient. Factory speakers are always more efficient than aftermarket. No you cannot just connect one side and then make a comparison. Replace both speakers before you pass judgement. Difference from stock to the Kappas is night and day and you either screwed up the install or are deaf if you don't agree.

wow. cool down. i'm not freaking out—you certainly have no reason to do so.

install is not screwed up; just connecting two wires, after all. and thanks but i'm not deaf either. don't see why you can't compare one side to the other.

do you have the JBL "15 speaker" system?

 

[sandcrawler]

sandcrawler,

hook up the kappa black box, directly to your vehicle speaker wires, green (+), blue (-) and give that a try. The capacitor (Bass blocker) may not be needed for the JBL, but the crossover (black oval box) is needed for the kappa mid/tweeter speaker.

thanks, Jim. i did that. sorry if it wasn't clear.

still seems cuckoo soft compared to the stock speaker that's still on the passenger side. volume on 23 used to be nearly too loud for me... have to really crank it to get nearly the same perceptual volume level though the Kappa.

it's impossible that i'm the first to run into this snag though, amirite?

 

[harper7]

Are you guys crazy? No you do not cut off the crossover. The crossover is to separate the highs to the tweeter from the mid. The amps crossover is a high pass that passes the mid and tweeter range. That is why you do not need bass blockers. Yes, the Kappa plays softer than the stock cause it is not as efficient. Factory speakers are always more efficient than aftermarket. No you cannot just connect one side and then make a comparison. Replace both speakers before you pass judgement. Difference from stock to the Kappas is night and day and you either screwed up the install or are deaf if you don't agree.

Lol
Your not the first one to say I was crazy. The people who run the front gate at this AA airline institution have been saying that for years! Maybe that's why we're behind a barbed wire top fence.lol

He's most likely right in that the crossover stays but I'll have to check if I used mine . I am deaf in one ear and can't hear out the other,but I can always see the mirror vibrating so I assumed they're working.

 

[sandcrawler]

sandcrawler,

hook up the kappa black box, directly to your vehicle speaker wires, green (+), blue (-) and give that a try. The capacitor (Bass blocker) may not be needed for the JBL, but the crossover (black oval box) is needed for the kappa mid/tweeter speaker.

thanks, Jim. i did that. sorry if it wasn't clear.

still seems cuckoo soft compared to the stock speaker that's still on the passenger side. volume on 23 used to be nearly too loud for me... have to really crank it to get nearly the same perceptual volume level though the Kappa.

it's impossible that i'm the first to run into this snag though, amirite?

 

[terra4r]

wow. cool down. i'm not freaking out—you certainly have no reason to do so.

install is not screwed up; just connecting two wires, after all. and thanks but i'm not deaf either. don't see why you can't compare one side to the other.

do you have the JBL "15 speaker" system?

yeah i know, a little uncalled for.

I looked at the diagram for the jbl/nav system, and your speaker is directly connected to the amp, as previously mentioned, unlike the 8 speaker system which sends a full range signal to the dash and door speaker in parallel, therefore on the 8 speaker, a bass blocker was found to be necessary to protect the speaker.

Probably not needed in your case, but it seems like an added protection for the speaker anyways. It shouldn't make a difference is sound quality. Aside from making sure your +/- is correct, make sure your connections are crimped/connected well, and screwed to the kappa terminals well also (spades work good for this connection too)

 

[terra4r]

thanks, Jim. i did that. sorry if it wasn't clear.

still seems cuckoo soft compared to the stock speaker that's still on the passenger side. volume on 23 used to be nearly too loud for me... have to really crank it to get nearly the same perceptual volume level though the Kappa.

it's impossible that i'm the first to run into this snag though, amirite?

Re-adjust treble/highs on the nav unit? I'm not sure if the kappa is louder at the same setting and volume levels, but it should be clear and sharp.

 

[sandcrawler]

thanks again, Jim. the bare factory wires screwed into the Kappa crossovers passed the "tug test". i didn't have any spades on hand, just the butt connectors. (heh, heh... butt.)

after reading this entire thread i just can't believe that i'm unimpressed with these buggers. where's my "unbelievable difference"?! :hungry:

 

[sandcrawler]

Re-adjust treble/highs on the nav unit? I'm not sure if the kappa is louder at the same setting and volume levels, but it should be clear and sharp.

funny you should say that. i did exactly that and it was strange because no matter how far to the right i pegged the treble (and mid) it had no effect on the kappa.

 

[Hawaiian4runner]

U are missing the point!

You must change out both speakers to make any comparison. The JBL amp is weak and the difference in impedence from the stock to the Kappa really throws the balance off. It is very simple. Change the other speaker before you keep getting people to compare and give their opinions. And yes, I have the JBL Premium Sound with Nav and have done the Kappa upgrade. It is softer than stock and could use tuning to balance the door low pass and the dash high pass but overall the sound with the Kappas is phenominal. Have had high end sound quality installers say the same. They cannot believe the clarity and imaging from some pretty cheap (by their standards) speakers. Once again, do not use bass blocker. Why put anything in the sound path that is not doing anything useful?

 

[sandcrawler]

You must change out both speakers to make any comparison. The JBL amp is weak and the difference in impedence from the stock to the Kappa really throws the balance off. It is very simple. Change the other speaker before you keep getting people to compare and give their opinions. And yes, I have the JBL Premium Sound with Nav and have done the Kappa upgrade. It is softer than stock and could use tuning to balance the door low pass and the dash high pass but overall the sound with the Kappas is phenominal. Have had high end sound quality installers say the same. They cannot believe the clarity and imaging from some pretty cheap (by their standards) speakers. Once again, do not use bass blocker. Why put anything in the sound path that is not doing anything useful?

the JBL amp ain't that weak. 650 watts iirc.

 

[Hawaiian4runner]

According to their specs

Not even close to 650 watts. What are they rating at, peak at 2 ohms? I have the amp, puts out maybe 35 watts RMS at 4 ohms at best. Little more than the output from a good aftermarket head unit.

 

[Ukie]

still seems cuckoo soft compared to the stock speaker that's still on the passenger side. volume on 23 used to be nearly too loud for me... have to really crank it to get nearly the same perceptual volume level though the Kappa.

Is there a chance that you've turned Party Mode off?

 

[sandcrawler]

Not even close to 650 watts. What are they rating at, peak at 2 ohms? I have the amp, puts out maybe 35 watts RMS at 4 ohms at best. Little more than the output from a good aftermarket head unit.

i have no idea what they're rating at, of course. i simply cited the specs to counter your unsupported assertion that the amp is "weak."

listen, in your own way i'm sure you're trying to be helpful. i appreciate your input and i suppose i should take it as a compliment that this interested you enough to vault your post count into the double-digits today. (welcome back, btw.)

but try to keep the attitude in check, "brah". we're all friendly here so let's keep it that way.

 

[sandcrawler]

Is there a chance that you've turned Party Mode off?

thanks, Ukie. thought of that too. tried it with Party On and Party Off... same thing.

 

[Hawaiian4runner]

My apologies. I am trying to be helpful

But I repeat, before doing anything else, just change the other speaker. Takes 10 minutes max. and makes a world of difference. If you still don't like it, so be it.