what an unbelievable difference! - kappa 3.5 dash speakers

Finally got my 32.9cfs installed.

Yes, they do need bass blockers. Will order soon. Yes, they are far more sensitive and have a wider freq. response than the cheap ass factory paper. Sound great.

Regarding sensitivity ratings - every 3dB increase in sensitivity is an doubling of apparent volume at the same power. It is measured using 1W of power input and mic'd 1 meter away. So, even 1 dB is noticeable...

:bat:

(My son demanded I insert the bat.)
 
just finished installing my boston acoustics.. will post some pictures tomorrow.. too tired right now.. but, boy, do they sound grand!
 
I installed the 32.9s in my 2011 with jbl and nav Sunday. Definitely night and day. Definitely do not need bass blockers. Speakers are crisp. I'll change out doors next. I do have a question. Does anyone know if on the jbl system the subwoofer can be turned down? The bass is almost too big and boomy! I thought I read that there was an amp and so I wondered if it was possible to adjust.
 
So after trying out the Infinity 3032 cf speakers and being very disappointed in their performance, I bought a paint of the 32.9 Infinity's and plugged one in on the drivers side and did the same test that I did with the 3032 using myself and 3 co-workers this time in a blind test... My results...

Same as the 3032's!!!!! The 32.9's are a bit louder than the Infinity 3032cf's but they are still no where near the factory JBL speakers in overall volume. Am I missing something here??? The 32.9 speaker turned all the way up was MAYBE as loud as the OEM JBL on level 45/60. Aside from volume, the 32.9's just seemed a bit more "tinny" than the JBL's albeit sharper on the highs... I would love to find out how much constant power the JBL amp is feeding to the dash speakers, I have a feeling that the Infinity's need slightly more power to truly shine.

Maybe I am missing something here, I desperately want to like them and experience a better quality sound system but i am personally not seeing it, It makes me think that something is different about my truck possibly with so many variations of the OEM stereos floating around.

For those who installed the 32.9's in the JBL system, did you experience overall volume loss as well?

I am gonna play with it a bit tomorrow as well.

Om a side note, after doing a ton of research, I bought new speakers for the the front and rear doors, CDT Classic 6.5" Mid / woofers for the front and the coaxials for the rear doors. According to multiple well respected sources, these speakers are extremely efficient and an excellent choice for a upgrade to the factory JBL audio system. So far I have received the mid woofers and am very impressed with the quality. Time will tell as many of you can tell I am veeeery picky about how things sound! AHAHA

I will keep the forum posted on the CDT door speaker install.

socalTRAIL
 
So I got these Hertz speakers:
photo-1.jpg~original


but can anyone recommend something to use as a bracket. They mount with much smaller, screw sized holes, and are wider than the preexisting holes.

I thought I had it solved, but when i went to reinstall the bracket i discovered that I had bent it quite a bit and it didnt fit anymore...
 
That's a good price! Jump on it!

Just an FYI for people who may be having sound quality issues- I found out that even though your iPod may be connected through the dock, if the volume is not down all the way it can somehow cause interference. Don't know how, but that's what I heard.

Another thing to think about- the better your sound system, the more accurately it reproduces the recording. If you have a crappy album, a low bitrate, or anything being played not high quality, it will sound worse through better speakers. There are many albums out there which are not recorded very well to begin with, then get downloaded though whoever's website and becomes a bad sounding piece of music. I have some stuff I don't like to listen to in the truck now because the faults in the recording are blaringly obvious.

Apologies if this has already been discussed in the thread. It is very long.
 
Hey there folks, thanks to everyone for troubleshooting this mod for us know-nothing newbies.

Yesterday I had some Memphis M-Class 6x9s installed in the two front doors but decided on my way home I'd like a little something extra. So, last night I ordered a pair of the speakers from amazon and a Dynamat Door Kit. They'll hopefully be here by the end of the week.

I've read through the thread and think I get everything, but I'm still not 100% on which Bass Blocker to get. Seems like some people are getting the 150 hz cut off and some are getting the 600 hz hz cut off. Which is most appropriate? Does what I go with depend any on the Memphis Speakers I had installed yesterday? Seems like 150 hz cut off is more than likely what I need (even though Crutchfield apparently recommends 600 hz) , but I don't to go about this haphazardly.

One more question: once I get these dash speakers and dynamat put in, if I decided I wanted to go further along the car audio upgrade path, what should I do? I don't need anything that's going to cause earthquakes, but I travel for work and spend A LOT of time in my car. I'd like the make those long drives a little more bearable. I'm under the impression an Amp would be the next best step followed by a subwoofer, though I know nothing about car audio, so I don't really know what I should go with to get the most bang for my buck.
 
I know I've read it somewhere on this thread before about switching out the rear speakers. What size are they? Are they an easy switch like the fronts? Guessing depending on the magnet size I would have to make a frame to help make room, anyone know of some speakers that would fit without (live in a condo, no fun garage to play in)? For someone who has done it, is there a wiring diagram made-easy? Are you tired of my questions?

(Sorry for the list of questions, I'm at work and shouldn't be logged in, just couldn't wait. Guess you could say this is a quick "smoke-break".)
 
3.5" Infinity speaker passenger side cutting...

I did the install and WOW the sound is incredible. In the thread, it shows cutting the "thin dash material" to make room for the speakers on the passenger side. I have a 2012, so not sure if anything changed, but that thin material on mine is the ductwork for the passenger side side window defroster. Instead of cutting this, I CAREFULLY cut the Infinity speaker's plastic cone that protrudes out of the speaker down to about 1/2 its height and it fit. I also used the stock metal speaker mounts... I used a hack saw and cut them apart to allow them to fit around the larger diameter of the infinity speaker. Sounds great, just wanted to pass the piece about the duct work on though.
 
Just installed!

I put these in last night using darkdanes method and WOW is right! It makes a huge difference to the stock 8 speaker setup.

Couple of notes:

  • Install took 2 hours. I was methodical and went slowly (no mistakes).
  • I did use bass blockers. I have no popping.
  • I no longer use "Party Mode". I only used "Party Mode" before. I couldn't stand the sound otherwise.

Overall, I am very pleased with these little speakers. It makes listening to music fun again.
 
just installed one 32.9cf in my TE with JBL Nav... comparing left to right the Kappa sounds much dimmer and softer than the stock speakers. they sound worse, actually; no presence whatsoever. much worse. what gives? i swapped out one Infinity with the other to be sure it wasn't just a bad unit—same deal. tried with 133mfd bass blockers and without—same deal.

any ideas? now the wiring harness is cut (on the drivers side) so there's no going back!
 
sandcrawler said:
just installed one 32.9cf in my TE with JBL Nav... comparing left to right the Kappa sounds much dimmer and softer than the stock speakers. they sound worse, actually; no presence whatsoever. much worse. what gives? i swapped out one Infinity with the other to be sure it wasn't just a bad unit—same deal. tried with 133mfd bass blockers and without—same deal.

any ideas? now the wiring harness is cut (on the drivers side) so there's no going back!
Click to expand...

How did you hook it up? Walk us through it, color of wires etc., so we can troubleshoot with ya. It shouldn't sound worse!
 
first tried it with the bass blocker (300hz) butt spliced into the positive wire (green) then to Kappa crossover. factory negative wire (blue) directly into Kappa crossover.

sounded dim, so i removed the bass blocker but no change in the sound. :shrug:

thanks for helping, terra!
 
sandcrawler said:
first tried it with the bass blocker (300hz) butt spliced into the positive wire (green) then to Kappa crossover. factory negative wire (blue) directly into Kappa crossover.

sounded dim, so i removed the bass blocker but no change in the sound. :shrug:

thanks for helping, terra!
Click to expand...

You don't need the Kappa crossovers. The factory JBL amp has crossovers built into the amp already . Try just green to pos and blue to neg on the speaker.No bass blocker either for JBL.
 
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?
 
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