Polk Audio DB6500

[cam5860]

I just installed a set of these components yesterday and just let me start by saying they sound pretty damn good.

I replaced these in the place of a set of polkmomo mmc650's. So I figured they would not sound quite as good boy was I wrong.

In my opinion they sound a good bit better. I decided to put tweeters in the A pillars for the stage it would offer and I feel it payed off.

At first I was kinda worried that they would be lacking midbass but that was not the case. They have decent midbass not as good as the momo's though.

After hearing this component set there's one thing that's for sure i'll never own another coaxial speaker. Components just sound to much better to be settling for a coaxial.

Far as powering these components I am powering them with the polkmomo C400.4.

All in all Im very pleased with this set worth 169.99 in my opinion. Here are a few pics of the install.

[1996blackmax]

Glad you like it.

Wondering about one thing, that is a whole lot of seperation you have there between the midrange driver and the tweeter. Did you wire the tweeter out of phase?

[cam5860]

No they are wired in phase. You think I should try wiring them out of phase? Also do you think the location of my tweeters are okay or should have I mounted them in the doors?

[MacLeod]

You can try and experiment with phasing although Ive never noticed any advantage and barely any difference at all when Ive messed with it so all mine are in phase.

Secondly, its not the distance that is the problem its the height of the tweeter. That is a little too far up on the A's I would think. It wont affect SQ as much as it will mess up your stage and imaging. You rarely want your tweeters much higher than the dash. The stage is supposed to be eye level and with the tweeters that high up I doubt that would be the case.

[cam5860]

So your saying they should have been mounted in about the middle of the A pillars?

[MacLeod]

I cant say for sure without test fitting them in different locations for best sound but I will say that I doubt they wouldve needed to be mounted more than about 6" above the dash. Mine are mounted about 4" above the dash and my stage is just a smidge below eye level.

[cam5860]

Man I wish I had of ask about that before I installed them. Im kinda stuck now with where there at unless I buy new A pillars

[MacLeod]

LOL!! Holes of Shame are common in car audio.

You can always run down to your local junk yard. Im sure theyll have a car like yours somewhere in there and theyll usually sell you the A pillars out of there for less than $50.

[cam5860]

The reason I put them up high was because ive seen alot of people put them there though the years.

[1996blackmax]

My local junkyards have been very nice to me :). Got a set of window sales for $15 bucks a couple weeks back. Changed my mind about my tweeter location :D.

[MacLeod]

The reason I put them up high was because ive seen alot of people put them there though the years.


Cant imagine why. Hell bro, dont take my word for it, Im far from an expert on anything (except procrastination. I seem to take that to a new level). If you like the way they sound up there then leave em there.

[1996blackmax]

It's all about what sounds good to your ears.

[1996blackmax]

My problem is that my ears just keep changing their mind :D......

[MacLeod]

Alright audiobliss. Enough with the double posting......post whore! :p

[cam5860]

Hell bro I believe you know what your talking about you have heard what the judges have had to say about your system. I like the way it sounds with them there. But I want it to be right you know what I mean.

[MacLeod]

If you like it, then it is right.

You should take em out and give em a listen in various other spots. If you like their current location then leave em there. Unless youre wanting to compete dont worry about what judges think! ;)

[1996blackmax]

Where is audiobliss........

:confused:

:D

[cam5860]

Also a installer at a local audio shop told me he liked the way they sound up high in the A pillars. Thats another reason I stuck them there. But hell who knows.

[MacLeod]

Like I said:


If you like it, then it is right.

You should take em out and give em a listen in various other spots. If you like their current location then leave em there. Unless youre wanting to compete dont worry about what judges think! ;)

[PoweredByDodge]

long wire + duct tape + patience .... move the tweeters around by duct taping htem up in various places.... find the sweet spot and then bolt the bastards down for good.

me.... i just drill and then check later -- thats why i'm on audio system # 50 in only a few years...

[cam5860]

I just remembered that I bought some 3M mounting tape a while back that would be prefect for the task. Im going to move them around some and see what I come up with.

[MacLeod]

Im with Vinny. I did the test fit thing maybe twice and then said Eff it! I wanna mount these things! Patience is not one of my virtues.

[Topper]

yo CAM5860 just outta curiosity, could you tell me how your MMC650 we're installed before you switched them for the DB6500s. We're they also powered by the same amp? And did anything else get upgraded when you switched the speaks?

Also as for the improvement in sound, was it because of the higher stage noticed cus of the placement of the tweets? or would love to hear more about your comparison of the two sets of speaks as am seriously considering one of em for my new frontstage.

[cam5860]

The mmc650's were in the doors as shown in picture. I was running them off the polkmomo c400.4 amp. Nothing else was upgraded but Rca cables same headunit Alpine 9833.

I mean yeah the staging does help but the difference is a lot far as sound quality goes. There just so much clearer and the mids sound much better too not as deep as the momo's but cleaner sound in my opinion.

I used to love coaxials before I listened to this component set after this there's no turning back components for me from here on out.

[1996blackmax]

That's the way to go :D.

[audiobliss]

Glad you're liking your db6500's, man. There's no replacement for displacemnt! Oh wait, I meant to say components...that don't rhyme....

Like Mac says, if you're happy with the sound, then the tweeters are placed correctly. Just don't go asking a judge what he thinks...he might not be right....:D

Enjoy, dude! And I'd suggest you ride around for about an hour tonight tweaking your system. :D

[MacLeod]

Like Mac says, if you're happy with the sound, then the tweeters are placed correctly. Just don't go asking a judge what he thinks...he might not be right



Only if he's a USACi judge, then he'll just tell you to get a center channel. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/sprachlos/speechless-smiley-034.gif

[1996blackmax]

Pretty smart judges........

[MacLeod]

Umm, no.

[98thumpin]

you all said that the tweeters were to high but on this website polk audio says the higher the better.

[cam5860]

I think they sound good high. I had those 4x6's in the dash bouncing off the windshield at ear level and it sound good but the tweeters up high sound much better to me.

[MacLeod]

you all said that the tweeters were to high but on this website polk audio says the higher the better.
Two different things. It is better for a tweeter to be able to reproduce higher frequencies. A speakers response is kinda like a curve, so say a tweeter can reproduce 15 KHz, that means itll start fading around say 8 KHz and continue dropping off until it reaches 15 KHz, thats called a roll off. Most people cant hear anything above 18 KHz (+/-) so if a tweeter's response goes all the way to 30 KHz, that means that its natural roll off will be beyond your hearing and so the tweeter will have a much flatter response curve which is what you want. You dont want 10 KHZ to be louder than 15 KHz. So in this case, higher is better.

What we're talking about is overall harshness of the sound which also includes the midrange. Take the Infinitys, those things make Rush's Test For Echo CD sound like the guitar player is playing a kazoo and the guitar solos are very screechy. Now the Polk SR's are smooth as silk with a warmer overall sound to them and the guitar is now much fatter sounding.

Did that make sense? I am horible at explaining these things. ;)

[1996blackmax]

You made perfect sense Mac :).

By the way the tweets on my system are very smooooth as well :D. My Rainbow components now sound even better. I've had them in there for a few weeks now, and they are pretty much broken in. Looking for any excuse to go driving now :D.

[98thumpin]

true true

[cam5860]

I have always wanted to hear how a set of focals sound.

[1996blackmax]

I have...

I am still very happy with my choice :D

[98thumpin]

some one told me about eye level for the tweets and where i sit thats about in the middle of the a pillar.

[1996blackmax]

Have you played around with different locations for the tweeter? I just re-read the manual for my speakers, and it said that if the tweeters are too far apart from the mid it may create a void in the frequency response. Sometimes this may be alleviated by reversing the phase on the tweeter.

The thing is that if it sounds good to you, that is all that matters.

[98thumpin]

yeah thats true what is meant by reversing the phase?

[1996blackmax]

You just connect the (+) wire of the tweeter to the (-) terminal of the crossover, and the (-) wire of the tweeter to the (+) terminal of the crossover.

[98thumpin]

oh really thats pretty simple but cant that mess them up some i dont know anything about that.

[MacLeod]

Having speakers out of phase wont hurt anything other than your SQ. It can cause some issues with cancellation and some imaging issues but it wont hurt any of your components. It can also be used to improve your SQ sometimes, like wiring the drivers midrange out of phase to pull the center image off the door and things like that. However, Ive never found this to help so all my stuff stays in phase. But it wouldnt be a bad idea to experiment with it some, you might find a combination that sounds better to you.

[98thumpin]

ok thats cool. ive decided to go with thw mmc650, and the mmc690 speakers instead of the components just beaucause when i get rid of the car i dont want any holes in the a pillars, unless i just leave the tweeters in the car and get new tweeters. what do you think. about the mmc speakers?

[1996blackmax]

I have read test reports when the components are quite a distance apart where this causes a dip in the sound. Switching the phase on the tweeters actually alleviated that issue. You will have to play around with the settings to see what works best for you.

I know what Mac is talking about, but I was talking about just the tweeters being reversed.

[98thumpin]

ok thats cool. ive decided to go with thw mmc650, and the mmc690 speakers instead of the components just beaucause when i get rid of the car i dont want any holes in the a pillars, unless i just leave the tweeters in the car and get new tweeters. what do you think. about the mmc speakers?

so what do you think about the mmc speakers

[MacLeod]

Cant beat em for the money.

[cam5860]

Hey mac have you got a picture of your tweeter install? I just want to get a idea of where the stage should be at.

[MacLeod]

Here ya go! (http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30872&page=4) Post #71.

I dont have a digital camera anymore so these are all I can get ya.

[cam5860]

I gotcha you have them mounted at the bottom of the A pillars. The only problem is it's going to be hard for me to put mine there because of the way my A pillars are made.

They don't have a flat surface. I would put them by the door handles in the door panel but they will not be in line with mids. They will be offset.

[1996blackmax]

I had to go with the doors as this offered the best mounting location, as well as good sound. Had these darn things come with a surface mounting cup they would have gone on my window sales. Rainbow makes great speakers, just not great mounting hardware, at least not for my set :). I had to glue the cups to the door as they did not even give me that metal bracket thing that holds it in place. The sound they produce more than makes up for it though :D.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/482000-482999/482517_147_full.jpg

[98thumpin]

looks good .to me clean install

[MacLeod]

Ya know Max, that is an excellent install. That looks factory. Well done my brother!

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/grinser/grinning-smiley-003.gif

[1996blackmax]

Thanks guys :).

[cam5860]

I will take the DB components over momo coaxials anyday. The momo coaxials sound good but the DB components are much clearer.

The tweeters sound a hell of a lot better. Now where you will hear the difference is with the momo component set. Now that sounds better than the DB series.

[MacLeod]

The Momo coaxials have both a better midrange and tweeter. They also have the same crossover network that the DB's have.

The DB's do have the advantage of being able to mount the tweeter better.

And there is no more cleaner or detailed speaker than the Momos!

[cam5860]

But at the same time a lot of things factor in on how good a set of speakers will sound. Just about any set of speakers are going to sound good on a C400.4.

[MacLeod]

I think we're in the wrong thread Cam! LMAO!!! :p

I thought something looked weird!

[cam5860]

Yeah I agree Mac no doubt the momo's are built better. The mid woofer is much better than the DB mid woofer.

But far as the tweeter the only difference in the momo tweeter and the DB tweeter is on the momo tweeter you can swivel it 15 degree's for better imaging.

[cam5860]

LOL yeah I just noticed we have two threads fussing about the same freakin stuff.:D

[MacLeod]

But far as the tweeter the only difference in the momo tweeter and the DB tweeter is on the momo tweeter you can swivel it 15 degree's for better imaging.

But its a better tweeter! ;)

Maybe Im biased because I had my MMC690's for a long time and absolutely loved them. I seriously thought about just buying a set of Momo tweeters and keeping the 6x9's to use as midrange.