Alright, this question is for folks that are experienced with these speakers.. Firs

Alright, this question is for folks that are experienced with these speakers..

First off, are the Alpine SPX-177R's and 137R's entry or mid level speakers? I just rushed into a snap judgment buy on what I thought was a good deal on 2 complete sets of 177's and one set of 137's. I am running a 3 way active front stage using 4) 6.5" midbass drivers, a pair of 5.25's for midrange and obviously a pair of tweets.

This setup was initially done out of convenience, I just happened to have all these drivers laying around, so I figured I'd use them. I was so happy with the results that I figured I could get a better sound if I found better speakers to replace what I had in there. I think I was wrong. Somehow, the combination I had just thrown together out of convenience happened to be an excellent match up (at least in my opinion) I don't know TS parameters, so I couldn't select drivers that would be best suited for one another for any application or any preference.. It was pure coincidence that the setup worked amazingly well.. Blind Dumb Luck,literally. I would have left it alone for a while, but I blew one of the midbass drivers..

Anyway,

My question is this.. On the SPX-137R's, to set the jumpers in the passive XO's for optimal performance, am I supposed to take a measurement from my ear to the tweeter, plus a measurement from my ear to the woofer and use the difference in distance between the 2 to select from the category listed in the instructions on where to set the jumpers?

EG: If the tweeter is 26" from my ear, and the midrange driver is 28" then do I set the jumper for the 2" difference? I know the midwoofer axis part, I have the woofers flush mounted in my doors so that falls into the 75' to 90' axis category..

The instructions are a bit confusing.. I did it according to what I just explained, thinking that is the correct way and quite frankly, I don't like the way it sounds. The tweeters are now harsh and beaming. The midwoofers responded well though I must say, vocals are cutting through a little better now, they are cutting through the midbass better than they were before..

I originally had the setup crossed over using the HP filter from my HU combined with my PPI FRX 456. I have 160HZ and up going to the PPI then I had the tweet and mid divided at what I think was around 4K. But it's a guessing game. Anyone familiar with the FRX456 will tell you that it is impossible to know where your at from 756 to about 7K in terms of XO point. It's a guessing game. Tweeters sounded better that way, but I thought I was hearing an occasional snap or pop coming from the tweeters, so I tried raising the XO point and hated the way it sounded.. So I opted for the passives figuring that all the tech that went into them, they would surely yield optimal sound.. Boy was I wrong.

I hate the way it sounds. Now I say this for Heavy Metal only, everything else sounds absolutely perfect.. But I am a predominant Metal Head, so my focus is getting the Metal to sound excellent (a serious challenge by any standards) Metal awesome, everything else is a bonus..

Now, jumpers set wrong? Or **** the instructions, follow my ears and try all the different jumper variations till I hopefully find what suits me?

Anyway, how do I measure and account for the settings for the jumpers?