[jhowell1030]

Thank you all for your time and input.

So, currently my 2019 Cherokee has some Kenwood 3.5's in the dash and Alpine S-S69C (woofers only) in the front doors with Alpine R-S69.2 in the rear doors all wired directly to the stock 8.4 UConnect radio. Right now, I'm almost content with the way everything sounds. The Kenwoods have a bit too much brilliance once the volume gets turned up that I just can't tame out with the basic EQ without losing too much treble (read solution below) and I'm missing some low-end bass that a future sub will help to round out the audio. The volume now is okay but I notice it starts to sort of top out once I get to 29 out of 38 on the volume knob so I wouldn't mind just a bit more headroom there.

Next week, I am having an Alpine PXE-0850X installed to let me shape the sound of the speakers a bit, along with a JBL BassPro Hub to add a kiss of bottom end. I'm sure the 25w from the PXE-0850X will be fine enough for the Kenwood 3.5s but in an effort to keep things compact while getting more power to the doors I bought an Infinity Primus 6004a for the 6x9s. As mentioned earlier, I'm pretty close to content with the sound but I wouldn't mind a bit of extra volume and enough power to account for any EQing I might do with the DSP. Will the 60w from the Infinity going to the 6x9s be sufficient seeing as I'm pretty close to content with their volume now? My only real-world advice is from a friend that needs two12inch JLw7 subs in every car he gets and he seems to think I need the max of 85w and 100w rated RMS going to the 6x9s to be happy.

 

[TheTodd]

My opinion… use the Infinity amp for the fronts and the processor/amp for the rears. I’m guessing (because I can’t hear it for myself to know what “too much brilliance” means) that your not running enough power to the 3.5s and pushing them to distortion. Most newer cars have gotten a little better with amp power so I’m willing to bet it’s already putting out 25-30w (total guess) so if you’re almost happy with what you have now 60w should be fine but there’s only one way to find out. If not, it shouldn’t be too difficult to swap it out for something with a little more power.

 

[Kaspers126]

The 60w should be enough. What do you have for crossovers? That might be a reason why you cant push those 3.5s

 

[jhowell1030]

My opinion… use the Infinity amp for the fronts and the processor/amp for the rears. I’m guessing (because I can’t hear it for myself to know what “too much brilliance” means) that your not running enough power to the 3.5s and pushing them to distortion. Most newer cars have gotten a little better with amp power so I’m willing to bet it’s already putting out 25-30w (total guess) so if you’re almost happy with what you have now 60w should be fine but there’s only one way to find out. If not, it shouldn’t be too difficult to swap it out for something with a little more power.

First, great username and picture. When I saw the email notification with that username before even coming here I was humming "give a little respect...to...The Todd."

Second, I don't think they're distorting. Even before hitting max volume the upper-ends of the treble frequencies are very sibilant. Maybe with a bit more juice the mids from the 3.5s will come through a bit more than what they are now as well but I feel like it's more of an issue with the 8k-16k range just coming out of them a little too much for my liking.

Thanks for your input! I appreciate it.

 

[jhowell1030]

The 60w should be enough. What do you have for crossovers? That might be a reason why you cant push those 3.5s

Right now I just have the crossovers that came with them installed. I have no idea where they start as far as frequency range, though. They sound like they are being driven just fine. Just a bit to sibilant on the 8k-16k range.

Thanks for commenting. I appreciate the input.

 

[Hintzyboy]

You will hear literally no difference between 60 and 85 watts. As others have said, put the power to your front stage. Giving the rears more power than the fronts is going to mess up your staging.

If you're lacking bass, make sure you deaden your doors. You'll also want to use the processor to make sure you don't have cancelation going on. I don't know what that particular processor is capable of. You mentioned that you were having this stuff installed, so see if your installer can tune everything for you.

What model Kenwood 3.5s are you using? Also, are you dead set on that Alpine? I've never used it, but the Helix units seem to be the consensus favorites around here, although they are a bit pricier.

Mosconi also seems popular here. Here's a used Mosconi DSP 4 channel for far less than the Alpine. Puts out more power per channel than the Alpine, too.

MOSCONI D2 100.4 DSP – Amp Guru

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amp-guru.com

 

[jhowell1030]

You will hear literally no difference between 60 and 85 watts. As others have said, put the power to your front stage. Giving the rears more power than the fronts is going to mess up your staging.

This was my primary concern. I figured as much, having some experience as a guitar player and playing with different amps I've never heard the difference between smaller 150w and 200w amps as far as output goes if they both used the same size speaker, but it's nice to hear from someone that's more in-tuned with car audio.

If you're lacking bass, make sure you deaden your doors. You'll also want to use the processor to make sure you don't have cancelation going on. I don't know what that particular processor is capable of. You mentioned that you were having this stuff installed, so see if your installer can tune everything for you.

I did deaden the doors pretty well when I put the door speakers in just to make sure I would be getting the best sound delivered from the speakers. I wouldn't say I'm lacking bass, I'm just aware of the lower frequencies that would be better suited by a sub. Yeah, I am having the amp, dsp/amp, and subwoofer installed professionally. I have all of the equipment acquired/ordered just waiting for the infinity amp to arrive. I have neuropathy in my hands and dealing with small wiring can be difficult for me at times plus they have the proper equipment to tune everything where I'd just be doing it by ear.

What model Kenwood 3.5s are you using? Also, are you dead set on that Alpine? I've never used it, but the Helix units seem to be the consensus favorites around here, although they are a bit pricier. Mosconi also seems popular here. Here's a used Mosconi DSP 4 channel for far less than the Alpine. Puts out more power per channel than the Alpine, too.

I am using the Kenwood Excelon KFC-X3C in the dash. As far as the Alpine goes, I have it already. I found an open box one for $525 and seeing as the price was good along with having 8 channels (I plan on EQuing seven speakers) I jumped on it pretty quick. It didn't come with the remote commander but I had no intention of using that anyway. I would have liked a bit more per channel for the 8 powered channels just to give the kenwoods closer to their rated 50W RMS but I think 25 will be fine

 

[Hintzyboy]

This was my primary concern. I figured as much, having some experience as a guitar player and playing with different amps I've never heard the difference between smaller 150w and 200w amps as far as output goes if they both used the same size speaker, but it's nice to hear from someone that's more in-tuned with car audio.



I did deaden the doors pretty well when I put the door speakers in just to make sure I would be getting the best sound delivered from the speakers. I wouldn't say I'm lacking bass, I'm just aware of the lower frequencies that would be better suited by a sub. Yeah, I am having the amp, dsp/amp, and subwoofer installed professionally. I have all of the equipment acquired/ordered just waiting for the infinity amp to arrive. I have neuropathy in my hands and dealing with small wiring can be difficult for me at times plus they have the proper equipment to tune everything where I'd just be doing it by ear.



I am using the Kenwood Excelon KFC-X3C in the dash. As far as the Alpine goes, I have it already. I found an open box one for $525 and seeing as the price was good along with having 8 channels (I plan on EQuing seven speakers) I jumped on it pretty quick. It didn't come with the remote commander but I had no intention of using that anyway. I would have liked a bit more per channel for the 8 powered channels just to give the kenwoods closer to their rated 50W RMS but I think 25 will be fine

Going from 25 to 50w would barely make a difference. Doubling the power to a speaker gives you a 3db bump in output. That is widely considered the smallest increase audible to human ears.

Where you are more likely to notice a difference is if you're getting a distorted signal from your HU at higher volumes. I don't know that I'd expect a lot from the tweeter on a Kenwood coax, but clean power should be an improvement.