What's up everyone,

So recently I decided to add an aftermarket amp to my JBL GX600C comps. The amp I chose is a Zapco ST-2X. It's a Class A/B and it's giving the comps about 80-90W x2 at 2 ohms, right around the RMS they're rated for. Signal is converted and summed by an LC7i. They're loud now and don't distort, but the tweeters are not sounding the swiftest. They're quite bright and lack smoothness. I lowered the treble and even that ceases to make much of a difference. The majority of the reviews I've read say highs and crisp and clean when amplified, so I'm a bit puzzled. Are my ears just too picky and I need to upgrade, or is the OEM tweeter mounting location part of the problem...

 

Mounting location may have something to do with it. You may try adding resistors in line before the tweeters to tame them. Often aftermarket passive systems will have bright tweeters. Some people like it that way but others don't. If I were you I would try adding resisters to lower their output. Paralleling resisters will cut down substantially on unwanted inductance resulting in better upper frequency range while lowering the overall output. I would do some experimenting. At the frequency your tweeters are dominant in your system small changes will be quite noticable so try small changes at first. The added resistance will alter the crossover frequency so too much added resistance is not desirable. I would probably try adding two 2 ohm resistors in parallel to achieve a 1 ohm increase with minimal increase to inductance and see how that sounds. 5 watt flame resistant wire wound resistors should suffice where two are used in parallel.

 

Hey Steve, thanks for your reply. I may try resistors in the future. After reading your reply and seeing the words "lower the output", I decided to lower the gain a bit on the amp while keeping treble at -2. Things do not sound as harsh now and the highs can still be heard over my sub. Maybe if I can start making some more $, I'd love to try a Hertz component set in here and/or shell out the labor $ to get a double din installed . Then things will sound even better

 

Double din is totally DIY if you splice neatly and use a proper wire stripper. As for your tweeter problem, you could temporarily unplug the passenger side tweeter.

 

Haha I think unplugging the passenger side tweeter will completely screw up the imaging. I have it under better control now by adjusting gain a bit. Do you think a double din is worth the trouble for features and sound improvement/control?