Audio help, new speakers.

[Groove_D]

So i installed all 4 new speakers. They are Polk MMC525. They come with the tweeter crossover that you have to install inline. So i went ahead and installed all the speakers. First i was really upset because they sounded worse then my premium system bmw speakers. Then i changed the wires on on of the back speakers and rear speakers now sound absolutely amazing. Lots of bass. Now i tried switching the wires on the front ones and no matter what i do they still don't have that much bass as the rear ones.
Could this be caused by the location of the speakers? Since rear speakers sit in the parcel shelf and that is why they have more bass? Or this is they way the deck spreads the high and lows to the speakers?

[dashboardmonkey]

The front stock location for speakers if useless for good sound.

[BDK]

I know what you mean,
according to Crutchfields they are the only speaker that fits,
but I really think that you could make others fit,
there seems to be alot or room around the polks so I may just order a pair of something else and install them..
WIth my cab, I have seriously thought about cutting in some 6" speaker right behind the seat in the step up for the rear seat...
If you did it right, it wouldn't look bad and you would pick up alot more sound and bass..
of course you guys or someone would have something to say about cutting the car but it is my car...

[eLKuRLy]

The front stock location for speakers if useless for good sound.

+1
well, good bass. Make sure you have the front ones connected the same as the rear ones. You will hear that they are out of phase if they are connected wrong, they will sound/have crappy bass.

[Groove_D]

They do have crappy bass. I tried swapping the wires around but there are so many combinations. It sounds way different then the rears. Like day and night. How do i find out what is the proper way? Voltmeter?

[lylefk]

Adjust fade/balance so only one speaker is playing...turn up. Note bass levels. Add one speaker...if the bass stays the same, you're good...if you lose bass you are out of phase...swap your pos/neg speaker wire on that speaker. Repeat.

[Groove_D]

I've done this already no luck. If one speaker is hooked up wrong the other one will sound out of phase, correct?
Or should i do this individually? Left front and then right front?

[eLKuRLy]

I've done this already no luck. If one speaker is hooked up wrong the other one will sound out of phase, correct?
Or should i do this individually? Left front and then right front?

correct. If one speaker is hooked up wrong the other's will sound out of phase.
As lylefk suggested, What I do is test front speakers only. Make sure these are not out of phase. Then check back only. When your done you check front speakers with rear speakers (fader). I will keep an ear on the rears when you check the fader since you pointed out that these give you the best bass.

[dashboardmonkey]

Best way to check for phase is with a battery (9-12v) pop the speakers, do not apply voltage for more than just a "pop" If they are hooked up correctly they will pop out (+ wire to the + terminal on your battery)

[eLKuRLy]

Best way to check for phase is with a battery (9-12v) pop the speakers, do not apply voltage for more than just a "pop" If they are hooked up correctly they will pop out (+ wire to the + terminal on your battery)

+1
forgot about this.

[Tuanies]

The rears will always have more bass than the front. The stock E30 front speaker location sucks for mid and low-end response due to the limited air space. The rear deck/trunk acts as a large speaker box with more airspace, which is why it gets more bass.