New speaker sound worse then OEM?

[rateat]

I bought these new polk audio db501 speakers 5" and after i installed they sound worse then my factory 1995 toyota speakers :S, when the sound is up it muffles and gets statiky, is it because my factory reciever isnt sending enuff power? Or because I installed it wrong, if i did any idea where i went wrong?

[gameguru1360]

yes it's your factory head unit. Usually it only puts out about 5 rms watts per channel. Most head units nowadays put out about 14-22x4 rms watts plus aftermarket head units have much better DSP sound processing and can separate frequencies and have more options.

If you installed them wrong, you'd either hear out of balance or out of phase sounds

[sepias]

+2 on the head unit.

The other thing to check is that you connected the positive and negative leads correctly on the speakers, but that would be a little obvious when the system is turned on causing the phase distortion. Besides, what better excuse do you need to spend more money on a good receiver?

[gameguru1360]

Originally Posted by sepias

+2 on the head unit.

The other thing to check is that you connected the positive and negative leads correctly on the speakers, but that would be a little obvious when the system is turned on causing the phase distortion. Besides, what better excuse do you need to spend more money on a good receiver?

yep, it's all about the head unit. It doesn't have to be THAT fancy, but adequate. You can get a reasonable head unit with lots of features for about $200.

I'm not too big on the bells & whistles like 64bit color. I've got a Kenwood Excelon X-493 and it's the next year's model to the X492. I gave my X492 to a friend...noticed that the X493 has some newer bells & whistles such as a 2 level bass boost and integrating the features into 3 main buttons. Other than that it has the exact same features as the X492. I only wanted something with high power such as 22rms x 4, 4v pre-outs, aux port and usb port in the front. I don't really care for 64bit color display or motorized faceplate anti-theft protection.

[touringcamry]

If you're ready to buy a basic radio, I would hurry up and snatch up one of these Clarion DXZ385 units: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_020D385...?tp=5684&avf=N

At $99.99, it's the lowest price you'll find anywhere. These are heavily discounted because it's an older model and they're trying to get rid of old stock.

[RningOnFumes]

Everyone is right. Just to give you another option, you could wire in a small amp should you want to keep the oem HU (which I doubt you would). The most cost effective solution here is as everyone recomends, getting a HU with a higher RMS. It takes care of the speakers' new power needs and no new wiring such as RCA cables, newer speaker wires, or a new power line for the amp.

edit; Just to be clear, when shopping, look at the n x 4 rms rating and not the "MAX" or peak rating which can be "50w x 4". n= ie 20 rms or 28 rms for example.