Just installed a Kenwood head unit, Rockford Fosgate 6x8 three way speakers in the 4 doors, Rockford tweeters in the A columns, and a Rockford 400 amp 4 channel amp. Haven't replaced the factory sub or its amp yet but I still might. This is a 2006 Mercury Mountaineer I'm working on... I used an install kit with a wiring harnesses to convert the main plug from the factory harness to the radio plug and a harness that converted the factory subwoofer plug to RCA plugs out of the head unit. Powered the 4 door speakers off the new 4 channel amp and wired the tweeters into the main harness to use the power from the head unit to power them. (Not sure if that's right or wrong or maybe there's a better way?). Anyway, I'm not impressed with the quality of the sound from the tweeters and I'm getting what seems like a lot more than just bass out of the sub now. Any suggestions on how to improve the tweeter sound quality and / or thoughts on why I'm getting other frequencies out of the sub? Thanks for any advice.
There's a chance that the internal amp in the head unit is reaching full power (clipping) well before the Rockford amp reaches full power. Resetting the gains on the amp may help balance the system.
The OEM head unit may have had a dedicated subwoofer output to drive the sub amp and now you're driving it with a full range signal.
The OEM head unit may have had a dedicated subwoofer output to drive the sub amp and now you're driving it with a full range signal.
The vehicle specific harnesses that I used took the factory amp plug to a set of RCA plugs that I plugged into the SW outputs on the head unit. Is that proper? I'll definitely try resetting the gains on the amp. Or would I be better served to rewire the tweeters into the front channels of the amp instead of using the head units amp to run them?
I'd wire up the tweeters to the front door speakers and audition them in that configuration. If you find them to be too much with the extra power in regards to the front speakers (unlikely) you can add a resistor in series with the tweeter. I'll have to defer to someone else on the correct wattage of the resistor.
The rockford tweeters I'm seeing available have fairly high power ratings and sensitivity in the low 70's which is the basis for my suggestion. I'm really just guessing here since you didn't list any model numbers.
For the sub, unplug the RCA's from the head unit and check that the sub no longer has any output. Then, check your new Kenwood head unit for a low-pass filter on the sub channel. If it has one, adjust as needed. If it doesn't have an adjustable LPF you'll either need an aftermarket amp or some form of crossover/signal processor between the head unit and factory amp.
The rockford tweeters I'm seeing available have fairly high power ratings and sensitivity in the low 70's which is the basis for my suggestion. I'm really just guessing here since you didn't list any model numbers.
For the sub, unplug the RCA's from the head unit and check that the sub no longer has any output. Then, check your new Kenwood head unit for a low-pass filter on the sub channel. If it has one, adjust as needed. If it doesn't have an adjustable LPF you'll either need an aftermarket amp or some form of crossover/signal processor between the head unit and factory amp.
If you like high volume, you'll probably be better off with the tweeters wired to the amp... but if you're abusive, you have a greater chance of blowing the tweeters if they're on the amp.
Does your head unit have a set of subwoofer output RCA jacks that you could use for the sub amp?
Does your head unit have a set of subwoofer output RCA jacks that you could use for the sub amp?