Adding a resistor for 4 ohm dash speakers=works!

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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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Well there u go! If they work and make your life easier do it!
 

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Gary2

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I am going to soldier the resister between the plug and the circuit board on the back of the kicker 1" tweeter. What I need to confirm is the red wire is the hot wire not the black . I know from when I had these installed once before that their is more wire to work with between the speaker and the plug than their is from the other half of the plug going into dash. I understand if I remove the OE speakers again I could see the factory wires to determine which is which but I am trying to get the speaker ready ahead of time . the tweeter is part of the Kicker 6x9 upgrade pkg
 

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I added the resistor to my kicker tweeters a couple days ago . This time they will stay installed. Much better now.
 
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Resistor is a resistor as long as it’s rated for the wattage and ohm it doesn’t matter. I don’t recommend modding the wiring at the speaker (stock speaker plug on the speaker itself). Not a lot of room there to do anything and there is a capacitor there. Better off modifying and splicing in the resistor into the metro adapater so it’s a clean install, plug the modified Metra adapter into the speaker and then the stock plug from the radio and your done. Means all the work is done inside your warm home and it’s just removal and install in the cold truck. I personally like solder vs crimp bc it’s a more secure connection and the added weight of the aluminum version ain’t helping anything on the connection at the speaker. Depending on what’s around u might even hear it knocking around inside the dash.
 
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blackbetty14

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Here is what I did. This is a metra adapter, ceramic 10w 4 ohm soldered in on the positive side of the adapter. Plug and play now.

05909FEA-CDE7-4A31-8502-8C80A189AB5B.jpeg
 

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I did the 4ohm 10 what ceramic ones . The kicker tweeters have a zip tie holding the wire close to the frame of the tweeters . I sniped the zip tie so I had much more wire similar to the metro wire set up making it easier to work with . This way its plug and play plus the factory wires barely reach out of the dash so its nice to have a little more room for my paws . EQ is now flat now

272690506308
 

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i'm still waiting on my 4ohm resistors to arrive. Has anyone tried to put in bass blockers AND a 4 ohm resistor? and if so....what were your results?
 

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I think I must of got a dose of the pleacebo effect . After a couple weeks of the kicker tweeter back in I had noticed on one of the XM stations that plays live type music that a loud applause sounded more like a very loud frying pan sizzling than applause. I think the biggest problem is where the tweeters are mounted. Too much reflection off the windshield. Maybe if the tweeters were mounted more like the tweeters are in a 07-17 Jeep Wrangler JK. They refer to the pods as tombstones because of the shape. I reinstalled the OE speakers in the dash and I think the only reason I prefer these is because they are not as harsh and higher frequencies which the OE's don't reproduce are more directional. The drivers side dash speaker sounds too domanent even with the oe speakers without real tweeters in it. I think time would be better spent coming up with a pod that looks presentable that could be angled to take the windshield out of the game.
 

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my resistors have arrived but I haven't picked them up yet. As soon as I do i'll report back. I might even make a before and after video for this but I'm not 100% sure the effect will be apparent in a cell phone video. I guess we will see. I'm still hoping someone puts in bass blockers AND 4 ohm resistors and reports back to us with their results.
 

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I think I must of got a dose of the pleacebo effect . After a couple weeks of the kicker tweeter back in I had noticed on one of the XM stations that plays live type music that a loud applause sounded more like a very loud frying pan sizzling than applause. I think the biggest problem is where the tweeters are mounted. Too much reflection off the windshield. Maybe if the tweeters were mounted more like the tweeters are in a 07-17 Jeep Wrangler JK. They refer to the pods as tombstones because of the shape. I reinstalled the OE speakers in the dash and I think the only reason I prefer these is because they are not as harsh and higher frequencies which the OE's don't reproduce are more directional. The drivers side dash speaker sounds too domanent even with the oe speakers without real tweeters in it. I think time would be better spent coming up with a pod that looks presentable that could be angled to take the windshield out of the game.


when you become accustomed to very soft tweeters or no tweeters at all many people find an actual tweeter to be very harsh sounding or bright. This is true, they are much brighter than stock, but IMHO they sound MUCH MUCH better overall. Once I get the 4ohm resistors in I'll be able to rebalance the system.

I've seen this over and over again in home audio HIFI. As soon as someone gets some "real" speakers after having say a home theater in a box type stuff...they find it harsh or bright because well...they just aren't used to detailed refined sound. It does take some getting used to but in the end you'll be happy that you went this direction IMHO. Some metal tweeters are definitely brighter than others, and if you don't like that sound a silk domed tweeter might fit your tastes better.

the dash 3.5" are DEFINITELY overwhelming when swapped from stock due to the 4ohm resistance vs stock 8ohm....so I'm REALLY hoping that these 10w 4ohm resistors I've ordered will bring things back into balance.

now...If I can just get my interior door panels tamed to stop vibrating and the weather breaks long enough for me to install my amplifier/dual 10" subs I'll be much much happier...but as it is with JUST the Kicker CS speaker swap and nothing else done...I'm still VERY happy compared to the absolute **** sound I had with the stock speakers.
 

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Just installed the Kicker CS dash speakers without a resistor.
In the doors I had 6x9 JBL GTO 928’s installed last year.
The JBL door speakers are 2 Ohm (factory is 4 Ohm).
The 4 Ohm Kicker dash speakers compliment the JBL’s very nicely.
Sound is well balanced and there’s no need to add a resistor to them.
 

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Just installed the Kicker CS dash speakers without a resistor.
In the doors I had 6x9 JBL GTO 928’s installed last year.
The JBL door speakers are 2 Ohm (factory is 4 Ohm).
The 4 Ohm Kicker dash speakers compliment the JBL’s very nicely.
Sound is well balanced and there’s no need to add a resistor to them.


that's awesome to hear man. Sadly I'm still finding the dash 3.5" Kicker CS to be much louder/in my face than the door speakers which is kinda weird considering the door speakers (Kicker CS 43CSC654 are 3.3ohms

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206CSC654/Kicker-43CSC654.html?tp=78072
 

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if the resistors don't work as I hope they do...i'll look into doing something else. Possibly amplifying everything in the truck, which to be honest, might be my best route either way. I'm not sure the stock head unit has enough power to really drive these speakers to their potential. Currently I can't turn the radio up past 25 because the interior door panels rattle so much it's driving me nutz....and the added power to the 3.5" in the dash makes them overwhelming and very very bright/in your face compared to the rest of the system.

Still...this is a fun project. If the weather would just warm up I could do some sound deadening and finally install my amp/subs. Come on SPRING!!!!
 

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Just installed the Kicker CS dash speakers without a resistor.
In the doors I had 6x9 JBL GTO 928’s installed last year.
The JBL door speakers are 2 Ohm (factory is 4 Ohm).
The 4 Ohm Kicker dash speakers compliment the JBL’s very nicely.
Sound is well balanced and there’s no need to add a resistor to them.


btw...you must have had to use a spacer to fit the 6x9 JBL in the front doors correct? that's why I went with the 6.5" Kicker CS in the front doors. That being said...I am tempted to order another pair of the Kicker CS 6x9 IF I can find a spacer that will work...do you have a link to a spacer I could see or at least tell me the thickness of spacer you used?
 
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DavidN

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that's awesome to hear man. Sadly I'm still finding the dash 3.5" Kicker CS to be much louder/in my face than the door speakers which is kinda weird considering the door speakers (Kicker CS 43CSC654 are 3.3ohms
Obviously 1.3 Ohms do make a difference then.

...you must have had to use a spacer to fit the 6x9 JBL in the front doors correct? that's why I went with the 6.5" Kicker CS in the front doors. That being said...I am tempted to order another pair of the Kicker CS 6x9 IF I can find a spacer that will work...do you have a link to a spacer I could see or at least tell me the thickness of spacer you used?
The JBL’s came with a ~1/2” spacer. ;)

Here it is:
(You can use it on top or below the speaker housing.)

gto928.jpg
 
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Gary2

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when you become accustomed to very soft tweeters or no tweeters at all many people find an actual tweeter to be very harsh sounding or bright. This is true, they are much brighter than stock, but IMHO they sound MUCH MUCH better overall. Once I get the 4ohm resistors in I'll be able to rebalance the system.

I've seen this over and over again in home audio HIFI. As soon as someone gets some "real" speakers after having say a home theater in a box type stuff...they find it harsh or bright because well...they just aren't used to detailed refined sound. It does take some getting used to but in the end you'll be happy that you went this direction IMHO. Some metal tweeters are definitely brighter than others, and if you don't like that sound a silk domed tweeter might fit your tastes better.

the dash 3.5" are DEFINITELY overwhelming when swapped from stock due to the 4ohm resistance vs stock 8ohm....so I'm REALLY hoping that these 10w 4ohm resistors I've ordered will bring things back into balance.

now...If I can just get my interior door panels tamed to stop vibrating and the weather breaks long enough for me to install my amplifier/dual 10" subs I'll be much much happier...but as it is with JUST the Kicker CS speaker swap and nothing else done...I'm still VERY happy compared to the absolute **** sound I had with the stock speakers.


I understand what you are saying but I have been playing with audio systems most of my life and at 63 thats quite a while . I gave the second set of the tweeters that came with the second set of 6x9s to a friend and his Ram sounds fine with no mods and we both have the same radio. Beats me but Car stereo isn't as important as it used to be to me I just did the resistor as a cheap experiment . OE stuff isn't as bad as it used to be and don't need much to be acceptable . Some people also think any change is an improvement or its a blow to their ego also , I just throw post my findings and throw them in a box and go tinker with another toy.......
 
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blackbetty14

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Trust me the 10w 4 ohm resistors will fix the brightness when using 4 ohm dash speakers and 4ohm door speakers. It essentially makes them 8 ohm and it’s a night and day difference and it’s basicallt required to balance the system again.

For the guy who swapped 2 ohm in the doors and 4 ohm in the dash... that would work. You basically cut the resistance in half through the whole system which keeps it in balance. However while cutting the resistance in half you’ve increased the loudness quite a bit which puts more stress on the stock amplifier in the radio. Since now the radio is putting out more watts that it wasn’t designed to do. I don’t recommend it as you can burn out the head unit prematurely. But I like your choice of speakers! Loving my JBL clubs in my 18 with the alpine system.
 
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