How To: 4 Ohm Resistor Upgrade For Aftermarket Dash Speakers

[Matts175]

Perfect thanks. Any ideas if most stereo shops would carry something like this? Or will I have to order online. I'm impatient and hate waiting for delivery

I highly doubt a local stereo shop would have this. Just order it from DigKey... you'll have it in 3 days.

Amazon prime, but you'll pay twice as much:

https://smile.amazon.com/Parts-Expr...ords=4+ohm+20w+resistor&qid=1582087189&sr=8-2

 

[bchap05]

Got it done. Huuuuge difference. Sounds amazing now.

Also realize how horrible the stock rear speakers sound now

 

[mtnrider]

Any disadvantageous to running a aluminum chassis wire wound resistor over a ceramic in this situation?

 

[Dpressed1]

I installed 4ohm-20w ceramic resistors on my polk 3.5s. Did help by reducing the in your face sound from the dash speakers. Also like many mentioned, i was able to adjust the eq to my liking and audio is more balanced. And I was also able to turn up the bass. Only thing now is that it seems like i have to turn up the volume more. Like before i would be able to cruise listening to music at a 20-25 level. Now i have to turn it up to 30-32 to be able to hear it the same as before the resistor mod. Anyone else have that issue??

 

[Matts175]

Any disadvantageous to running a aluminum chassis wire wound resistor over a ceramic in this situation?


View attachment 198491

Other than them being physically larger, those wouldn't hurt anything. There's lots of room in there though.

 

[NETim]

Any disadvantageous to running a aluminum chassis wire wound resistor over a ceramic in this situation?


View attachment 198491

I would be very hesitant to use wire wound resistors in an audio application. They could conceivably add impedance (AC resistance) to the circuit. The higher the frequency, the higher the impedance.

Best to stick to plain old carbon resistors in this situation.

 

[Matts175]

I would be very hesitant to use wire wound resistors in an audio application. They could conceivably add impedance (AC resistance) to the circuit. The higher the frequency, the higher the impedance.

Best to stick to plain old carbon resistors in this situation.

The rest of us are using wire wound resistors with zero issues... for almost a year now.

 

[kylant]

Almost forgot about this. The 6.2 ohm resistor ended up working out great for me.

would you suggest going with the 6.2 ohm from the get go?
I am about to purchase new Kicker speakers for the doors and the dash.
Thanks

 

[Matts175]

would you suggest going with the 6.2 ohm from the get go?
I am about to purchase new Kicker speakers for the doors and the dash.
Thanks

It's probably a matter of personal preference, more than anything. In my case, I still thought there was too much treble, even though I had the radio set at "flat".

What you could do, since they are so cheap, is buy both sets, try the 4 ohms first and see what you think. You could put the speakers back in the holes and just not bolt them down and listen to them for a little while. If they are too bright, swap the resistors out. That way you only pay for shipping once.

IDK. Could be just me though. The rest of these guys were happy with the 4 ohms.

 

[AJAY]

Hey OP. I was wondering if this would work instead of the 3.9 ohms. This would be for the dash speakers.

https://www.amazon.com/Axial-Cerami...sprefix=4+ohm+resistor+10+watt,aps,130&sr=8-4

This shows as 4ohms.

 

[Steve_OS]

The system sounds much better. The most surprising thing, though, is that I can turn the volume up much, much higher and not get distortion. The max I dared to turn up the volume before the resistors was to about 24. At that level I could sense my brain didn’t want to listen to the music—there was something grating and raw about it. I can now go to 30 and not get the grating, harsh, “

I think the resistor install worked wonders to bring down the prominence and reduce the harshness of the dash tweeters. The system sounds better overall. There is less distortion. I can play the music louder. The front door speakers are more noticeable. All in all, a worthy mod.

Mine isn’t as neat as yours but the sound is now amazing! After upgrading my speakers the front tweeters took over the audio. I was pulling my hair out. Thankfully I found this post. Thank you a million times over!

 

[SkylarMelo]

Just did this mod, could definitely tell there was a volume difference between one with and one without the resistor, but not as much as I was expecting. Nonetheless, I definitely prefer this over what I had before, and now I'm less worried about distortion or overly loud highs. Also, as someone else said, now I realize how crap my rears are. Need to upgrade those soon!