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Actually, that's what surprised me. Each driver was getting 150W RMS off of a DLS A3 amplifier. Same power level for mids and tweets. DLS UR12 subs, each one was getting 825 watts. Not sure what slope he was running to be honest, it didn't indicate that, I'm sure very steep at least for the midbass. He was using the Pioneer Carrozzeria processor, which I'm sure offers a ton of crossover options. Sub had a LPF at 31hz, Midbass ran from 31-250hz, midrange ran 315-6300, tweeter carried on from 6300 on up. I just read a recent review that indicated that bass lacked a little in that region, so I guess the sub didn't have a low order LPF to compensate. <shrug> Never know

yeah and he was giving them how much power? heh
also look to see what he had them rolling off to for subs, and what the slope was for those points.
that all makes a difference as well.

these are all general rules of thumb though. there's always an exception somewhere if ya look for it.
most people use a 1:2 ratio for power between components and subs, too. I ran my festiva using 2 x 250w for mids/tweets, and 2 x 160w for subs. just the opposite. it worked in my case though.

"Ideally sure, you'd want a good 3 way front stage that's well-positioned, and subs XO'ed low around 60Hz, which is exactly what I did with my own car, but I have the power to drive that setup without issue, and it did cost a bit to pull it all off well."

:) . I was looking at Scott Buwaldas IASCA setup the other day (he won finals last year w/ it), he had DLS Iridium 6.3 comps and crossed them over at 31 hz. I've heard the DLS sets and they do have great upper bass and midbass performance, but I haven't heard the DLS 6.5" crossed over that low, but I'd guess bass is a little thin down in that area. Crazy, though.

I know you said NOT clarion, but I have to. The DRZ9255, has all of that and then some.

he's powering fronts from a head unit. he's not going to get much bass out of them. especially with factory fronts.
his best bet IMHO is still to use bass-blockers and a sub until he can upgrade that front stage properly, power it with an amplifier, then drop the sub XO freq accordingly.
Ideally sure, you'd want a good 3 way front stage that's well-positioned, and subs XO'ed low around 60Hz, which is exactly what I did with my own car, but I have the power to drive that setup without issue, and it did cost a bit to pull it all off well. I was just suggesting the best course for using what he's got on hand now, with minimal cost up front for the best results.. something I'm often accused of not doing enough of.. haha

I agree with you, Jonathan.

Yup. I don't agree with the statement "i shouldn't have any bass coming from anywhere but my subs". The more you rely on subs, the more your imaging will suffer because you have to cross the speakers over higher, the higher that frequency becomes, the more localizable the subwoofer will be. Ideally you would crossover at the 60hz region or lower, but there aren't many 6.5" component systems that can go that low and be clean and authoritative doing it. You'll usually get that from a 3 way component system with an 8" midbass driver.

cleaner amp in the enw pioneer. the bass blockers or any HPF will help keep the components from distorting.
adding a sub will always help, but you really want to beef up that front stage. that'll make a tremendous difference in overall sound.. most of your audio should be from the front speakers.
just some food for thought

I was just talking to one of my guys about components and I am definitely not up....I'm still rookie...i just hve factory on the doors and some 6 1/2 in the rear.

I should't have written louder...i am able to turn the volume up without it getting distorted like my old pioneer...(it has these two compression modes {or somethingthey call BMX and the other is called compression} that is supposed to control the lows and highs when you turn the volume up....since i've had my new deck i've i can tell it's messing with my ears already...i gotta chill

i know that 6 1/2 aren't bass speakers,and as my guy told me i shouldn't have any bass coming from anywhere but my subs (not sure i fully inderstood what he was saying)...but i can't ride everywhere (around my place) with the subs up,but wouls still like to get some bass...i gonna have to read or leard now to set that up/components

more proof that equalizing the shit out of anything can make up for almopst any shortcomings! hahaha
just teasing.. basically the pioneer is a great unit, but the differences you're hearing are just EQing the sound curve. being louder isn't usually a factor of the ehad unit unless you're using it to power speakers.. if so, then you have a cleaner amplifier now. if ya want some more volume without distortion, consider using bass blockers on the components so they don't bottom out at high volumes