has anybody had experience with diamond audio speakers?

[Juggalo]

my friend just got a set of their 6x9's for his chevelle. i think they are called the m3 series? they are a pretty standard lookin coaxial speaker but the guy at the place had all sorts of good things to say about them like that they were the best sounding speakers they carried and stuff. anyways we got them and their hooked up to a 200 watt clarion deck. theres no front speakers just back and i believe the speakers themselves are 200 watt. so their definately not getting too much juice but when you turn the volume up past ..i'd say...3/4's of the way to max the high's will start hissing and cracking like crazy. especially if there is an S type sound. for example we were listening to jimmy hendrix and when he says "foxy lady" it sounds like foCKKKKSHYeeeee lady..like it crackles and sounds all staticy. horrible. and now one of them is starting to sound blown in the low end too and he just got these things like a month ago and he listens to mainly classic rock so its not like hes out bumpin these things. but we had a rap cd in the other night and one side sounded blown when the bass would hit. and its not really doing it now and it never does it when its not loud either. so basically once you turn these things up they sound like crap. im not impressed at all. i run pioneer speakers in my car and they not only sound better they never distort. anybody else have experience with diamond audio?

[alberndt]

I used to have diamond audio 4"x6" dash speakers and 5 1/4" midranges and some more tweeters. I could turn them all the way up and didn't have any distortion or anything. Mine came with crossovers also and I know they have a lot with sound quality. I would have someone look at them, they should sound awesome.

[ZBlaster]

diamond audio makes some of the best high end speakers on the market... i have run several of there speakers in diffrent installs and never had a problem with them... all of mine sounded clean at all frequencies and volumes...

[Juggalo]

weird..do you think it could be a loose connection or somethin? i believe they installed all new wiring when they put the deck and speakers in. maybe the speakers have a factory defect? what do you think could be causin it?

[npsxtreme]

Most radios have a point of distortion starting @ about 3/4 volume. However, they all vary where it distorts. Most start to distort mainly right before max volume. The speakers probably need more power. 50 watts from a head unit is totally different from 50 watts of power from a nice amplifier. Try an amp first. If they still sound bad, replace them. They may be damaged from the previous play time.

[Glamis400ex]

Exactly what npsxtreme said. There is now way a Clarion head unit is going to produce 200 watts of clean power to run those. 15 maybe.

Under-powering speakers is worse than over-powering them.

Glamis

[Juggalo]

at first i thought the same thing too but if its because their not getting enough power then how come they only distory at higher volumes? arent the speakers getting more power the higher you turn up the radio? and also how come my 220 watt 4 way pioneer 6x9's dont distort at all with my pioneer 180 watt deck? are those diamond audios really that much better than my pioneers?

[hosted]

I have used quite a bit of Diamond Audio stuff and I would have to say that it's one of my favorite companies. I would throw them in another car real fast and see if it does the same thing. When I got my new cd player I was amazed how much better it sounded,my old one was just a basic pioneer so i couldn't figure out why that was about. That might not be the problem, but it's worth a shot. If you got them at a local store take the car over to them and ask them what's up too.

[Dan_Guetter]

kicker my brother

[Glamis400ex]

I don't want to start a brand war....but seriously...KICKER??

Kicker is crap. It's for people who want to let everyone on the block know they're coming....from 6 blocks away. Just loud, no articulation or detail. If all you want is hard bump...Kicker is for you. If you want detailed fast and crisp you want something along the lines of Dynaudio, A/D/S, DiamondAudio etc...

No offence SHIFT but I can't stand someone who pulls next to me at a light and MY mirror is shaking from the Bass. I can appriciate deep articulate sound, but I'd like to keep the fillings in my mouth.

my 2 cents...sorry.

Glamis

[SixthFloorFreak]

Originally posted by Glamis400ex
Under-powering speakers is worse than over-powering them.

that is the most asinine comment i've ever read on this board...it is simply not true.

[Juggalo]

ha dan i hate to break it to ya but im not a fan of kicker either. i love my pioneer subs tho..they hit hard enough plus they sound good too. but this isnt about subs anyways..its simply about a set of 6x9's. you think the deck could be the problem? i wish i could tell you the model of it but all i know for sure is its a clarion..seems like a pretty basic unit but its got inputs for tv's and stuff on it and stuff too. my pioneer is the one that has like the dolphin screen saver on it and stuff..maybe i should try hookin up his diamonds to my pioneer? we might just have to take it back and be like what the hell...we're pretty good friends with the people at the shop so it prob wouldnt be a big deal....

[Glamis400ex]

SixthFloorFreak,

I'll let the assinine comment slide because I'm in a good mood. I'd suggest you do some research about audio and fidelity.

This is the reason under-powering is worse than over-powering. Now, don't get me wrong, turning the volume to 10 with a 300watt RMS amp and a 50 watt RMS speaker WILL blow it up. I'm not saying it won't. If you have a speaker that can handle 100 watts RMS (that means sustained or continuous) And you have an amp that's rating is 50 watts RMS/100 watts peak. And you want to drive that speaker at 100 watts, that means your'e pushing the amp to it's max output which in turn means more distorsion. Peak ratings on amps are for very short bursts of sound....not continous. Distortion is the WORST thing for a speaker. Therefore...you are under-powering the speaker.

Now....if you have the same speaker and have a 100 watts rms amp/ 200watt peak that would be a much better sounding speaker.

Another way to say it is this...

Take a Ford Escort and a Chevy Corvette. Both cars will go 100 mph and get to the finish line but the Escort will be pushed to it's breaking point. The Corvette will do it easily with room to spare. Same goes for amps and ratings as applied to speakers.

That's the best I can explain it. Take it for what it's worth.


Glamis

[hosted]

I think I'll throw my .02

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS UNDERPOWERING.... You won't kill a 100rms speaker by playing 50,10, 1, or even .1watts thru it.

HOWEVER there is a action called "CLIPPING" clipping is how people "BLOW SPEAKERS BY UNDER POWERING THEM" according to people who just don't have the education to know better

Clipping is very easy to explain. Your amp puts out a certain amount of power @ a specific voltage. No matter what your amp will not be able to push more power than what that voltage allows it to (how high the voltage goes)... remember, Voltage*current=watts

now, if you set the gains incorrectly, or use some sort of EQ(or bass knob) on the amp or on the deck to boost a signal, you are then going to have the ability to clip which just means your telling the amp to produce more power than its capable, and it starts dumping extra current, instead of upping the voltage. Well that means you upped the amount of watts your speaker is getting, BUT that extra current is UNUSEABLE... meaning, its just gonna heat up the voice coil and add some distortion.

100% clipping would be twice the amps rated RMS... so if a 50watt amp, then 100watts.... making it VERY EASY to fry a voice coil.

if somebody doesn't believe you, then make them prove it. Have them run a speaker at RMS or higher, and you run a speaker at 1/10th rms... EVEN if the amp is clipped.. thats only 1/5th its power, and you'll never actually burn the voice coil with 1/5th power.

[Glamis400ex]

Hosted,

I never intended to imply under-powering would blow or fry a speaker, but it IS bad for them when pushing an under-powered amp to drive them into distortion. IE: clipping

All I was saying was those 25 watts pumped thru the Clarion head unit is distorting those speakers something horrible. Simply because it's crappy power at peak level. Clipping is what I was trying to explain above. When someone pushes an under-powered amp above and beyond it's "comfort" level bad things happen to the speakers.

You explained it perfectly. I think you know what I was trying to say.

Glamis

[hosted]

Glamis,

I understood exactly what you were saying. I just wanted to explain that matter so that everyone would be able to explain it. I didn't mean any offense to you.

Juggalo, let us know what happens.

[Glamis400ex]

None taken brother...:cool:

Sorry to hijack your thread Juggalo. Do let us know what happens.

Glamis

[badass300ex]

MB QUART!!!!!!!!
:D

[SixthFloorFreak]

i'll retract the "asinine" portion of my post

but, clipping has nothing to do with underpowering. a speaker killed by clipping is killed by overpowering, not underpowering

speakers respond to one thing and one thing only...power. doesn't matter if its clean dirty, clipped, square, whatever. send a speaker more power than it can handle for the given frequency, enclosure, or any number of other variables, and it will blow

:D

[Glamis400ex]

I'm done...

Glamis

[Juggalo]

dont worry about it guys im learning a lot from you guys...but i will def let you know what happens...i dunno when we will get around to getting an amp for it but from reading your posts it sounds like an amp will indeed solve the problem but that just leaves me with this question.

my pioneer 220 watt 5x9's dont ever distort with my pioneer deck. does that mean my deck way better than that clarion even tho its rated at less power or does that mean those diamond audio speakers are just that much better than my pioneers?

[Glamis400ex]

sigh...OK, I'm back in... 1 possible reason one speaker distorts and another one doesn't on a given head unit is sensitivity of the speakers. An inefficiant speaker will have a 1 watt SPL of say...85db and another very efficiant speaker will have a 1 watt SPL of 94db. The 94 db speaker is more efficiant or sensitive meaning it will be louder with less wattage.

The inefficiant speaker needs more watts to create the same SPL so your turning up the volume louder which get closer to the peak rating of the head unit which causes more distortion...voila.

I hope your'e taking notes Juggalo...there's some good info here.:p Glad we can help you understand a little better.

Glamis

[trx440]

Hey stereo experts,

Are Memphis speakers any good? How do they compare to Kicker, DiamondAudio, etc.........?

I've got a brand new in the box, set of 200W Jensen Tri-Axial 6X9's from 1976. They've got 20oz magnets! My how things have changed. :blah:

[SixthFloorFreak]

Originally posted by Glamis400ex
sigh...OK, I'm back in... 1 possible reason one speaker distorts and another one doesn't on a given head unit is sensitivity of the speakers. An inefficiant speaker will have a 1 watt SPL of say...85db and another very efficiant speaker will have a 1 watt SPL of 94db. The 94 db speaker is more efficiant or sensitive meaning it will be louder with less wattage.

The inefficiant speaker needs more watts to create the same SPL so your turning up the volume louder which get closer to the peak rating of the head unit which causes more distortion...voila.

I hope your'e taking notes Juggalo...there's some good info here.:p Glad we can help you understand a little better.

Glamis

couple problems with your statements

1w/1m ratings can easily be fudged as there are no standards for their testing

alignment, frequency response, power compression, amount of linear xmax, BL curve, etc... have a much greater bearing on speaker performance: i.e. a Cerwin Vega Stroker has an efficiency rating over 90dB's 1w/1m, but a Resonant Engineering MT, with an efficiency in the mid 80's, will trounce it



SixthFloorFreak<----pays little to no attention to 1w/1m ratings

"listen with your ears, not your eyes"

[Juggalo]

:rolleyes: thanks for your imput too

yeah i def learned a lot in this post and i really appreciate it...hopefully we can get this problem worked out.


woo!! 4000 posts!!