Kicker CS too Harsh?

2nd Gen 2010 Tacoma TRD Sport

I did the Subaru Tweeter upgrade with Kicker CS 6x9’s in front and Kicker CS 6x5’s in rear. It sounds super harsh to my ear. It’s clearer than stock I suppose, not so muffled, but the highs are so high and even the mids are sort of tinny and stressed to my ear. Like I feel like the cymbals/tambourine/maraca shakers is all I hear in a rock song- even more pronounced than the lyrics. Like Kurt Cobain is singing over someone’s shaking a tin can full of coins or something

I’m thinking about changing the Kickers out for some Kenwood speakers BUT here’s my questions:

I’m still running the factory head unit. Should I wait on the speaker change until AFTER I get a new head unit? Would a new head unit really make the Kickers “come alive?”. I know more power would be there but would it really fix the highs and make them sound clearer? I figure the sound quality would be the same, just louder?

I’m also wondering- could it be the tweeters that are causing the harsh sound? I personally feel like it’s coming more from the tweeter area but the way everyone praises those Subaru tweeters is mind blowing. Everyone acts like it’s the ultimate system but feel like it made the sound super harsh? It’s hard to pinpoint because I did all 6 speakers at once.

Thanks for any input!

 

JBL or non-JBL system?

You should pull the door panels off and test how it sounds with the 6x9 only and with the tweeter only. That way you can try to isolate and see which speaker is the one making the unpleasant sounds - or to find out it's both. I'd do that before trying to determine a solution to make sure you don't replace the wrong part.

 

I have a question. Do the 6x9s up front have coaxial tweeters as well as the rears? Because if they do, you have 6 tweeters for 4 mid-woofers.

Another thing to note, you said you are using the OEM headunit, higher frequencies are easier for speakers to reproduce. So, the underpowered factory headunit MAY need help.

First though, follow @clenkeit ’s directions. Narrow down before you replace.

 

I've always found it very odd how many people add 2 or 3 way coaxials + a dedicated tweeter in their trucks and then maybe another set of 2 or 3 ways in the back as well. That's a whole lotta treble.

 

@clenkeit Agreed. Although, my first foray into car audio was a tweeter in the dash on either side, and 6.5s with “whizzer” cones in the doors. Sounded like ass, but my Hyundai was the loudest!

 

Kickers are crap speakers. The can handle more power than stock, but sound just like you describe. Don't waste any more money on trying to make the kickers sound good. No amount of power from any head unit or amplifier will make it sound better.

Problem with any aftermarket speakers is going to be power from the stock head unit. You really need an amplifier to get any type of quality. And yes Kenwood does make some decent speakers, I like the eXcelon range. Good value for money, but still need an amp.

 

IDK, I wouldn’t say my KS series components sound like trash. Are they as nice as Focal Flax or Morel Tempos? No. Are they filling the void until I absolutely make up my mind? Yup. They’re not doing a horrible job either. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana etc., all sound pretty good to me.

 

i've always found kicker tweeters to be really harsh to my ears, so never ran the brand. though car audio brands overall pushed me into full-active territory because i can't stand the harshness/loudness of jl, pioneer, hertz, or kenwood either... i also once spent 4-ish years chasing an issue with tweeter distortion due to pioneer selecting a too low of a crossover frequency on the included crossovers for a rev-series set-- i was convinced it was a signal/preamp/rca issue(about $2k in gear/rca cables later)... so to say i'm soured on car audio brands tweeters and their factory crossover points is a bit of an understatement

hypocrisy, i know, but i'm really enjoying my stock non-jbl tweeters now that i've changed the head unit-- it was the oem radio's 'tuning' that mucked everything up for my tastes.

the oem speakers run a little thin/flat when i'm really trying to rock out, but overall, are really plenty good most of the time.

 

Oh, I agree. My Kicker tweeters are too harsh for my tastes. I have them attenuated -6db, and they can still pierce you on some songs, depending on the master. That’s why I’m looking at Focal or Morel. It’s the Mg W dome tweeter of the Focals that makes me nervous. I don’t want to spend that much, just to be unhappy with them. I want them, but sometimes I think the Morels are more for me. Hence the wait.

 

The KS components are a step up from any of the Kicker coaxials for sure, you have way more tuneability. But I have never been happy with a Kicker coaxial speaker. A friend bought me a set of the DS coaxials years ago to go with a 10" Kicker sub I had. They hurt my ears at anything but low volume. My wife then bought me a set of Kicker CS coaxials for Christmas a few years later because I was complaining about them. She thought I needed new/better speakers because the old ones were shot and discussed with my friend (same one who bought the originals) on better Kickers as replacements. Didn't have the heart to say anything because it was a Christmas present she worked really hard to research. So, I suffered through 3-4 years with a set of DS coaxs and another 3-4 years with CS coaxs. Running Kenwood eXcelons now and much prefer the sound compared to the Kickers, way less harsh and tinny.

 

i haven't demo'd focal's in about 15 years. and when i did, it was at a skuzzy dealer that every time i went in for something, i would accidentally 'train' their staff on what the parts they had in stock did...
they didn't leave a significant impression, so my inclination is that they're better than most other car audio brands. but i never would've bought anything of significance from that shop...

i've got a set of morel mdt39's-- was drawn to them by the 1-1/8" large format, and the rear chamber for lower resonance. i want to say i was unimpressed with them in-car, but don't specifically remember if they got so far as testing them in-vehicle. i think a set of large-format hivi's let me down and i didn't bother. the cost of the morel's contrasted to my preference for cheaper drivers definitely played a part. my preference is drivers that cost less than $100/pr. they're now part of my basement abomination, in an infinity bookshelf enclosure, paired with some aurasound 6" midbasses.
they sound good in bookshelf format. acoustically-speaking, they exist, but there's nothing really noticeable about them. 'natural' and 'effortless' come to mind.

 

Sorry, didn’t know it was about coaxials. I agree, personally I’ve never been a fan. As you mentioned, the adjustability of components is far superior.

I appreciate your comments. They go with the growing catalog of comments I have, good and bad, for both sets. You’ve made my life easier.

 

Unsurprising. Ditch the 3-Ways and install component woofers. Also the Kicker Subaru tweeters are not awesome, people like them because they are lazy and want a plug and play “upgrade”.

 

My buddy just put decent Morels in all speaker locations in his camry. The highs sound worse than stock, very muddy and harsh. He is planning to do a dsp and amp but just wanted to see what they would sound like off the factory deck. I don't know much about kickers but it is my assumption that without an aftermarket headunit or a dsp/ amp, higher level speakers will sound even worse than stock.

 

Good to know. Another comment for the files. I have a KENWOOD deck, and they would be powered by a KENWOOD 4-channel amp bridged to 2-channel. I believe in more power than is necessary to make sure you’re good. But the fact you describe them as “muddy” makes me wonder. Now swinging the gate back to Focals’ corner. *sigh*. By this rate I’ll have a wheelchair before I decide.

 

You have EIGHT tweeters in the cab of a small truck.

The Kicker thing here is crazy, that thread and the Kicker swap only barely made sense when the speakers were on a super sale at Crutchfield, and even then not all the tweeters.

Leave the tweeters in the dash. Put a decent 6x9 single driver in the door and either the same in the rear or delete them altogether. Add a sub you'll be amazed.

And no, not a damn Kicker under seat sub.

 

Always. The OEM speakers are thin and light with wizzer cones for a reason, they're super efficient given the small amount of power driving them from the OEM deck.

Just like a little balsa wood plane powered by a rubber band. Flies fine until you try to add weight, then the rubber band can't drive it.

Aftermarket speakers with huge magnets, pulp/kevlar/poly cones and big rubber surrounds are built to take more power. The OEM deck barely moves them.

That being said, adding an amp or aftermarket stereo is only going to compound the OPs problem. Those 8 tweeters have got to go.

 

i feel it's important to note here that i prefer a laid back tweeter. i don't want sharp and crisp, i want invisible. i also ran dayton 3.5" point source drivers for the 'highs' in my other vehicle for 3 years before i got bored with them, and many people say they have no high end...

 

For Kicker to make such terrible sounding speakers, how have they remained relevant all these years? Not only have they stayed relevant, their brand is always mentioned right along with other top of the line car audio and at a fraction of the cost. Not to bad IMO. Do I personally run kicker equipment? No not ATM, but that’s only because I’ve always rocked Memphis audio equipment. I have owned several kicker amps and subwoofers throughout my 20+ years in the car audio scene and one of the best amps I ever owned was a kicker KX2000.5.

 

I think what people are experiencing is way too many tweeters syndrome. For the front channel, running any decent component system will be better than coaxial in the doors with extra tweeters in the dash. The key is to having the ability to blend a midrange firing at your knees with a tweeter reflecting off glass near your face.

Run coaxials for the rear door only (and components for the front channel) or delete the rear speakers altogether.
That’s where I eventually landed. It’s a lot easier to get things to blend together. The thought of deleting my rear speakers seemed like a compromise initially…my thinking was that I could reimplement the rear speakers if things seemed lacking or if I wanted to upgrade later. Well that’s not going to happen soon.