I was scrolling through some old RAC posts, and noticed a post about someone's
Diamond tweeters being too bright for their tastes, and Paul suggested
switching the speaker wires at either the amp or the crossover on the passenger
side and see if that helps.

I'm curious what changing the polarity does, how it is helpful, and if this is
something I should try to help with the brightness I am experiencing in my own
set up.

Right now the tweeters from my Directed S650 components are stuck on the
pillars on my door at roughly ear level, only a foot or so in front of where
I'm sitting, and I think they are just too bright for me. I'm going to try
lowering them down the door panel tomorrow, and give that a try.. But I'm
wondering if I should try reversing the polarity like Paul suggested in that
older post.

Why would I do that only on the passenger side? Or, if I did it on both sides,
would I really not be chaning anything at all?

Nick

I was scrolling through some old RAC posts, and noticed a post about
someone's
Diamond tweeters being too bright for their tastes, and Paul suggested
switching the speaker wires at either the amp or the crossover on the
passenger
side and see if that helps.

I'm curious what changing the polarity does, how it is helpful, and if
this is
something I should try to help with the brightness I am experiencing in my
own
set up.

Changing the polarity changes how the tweeters interact with the rest of the
speakers. This is true for any speaker actually. That's why it's usually
wise to change the polarity on all your speakers (one set at a time), try it
for a couple days, and see if you notice a difference. It may be good, it
may be bad, or you may not notice anything. It's especially common to do in
tweeters and subwoofers.

Also, many people may be surprised to know that the polarity inside your
passive crossover is usually reversed on your tweeter already! The
rationale is that in a 12dB/oct filter, there tends to be close to a 180
degree phase shift at the region where the frequencies of the two driver
types interact (generally near the "cutoff" frequency). This is due to the
electrical properties of the crossover components. So reversing the
polarity shifts the phase back to close to 0 degrees where the speakers
interact. Some crossovers have a jumper or a switch to reverse the
polarity.

So why isn't there a "right" way to set it that's always applicable to the
general case? There are two reasons for this. First, people's tastes are
different. Second, the installation requirements are different. That is,
mounting locations differ, which can result in aim differing as well as path
length differences. Reversing the polarity can help correct for problems
arising from non-ideal mounting locations. Sometimes it doesn't.

The interaction between tweeter and woofer actually can contribute to the
"harshness" of the sound that you may be experiencing (the woofer extends to
higher frequencies than you may think). So obviously, if you were to change
this interaction by reversing tweeter polarity, it may yield an attenuation
of certain frequency ranges that may be interacting coherently and causing
undesirable peaks.

Right now the tweeters from my Directed S650 components are stuck on the
pillars on my door at roughly ear level, only a foot or so in front of
where
I'm sitting, and I think they are just too bright for me. I'm going to
try
lowering them down the door panel tomorrow, and give that a try.. But I'm
wondering if I should try reversing the polarity like Paul suggested in
that
older post.

You should try different mounting locations with some 2-sided tape or
velcro. That could fix the problem entirely. Play with aiming especially.
Keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with off-axis mounting. There are
other methods you could employ also. For instance, you could try foam in
front of the tweeters (I think Eddie Runner brought up tissue paper
before?).

Why would I do that only on the passenger side? Or, if I did it on both
sides,
would I really not be chaning anything at all?

Yes, you'd be changing it if you did both sides. Paul may have suggested
one side to compensate for path length differences.

So...do you see now how some people say it's all in the installation?

You should try different mounting locations with some 2-sided tape or
velcro. That could fix the problem entirely.

Does having the tweeters up high affect the "harshness" or "brightness"? I've
been doing alot of searching on Google, and seem to find mixed opinions. Some
think that higher is better for imaging, while others think that the closer the
tweeter/woofer are the better. Its sounding to me like it just depends on the
ears that are listening to the set up.

Keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with off-axis mounting.

By off-axis mounting, do you mean like having one tweeter high and the other
one low, or something along those lines?

For instance, you could try foam in
front of the tweeters (I think Eddie Runner brought up tissue paper
before?).

Yeah, I was reading about that in some old posts as well. Some seemed to think
that tissue could damage the tweeter?

Yes, you'd be changing it if you did both sides. Paul may have suggested
one side to compensate for path length differences.

Hmmm... So should I try both at once... or just the passenger side.... or
should I just try every combo I can come up with? Everything sounds great, I
just want to tone down the brightness a bit.


So...do you see now how some people say it's all in the installation?


Whoooa boy, do I ever. haha My wife hasn't hardly seen me since my order came
in the mail last week. Doesn't bother me too much though, its definetely a
labor of love, and learning about it all is great fun.

Nick

You should try different mounting locations with some 2-sided tape or
velcro. That could fix the problem entirely.

Does having the tweeters up high affect the "harshness" or "brightness"?
I've
been doing alot of searching on Google, and seem to find mixed opinions.
Some
think that higher is better for imaging, while others think that the
closer the
tweeter/woofer are the better. Its sounding to me like it just depends on
the
ears that are listening to the set up.

Will they be brighter? Yes, of course. Not only are they closer to the
ear, but they also tend to be closer to on-axis, and they have acoustically
"harder" things to reflect off of (eg. glass). Whether or not they're
better is entirely subjective and depends on the car, the location, and the
speaker.


Keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with off-axis mounting.

By off-axis mounting, do you mean like having one tweeter high and the
other
one low, or something along those lines?

No, I mean having the tweeters not pointing at your face.


For instance, you could try foam in
front of the tweeters (I think Eddie Runner brought up tissue paper
before?).

Yeah, I was reading about that in some old posts as well. Some seemed to
think
that tissue could damage the tweeter?

I don't see how it could. You don't necessarily need it to touch the
tweeter anyway.


Yes, you'd be changing it if you did both sides. Paul may have suggested
one side to compensate for path length differences.

Hmmm... So should I try both at once... or just the passenger side.... or
should I just try every combo I can come up with? Everything sounds
great, I
just want to tone down the brightness a bit.

I'd begin by trying them together just to get the brightness down. After
that, you could try one at a time if you'd like. But it's probably best to
try moving the tweeter before anything else.

Will they be brighter? Yes, of course. Not only are they closer to the
ear, but they also tend to be closer to on-axis, and they have acoustically
"harder" things to reflect off of (eg. glass). Whether or not they're
better is entirely subjective and depends on the car, the location, and the
speaker.

Ok, that makes sense. Tomorrow I think I will try lowering them to the
mid/bottom of the door panel and try that. With all the metal I listen to, the
tweeters sounding too "bright" can really give me a headache.

No, I mean having the tweeters not pointing at your face.

Gotcha. Right now I have both sides swiveled so they are pointing more towards
the front window... but thats just cause I was playing around with it earlier.

I don't see how it could. You don't necessarily need it to touch the
tweeter anyway.

Hmm... Yeah, I couldn't figure out how it could be damaging in any way.. But I
did see someone write that in an old post... (Paul Vina I think?). I'm
thinking if all else fails I'll try that, though I'd prefer not to since I
don't think it would look too sharp to have something stuck on the front of my
tweets.

I'd begin by trying them together just to get the brightness down. After
that, you could try one at a time if you'd like. But it's probably best to
try moving the tweeter before anything else.

I went out and tried it after my last post.. I just reversed the speaker wires
for the passenger side at the amp... And I think... Though, as many recent
posts have stated, that may have just been me expecting to hear something since
I made a change. I figure I'll change the driver side, then give it a little
time to truly decide. And I'll experiment with other tweeter locations
tomorrow.

Thanks alot Mark.


Nick