Telecatster

Car = 1998 Civic EX coupe
Stereo Head = Alpine XDA-200
Amp 1 = 4 channel 800w Autotek (8 years old). 200w@2 ohms, 100w@4 ohms
Rear speakers = Cambria 6 x 9"s 3-ways 75 watt RMS/300w peak. 4 ohms
Front speakers = Polk Audio 4" coaxials, 45w RMS, 8 ohms.
Amp 2 = Alpine V-series 500w mono driving MTX 10" subwoofer in MTX over-sized ported cab.

Bought the car with stereo head, 4-channel amp and 4 speakers included.
For some reason the previous owner chose to fabricate 4" speaker mount out of Dynamat (crap fabrication). I think the factory was a 5.5" or 6" driver with 1" component system. One of the 4" Infinity's blew and I replaced both fronts with 4" Polk Audio DB401's. In retrospect I should have purchased the original size (but coaxial) and ripped out that fabrication. I will a year down the road after some use out of I what I paid for.

Anyway, I am making a short story long. The issue I am having is the driver's side polk is popping/clicking at high volume. My son and I have adjusted the frequencies on the amp to cut out lows and lowered the bass boost to the fronts to minimum (zero). Also I had to re-glue the perimeter (plastic) for one passenger side 4" woofer, as I bent the frame some during installation and caused the factory glue to separate. The one I glued is not the speaker that is popping/clicking. I bought the DB401's based on their amazon rating, but IMO are made a bit shitty, however do sound good before the clicking sets in. They supposedly have a bass check (filter) that cuts lows and protects them, but not sure if it's functioning properly.

I would eventually like to put 6 x 9's in the doors if possible. But, if not will settle on 6" coaxial speakers.

All suggestions, recommendations welcomed.

joeshmo

I am fairly certain you will not be able to fit 6x9s in the doors. I wouldn't want to, even if I could as sound quality is typically better from round speakers.

I believe the front speakers are 6.5" in the civic coupes from this era. I'm not sure how or why one would hack 4" speakers into those holes with dynamat. As for the popping/clicking at high volume, you could be hitting maximum excursion or the voice coil might be rubbing a bit.

The DB401s are rated at 135w peak, which puts the actual power handling at around 60wrms. If that autotek amp is actually pushing 100wrms, the speakers will complain. How high is the gain on the amp?

Another thing to look into is how the wires are affixed to the terminals on said malfunctioning speaker. I had an issue once where my wires were poorly connected to the terminals and when the bass hit at loud volumes, they would do all sorts of odd things due to the vibration jostling the wires about the terminals.

I personally suggest you get some properly sized speakers and possibly look into mounting them directly to the door metal using wood/MDF rings. 100wrms is nothing to sneeze at and could potentially rattle and buzz metal in your doors.

Telecatster

It turns out that the popping/clicking is the woofer ring perimeter coming unglued just like the other one did. Maybe the that is the bass limiter filter..lol, but could explain why one of the previous Infinity 4" speaker blew as it's woofer held tight and voice coil may have blown. I will glue it down and hope for the best, but I must say I won't buy polk audio again after this disappointment.

The terminals are on solid and the gain for the front is about 1/4 the way up.
When i get sick of these I will follow your wood ring mount suggestion. Any suggestions on a good pair of 6.5" speakers?

joeshmo

Depends on your budget. I have the infinity kappa components and I enjoy them, even with my somewhat pitiful amplifier. There are much better options out there, depending on the money you want to spend.