$100,1HOUR,HOWTO/MUST DO,SPEAKER UPGRADE(PICS)

[LittleFish]

Yes, mine are marked on the speaker as well, BUT I clipped the wires prior without confirming my connection. Whoops.

 

[SRTRICKY]

Tom did you test them again?

 

[Ron Hickey]

We installed them in my 05 a couple of days ago. We were surprised that there were no speaker enclosures behind the stock speakers, so we put some in. The Polks are definitely an improvement over stock, and for less than $100, a great buy! I don't know why there's so much conversation over the wiring. Both the Polks and the stock speakers are clearly marked.

 

[SRTRICKY]

We installed them in my 05 a couple of days ago. We were surprised that there were no speaker enclosures behind the stock speakers, so we put some in. The Polks are definitely an improvement over stock, and for less than $100, a great buy! I don't know why there's so much conversation over the wiring. Both the Polks and the stock speakers are clearly marked.

clearly marked saying black as positive or negative

 

[blonzz]

We installed them in my 05 a couple of days ago. We were surprised that there were no speaker enclosures behind the stock speakers, so we put some in. The Polks are definitely an improvement over stock, and for less than $100, a great buy! I don't know why there's so much conversation over the wiring. Both the Polks and the stock speakers are clearly marked.

clearly marked saying black as positive or negative

Yes black is clearly marked negative on both the 05 factory and Polk replacements.

The reason for all the conversation is step #4 provided in the original installation instructions.

4) HOW TO WIRE - **IMPORTANT - GREEN GOES TO NEGATIVE / BLACK GOES TO POSITIVE -
LOL ONLY DODGE WOULD MAKE IT LIKE THIS, DO NOT PUT BLACK HARNESS WIRE TO NEGATIVE
POST, TRUST ME ON THIS** - SOUND CHECK WAS DONE BOTH WAYS TO DETERMINE THIS!

 

[SRTRICKY]

We installed them in my 05 a couple of days ago. We were surprised that there were no speaker enclosures behind the stock speakers, so we put some in. The Polks are definitely an improvement over stock, and for less than $100, a great buy! I don't know why there's so much conversation over the wiring. Both the Polks and the stock speakers are clearly marked.

clearly marked saying black as positive or negative

Yes black is clearly marked negative on both the 05 factory and Polk replacements.

The reason for all the conversation is step #4 provided in the original installation instructions.

4) HOW TO WIRE - **IMPORTANT - GREEN GOES TO NEGATIVE / BLACK GOES TO POSITIVE -
LOL ONLY DODGE WOULD MAKE IT LIKE THIS, DO NOT PUT BLACK HARNESS WIRE TO NEGATIVE
POST, TRUST ME ON THIS** - SOUND CHECK WAS DONE BOTH WAYS TO DETERMINE THIS!

Does black being negative go for the 04's as well?

 

[Viperfreak2]

I can only speak for the 03's. They aren't marked.

After reading the post below, I can only speak for my 03.

 

[Nsane1]

My 03 was clearly marked (green +), I have an early 03 (built ~Dec 02).

 

[DB/Paxton SRT-10]

Well, my new Polks just came. I am planning to install them this weekend. I am a little confused about the connector issue. Why didn't you just solder the wires right off of the stock speakers onto the poles of the Polk speakers and just plug it in?

DB

 

[SRTRICKY]

I just finished installing the Polks and they sound great! With the rb1 I can actaully control how I want the speakers to play so I can make sure the polk's don't overpower everything else! Just set the fade back a little. Black went to negative for me since the stock speakers and the polks were marked that way! I ended up using a ****** screw driver and making my black screws turn a little silver bad move there! Other then that everything went well.
Ricky

 

[WANTED]

Tom did you test them again?

yes i did and I WAS WRONG ON THE WIRE CONNECTIONS

THE CORRECT WAY TO WIRE THE SPEAKERS - BLACK TO NEGATIVE
GREEN TO POSITIVE

WHEN I DID MY 03 BLACK WENT TO POSITIVE AND GREEN TO NEGATIVE, may have just
been that car, as we all are aware these are hand built so i think wire's must
have been reversed somehow.

anyhow i change my connections tonight and the sound was sooooooooooo much
better.

SORRY ALL FOR NOT CHECKING THIS RIGHT AWAY WHEN I DID MY 04, JUST GOES TO SHOW-
NEVER ASSUME ALWAYS CHECK.

I WOULD CHANGE MY ORIGINAL POST BUT IT'S TO LATE, HOPE ALL WILL READ THIS
UPDATE.

GOOD LUCK AND AGAIN I AM SORRY FOR THE MISTAKE.

TOM

 

[SRTRICKY]

Tom did you test them again?

yes i did and I WAS WRONG ON THE WIRE CONNECTIONS

THE CORRECT WAY TO WIRE THE SPEAKERS - BLACK TO NEGATIVE
GREEN TO POSITIVE

WHEN I DID MY 03 BLACK WENT TO POSITIVE AND GREEN TO NEGATIVE, may have just
been that car, as we all are aware these are hand built so i think wire's must
have been reversed somehow.

anyhow i change my connections tonight and the sound was sooooooooooo much
better.

SORRY ALL FOR NOT CHECKING THIS RIGHT AWAY WHEN I DID MY 04, JUST GOES TO SHOW-
NEVER ASSUME ALWAYS CHECK.

I WOULD CHANGE MY ORIGINAL POST BUT IT'S TO LATE, HOPE ALL WILL READ THIS
UPDATE.

GOOD LUCK AND AGAIN I AM SORRY FOR THE MISTAKE.

TOM

Tom easy mistake to make!! Still a great thread...because of it I ordered a set of Polks for my Viper and I bet many others have as well! They should be sending you something to thank you for all the db650 sales

 

[SRT10]

Tom easy mistake to make!! Still a great thread...because of it I ordered a set of Polks for my Viper and I bet many others have as well! They should be sending you something to thank you for all the db650 sales

Right on! I wouldn't have replaced my speakers if it wasn't for Toms original post!

Thanks Tom!

 

[LittleFish]

Thanks again for the info, I'd better change them tonight.

 

[Nader]

Just purchased the Polks. Install tomorrow. Thanks for all of the info. I will post my feedback.

 

[luc]

Tom:

Was a great post,I did the upgrade on my 00GTS and am very happy with it.

Luc 00GTS

 

[Nader]

Mine 04 was clearly marked. The Polks sounds great and deliver a much more rounded sound than the stock. Interesting, after i installled them the bass from the polks and the sub was much more overpowering than before. In order to round out the sound i needed to drop the bass to -5 or -6. anyone else have the same issue? Any reason for that? All in all i like the sound much better. Definitely worth the $100 bucks.

 

[Vipermann]

Just did this to my '05 SRT ... added some dynamat in the door too ... the sound rocks!

 

[viperbilliam]

I thought the new speakers would just plug into the connector(s)without doing any soldering. Isn't there a connector downstream of the soldered wires from the speaker?

 

[04_Mamba]

Ok, I want the sicko of the speaker award.
Hows this for in a Mamba!
Used red tennis racket dye and testors for the tweeter!
LOL!
I LIKE IT!!!

You must be registered for see images

 

[WANTED]

Ok, I want the sicko of the speaker award.
Hows this for in a Mamba!
Used red tennis racket dye and testors for the tweeter!
LOL!
I LIKE IT!!!

You must be registered for see images

YOU ARE NOW KING SICKO - LOL, LOOKS GREAT/NICE JOB

 

[twinturbo3150]

wrond my ass, both speakers came with positive and negative markings on them, if you have them hooked up backwards mabey your running them at 2ohms or something

all spkrs come with a positive and negitive terminal, to determine which factory wire is the positive, take a Nine volt battery and touch the positive of the nine volt to what you think is the postive of the spkr, If the spkr moves forward it is positive (in phase) is the spkr moves backwards (out of phase) it is negative. Being is phase is very important to better sound. Haveing 3 spkrs in phase and 1 spkr out of phase, will make sound quality very poor. Having them hooked up back wards does not produce 2 ohms. say for instance you want 8 ohms from a 4 ohm spkr. you wire the spkrs in series, Now lets say you want 2 ohms from a 4 ohm spkr well you wire the spkrs in parrell to get two ohms. The 2 ohm application is mainly used on subs, Need to make sure your amp is capible of handling 2 ohms.

 

[twinturbo3150]

I just fried one of my Polks. I guess keeping the top down and the volume at 32 will do that. Maybe it was because my wires were backwards? It sounded so good though! I think I'll spring for the $200 6 1/2" speakers this time. Maybe they will last longer.

Sh***y there that bad eh! Was black your positive or negative?

spkrs being out of phase can cause you to blow your spkrs, because you are wanting to turn it up very loud.

 

[twinturbo3150]

I went back to my original post on installing these to see how long I'd had them. August 16,2004! So I destroyed them in just 10 months.

My wiring was green + and black - from the beginning. That's the way I was always taught wiring should be. I listened to it both ways when I installed it and thought it sounded better this way. I'll try both again with the new speakers.

Original post stated that in our cars, green is - and black in +. Still, running a speaker out of phase doesn't hurt it. It just cancels out the sound of the other speakers running in phase.

running a spkr out of phase will cause spkr damage (at low volume no it wont) at high volume yes it will.

 

[twinturbo3150]

ok to satisfy my own curiosity, I took the right front door spkr out, and indeed the spkr says + for the green and - for the black. To to make sure 100 percent I Used my spkr tester. It cornfirmed that the green wire is the positive. I have been installing stereo's for 10 years, thats why I have the testing equipment. Here is the spkr tester I used.

 

[CCBrian]

I just did my Polk installation in my 06 FE Coupe. Black is marked negative, and green marked positive. Took a total of 15 minutes. You will need to by 1/8 & 1/4 inch connectors if you cannot find the new direct plug-ins which my Circuit City was out off. (Negative is 1/8, positive is 1/4 inch) Walmart sells a nice set for speaker installations in their car stereo section for under 4 bucks- they say 14 to 16 gauge, but they will work with the 20 gauge wire used in the car if you double crimp them.My wife noticed the new speakers right away so it was worth it. Be careful and use a good screwdriver, and do not overtighten when putting the covers back on. Also, when you pull the speaker covers off of the old speaker, grab the old speakers carefully, they have sharp metal and I sliced the heck out of my finger in the process. Brian

 

[04_Mamba]

OK, FYI
Polks are on sale for $85 at Circuit city, I bought em today.

2nd with all the green pos, blk pos talk in here, i decided to do the 9v battery test.
Worked great!
My 04 Mamba was green positive.

Anyone else sick enough to do the color on the cone, beware enamel or dye will NOT work.
Get tennis racket logo ink. Made to dye Poly materials.

 

[twinturbo3150]

OK, FYI
Polks are on sale for $85 at Circuit city, I bought em today.

2nd with all the green pos, blk pos talk in here, i decided to do the 9v battery test.
Worked great!
My 04 Mamba was green positive.

Anyone else sick enough to do the color on the cone, beware enamel or dye will NOT work.
Get tennis racket logo ink. Made to dye Poly materials.

 

[DavidG]

Just did my '06 coupe a couple days ago. Green is positive and black is negative. Clearly marked I soldered the leads from the stock speakers onto the polks.

If anyone has a stock door speaker cover I need one. Please pm me.

Regards,
Dave

'06 coupe Black/SS