Can you guys help recommend some car audio

[lurkmoar]

Hey guys, I want to build a nice sounding setup with 6.5" speakers only, 2 front doors and 2 rear doors.

Now keep in mind, I already have an amp (4channels@60rms) AND I already have sub. I am looking to to get as full of a sound as possible, and ideally, I wouldnt have to custom mount any tweeters (there are no premade places for tweeters in my s10 blazer).

Really what I am try to sort out is, do I want component system in front and coaxial in the back? (am I even using those terms right?)

Do I want 3way up front and 2way in the back, or 2 way up front and 1way in back?

If you guys could make any recommendations that would be great. Ideally I would want to spend ~50 to 100 on each set, so no more than $200 total. Thanks for any input

 

[bobdole369]

http://www.diymobileaudio.com

Don't use rear speakers if you want sound "quality". Or at least don't spend any money on them. They are intended for rear passengers. I omit them completely.

The choice of drivers (speakers in lay terms) is one that "should" be made with great care as to the actual environment that which it will be installed, and many listening tests, etc. Folks who are really into sound quality build their own crossovers, experiment with dozens of different speakers, and consider each drivers response curves and adjust the crossovers to match that AND the environment (car).

I suspect that you aren't really looking for "sound quality" but just something "better" than your current setup. You'll need to define how much "better" you mean. Also how important is volume? A lot of installs use things like 100W amps turned all the way down to allow no possible distortion and a ton of headroom. SQ setups frequently do not go much more than the volume of a typical stock installation.

So if you made it this far you are pretty dedicated so quick advice:

Stay out of Best Buy/CC/Brandsmart ant the like. Use online retailers for the cheapest price.

It's an S10 Blazer - so I suspect there are already 6.5" holes in the door (measure these!) and something in the dash, I just don't know (never installed on a blazer).

You have choices. A single 6.5" coaxial (that is a 6.5" speaker with a tweeter atop it) typically has a built in xover and is generally considered a full-range speaker. There are also seperates with an outboard xover (these are usually called - "Component sets" as you know, but note that all it does is separate the xover to a box and the tweeter to a separate unit). Thus all "coax" speakers are also technically "components" but nobody calls them that.

So if you don't have any spots in the dash, or in the a pillar or in the doors for a tweeter, than you don't have to put one in. A coax set will "probably" do.

If you do have a spot in the dash it might be for something like a 3.5" - you can fashion a spacer out of MDF or ABS to mount a smaller tweeter. The advantage to a dash or door mounted tweeter is that it brings the higher frequencies farther "up" that is the "soundstage" appears more in front of you. This is a HUGE deal in the audiophile world.

What head unit do you have? If it already has a crossover in the HU than you can dispense with a component set. Otherwise you'll need at minimum a way to split out the sub from the full-range (typically amps do this duty fairly well too).

What amp is it, What sub is it, what type and size enclosure is it?

What is your general listening genre's?

 

[kornphlake]

I had a '99 blazer I installed a stereo system in and it did have a location in the dash for component tweeters, I believe the cutout was for like a 3x5 speaker or some other oddball size, but I was able to make an adapter for component tweeters, the mounting wasn't ideal since the tweeters were firing into the windshield but they still sounded better than the factory speakers.

If you can use components up front I'd use components, in the rear coax speakers should be fine, or no speakers if you're not going to have passengers in the back. 2 way is usually enough, unless you're really going nuts and designing custom crossovers specific for your vehicle I think 3 ways are actually worse than 2 way speakers.

I like Boston Acoustics speakers, at least a few years ago they were a good balance between cost and performance, you might be able to find a pair of BA components in your budget. Infinity coax speakers are pretty nice and almost always on sale for <$100/pr, I think a good coax would be better than a marginal component speaker, with your budget a good coax will be a lot easier to find.

 

[jtvang125]

Since your budget is $200 and below I would ditch rear speakers and use all of that towards a nice component set. It's quite easy to mount tweeters even if you don't have a factory tweeter. You can surface mount it to just about anywhere. If you're using a single amp, run the front in stereo and bridge the rear channels to the sub. If the sub has its own amp then bridge the 4 channel amp to 2 channels to feed the components.

Also on coax speakers I wouldn't even call the built-in crossover on them crossovers. It's just a capacitor. A component set will have true crossovers that are separate from the speakers.

 

[lurkmoar]

thanks for the lengthy posts guys.

MonoAmp: cant find link but here is a copy paste from somewhere
Bazooka ELA 500.1
# Frequency Response 20-250
# Max Power Output 750w
# Power @ 2 OHM 500 x 1 @ 2 ohms

Subs: wired in parallel
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1081230...ures_and_specs

Headunit:
http://outlet.crutchfield.com/p_613HD942U/Kenwood-KDC-HD942U.html?search=kenwood+hd9&tp=5684

Amp:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-zgh2A0A...r-KX350-4.html

Pic of subs:
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/9680/capture621201112332pm.jpg

I dont have a need for 2 12" but it was something i could get the price down on craigslist. I was thinking about selling and going for 1 12 or 10. The amp was off craigslist too.

I never even considered only running fronts. If that is the case then I can afford to splurge on them.
That is an interesting note on the blazer. yes there are speakers up in the dash but any noise they make is not really even noticable, i can put the tweeters there. I hadn't really found anything online where someone has said that they've put speakers there, that is something I definitely will do.

When you guys say not to use the rears for quality, does that mean using nothing at all? For instance, if I find components for the front in the 100-200 price range, I should not even bother with something comparable? my friend gave me these http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KFC1...ch=kenwood+6.5 he was unsatisfied with them. if i put them in the back, they will ruin my sound is what youre saying?

 

[lurkmoar]

again thanks for the replys. I am just looking for some help to make due with what I have. my car is getting old and on top of that I dont really have that much money to put into it.

oh and i mostly listen to rock/alt rock

 

[lurkmoar]

lets say I were to bridge my amp and put these up front.
http://www.amazon.com/Focal-Access-6.../ref=de_a_smtd

they handle 120w max, and bridging my amp would be 175w

should I be looking for a 200 watt speaker or would i need to switch the gains?

 

[bobdole369]

Dude that amp is a piece of shit bass amp from the swap shop. Take it out back and hit it with a hammer:

Frequency Response:
20Hz to 200Hz

WTF???!!
Go buy this:

http://www.techronics.com/caraudio_1...Amplifier.html

What is meant by "switching the gains?" Do you mean "turning down the amps sensitivity?"

For starters the numbers quoted on that ghetto amp are way overstated.
Second, you usually go based on measured RMS values for your upper limits, and never on what some marketing freak puts on a website.
Third, you never want to push speakers to the top of the power limit. They distort, some speakers distort badly, some do so nicely. Its all about experimentation. Generally speaking expect to push half to three quarters of measured RMS power into a speaker safely. That way when you get a drum beat which peaks, or a bass guitar strum that runs on (thousands of peaks) You aren't overexerting the cone. This concept is called "headroom".

Lessons to take away from this:
1. Stop shopping at the pawn shop
2. use RMS values (preferably measured by reputable people, not marketing folk)
3. use less power than the speaker says it will take.

Remember - A pair of speakers at 30W will generate something like 110db inside a car. 60W only gets you to 113db. Then its 120W to get you to 116db. So more power doesn't buy you anything past 30W RMS. BTW 110db is a freaking chainsaw. Hearing loss starts at 85db.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/wise/wiseears_atwork.htm

 

[kornphlake]

^ take it easy on the guy he didn't shop at a pawn shop and didn't buy a garbage amp, go back and read more carefully, he's got this amp: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-zgh2A0A...r-KX350-4.html It's not a super high end amp, but it could be much, much worse.

Don't worry about the rated power of the speakers vs. the rated power of the amp. Your ears will tell you when to stop with the volume knob, in reality I doubt the speakers will catch on fire if they're given more than 120w and RMS is an average at best, it more accurately describes the power of a pure sine wave than actual music. Because music is such a complex, dynamic waveform to get a true 120w average out of music you'd have to be listening to pretty insane volume to get an average output of 120w. Although your amp is rated at 175w RMS I doubt that it could deliver the peak power needed to reach 120w RMS with music, if you had a 500w RMS amp it may be a different story but with your equipment I wouldn't worry about it. This may help explain power and how output power in music and a pure sine wave are different: http://www.glasswolf.net/papers/headroom.html

 

[bobdole369]

I totally misread that. Whats with the bazooka amp? Thats the one I mean.

it looks like that head unit will handle at least some of the crossover duties. Run full range (-sub) straight to the front amp

When you guys say not to use the rears for quality, does that mean using nothing at all?

Yes. No point and a waste of money.

For instance, if I find components for the front in the 100-200 price range, I should not even bother with something comparable?

for the rear? No. Just empty holes or leave the stock speakers unplugged.

my friend gave me these he was unsatisfied with them. if i put them in the back, they will ruin my sound is

Rear speaker sound arrives at your ears at differing times than the front speaker sound. This creates standing waves and both constructive and destructive interference in the sound domain. Go into Target or Walmart - someplace where they have a bunch of TV's on the wall playing exactly the same thing. Turn a few of them up. Notice how it sounds all weird? Thats because sound moves fairly slowly - and your brain can tell the difference between a speaker 24 inches away, and one 48 inches away.

Again what you want in a good sounding car audio solution is a very good front sound stage. Speakers in the back of you cannot be made to sound as if they are in front of you. They only detract from the "image" created by the system.

Rear seat passengers - well are you building the system for them, or for you?

If you insist on rear speakers, just run them off the unused head unit amps. Its fairly quiet at 22W compared to the amps linked.

 

[Plugers]

It looks as if your headunit does time alignment and can be used as an active crossover, just use all 4 channels for the front. I'd try some of the DIY component sets posted on Diymobileaudio.com.

Aura buyout 6 1/2s seem to get good reviews and there are many nice tweeters out there from Madisound or Parts Express. I'd spend the money you save on prepping the front doors for good midbass.

Also check out the threads HERE for info on adjusting the time alignment and tweaking your system.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

thanks for the lengthy posts guys.

MonoAmp: cant find link but here is a copy paste from somewhere
Bazooka ELA 500.1
# Frequency Response 20-250
# Max Power Output 750w
# Power @ 2 OHM 500 x 1 @ 2 ohms

Subs: wired in parallel
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1081230...ures_and_specs

Headunit:
http://outlet.crutchfield.com/p_613HD942U/Kenwood-KDC-HD942U.html?search=kenwood hd9&tp=5684

Amp:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-zgh2A0A...r-KX350-4.html

Pic of subs:
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/9680/capture621201112332pm.jpg

I dont have a need for 2 12" but it was something i could get the price down on craigslist. I was thinking about selling and going for 1 12 or 10. The amp was off craigslist too.

I never even considered only running fronts. If that is the case then I can afford to splurge on them.
That is an interesting note on the blazer. yes there are speakers up in the dash but any noise they make is not really even noticable, i can put the tweeters there. I hadn't really found anything online where someone has said that they've put speakers there, that is something I definitely will do.

When you guys say not to use the rears for quality, does that mean using nothing at all? For instance, if I find components for the front in the 100-200 price range, I should not even bother with something comparable? my friend gave me these http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KFC1...ch=kenwood 6.5 he was unsatisfied with them. if i put them in the back, they will ruin my sound is what youre saying?

14.4 x 20 = 288w
90x 2 = 180w

64 percent efficiency. just inside the ab zone so they were bordering on marketing bs almost there.

What are the sub is dual voice coil or single?
Do you have tweeters?
More speakers doesn't mean better sound. Better speakers tuned correctly means better sound.

 

[tweakboy]

You need dedicated BASS amp and one for your speakers.

Get 2 10" sub woofer, Try kragen they have woofers and it pounds hard. YOu dont need another amp for speakers since ull be using stock speakers... or you wanna change those too ???

 

[Soundmanred]

You need dedicated BASS amp and one for your speakers.

Get 2 10" sub woofer, Try kragen they have woofers and it pounds hard. YOu dont need another amp for speakers since ull be using stock speakers... or you wanna change those too ???

I hope to God this is a joke. Kragen is bottom of the barrel junk.
He already said he has a subwoofer.
Other posters have already given him some good advice that is leagues beyond what you have suggested.
Yet another completely worthless and uneducated post.

 

[Smoove910]

Try kragen they have woofers and it pounds hard

All I can say is 'wow'... Where did you get those at? Schucks Auto Supply? Obviously you have never sat in a vehicle that has a decent system. You should know better and your hands should be slapped! Shame!!!

 

[Bryf50]

I've got Alpine type S components in my front doors with the tweeters on the deck and type S 6x9's on the rear deck. Not exactly high-end but I think they sound great for the price. http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_34373_Alpine-SPS-610C.html

Then I've got this amp powering them. http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_22382_Pioneer-GM-D9500F.html It's a bit unconventional in that its a Full-Range class D amp but the power it puts out given its size is pretty amazing.

I've also got a single 12" Alpine Type R in a sealed enclosure on an older 400w Kenwood amp I bought from a friend.

All together for the amount I paid for it all it sounds great and I definitely recommend Alpine products. Also take a look at http://www.sonicelectronix.com. The prices are always lower than Crutchfield sometimes by embarrassing amounts. I've ordered all my car audio stuff through them without a single issue.

 

[bobdole369]

Car audio is such a polarizing subject! You always get your swapshop/pawn shop guys with the ridiculous amounts of bass that cost way to goddamn much and sounds like dogshit, then theres the ridiculous snobs who spend farrrr too much money chasing something they'll never get 100%. I had a couple of simple goals that I've acheived in my setup:
1. 4 way setup - Done.
2. No dedicated crossover (had one, added noise, didn't like it) The xovers in the old school amps I'm using work "well enough".
3. EQ free - Done.
4. Stealth (Almost, I do have a shitty deck that nobody wants - its only for listening to sports on the AM or the single non-spanish station thats still kicking down here) - I'm 95% pre-recorded and its a single headphone jack from the iPhone that comprises my source.

 

[QueBert]

Polk Audio MM651's are great sounding 6.5 speakers. They don't need nearly as much power as most other to sound good. IMHO unless you spend a lot more you won't find anything better. Polk's car audio is top notch.