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best Speaker size

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AliasJerk

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
Oct 13, 2003
Messages
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So my dad is hounding me on what I want for christmas, yes yes I know its REALLY early to be talking about this, but my dad always likes to get stuff done sooner so he doesn't have to got down to crunch time like some people.

So im sitting in my apartment trying to figure out what I want for christmas and I realized "what do I want to do most to my car right now?" some of you might remember a thread I made a while ago about how my car had 3 Kenwood speakers (which are pretty nice) and 1 SVT speaker, I have been wanting to refresh my stereo for a while so I decided to go a route I haven't ever gone before.... Component speakers.

I have been shopping around for various 6x8 component setups and I found that there really isn't a huge amount of choice for 6x8... After looking around more I found adapter plates that make 6 1/2 speakers fit snugly in the 6x8 hole. Sweet.

I remember someone mentioning a long while ago that the oval shaped speakers tend to distort Mid-bass a lot, and its always better to go with a truly circular speaker for higher quality/truer bass.

I am wondering... is this true? I want to go with a 6 1/2 inch speaker because I have a much wider variety of choice for usually less cost, and the adaptor plates are only like $8 for a pair, and in a lot of cases the components come with the adapter plates.

Also, these are the ones I have narrowed it down too. If anybody has any insight on a good 6 1/2 inch component system let me know, love to hear opinions.

JBL GTO607C
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_7433_JBL+GTO607C.html#

Boston Acoustic S60
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_4284_Boston+Acoustics+S60.html

Alpine SPS-600C (lower cost alternative)
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11284_Alpine+SPS-600C.html

Kenwood KFC-P708 (comes with adaptor plates)
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11814_Kenwood+KFC-P708.html
 
Oval speakers replicate sound better because their cone shape reflects the natural shape of the sound waves.

If you don't plan to play them crazy loud get 6x8" speakers...anything past 11 might require 6.5" speakers because they distort less but probably not enough to notice. If you have a subwoofer, 6.5" will be fine but w/o a sub the 6x8 will have a slight advantage with the lower frequencies.

You might also try 2-way plate speakers. I have them in my '98 LX and they sound awesome (Sony h/u w/o a sub).
 
I currently have a 12 inch JL sub powered by a Fosgate 360A2 amp. It sounds awesome, im just lacking in the midbass and high frequency department, and because of the location of the tweeters I have to crank up the music to hear the music really well.

its part of the reason why I want components so I can locate the tweeters more towards the listeners.


99SEsport2K4 said:
Do you plan on amping them? I've always been a fan of Infinity products.

http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/7866

http://www.ikesound.com/product-product_id/7869
Click to expand...


I might, depends on finances/laziness, ive never wired up an aftermarket amp, plus I would have to change my head unit if I did that (no preouts for amplifiers). Can anybody point me towards a wiring diagram on how to set up an aftermarket amp?
 
Unless you're looking to get up to competition level, the 6x8 is accurate enough for the average ear. Plus, unless you get into premo quality 6-6.5" round with a good amp, you'll miss out on alot of that mid-bass you're looking for. I don't have the number on me right now, but a year or so ago I searched out 6x8's for my truck doors and eneded up with a Kenwood coax pair...about $150 from Crutchfield that looked like good bang for the buck. They were great on the head unit's amp and better yet on an external amp.

If you're set on adding an amp, it's not the technically preferred way but some amps offer speaker level inputs as well as the option of level converters. That way you can keep what ya got. Amp installation is cheasy easy as far as the wiring goes, the only challenge being actually running the wires. You would likely be best upgrading the power wires you currently have for your sub and branching off out back. But the amp connections themselves are simply from the battery, to ground, from the head unit for remote power turn on (sometimes referred to as power antenna wire, which in your case is likely available out back already), and the rca/speaker wire connections.
 
AliasJerk said:
Can anybody point me towards a wiring diagram on how to set up an aftermarket amp?
Click to expand...

how_to_install_a_car_amp.gif
 
99SEsport2K4 said:
how_to_install_a_car_amp.gif
Click to expand...

I feel dumb, its basically the same as doing a subwoofer, so if I have multiple amps I can wire in multiple remote wires from the headunit to the amplifiers... correct? I am probably going to do a 4 channel for the front and rear speakers, and a separate amp for my sub.
 
All you need to do is split the remote power wire to each amp then use rca y cables if you don't have enough rca's from your hu.
 
99SEsport2K4 said:
All you need to do is split the remote power wire to each amp then use rca y cables if you don't have enough rca's from your hu.
Click to expand...

Yup. You can find splitters for cheap. Remember to run your power lines on one side and your speaker lines on the other side of the car to help reduce noise. I like infinities personally as well. But the best thing you can do is to hit your local bestscam/aftermarket stereo places and see what sounds good to you and go from there. Once you find a set you like, look for it online.
 
tigerpwr said:
Oval speakers replicate sound better because their cone shape reflects the natural shape of the sound waves.

If you don't plan to play them crazy loud get 6x8" speakers...anything past 11 might require 6.5" speakers because they distort less but probably not enough to notice. If you have a subwoofer, 6.5" will be fine but w/o a sub the 6x8 will have a slight advantage with the lower frequencies.

You might also try 2-way plate speakers. I have them in my '98 LX and they sound awesome (Sony h/u w/o a sub).
Click to expand...

WTF??? Are you actually serious? So all the high quality manufactures of audio have it wrong then! All the high level component speakers those idiots make are ROUND! Quick, send them an email so they can correct all the decades of R&D that they got wrong! For that matter all the home audio manufactures don't have a clue either, I can't remember EVER seeing an oval home audio speaker.
And not everybody has the same head unit as you, so this "anything past 11" is only specific to your setup. Some headunits dont even use #'s.
 
well for a car you cant do much because of the positioning of the speakers. who the hell listens to their stereo at knee height? if you want home theater sound, then hell go home and listen to your 5.1 surround.
 
tigerpwr said:
well for a car you cant do much because of the positioning of the speakers. who the hell listens to their stereo at knee height? if you want home theater sound, then hell go home and listen to your 5.1 surround.
Click to expand...

There, you just proved your lack of audio experience. I certainly dont listen to mine at knee height, and neither do quite a few of us here. We mount ROUND component tweeters in the sail panels, a-pillars, dash etc... It brings the soundstage right up infront of you. Others have built kick panels to adjust speaker positioning. In our cars it makes a huge difference! If you want to listen to 5.1 you can as well. there are a few companies that make 5.1 amps and center channel speakers, some you can just stick to the dash. Alot of the flip out units power a center channel as well.
 
I just did some tweeters, they help with front stage imaging a ton.

if your running subs, some level of tweeter upgrade will be a must

no need to strictly run component setups for better imaging either.

I have 2-ways in the doors, and peizo component tweets "cap'd" and "cross fired" for correct front stage imaging.

stupid dash sort of gets in the way of the passenger left channel though, but whatever.... sounds perfect in the driver seat.

pioneer used to make an inline dolby surround decoder for use with any hu, not sure if they still do. ma makes a nice 2-way 3.5 for center channel use.
 
So here is what I decided on...

I went with the Boston Acoustic SX60 components for the front doors, im going to power them with a 2 channel JL amplifier.

My rear door speakers will remain the same Kenwood 6x8 speakers which will be balanced by amplifier on the headunit. Then at last my 12 inch JL sub in the trunk will still be powered by the Rockford fosgate amplifier because im completely happy with the diversity of low frequency bass that I get from that setup.

My new headunit will be a pioneer Premier DEH-P500UB Good power and balance at a low price, I found it for cheaper then whats listed on this website...
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11105_Pioneer+Premier+DEH-P500UB.html#

I think my setup is going to work well. But we will see when it comes down to zero hour.
 
just poping in with an update guys, christmas has come and gone and I got all kinds of goodies for the stereo in my car.

Boston Acoustics SX60 6 1/2 inch component speakers
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Qfs6yDGJ9aN/p_065SX60/Boston-Acoustics-SX60.html

Pioneer Premiere DEH-P500UB
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11105_Pioneer+Premier+DEH-P500UB.html

Headunit is in, makes a world of difference in sound quality with my current speaker setup, I ordered adaptor plates for the boston acoustic speakers, they showed up yesterday, so hopefully sometime in the next couple of days I can go outside in the bitter cold and install them.
 
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