Advice on speakers

[gravitas 0]

One of my rear shelf speakers has gone, original spec so was fairly old and was getting weak.

 

Final blow came after my m8 slapped in some poor quality scratch rap arse and whacked the volume up to stupid to compensate for lack of noise from the recording.

 

Was really looking for something that would fit straight in, a proper ICE install may come later but funds currently do not allow following two painful years of spend on engine and mechanics.

 

I am sort of presuming I can source something from the likes of Kenwood, Alpine or Sony.

 

Anyone have any recommendations?

[Henny 0]

Yup, Sony, Alpine, Infinity, JBL, Pioneer, Kenwood etc etc etc all do standard fit speakers for the rear shelf supports... They're 6x4 inch as standard.

 

I've got JBL all round in mine with components up front with the tweaters mounted into the front dash grilles... Lots of people here have similar set ups and just about all agree that it's difficult to go wrong going down this path... 8)

 

A lot of people here have the Focal range and rate them very highly... I've not heard these yet so I can't comment... I suppose it all depends on how much you do or don't want to spend... 8)

 

Oh, and just for reference, the front doors are 5+1/4 inch and the dash ones are around about a 10cm... Some Corrados had tweeters and door speakers from the factory, some just a mid/tweet in the dash...

[jedi-knight83 0]

i got kenwood components in the front doors with the tweeters in the OE holes in the dash (there very easy to fit and wire in)

 

just got some kenwood 2-way speakers in the existing speaker locations in the rear but then im running an Infinity bass link in the boot.

 

The basslink is 2x10" subs back to back and internally amp'd so it takes up very little room and isnt too 'boy racer style'. but it does give a lovely deep feel to your ICE setup

[G60Jet 1]

i going to buy some new infinity Kappa 6*9's for my parcel self after Xmas, i blew one of my phoenix golds :lol:

[Henny 0]

just got some kenwood 2-way speakers in the existing speaker locations in the rear but then im running an Infinity bass link in the boot.

 

Yeah, I forgot to mention the 12" jenson sub in the rockford box with the bridged 4X 150 watt amp driving it that's sat in the boot... :roll: :oops:

 

Adds all the THUMP that you need, and then some! I'm only using 2 channels bridged and it's turned nearly all the way down! :?

 

I think that the amp may be a bit of overkill, but it, like the sub and box, were cheap, so, hey, what could I do?!? :roll: :wink: :lol:

 

I think I may dump the sub, box and amp and go with something like a bass link just for space and ease reasons... 8)

 

It's definately something you need to consider when you are using standard fit speakers as they just can't generate the bass frequencies needed for most music tastes due to their small sizes. :?

[jedi-knight83 0]

the kenwood set up i have is more than enough mid and high range and they are just running off my 40w per channel H/unit. the sub add's the needed low frequency and makes it sound like a much bigger system.

 

The basslink is ideal as it is small and easy to wire in and set up as you dont need to fiddle around with external amps. i have mine fitted in such a way that its a 5 minute job to unclip it all and be able to use all my folding rear seat / boot space if needed.

 

the infinity basslink was a bargin when i bought it aswell (£240 ish i think) when compared to separted sub, box and amp it worked out much cheaper... it wont win any shows with the boot open in a big field but it'll sound good all day everyday in normal use!

[Henny 0]

the infinity basslink was a bargin when i bought it aswell (£240 ish i think) when compared to separted sub, box and amp it worked out much cheaper... it wont win any shows with the boot open in a big field but it'll sound good all day everyday in normal use!

That's precisely why I was looking at it... 8) I don't give a damn what other people think of my system from outside the car... I don't listen to it from out there! :lol: I want something practical (oh, God! shoot me now, I said the "P" word!!! :roll: :lol: ) that sounds good inside the car when I'm driving it to and from work... 8)

My home stereo (at least the one that I spent a lot of money on!) has 3 Infinity reference speakers up front, and a pair of Wharfedales at the rear... I really rate the Harman group speakers (Infinity, JBL, Harman-Kardon and others I can't remember at this time in the morning!) which is why I went for all JBL in my 'rado... They may not be to everyones tastes, but I like them and that's what counts to me... 8)

Working in the field I work in has taught me that you really shouldn't bow down to opinion on sounds and the like... Go for what sounds good to you, you're the only person that has ears like yours and who knows what sounds good to you.... 8)

[chrishill 0]

just adding my 2p, obviously you want to listen to the speakers before you buy them, but keep in mind many ICE stores run their demo speakers off amps or the top end hedunits, if you can, try and find someone with the speakers you're interested in, in their car. you'll get a much better idea of how they'll sound. (plus the acoustics will be different, i suppose you could stand in the shop with you back to them and about 4ft away.... )

 

I dumped the orginal 6x4's and put some 6x9's in the rear shelf, you get more bass which is good if you're not going for a sub! lots of people recomend you just upgrade the fronts, forget the rears and get a sub/amp as its better for sound staging but we cant all afford that right away! Its taken me 6 months to get my ICE how i wanted it, slowly buying better bits, to me though thats half the fun!

[pimp 0]

Not the P word. Next thing you know you'll be putting it back to standard ride height because it's more comfortable and not as bumpy as it is now.

 

I agree about the speakers, I had Kenwood componet set-up in the front but didn't really like the sound. Changed them for MB Quarts. They seem to have must better staging. Have a listen to different types and go for the one that sounds the best to you.

[longman 0]

if you go to the jbl website, they have a online program that selects the car and the speakers at the same time quite useful if you just want to use the original holes. :evil:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I had some JBL 6x4s in the rear shelves and they sounded too weedy. So I went from one extreme to the other and fitted some components into the back shelf. 8" Midbass and 1" silk dome tweeters from Maplins. They 'just' fit in the shelf's recess if mounted from underneath. I then made up a black cloth cover to sit in the recess to hide them. Looks OK and sounds fab, much better than most of the 6x9s I've heard recently. The sound is very like Alpine's excellent, but sadly no longer made, 8" 2 way reference speakers.

 

They and the standard OE front speakers are fed by 4 x 50W headunit and the volumen is plenty loud enough, unless you're Beethoven.

 

Kev

[Hocuspocus 0]

Kev wrote this in the dim and distant past, but if anyone else has any thoughts ...

 

I had some JBL 6x4s in the rear shelves and they sounded too weedy. So I went from one extreme to the other and fitted some components into the back shelf. 8" Midbass and 1" silk dome tweeters from Maplins. They 'just' fit in the shelf's recess if mounted from underneath. I then made up a black cloth cover to sit in the recess to hide them. Looks OK and sounds fab, much better than most of the 6x9s I've heard recently. The sound is very like Alpine's excellent, but sadly no longer made, 8" 2 way reference speakers. They and the standard OE front speakers are fed by 4 x 50W headunit and the volumen is plenty loud enough, unless you're Beethoven.

 

Well, I’m thinking of doing a similar thing – getting some combination of 8” woofers and matching tweeter/crossover from Maplins and dropping them into a new shelve, either a bought stealth one, or one I make, or maybe into my original, suitably reinforced for stiffness. Which woofer/tweeter/crossover combination did you go for Kev? They might not still sell them, as I recall they used to sell a rather nice Kevlar 6.5” which I can’t see on their website, so they may have shrunk their range.I’ve not seen many examples of use of home audio speakers in a cap – is there any particular reason why they can’t be used – like the resonant frequency begins to coincide with the frequency of road roar .. maybe?!

 

Cheers for any thoughts!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well, I’m thinking of doing a similar thing – getting some combination of 8” woofers and matching tweeter/crossover from Maplins and dropping them into a new shelve, either a bought stealth one, or one I make, or maybe into my original, suitably reinforced for stiffness. Which woofer/tweeter/crossover combination did you go for Kev? They might not still sell them, as I recall they used to sell a rather nice Kevlar 6.5” which I can’t see on their website, so they may have shrunk their range.I’ve not seen many examples of use of home audio speakers in a cap – is there any particular reason why they can’t be used – like the resonant frequency begins to coincide with the frequency of road roar .. maybe?!

 

Cheers for any thoughts!

 

Hi mate,

 

I still have the shelf I made up in the long and distant past complete with the speakers. I went a different direction with the sounds late last year and the shelf now surplus to requirements as I refitted a standard one. It's got Maplins' 8" woofers and 1" tweeters and a pair of 2 way crossovers.

 

You're welcome to it if you want it, saves you the bother!!

 

PM me if you're interested, I don't want much for it.

 

Cheers

K

[gradeAfailure 0]

I’ve not seen many examples of use of home audio speakers in a cap – is there any particular reason why they can’t be used – like the resonant frequency begins to coincide with the frequency of road roar .. maybe?!

 

Home audio speakers are 8 Ohm impedance whereas car speakers are 4 Ohm, meaning you need less power in to get an equivalent output on the car speakers compared to the home ones... :) And as they're not designed for that particular application, they probably won't sound quite as good...

 

Other than that, no reason why you can't use 'em - I used to have two home stereo speakers sat in the boot of my first car (Nova!) with no parcel shelf! Budget! :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Run em in parallel though and you get 4 ohms :D

[gradeAfailure 0]

 

d'oh, should have remembered that! :oops: :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

LOL!

 

Anyway, most modern HUs and amps can cope with 8 ohms, so not much of a problem. It's just when you get bafoons running them in series and present the amp/HU with 16 ohms you gotta laugh!

[Neil VR6 0]

I run DEi 8ich mid bass drivers in a stealth shelf and Genesis 5.25 comps up front in the factory locations all topped off with a 12 inch sub and it sounds good. Each speaker only deals with a certain frequency and the components up front help the sound stage to keep up front. Mid bass drivers are the way forward!

[_leon_ 0]

how much are we talking about for basic standard fit speakers?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I run DEi 8ich mid bass drivers in a stealth shelf and Genesis 5.25 comps up front in the factory locations all topped off with a 12 inch sub and it sounds good. Each speaker only deals with a certain frequency and the components up front help the sound stage to keep up front. Mid bass drivers are the way forward!

 

Sounds good to me although my personal preference is to have all the sound at the front :D The components run the maximum amount of Time Alignment delay, which pulls the sub right forward 8)

 

DLS used to do some really nice 8" bass drivers, or you can use 8" woofers from Focal, Pioneer, etc etc and pair them up with some decent tweeters.