[Kincade]

Hi all. I need a bit of advice here, and wondering if any of you might have time to give me a push in the right direction.

I want to upgrade the speakers in my STI, but I have a few restrictions:

-Must keep the stock head unit (I have to park in a high theft area, and I do NOT want anything that looks non-stock)

-All speakers must fit in the stock locations

-Cannot add much, if any sound deadening material (I must keep the weight down in this vehicle)

-Speakers must have a 'mellow' tweeter. My hearing is especially sensitive to harsh highs. My last vehicle had MB quart components, and the highs were so harsh the system was all but unlistenable to me. I'm pretty sure this means silk.

I do know that not adding sound deadening will effect the overall sound negatively; but the weight is not a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

I've looked at some of the budget component systems (CDT, Infinity, Boston); but after reading here about stock tweeter location, it seems that most recommend no tweeter over placing it in the stock location.

So; the way I see it I have 2 options. 1- install a silk tweeter'd coax in the front and rear doors and call it good. Maybe add a small amp that has speaker level inputs. 2- install a component system up front, leave the back alone, and add a small 4 channel amp w/ speaker level inputs.

So, do any of you have any recommendations for me? Brands and which way to go. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Denton]

I recommend an amp and quality coaxials. One of the tricky parts of such an upgrade is finding a place to put crossovers. Better quality coax's tend to need more power and tend to have outboard crossovers; they are much like component sets. I've had good luck with the Eclipse Compund Tweeter Array speakers (such as the SA 8394, which have a real crossover built around the magnet assembly and protected from water). See what will fit.

http://www.edbydesign.com/books/B000GAMW8C.html

[naiku]

If you are keeping the stock head unit, and worried about the weight, then the sound deadening will not really give you all that much benefit. You could look at getting one of the speaker kits (2 square pieces of sound deadening) but TBH I would not bother.

If you are also so worried about weight that sound deadening is not an option, then you might also think about not bothering with a seperate amp either. Most decent amps are going to weigh a few pounds at least.

I think I would personally look to find a decent set of components (surely the stock tweeter location is better than a tweeter by your knee/foot using a coaxial and IMO a component set always sounds better than a coaxial of similar price) and pick up a small 2 channel amplifier to run them (you can either get an amp with speaker level inputs, or pick up a line out convertor). Then to compensate for the added weight of the amplifier remove the rear speakers altogether, with a decent set of front speakers you won't really need the rear fill (unless you absolutely feel you must have it).

[Kincade]

Thanks for the advice! After doing a bit of reading, I think for now I'm going to get some Alpine type S or R components for the front, maybe a Navone LOC and a small amp to power them. I've just gotta figure out who is making a decent yet inexpensive amp right now!

naiku; I plan on removing the amp for track days; so that won't be too big of an issue... The sound deadening though would be a bit harder to remove quickly!

[naiku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kincade

Thanks for the advice! After doing a bit of reading, I think for now I'm going to get some Alpine type S or R components for the front, maybe a Navone LOC and a small amp to power them. I've just gotta figure out who is making a decent yet inexpensive amp right now!

naiku; I plan on removing the amp for track days; so that won't be too big of an issue... The sound deadening though would be a bit harder to remove quickly!

I used to have some Alpine components and they worked really well. What sort of budget do you have for an amp? I think you can also find some kind of quick release system for your amp to make it easier to remove on track days.

[Kincade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by naiku

I used to have some Alpine components and they worked really well. What sort of budget do you have for an amp? I think you can also find some kind of quick release system for your amp to make it easier to remove on track days.

Definitely like your thinking; wonder if I could find some deuz fasteners or something to rig it up!