What speaker's should i get? (1 Viewer)

[rick stein]

Just looking for any opinion's on kicker k60,infinity reference 6002 or any other 6 and a half inch speaker's in the $100 price range. I'm looking for speaker's that will fit in the slot's where the factory speaker's are and according to the crutchfield site these speaker's will fit in my 96 blazer.I am probably going to get the alpine 9805 receiver also. Thank's.

 

[Nick.H]

MB Quad or Alpine DDR would be nice

 

[Scott L]

I know Focal recently came out with a more affordable line that's hopefully in your range, it's called the Access. If you didn't see it in other posts I have a brand new Alpine 9807 I'm selling for $205 shipped. Email me if interested.

[email protected]

 

[rick stein]

I just auditioned the kickers and did not like them at all plus when he told me how much it would cost to have the speakers,sub,and receiver installed i am not sure if it would be worth it.

 

[Sean^M]

look at CDT. they make some very nice component speakers in the lower price range.
Beyond that you may end up spending more for good speakers.
Infinity Kappa
JL Audio XR
MB Quart
Focal
DynAudio
Diamond Audio

any of these are good, but a bit more than your range.
CDT's got better speakers too if you're willing to spend a couple of hundred for the pair.

 

[rick stein]

I have heard that the infinity's were nice but since they won't fit in the blazer without modifiying it and i'm not sure how long i will keep the car i don't think it would be worth it. I am going to check out some polk and sony's to see if they are worth replacing the factory speaker's because the kicker's actually sounded worse than my original speaker's.

 

[Sean^M]

I implore you, avoid Sony anything in car audio.
they are one of the worst names out there, along with pyramid, boss, legacy, rockwood, audiobahn, and so forth.
reliability is awful. Their amplifiers alone have a 50+% failure rate within the first year. I used to be a Sony dealer, and my small higher end car audio chain dropped Sony due to the difficulty in getting parts from them, and the high return rate. We stuck with better companies after that, like Orion, PPI, Pioneer premiere, alpine, eclipse, jvc digifine, audiocontrol, etc.

Infinity are nice, but yes if you don't want to leave them in the car when it goes, may as well find drop-in replacements.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Come on, Dynaudio in this guys pricerange?

I'd look at Crystal components/coaxials over at sounddomain. Great speakers for the price. I'll also second the CDT's. They've been dropping in price lately and you may be able to find the Classics for around $100 on eBay.

However, if you're looking for the best sound possible, I would recommend spending less on the HU and more on speakers/amp to power them...

 

[Sean^M]

every component in the system matters, to be honest. The chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, as the proverb goes.

I only suggested DynAudio because I see them go for decent prices on eBay now and then, used, but in good shape.
I used Infinity Reference series 6.5" separates and 6.5" coaxials along with a single 8" sub in my mother's vehicle when I set that up as a Christmas gift for her. They sound nice enough running from a JVC head unit's power, with 150 watts RMS for the sub.
The Kapps are magnitudes better however, if he is willing to spend the difference.

 

[Tom Weeks]

I put the Infinity Reference in my Explorer. They sound great with one exception, absolutely no bass. I wound up also having the Infinity Basslink installed . It made a big difference. It's not car shaking bass like from some of the subs, just good solid hard hitting bass. By the way I also had that same Alpine head unit put in and the combination of these three sounded very good.

 

[rick stein]

I tried the infinity's against some $60 polk's at one circuit city and they sounded decent. Then i tried them against some $100 alpine's and polk's and they seemed kind of harsh. I think i liked the alpine's best for the most part the high's were better than the polk's but a few part's were a tad harsh. But they don't fit in my car anyway and i'm not sure if the polk's were that much better than my factory speak's so now i'm not sure what i am going to do.

 

[Sean^M]

a few words of advice:
component sets aren't meant to produce bass. that is what a midbass or subwoofer driver is for.

be wary of auditioning any speaker in a showroom. they will all sound like crap.
a showroom is nothing like the environment presented by a car's passenger cabin, and the acoustic response of the drivers are very dependant on that environment.
I've heard amplifiers that cost two grand running $1200 component sets that sounded like a dream in a car.. put them on a board in a store, and they sound very similar to a kraco boombox.

harshness, lack of treble, etc, are as much a factor of the room you're in as it is also a factor of shaping the sound with the head unit, amplifier, and or EQ, etc. all make a big difference..
so does the power used to drive the speakers..
that's why I suggest the Alpine V-drive head units if you can't use a decent external amplifier for the speakers.. good clean power when connected properly.

just some things to consider..
audition car speakers *in* a car if you can..

 

[Mark gas]

spent a extra 50 and get these well worth the money.

http://www.thezeb.com/caraudio/specials_speakers.html

 

[rick stein]

Sean your point about listening in a showroom is a good one and something i also thought about. Unfortunately i don't have any other choice.
Mark that seems like a good deal on cdt's but component speaker's would mean altering the vehicle's apearance and i have never heard cdt.
Guy's it's not really a question of price but a question of how much longer i will keep the car. And to spend alot on a system only to have it not fit in my new car would suck.

 

[Sean^M]

understood.. I was just offering some friendly advice to keep in the back of your mind when looking in stores..
I used to be a car audio installer, and used to work sales as well for a small, high end shop in the DC area about 10 years ago. I know a lot of the tricks they'll try using on you if you go into Best Buy or Circuit City and get hooked by a sales rep. I figured I'd at least arm you with some good information first

CDT is very good, and well priced.. I know a lot of people using them, and all are very happy. Never seen a complaint there. As for modifying the vehicle, if you're not handy with power tools or don't want to pay a pro to do the install, then sure, avoid separates and go with coaxials instead. the main plus to separates is the flexibility in driver positioning for ideal imaging.. The speakers themselves are really the same as tehir coaxial brethren of the same line/models.
You won't lose too much going with a coaxial speaker, and as long as the mounting depth matches up with your car, you'll get a nice improvement and an easy drop-in install.
Be sure to get polarity right, too.. it's hard to tell on factory wiring, as the speaker terminals and wires are never marked well by color or polarity indicators. You need to test it with a meter for continuity from head unit to speaker.. (easiest way anyhow.. colors change from one end to the other oft times)

 

[rick stein]

Are cdt's only available via the internet or is there a store i could check them out at? Since i have a sub already i want to get speaker's with good mid and high end reproduction. Also how good is the alpine 9805 at sound shaping. In other word's how much control over high end will it give me in case i need to reduce any harshness.
Thank's

 

[Sean^M]

as for DCT dealers, your best bet is to check their site.
Being disabled, and living in a rual area, I don't get out much and we have little by way of local dealers for anything here.
My closest martinLogan dealer for instance, is 3 hours drive away.

As for the Alpine, unless the head unit has a built in EQ (like some Pioneer models etc) you're not going to have much control without a separate EQ.
In that case, you'd be best off using a 1/3 octave or parametric, and a 4 channel amplifier for the components, but then you start adding a lot of cost...

 

[Sean^M]

oh, on another side note, using separates instead of coaxial speakers, offers you the option of an external crossover module, and most offer a -3dB set of terminals for tweeters to quiet them down if they are too bright.
just a thought.

 

[rick stein]

The zeb.com has cdt classic coaxial's for only $48 a pair. Considering the price and the review's i'm thinking of buying without even hearing them. But once again the question of fit come's into play. The zeb say's they are 6.5 speaker's but the the cdt site list's them as only 6 inch's. What do you think does $48 sound like a good deal and worth a blind purchase?

 

[Sean^M]

very good price, very good speakers.
they are 6.5" as that's a standard for car audio speaker sizes.
If your vehicle has factory 6.5" locations, they will drop right in.
The only thing you should double verify is mounting depth before purchase.

aftermarket speakers on occasion, have larger magnet structures etc than factory "cheapo" speakers and this can present a problem now and then with things like power window rails and such.

crutchfield.com has a "fiot your car" database for drpth as well as diameter.