Speaker upgrade/sound system opinions?

[jeremyc74]

Do you have rear passengers often? If you don't I wouldn't even bother updating the rear speakers and use/save that money towards a subwoofer.

I'm with Ed.

I've been into car audio since before the car audio craze started back in the '80s. I've done really high end stuff, and what I've found is you get into the "law of diminishing returns" pretty quickly these days. You can build a nice budget system that will sound very good.

I just added a 10" sub to mine. I'm running a set of Pioneer coaxials up front with the factory tweeters still connected, and the factory speakers in the rear door.

I put the amp under the driver's seat, so if I need to pull the sub box out for cargo space it's just the speaker wires on quick connect terminals. If you have the rear heat option, forget about using space under the passenger seat. There's a fan under there.

Here's the amp, sub and box that I'm using. It's budget setup, but it really sounds pretty good.

Rockford Fosgate R250X1 Prime 1-Channel Mono Block Amplifier - $101
Amazon.com: Rockford Fosgate R250X1 Prime 1-Channel Mono Block Amplifier: Car Electronics

Scosche SE10R 10-Inch Subwoofer Enclosure - $27
Amazon.com : Scosche SE10R 10-Inch Subwoofer Enclosure : Subwoofer Cabinets : Car Electronics

Infinity Reference 1062w 10-Inch Subwoofer (Dual Voice Coil) $59.95
Amazon.com : Infinity Reference 1062w 10-Inch 1, 100-Watt High-Performance Subwoofer (Dual Voice Coil) : Vehicle Subwoofers : Car Electronics

For under $200 including power wiring and fuse, the truck now bumps pretty good when I want it to. My next step will probably be adding the Alpine amp for the front and passenger speakers, and upgrading those. The sub will make more difference in the sound quality than just the bass, because you take that load off your front amp and speakers and move it to something designed to handle it. :boink:

 

[Nelsonmd]

I think you are saying, in bold, to pair the mid/bass units of the new speakers with the tweeters from the factory originals, right? I would suggest that that's a bad idea, if you want decent sound quality. The sound engineers put a lot of work into pairing the sound of the tweeter with the mids/bass units when they design the speakers. Also, the crossovers are designed specifically for the impedance response of the tweeters that ship with the package. You will get unknown results wiring components up to different tweeters, but I'd bet on it that your sound quality will suffer.

I wanted to comment on something I said earlier too... I recommend getting good quality wiring, connectors, interlinks, etc. That does not mean that you need name brand/expensive stuff. There are great options online that can save lots of money and you can even buy custom wiring. Just because the 12g wire says Monster on it does not mean it is superior to another company's 12g wire. Nothing wrong with Monster either, but shop around and you probably can't hear the difference.

Yeah, of course sound quality may suffer a bit if you don't have the exact tweeters to match to the crossovers, but I think you are splitting hairs here. My whole point in my post was to convey to him what was the "low hanging fruit" for improving sound quality (I still think HU, fronts, sub, and front wiring and the big ones). He could pull out the tweeters and mount in the ones that match the speakers, but that is more work than I think he will care to do for the marginal SQ gain (unless tey can just screw in and screw out, my tweeters won't just bolt onto the factory location, so I'd have to mod it). I think replacing the wiring will be a bigger factor as it can help his HU actually put it's full output power into the speakers rather than losing some to impedance, which may mean he doesn't feel the need to blow an extra $200 on the power pack (I'm still hoping he'll try it without the power pack first...)

I do agree about getting decent wiring. I have used the stuff from walmart with good enough results, even though it is CCA (it is typically nicely shielded/jacketed for automotive use). But if you look around a bit, you can find some ofc speaker wire for fairly cheap, maybe even shielded. I definitely wouldn't settle based solely on brand. Some brands are slapping their name on cheap CCA wire, so you aren't getting quite what you expected. Jumping up 4-5 AWG sizes with CCA is still a heck of alot better than sticking with the 22ga stuff that's in there from the factory (I think it's 22ga, just going by memory here...)

For the speakers CCA is probably fine. For the sub, if you aren't getting an install kit, then I'd definitely make sure you are getting OFC. I don't know if any of the powered boxes come with their own install kit, but for the sub, you definitely need to pay attention to the wire you're using and the actual draw you expect from the sub. I have been happy with kicker install kits, and have managed to find them on sale for some decent prices. These are one place where name brand can be better because alot of cheapo brands are dishonest about the gauge size of the wire (they state whatever gauge size they want, but don't call it 4AWG, the call it 4ga, stuff like that). The wire looks thick, but it's just thick jacket making it look thick. Anyway, google that stuff yourself, there's tons of info about that little issue...

 

[CDNsurf]

So a bit of an update,



I wasn't planning on getting any speakers just yet, still deciding between just the fronts or all 4... and I was going to buy everything together for the install (speakers, wire, deadening, amp etc..)

But I went into my local audio store listened to the DSK series and walked out with fronts and rears for ~220 which is a steal. They sounded amazing in store so I can't wait to get them in. I might hold off on the amp and deadener right now and see how it sounds once I get them in (midterm season so I don't have much time) I may get them in next week. From there I will decide to deaden the doors, possibly get an amp for the speakers or go ahead and just get a smaller sub?

 

[brandonlear]

Check out O2 or Oxygen components.. you can get a set (2 speakers, tweeters, and crossovers) for around $35 shipped, so $70 for both front and rear speakers. One thing to keep in mind, if you get components with a crossover, they are only meant to play mid to high range, not much bass. If you go with coaxial speakers, they will play some bass, however not near the quality of even a cheap sub. I've had the O2 components for nearly two years and they hold up great, and sound very clear even when the HU is maxed out. I do however have them hooked up to a small Rockford Fosgate amp.