Audio Advice Needed on Speakers and Head Unit

[NJGSX96]

Hey guys. I need some advice.

The time has come to finally upgrade my stereo in the 1G. I need to know some good speakers that are affordable, but most of all, what really fits, size wise. I hear some people have 6x9, others 6½. What is the true size? What will fit without a hassle? I am just going to get the rears and maybe door speakers for now because I still need an FMIC. I would like them to be affordable, not cheap but affordable. I do not have an amp at the moment, but the head unit will be pushing 60Wx4 so I should be OK for now.

The head unit is the Alpine CDA-7894. I pick it up Friday. It is such a sweet deck and plays MP3 CDs. Anyone have any pros, cons, indifferent?

thanks a lot.
Rich

 

[slowlaserRS]

You could cheek ebay out I got a great pair of infinity 6x9 for 24 that with shipping. I my 91 there 6x9 in the back an 6.5 in the doors an i think there 4.5 in the dash.

 

[Silent2g]

who needs rear speakers?
it just screws up the staging
{sorry, im an avid competitor in SQ}

 

[NJGSX96]

Here's a dumb question.... what does SQ stand for?

 

[Silent2g]

sound quality

 

[laserjay]

Mr. Silent2g is correct. There is no such thing as "rear" in the deffinition of "stereo sound." Stereo is left and right. And is meant to be heard with you dirrectly in the middle. This is why building a competition stereo system in a car interior for an environment is such a challenge, and concidered by many to be impossible to achieve perfect stereo sound. However, the idea is to get it as close to perfect as possible by placing speakers in locations that have less of a difference in distanc from your ears ( for example in kickpannels ). This is also the reason why all of the top of the line manufacturers of head units have ( built in or available to add on ) devices to delay the amount of time it takes for a certain speaker in your car to play a sound before the other side plays. For example, if I'm sitting on the drivers side of my car and I want to have near perfect imaging I would want the left channel to not play until a small fraction of time later then the right channel thus artificially creating stereo sound. Also, I've been told by various knowledgable people that oval shaped speakers distort easier then round speakers. I've have yet found time or product to prove this theory yet, however you may notice that there aren't many (if any) manufacturers that make 6"X9" or 5"X7" component sets. Component sets are much better in quality and controlled in sound, this is why they are found in pretty much all of the best built competition systems. So I would recomend just getting the 6 1/2" speakers for the front. I wouldn't even bother with the dash speakers either, they will just mess up the imaging as well. Its really all about what you (the listener) like though. If you like sound coming from the rear, I would recomend something small like 4" speakers just for some rear fill. You don't want something as big as 6"X9"s back there that will over power your front staging. If you have any experience with wood working you should easily be able to make a baffle that turns a 6"X9" opening into an opening for a 4" speaker. The person who mentioned eBay was very right as well. You can get unbelievable deals on brand new equipment with manufacturers warranty too, all on eBay. As for a good brand to buy. Infinity Kappa and Polk dx line of speaker ensure very decent sound quality for the price and are widely available on eBay for great prices. Whatever you choose, good luck.

 

[Bohrn]

In my car, there is no way to put 6x9 in the rear, or is there?? the guy at the store and I put in a 6" round I think? What speaker will fit in properly with no hacking and sound nice. Clear, nice sound over heavy bass for me. I can always put in a sub later.

And yea, I hear ya on the "no rears bit, but that is where I have to put em for now. I am more of a casual listener than a competition guy. Also I will spend the money on making it faster. But I do like some music once in a while

 

[laserjay]

Nice sound over bass. I like that quality in a person . Your what they refer to as an "audiophile" in the car stereo world, as opposed to a "basehead." My car is at Buschur Racing right now getting worked on. When I get it back I'll have to take another look at the rear speaker locations. I have yet to put money into the stereo on this car yet so I don't really have a good idea of the space back there. I'll repost once I check it out.

 

[Bohrn]

thanx Jay. I await your reply, or anyone elses??

 

[kingkool68]

I agree with the good sound quality over bass. I was thinking about upgrading my stock speakers also but have no idea where to begin. If i upgrade the speakers, should i upgrade my head unit? I want to install the speakers myself and messing with the rear looks quite scary to a newbie. I haven't seen a lot of 1g stereo upgrades on this post.

 

[Bohrn]

Kingcool68, the rear speakers arent really all that hard to get to, just gotta take out the rear bottom seats,(give a pull), and the side panels. Not too hard. Then its just 4 screws and voila! One crappy stock speaker hehe.

Now if laserJay would just get his back togeather, we can get some more advice hehe

 

[laserjay]

I'm at the mercy of Buschur Racing's 1G upgrade fuel pumps. They're on back order. Any day now I hope. I haven't forgot about you guys.

 

[Bohrn]

stupid frikkin $%$#@ backorder!! I hate that worse than "to be continued"

yea my boost guage is on back order!! GRRRrrr!

really tho, take your time, its no big deal, you are helping us out after all.

 

[Shock]

I install ssound systems....and the size to go with if 6 1/2 front and rear for interior speakers....i elect to go with Diamond Audio...they have the best quality for price ratio...as for bass if you wanna go that route u can get some major bang for your buck ....by getting Rockford Fosgate HE2's or HX2's and putting 300 to 400 watts to them under a 2 or 4 ohm load. if you have any questions write back.

 

[Bohrn]

hey Shock, how do I fit 6.5s in the front?? No room in my doors, without making build-ups and cutting. Or is there??

 

[NJGSX96]

There is room, or should be. I fit 6.5" in my 92 up front with no problem.

 

[Bohrn]

the stock ones are 5.25" measured across the speaker. I tried taking out the factory adapters, and then it is bigger, but way too shallow for a good quality speaker to fit. Also the screw pattern is not even, with the bottom closer together than the top. Or is it the other way around? Either way, it is not even. I must have a wierd Canadian car or something

 

[Big Ego]

hey all. I like to think of myself as somewhat knowledgable in car audio, but nowhere as much as some of you. I'd like to interject my $.02, though, whether you listen to me or not, it makes no difference to me.

I JUST bought my 91 gsx, and am slowly upgrading my stereo system. I have most of the components already, from previous vehicles...previous wrecked vehicles...(not my fault, i assure you...mainly just drunk chinese guys in primer gray '84 ford ltd's...grrr...) anyhow, I just put in my infinity reference series 6x9's and they're working out well so far...not too overpowering, but nice, crisp highs and clear mids. next i think i'll stick with the reference series for the 6.5's in the doors and the 3.5's in the dash. they've been good to me so far, and they deliver clean clear sound. I'm not competing with anyone for spl's or pure sq, i'm just listening for myself finally, I might stick with infinity all the way and go with 2 10" subs from them. then again, I DO have those 2 jl audio 10" W0's w/ amp...but anyway... finally, the head unit is an alpine tape deck w/ ai net control and nfp. it has performed quite nicely in my CRX and it will be the first deck in the eclipse, later to be upgraded to something more. anyway, I think I have rambled enough. point being that the infinty reference series may not be kappa perfects, but if you're not competing, then they're not hard to find and they give a good bang for their buck.

later d00dz

 

[NJGSX96]

I tried the infinity reference in mine but they didn't fit unfortunately. I agree withyou though, the reference is a good speaker. i am not after any ompetition wins either, just a good sounding system.

 

[Big Ego]

well, the 6x9's in the back I had to do some special mounting so they're on the outside of the side panels. I had to cut away the grating for the old 6x9's and drill some holes to mount them. they have the infinity speaker covers on them now, and they're made of metal, so they'll take a beating if one is ever given to them. anyhow...

later

 

[NJGSX96]

Cool. Must look good and I am sure they sound good. I was a little upset when I found ou the Infinity 6X9 didn't fit my car. They sounded good.

 

[Big Ego]

yah...they look great. they look professional and like they belong there rather than just a place for some speakers i'll post some pics as soon as I get some. This is the first time I'm actually putting a decent amount of work into making my system look good as well as sound good. The first car I've had since I started driving that is worth a damn

 

[Big Ego]

well, worth a damn to anyone but me

 

[SPAWN6996]

Go look at Memphis Car Audio thet have good sound equiment and it is priced pretty low.

 

[dTERM]

Here's some simple advice, spend cash on your front speakers. That Deck is great, I have the next model down, I use my CD Changer for the MP3 function, the deck CD doesn't read them.

If you want the best sound you can get, buy big on your front speakers. That is NOT the place to save money in a good system. I found that the best setup in 1G's is from MB Quart. They have a set of great speakers, woofers (Door), midrange (dash), and tweeters for wherever you need them for proper staging. Push about 200w into each channel and you'll be breaking glass and making ears bleed. You're also gonna spend $1000 on the speakers and a high quality amp. Your head unit has this great feature, you can turn off the internal amp and you'll get better fidelity from the extra power. Exploit that extra sound gain by using external amps. The Alpines 60X4 IC is comparable to a PPI 25w per chan amp.