Hello all,

I've finally gotten annoyed with the stock speakers in my '85 SE and decided I should invest in something that will sound a bit better....

Has anyone had any experience with Alpine SPS-100A and SPS-170A speakers in a 1st gen?

If not, can anyone make any specific recommendations as to drivers of high quality that fit well in the stock locations and look stock?
(there's so many threads found under search that I gave up)

Thanks!

~enigma32~

 

i would suggest not going with the stock size 4 inch speakers in the front, maybe a custom kick panel to fit 6 1/2 inch. if you do go with 4's then shell out the extra money and get a really good set. in my current 7 i have memphis all the way around and i cant hear the front speakers. in my last 7 i had boston acoustics in the front and clarion in the back(the bostons were over $100 for a pair of 4's)and it sounded really ballanced.

 

well if you're using stock in everything but speakers, id say alpines fine, no need for more.. if you're going with a new headunit as well, definately look at some memphis as he said (idk where u r in NY, but binghamton/johnson city has a dealer) depending on how much you want out of the system, CDT makes a perfect component system for about $240 with the stock speaker sizes and a pair of tweeters you can mount anywhere (http://www.boostaudio.com/cdt_audio_cl_641_p/cl-641.htm)

 

i would suggest going with the cdt's the specs look really good. the memphis really isnt that great for this application the 4's just dont put out enough sound, im running a pioneer 6700 headunit and no matter how i tune it i just cant get them to do good things. ive installed them in countless other cars and they are pretty good, but in the stock 1st gen location you need a 4" that is really effecient and clear along with provide enough power for it.

 

I cut the openings in the front to fit the Alpine 130A's up front and the 170A's fit perfect in the rear. I just did door panels to fit the another set of 130A's. Everything in my car is Alpine aside from the monster JBL GTS 600 for the sub. Check my cardomain site for all the step by step.

 

See, you've mostly mentioned things that would require some modification (albeit minor modification). I'm really looking for something that will basically bolt in (and only if really necessary require new mounting holes at the most)

The 170As work well in the rear though eh? That's comforting. :-)
I think that's the most important thing.... the fronts are kind of secondary to me, though I'd like to have something decent in there too...

Thanks for the input so far everybody.

 

Just block the bass with caps to the 4's in the front ( they can't make much anyway and you'll unencumber them greatly ) and make sure they are rated very high efficiency. ( Not 89 or low 90's if you can help it. 98's will be 3 times louder with the same wattage as an 89. Trust me. It's the difference between hearing them or not.

 

why would you want a stereo in a sports car? thats almost as bad as a stereo in a jeep.. i just cant get over how my exhaust sounds.. plus i dont want people breaking into my car and messing up my doors or windows..

 

Can you explain this to me?

In Layman or Dumbass terms?

I've never heard of this, and am curious.

 

If you have the $$$ to shell out, I'd say go with a pair of ECLIPSE 4" in the front as they are a high efficiency speaker, and depending on which pair you get they come with tweeters and crossovers as well. The 6.5" ECLIPSE speakers are also excellent, and al of the afore-metioned
sets will bolt in directly with no modification. This is just my personal preference, but whatever speakers you go with you should definitely buy a nice crossover network. This will perform 2 vital functions: You can fine-tune the frequencies that get to the speakers to prevent any damage to them, and you will notice an IMMENSE improvement in the tonal quality since they won't distort from trying to reproduce unnecessary low end frequencies.
HTH.

 

I bought the Boston Aucostic 6.4 pro's. They were expensive, but I didn't regret spanding the money at all, the set came with 6 components and 2 crossovers, the speakers in the kick panel fit perfect, 2 speakers fit in the rear in the stock location perfect and I monted the 2 tweets on the door panel, the crossovers where hidden under the rear compartment, I ran a kenwood amp and just with that set up I could here acrisp loud *** sound, from the outside of the vehicle,, hope that helps

 

direct freak, this is how the DB rating thing works out, grimes did an outstanding job describing it

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/amps-speakers-alternators-oh-my-384627/

 

I ran little 1" tweeters into my air con vents. I have the little round vents. You can cut away the center, and place them in it. Walla, you have movable tweets. They sound great there. I put little kickers in the stock ports by the feet. Behind the head rest on the walls, I put set of tweets+4" kicks, right where you would hang your coat and such. Then I made the rear stock ports larger and added 6.5 coustic mid's there. And last but not least, a sub in the back.

 

Okay I read the whole thing and understand it now.

HOWEVER, How Do I know the efficiency level of my speakers? Is this
on the box itself?

 

me neither! and i've been in the car audio bussines 4 about 6 years!

 

most times yes. if its not on the box or if you dont have the box look it up on the companies website or product lit.

 

It will usually say like

Sensitivity = 98 db w/1 watt @ 1 meter

 

seems to me most speakers are around 91, or 92...maybe thinking of something else...

ie...91db

HEY GRIMES!!!

 

Hey, Nick. You're right. I'd venture to say that most are in the 89 to 93 range (still a huge difference). But, if you look hard you can find good quality speakers in the upper 90's. I have all MTX speakers for that reason. There are other brands as well, but they did offer 98db speakers in the sizes I needed.