1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

speaker upgrade sugestions

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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:15 AM
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speaker upgrade sugestions

hey everyone, recently when I was out driving I noticed that the front speakers were starting to distort (not suprised, they are 18 years old). Anyway I was wondering if any of you had some ideas for me. Right now I have a completely stock system, and everything works except the front speakers are distorting pretty bad. However I want to keep the dash the way it is. What should I do to get a little more power and some great sound for a reasonable price??
Thanks you guys are the greatest.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:55 AM
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SONY XPLOD... and sony products...
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Old May 15, 2003 | 05:42 AM
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I prefer Pioneer, or Kenwood, even better would be like Alpine or Infinity
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Old May 15, 2003 | 06:00 AM
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I have Kenwood Excelon all the way around, splits in the back and 10" Excelon subs. IMHO theis are the great sounding speakers that fit real easy into the car.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 07:52 AM
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Pioneer... i have 200 watt stock sizes speakers in the rear and stock size 160 watts in the front...

it sounds amazing.... not much bass but god damn the sound is crisp, loud, and distortion free....

hurts my hears its so loud....

i do not plan on buying subwoofers.. because im not in to the whole BOOM BOOM thing plus subs add crazy amounts of unnessecary weight...

i might add some open air 6 or 8 inch subs in the sotrage bins so i can hear the bass a little more...
keep in mind i listen to rock music and rock music with a huge *** bass system sounds retarded

-greg
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Old May 15, 2003 | 07:52 AM
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oh btw i paid a little over 100 dollars for all my speakers

-greg
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Old May 15, 2003 | 08:03 AM
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I bought the infinty kappas. 4" 2-way in front. 6 1/2" 3-way in rear. They sound really good. Nice clean flat sound. But, mouting the speakers in the rear was a huge pain in the ***. The mouting brackets provided are suppose to be universal, but it just doesnt work well. at least with our cars. up front was really easy though. 20 minutes tops. If I had to do it again, i probably would of gone with Polk.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 10:09 AM
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I have the exact set up as Mcguire - excellent sound for the money and those little 4's in the front really hold there own. The Kappa's are, IMO, the best bang for the buck if you are looking for good clean sound - I'm pushing them with a 60w RMS x 4 alpine V12 and they handle the power exceptionally well
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Old May 15, 2003 | 10:18 AM
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"keep in mind i listen to rock music and rock music with a huge *** bass system sounds retarded"


Sorry man but thats a bunch of ****! Loud bass sounds great with any kind of music! Even country. Why do you think they have BASS drums!

I'n reply to the initial Q: I'd go with some alpine, infinity, or pioneer speakers. Just get the 4.5 inchers in the front and the 6.5 inchers in the back. they should fit right in with no other mods besides connecting the wires. You can just use the stock wires it will be easier unless you are really serious about crips clean "perfect sound".
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Old May 15, 2003 | 10:44 AM
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Got the kappas in the back and like you heard they are a little bit of a pain in the *** to install but it goes in there. I'm planning to pick up installing kappas in the front but for now there are a set of Boston Acoustics up there. I don't have an amp for them yet but the alpine deck is doing a pretty good job of powering them. Plan is to pick up a one Power Acoustic 10" sub and installing it shooting straight up in a custom box that will fit as far as back as possible (by the tailights) and that can be taken out if I need the space. I was gonna the sub in one of the storage bins but after reading what everyone here said it sounds like thats not a very good place for subs to be installed even though it would look good there. Seems like the farther back the better. Well, I guess I've rambled on enough.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 12:02 PM
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I've replaced my speakers w/Infinitys.

Kappa's in the rear, cheaper Reference's in the front. Don't use the mounting kit that comes w/the speakers, just hide them under the factory covers and they go right in!

Been Very Happy w/the results!

Otherwise my system is stock, except when my Sony walkman's car kit is plugged in. Rocks good enough for me, tho the bass could use a kick...
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:31 PM
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Boston Acoustics.

Right on.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:38 PM
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"Sorry man but thats a bunch of ****! Loud bass sounds great with any kind of music! Even country. Why do you think they have BASS drums!"


dude.... i dont car what you think... i dont like 90 percent of my music BASS... i like to hear the music rather than feel the music... did you not read how i said i might add some small 6 or 8 inch subs to get a little bass... i dont want 4 15's in the back of my car while i am listening to fear factory... come on now...

-greg
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:39 PM
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Originally posted by Mills
I've replaced my speakers w/Infinitys.

Kappa's in the rear, cheaper Reference's in the front. Don't use the mounting kit that comes w/the speakers, just hide them under the factory covers and they go right in!
just curious how you mounted them if you didnt use the brackets.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:39 PM
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Originally posted by MRGSL-SE
SONY XPLOD... and sony products...
HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA sorry, but i thought that was funny! anyways, i have infinity reference all the way around (4" in front 6.5" in rear). I love the sound. they sound great on the stock deck. i, unlike the other guys, had a very easy time installing the rears. and yes, i did use the mounting bracket that came with the speakers. the fronts on the other hand were kindof a pain. this may have been because i ran new wire, and i had to put a spacer kit in because the magnet was too big to sit inside the small space.
i would have to agree with some of the other and say that the infinity's are the best bang for the buck, but i have also used a lot of polks, and they also are great speakers. i would test out those at some stereo store, and go from there
(BTW if you go to test out some speakers, try to bring a cd with you so you can hear the type of music that you play, on the speakers)
lates, jeff
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:43 PM
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Originally posted by poweRX-7
HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA sorry, but i thought that was funny!
hehe, seriously. i was going to say something about that but i thought i would let it slide. the quality of sony's audio products just keep going down. but the price goes up. i guess people just want the name. they do still make some of the best video stuff though!
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Old May 15, 2003 | 01:58 PM
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I've got the infinitys... got the 6 1/2 speakers for the back.. they fit perfectly and sound great!!! I had pioneers in my old 1st gen and thought they were crap in comparison.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 03:26 PM
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most of these guys are right about infiniti. if you want one step better, get a set of MB QUART. if your looking for good and well priced, go for alpine.
if you want to add some bass just put a 10 inch amplified bazooka.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 04:22 PM
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STAY AS CLOSE TO STOCK AS POSSIBLE! if your keeping the head stay close to the stock rating. i mean dont get 200w speakers if you plan on keeping the stock head. actually may be you can the stock systems amplified if i can remember and its clarion. so just get the front 4 1/2in speakers whatever brand you want remember not to fancy if you sticking with the stock head you'll probably wanna stay between 150w-and 200w but like i said the stock sys. is already amplified so it might be able to power 200w + 6 1/2 in the rear and you should be good.

so:

1. stock size 4 1/2 front
6 1/2 rear
2.watts between 150w-200w
3.stay away from like 3way or more at the most 2way speakers...wait then again if you have the stock EQ you can get the 3 ways.

INSTALLATION: EASY

PLUG AND PLAY

just remove the pannels and screws and from there it should be self explanitory. just screw it in
the connections for the speaker might confuse you bet let me know if you even get that far...
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Old May 15, 2003 | 06:19 PM
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Ok greg I apologize but good hard hitting bass is sweet with any music. Not 90% but two nice tens or 12s thats sweet in my opinion!
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Old May 15, 2003 | 07:57 PM
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Been awhile since I've been on this board, as I'd kinda given up on my 7, but I decided not to.. just yet, anyways.. Here's the age old speaker question again... Personally, I like loud bass... as long as the treble and mid's are right up there with it in volume. The stereo I had in my '7 (which is now in my Civic) was Infinity Reference 4's up front, Polk eX 6.5's in the rear, a Kenwood KDC-319 (el cheapo he he) CD deck then an Alpine 200 watt mono amp and an Alpine Type E single 10" sub. This setup was amazing. It wasn't competition winning serious, but it sounded way better than most others I've heard. With the shape of the rear hatch, you don't need two subs, or even one 12".. a single 10 situated properly will more than be enough to give you a headache.. oh, and I weighed by amp/sub combo, came out to about 45 pounds for the pair.. not all that heavy..

--Danny
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Old May 15, 2003 | 09:21 PM
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Originally posted by White84SE
Been awhile since I've been on this board, as I'd kinda given up on my 7, but I decided not to.. just yet, anyways.. Here's the age old speaker question again... Personally, I like loud bass... as long as the treble and mid's are right up there with it in volume. The stereo I had in my '7 (which is now in my Civic) was Infinity Reference 4's up front, Polk eX 6.5's in the rear, a Kenwood KDC-319 (el cheapo he he) CD deck then an Alpine 200 watt mono amp and an Alpine Type E single 10" sub. This setup was amazing. It wasn't competition winning serious, but it sounded way better than most others I've heard. With the shape of the rear hatch, you don't need two subs, or even one 12".. a single 10 situated properly will more than be enough to give you a headache.. oh, and I weighed by amp/sub combo, came out to about 45 pounds for the pair.. not all that heavy..

--Danny
Where is you sub situated in the car. I'm planning on doing a single 10" without using the storage bins like I said earlier
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Old May 15, 2003 | 09:33 PM
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Originally posted by Junia
Where is you sub situated in the car. I'm planning on doing a single 10" without using the storage bins like I said earlier
I had the box butted up against the back of the hatch, centered in the car. It was a Q-Logic single 10" box and it raised the sub up enough to angle the sound waves right at the backglass, instead of against the roof or the carpet along the back of the hatch...
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Old May 15, 2003 | 09:43 PM
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Alpine

I m going to run the Alpine sps100a in the front. And the sps 170 in the rear. 50 bucks for the front and 65 for the rear. Check etronics.com or epinions.com.
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Old May 15, 2003 | 09:50 PM
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I am building a box outta my old spare tire hole. so far so good too.
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