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FD stereo and speaker recommendations 2016 edition
I'm ignorant about audio these days. I got old and haven't bought any car stereo stuff in 10 years.
So... I'm looking to replace all 4 speakers in my FD. It is an R1 so no Bose. I won't be using any amps or subs as I'm too lazy to wire one up and don't listen to enough music to make it worthwhile.
Will be buying a new head unit too - probably Alpine unless someone has a recommendation.
I listen to all sorts of music - EDM, classic rock, modern rock, rap some jazz
I don't like bright sounding speakers like the Infinity's that are in there now. Looking for something more natural sounding and balanced where I can hear good guitar riffs and vocals and such.
I've heard certain models of MB Quart speakers are more balanced rather than high pitched etc. but no personal experience with them.
Head units put out only 22 watts or so per speaker which would affect the clarity and crispiness of most speakers, so you may want to consider hooking up a power pack in between the head unit and speakers, e.g. Alpine KTP-445U. they are much easier to wire/mount than those full stretched amps.
I will be doing the same thing in the spring. Armans is correct that you want to match the speakers to what the head unit can push. Many of the high end speakers require more power to push them and they assume you will be running them with AMP's and not just driving the speakers by the head unit.
I know it's not a big name but I've listened to a lot of speakers. Back in the day the stuff coming from Memphis Audio really impressed me. The nice thing about them is they don't require a lot of power for the Street reference speakers would match up nicely just being powered by a head unit.
If you are shopping head units the most popular RMS power outputs are 15w and 22w. The 22w is probably the way to go. Memphis Audio 5.25 door speakers will fit in the FD and the recommended RMS is 20w. SRX52 - Memphis Car Audio
Pretty sure this is the way I am going to go in the spring. You can keep an eye on my build thread for my review.
Just like you I want to keep it simple and not add amps and a bunch of unnecessary modifications. Just a nice sounding system. I am also looking at single Din head units that have integrated Hands free Bluetooth for phone and play lists etc.
I also like the USB for charging my phone.
These features are pretty standard and inexpensive so it should be easy to do all this for around $500
What is your budget on a receiver? Your speakers really aren't going to make much of a difference if you are not going to run external amps...think of it as only having stock coils trying to run 25psi without a HKS Twin Power
. You just don't have the power to do it.
What are your head unit preferences? I prefer double dins that have BT, Pandora, HD radio, back up cam inputs etc. I recently installed a Pioneer Double Din unit, and I have also had a Kenwood Double Din unit in my previous FD. They are usually more expensive. My Kenwood had Nav and was close to $1000, but my Pioneer was only around $4-500ish. If you are going for single din (stock), then I would look at Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, or JVC...depends on your style and features.
As far as speakers if you are absolutely against an amp, just get something decent like Kicker, Memphis, JBL, etc. If you get a decent 4 channel amp, then I would get some good component speakers for the front like JL, Kicker, Memphis, or even Focal if you have $$$ and some nice 6x8 speakers for the rears.
I'm currently running a Pioneer head unit, JL components in the front, JL 6x8s in the back, and a JL 10W6 subwoofer in a small ported box in the hatch with 2 super small Soundstream Nano Amps (600x1 RMS and 75x4 RMS) Those amps are super small, cheap, and relatively clean. Hell, RX7s are so loud anyways!
I hope this helps you some as I have also changed my music tastes as I approach 40.
I'm ignorant about audio these days. I got old and haven't bought any car stereo stuff in 10 years.
So... I'm looking to replace all 4 speakers in my FD. It is an R1 so no Bose. I won't be using any amps or subs as I'm too lazy to wire one up and don't listen to enough music to make it worthwhile...
This was my situation this last fall...except that while you were growing old, I got ancient. Wanted something with BT that was simple, minimal flashing lights etc. and sounded good. Speakers were replaced years ago, IIRC Infinity in the front (yeah I know) and Pioneer in back. I seem to remember at the time that there weren't a lot of choices for door speakers due to depth.
I was told by two different shops that it's getting harder to find a good single DIN units. FWIW I pulled the trigger on a Pioneer DEH-80PRS. I'm not an audiophile, and while the display isn't quite as low-key as my previous Nakamichi CD-400, it's not annoying and sounds noticeably better. Display color matches very well. I'm happy so far. Car is mildly modded, with hf cat and RB DT. I know you track and weight might be a concern, but years ago I also put some sound deadening in the doors, under the hatch carpet and spare tire well which helped. Pioneer DEH-80PRS CD receiver at Crutchfield.com
Firstly, cars are really terrible theaters. The sound deadening and staging in the rx7 are particularly bad.
So, let's make sure to set expectations correctly.
That said, the rx7 is a really small stage, so a little quality audio will go a long way.
Modern decks drive speakers OK, but for quality and volume you'll really want a small amp too.
You'll do well to get some co-axes in front and mid-basses in back. Common quality brands are fine.
You don't need baller speakers. I like boston acoustics, mb quart, focal, etc.
There are aftermarket speaker mounts for the front to go 6.5, and the stock sizes do OK too(5 1/4 F, 6x8 R iirc).
The front speakers are way too low for the high range. You can find a way to mount some tweeters up high with a component set up, if you're really into staging and quality. The door sails are good option.
Future rx7 owners will thank you for not cutting your door panels.
Please post pictures and followup, this is somewhere on my roadmap for the FD too.
Boston Acoustics no longer make speakers for automotive. They were a favorite among my friends and I a long, long time ago.
I have absolutely zero desire to wire up amps or fiddle with tweeter locations and associated wiring. I don't listen to music often enough to make that worthwhile. Straight up bolt in speakers is what I want. I usually only turn on the stereo when taking longer trips and usually stream Pandora.
I currently have a double din, touch screen Kenwood that I bought 5-6 years ago. I'm tired of it. I prefer head units with buttons so I can find the desired control by feel instead of having to take my eyes off the road to find the spot on the screen to press. I have a touch screen on the daily as well and it is pretty annoying and can be dangerously distracting.
I'm going to try and find some stereo shops where I can listen to this stuff.
What exactly is that? Better sound quality when listening to the radio?
I only drive my FD in summer. The car comes out usually in May and gets put away at the beginning of Nov. So 7 or 8 months of use.
I don't need anything fancy, hell my rear speakers dont even work now I think about it. I just need a head unit that sounds good and will match the amber/red interior of the FD.
Bluetooth is a must however.
I thought about getting a single din and moving into the 21st century, but its not a luxury car by any means
I like this unit so far and it has all the new creature comforts. It has volume buttons and a remote too. It's a nice double din option that isn't too expensive, but only pushes 14 watts RMS.
I visited a car stereo place yesterday to listen to some speakers. Polk, Alpine, Kicker, Infinity, others. I found a lot of them too bright or having too much high end sound. I wonder if they are designed to run with a sub woofer these days...
The only ones I liked were the Alpine Type-S. They had a sound that my ears found pleasing - or maybe it was not as annoying as the others...
I'm going to go back and listen to some Focals and JLs that they said they'd wire up for me.
What benefit would I get running a 6.5" speaker in the doors?
I might just get the Alpines and call it done. I don't drive the car enough to justify spending tons of $ on a stereo.
I fully expected to buy the Alpines but I wound up splurging a few extra bucks on the Focals.
The Alpine Type S were the best sounding speakers I had listened to. The bottom of the line Focals sounded a bit clearer. I could hear a bit more detail in their music delivery compared to the Alpines.
Has anyone tried some of the Android based head units? I've been looking at Pumpkin because you get so many more features for a fraction of the price. My wife's new car came equipped with a touch screen app based system that lets you use Apple play and Android car play so you can use your phone for GPS and Bluetooth for calls and texts. I am looking at getting one fairy soon to put in the wife's s14 to give it a shot now that she is spoiled with the new car setup.
Yes, pretty simple to install but you may have to drill new holes in the OE mounting bracket to accomodate that the speaker will likely have mounting holes in places different from the bracket
Focal Auditor R-570C 6x8 speakers are officially installed! I was wrong earlier - these aren't the bottom of the line Focal speakers. They were cheaper than Crutchfield which threw me off.
I was having trouble getting the self tapping screws they included to tap through the OEM speaker bracket so I gave up before screwing the pooch by slipping with the power drill. I went to the local Orchard Supply hardware store and bought a bunch of 4mm x 25mm long .70 pitch bolts, washers and lock nuts. In retrospect, I should have gotten 1/2" or 3/4" as the 25mm were a lot longer than needed.
When I went to wire them, I couldn't remember which wire was positive and ground. FSM was useless for this so I searched /googled and stumbled upon a blog post by OG Max Cooper.
It is important to get the polarity of the speaker connections right or you will have the speakers canceling each other out. For the driver's side speaker, make sure you connect the Yellow & Blue wire the negative (-) speaker terminal. For the passenger's side, connect the Blue & Yellow wire to the negative (-) terminal. Cut the stock connector off and crimp on the new spade connectors that came with your speakers. I chose to cut a few inches off the stock wire and I shortened the wires I got from Pioneer by a few inches to avoid having a lot of wire to rattle around back there.
The Focal speakers sound quite good. I'm still running the original front speakers with a 7 year old Kenwood double din head unit and they sound quite different. The Focals are much more detailed than the stock speakers and don't have as much bass. The sound front stock speakers sound a bit muddled by comparison. The Focals do not sound bright like the Infinty Reference that were on there. It is a more natural, well balanced sound. Overall, my ears are pleased.
I suspect that a nice small sub woofer would be desireable but I'm going to wait and see. Other more important things to spend money on...
12-27-16, 10:10 PM
