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Total car audio n00b here.. Help me..


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Posted

Ok, well, I upgraded my stock casette deck w/ a Sanyo ECD-T1550 thing I got from Wal-mart.. I like it.. It folds up so I dont need to grab the face each time I leaver the car.. But I digress.. My audio quality w/ 14+ year old factory speakers really blows.. I picked up a set of Clarion 4x6 speakers from the dash of a Lumina.. Heres a pic of one..

274035_102_full.jpg

 

I dont know what the hell these are.. But I grabbed them because I knew I would be needing a set of them.. I havent yet installed them because I need a set of 6x9 speakers for the back.. Another question.. Is putting them in a box of their own a good sound improvement? Like the Buicks LeSabres and Park Aves. of the late 80s? If it is, Ill definately do that, and make any improvements they may need.. Now, with these front speakers, and the yet to be determined set for the rear, (I found a set of yellow/black ones at Wal-mart for 40 bucks.. Good enough for me?) will I absolutely need an amplifier of some kind? Or if I add say 2 more to the doors? (Maybe 4-6 inch round ones..) Also, will my factory speaker wire be good enough for all this, or should I replace it all? (Note: My whole interior will be ripped apart as time goes by and I decide to do this.. So, if I have to, I'd do it then..).. I am lost when it comes to this shit, and any help would be great.. Also some product recommendations.. Lookin for cheap, but good.. So a happy medium.. Anything has to sound better than the shit I have now.. Thanks! And what model ARE those 4x6s? The bottom reads:

 

SRC4623 coaxial 2 way Clarion

Music peak power 80w..

 

Help! Thanks!

Posted

ooo where to start

 

well lets just say the folding face doesn't fool any-car audio thief

but its worth a try to the average joe.

 

seperate boxes will always make the speaker sound better, as long as its not ported. also, don't buy a wal-mart box because thier boxes are constructed of partical board..

 

don't go with lightening audio rear speakers (yellow and black kind, lol). they blow easily.

 

unless your competeing in sounds system quality? don't change the factory speakers.

 

and amplifier is never a bad thing, as long as its rates for the right wattage for your speakers.

 

pioneer is usually the choice for medium quality speakers. cheap and good quality.

 

but of course, if you want some serious shit, re-run all your speaker wire, put 6" subs in the doors with tweeters, run an amp for your high's (4x6, 6x9, door speakers) and then get a seperate amp for some subs (i suggest 10 inch or 12 inch, 2 of 'em) the a capacitor for the amp running your subs. and 8 gage wire running directly off your battery with a fused block.

 

blah blah blah..

 

god i could go on...

Posted

Ok, just needin the mediocre, "My stock speakers are blown out in the back and need them fixed so I have TUNES again" remedy, lol.. No capacitors, bass apperatuses, and quantum flibulators.. lol.. Pioneer then? Cool.. And I can use my Clarions w/o a noticeable sound difference? Ok, well.. Im stayin away from boxes.. I hadnt planned on woofage of any kind.. Thanks for your help man!

Posted

I've been trying to blow my stock speakers since i got the car....but they still sound great...grrr

Posted

hopefully the clarions will sound better then your oem speakers, but i don't have any expertise in clarion speakers.

 

pioneer is ok tho, but the rubber damper on the outside gets kinda brittle after a year and a half, and mabey less with clarion (cheaper for a reason)

Posted

LOL.. Cheaper eh? Well, 3 bucks for the pair, Id guess Im in business.. lmao..

Posted

Unless you buy expensive speakers you woun't notice a huge sound difference from OEM speakers. Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, etc. brands sound good and thats what I would get as replacements if you blown your stock speakers.

 

For 6x9, I would go to the junkyard. The midrange and high frequency sound that you hear mostly comes from the front. The rear is just "filler". Adding an amp and adding in door speakers sounds GOOD.

 

My stereo:

 

Kenwood CD/MP3 headunit

 

dash: 4x6 JBL

rear: MTX 6x9

door (powered by amp): 6" Infinity

(got all those speakers used on ebay for cheap)

 

AMPs:

Kenwood 800w 2channel bridged to 460wRMS@4ohm x1 (for the sub)

Kenwood 40wRMSx2 (door speakers)

 

Subwoofer:

Pioneer Premier 1000w (500wRMS) 12" in a sealed box.

 

8guage wire on the amps

60amp fuse by the batt

30amp x2 fuses in the trunk for the amps

Posted

Did you get the stereo that has the motorized face that moves in and down when you power it off? I saw that one at Wally World tonight.

 

Before you purchase the speakers, take them out of the box and look at the size of the "basket" and the size of the magnets. If they look punier than stock, then skip them because they will sound worse than the stockers. If you want better than stock quality, then plan on spending upwards of a C-note for a good set of Coaxials (the kind with the integrated tweeter- like you have in the pic.) I'd say stick with the major brands: Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, et all. The cheaper brands like Jensen blow out fairly quickly. You don't need to rewire your speakers if you're just powering them off of the head-unit. Individual 6X9 boxes don't offer much improvement in sound, but the speakers pound harder than if you just mounted them in the rear deck. Also you're just inviting theives to steal your speakers if you have boxes in plain sight. I'd say just stick to mounting them in the stock location for now. By upgrading to a high powered head-unit and upgrading the speakers, you will have a decent sounding system (provided you spend a little $$ on coaxials.) Of course you'll still have some distortion when you crank the volume, but it will be an improvement over stock...

Posted

Yea, I planned on not going TOTAL cheap ass here.. After my comment about the Lightning speakers.. I saw a set of blue Pioneer 6x9s there as well.. Those were 60 I believe.. I may go for them.. And Disco, I know the boxes in plain sight is an invite to theft.. I am talkin about the stock Buick Park Ave. or Le Sabre boxes that mount on the rear deck.. Gramma and Grampa's Buick Le Sabre, and their old 86 Electra had them.. They sounded goooood... lol.. And yea, it was the Sanyo w/ the motorized fold down face.. And I do plan on running an amp, but no subwoofer, because my music sounds like ass on one.. (At least it did in my friend's Camaro.. lol).. I suppose getting a chep amp is not a good idea? I am willing to spend money, just the time between purchases will be longer due to the excessive rolling of the pennies..

Posted
And Disco, I know the boxes in plain sight is an invite to theft.. I am talkin about the stock Buick Park Ave. or Le Sabre boxes that mount on the rear deck.. Gramma and Grampa's Buick Le Sabre, and their old 86 Electra had them.. They sounded goooood... lol.. And yea, it was the Sanyo w/ the motorized fold down face.. And I do plan on running an amp, but no subwoofer, because my music sounds like ass on one.. (At least it did in my friend's Camaro.. lol).. I suppose getting a chep amp is not a good idea? I am willing to spend money, just the time between purchases will be longer due to the excessive rolling of the pennies..
Okay, I understand where you're comming from. My 87 Grand Am had the elevated speaker enclosures now that I think about it.

 

I would only get an amp if you plan on running separates, otherwise if you don't want a sub or separates, then stick with powering some coaxials off the head-unit. The cheap amps aren't worth the trouble, IMHO. Most aftermarket HU's nowadays have more than enough power to drive a set of coaxials.

 

And another thing, if you get an amp, plan on spending the better part of a day mounting the thing and running the wires (you'll want to run the power wire and remote turn-on wire down the drivers side, and the RCA cable(s) down the passenger side.) I spent 2 days wiring my amp and mounting separates in my doors (I also ran 4 ga wire to a distro block, and 2 RCA cables so I can add a sub down the line...)

 

If you want to check out what I did, here's the link:

http://www.users.qwest.net/~ace69/mods.htm

Wow, I just realized I haven't updated my site in a while...

Posted

i just bought a pair of 6x9s for the rear of my car since one of them was blown

 

 

 

Infinity's, not to shabby for 150 bucks, they bang hard on the stock deck :)

 

 

getting them out was a bitch.

 

 

The speakers in my old lumina were crap!!! i changed those out as well, with infinity's all around, lol

 

 

seems like i like them infinity's

 

 

John

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