Pioneer Speaker Opnions

[manitcor]

My Old Sony Xplods have pretty much Xploded, thats what I get for buying without know jack about car audio. These days I know alot more but Im not up on all the good products and such.

 

I love my pioneer deck and XM reciever so I figured I would stay with the brand and looked up some decent replacement componet speakers:

 

For the rear:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_4069_167642573,00.html

 

For the Front:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_4077_64850153,00.html

 

Ive found the 6x9's for about $90 for the pair and the 5.25s for $50

 

What I would like to know is how are these speakers, the 3 way speaks sounded really nice and Im not really to hot on spending a ton more for 4-ways unless there really is that big of a difference.

 

Are there other brands/models that boast better features/quality for a similar price (give or take 30-50 bucks).

 

Ill be driving these with my Pioneer DEH-MP 8500 Deck which supports 4 channels at 50watts. Later I will most likely get a 300-400watt amp to boost up the sound quality.

 

Will the 3-way stacks that come off the speaker fit underneath the stock door panels and rear deck or will I need to cut into them and use the grille covers that come with the speakers (I really dont want to change my stock look if I dont have to)?

 

Thanks for any help.

[slick]

For SQ reasons, you want your better speakers in the front than in the rear. I'd pick up the 4 way for the front.

 

But.... the only real way to notice the difference between the 3 way and the 4 way speakers is to really amplify them.

 

That Pioneer deck you plan on getting, you say 50 watts per channel. Is that RMS, because I truely doubt that. What you need to look at when looking at the Wattage ratings is the RMS, not the Max power ratings. The RMS rating is the continuous amount of wattage the speaker can handle. The Max rating is something that I find of little use, and a number that I normally do not look at when looking at speakers, amps, decks, etc....

[manitcor]

heres the deck, Its my existing unit, a bit out dated but big stuff at the time I bought it. Im thinking of upgrading to the 9600 model but this deck works fine for now.

 

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_4039_38309,00.html

 

I agree its most likely max power and not continous. I plan on getting an AMP later but my sony components are quiclky dying and i dont want to be without music at all.

 

I dont see 4-way 5.25" speaker by pioneer. They have up to 5-way for thier 6x9s though.

 

I could maybe stomach getting the amp now if I HAD to, in which case perhaps this guy would fit the bill:

 

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_183982242_152786553,00.html

 

I can pick it up for about $150. It wont push the speakers to thier max but Im not in for some bone crushing sound either, I dont have subs anymore and really dont care to have them if not neccassary. If I can drive compoent speakers enough to have a good clear, rich sound with a decent amount of bass on the lows Ill be happy. Theres no real need to rattle my teeth.

[Bake82]

That is a mono-block. You want to get a 2 channel amplifier.

 

Personally I have 50 watts RMS per channel on my front speakers. They can take 90 watts RMS and mine sounds great running on only 50 watts RMS.

 

I think if you got a 2 channel amp, or 4 channel amp(to amp the rears) you would be good with 50watts RMS x 2 (or 4).

[slick]

Ooppss.... I keep thinkings 6.5 instead of 5.25. Well, that would be an upgrade in itself if you really wanted to.

 

Anyways, those 5.25 should be plenty fine.

 

That deck is probably putting out 20-22 watts RMS.

[manitcor]

I thought 6.5s might be nice, but im not sure I want to cut up my door panel. Im going for ease of install and I dont really want to show the speaker, I would like it to look stock once everything is installed just like it is now. Im not an audiophile nor do I like showing off what I have for it to get stolen.

 

perhaps something like this

 

hhttp://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_183982242_152786492,00.html

 

drive the rears at 150watts each then drive the fronts off the deck?

 

Doenst look like Pioneer has a decent selection of AMPS, a quick look at Alpine yeilded some nice stuff but all to pricey.

 

JBL Carries this for just under $300 A little more than I would like to spend but might be a good mid-range option. Looks like it can sustain 104 watts x 4

 

http://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=GTO75.4&cat=AMP&ser=GTS

[GnatGoSplat]

Pioneer speakers are not really particularly good.

The 4-way thing is either a marketing gimmick, or a cheap way to make up for poor quality drivers. With Pioneer, it may be a little of both. With car audio, marketing is big business. I had an older set of Pioneer 4-ways, and the "super tweeter" was just a little piezo tweeter, very similar to the little speaker that makes beeping sounds in digital watches. They're also commonly found in cheap Wal-mart boomboxes.

 

Most high-quality components are just 2-way, because with decent quality drivers, it's just not necessary to use so many to achieve a perfectly flat frequency response curve.

 

It's been many years since I've looked for new speakers, but I really liked the sound of my Infinity speakers. I wouldn't recommend them due to durability though... mine melted and got all cracked up and now sound like ass. Alpine, JBL, or Polk might have some decent speakers in that price range.

[manitcor]

Poking around the JBL site more I found these for a bit more than pioneer but they are rated better:

 

5.25 $90

http://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=GTO526&cat=MEL&ser=GTS

 

6x9 $150

http://www.jbl.com/car/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=GTO936&cat=MEL&ser=GTS

 

They also have 2-way 6x9s for about $10 less

 

hooked up to the above amp should be a good combo. It would be almost $600 after shipping and the various wire I will need to hook things up. wouldnt be 1/2 bad.

 

Can I do better? I would most likely do the speakers first and then the amp in a month or so after I recover some coin. That trans hurt the wallet.

[manitcor]

thanks for your help guys

 

anyway I just picked up some reference sieres speakers:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5826061396&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5824955440&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

 

Im thinking about picking up the REF7541A reference amp since I saved a bit of money on the speakers. Provided I can find a good deal.

 

I do have a question about that though. The 2 5.25s are rated at 45watts RMS and 135watts Peak while the amp listed is 4x111watts. Thats within the range of the 5.25s however I dont want to drive them with something that far over thier RMS all the time as it might damage them correct?

 

If thats the case, whats the best way to limit the power going to these speakers. Ive heard resistors will create distortion.

[1990lumina]

however I dont want to drive them with something that far over thier RMS all the time as it might damage them correct?

 

Yes, continually driving them past their RMS rating isn't good. I found that out with my rear Kenwood 6x9s....

 

My setup is Kenwood 6x9 3 ways in the back and 4" JL's in the front...I'm amplifying all 4 with a Clarion APA450 amp...it sounds decent.

 

The whole set up costed less then $500 cdn

[ToroToro]

That's 111w RMS??? That's too much for those speakers if that's the case...

 

I had those Reference 5.25s in my car/cars for a couple years...driven off a 50w RMS X 2 amp. Mysteriously one of the speakers wont play anymore, so I'm not all that impressed with the Infinitys myself. I really didn't run them hard either, but whatever. I'm mounting 4X6 Pioneers in the car now....running out of money to piss away on car audio.

 

I will say that those Infinitys sounded incredible though.

[manitcor]

ive been told that bringing the gain down on the amp will keep from toasting the front speakers, though I dont think Ill be able to control gain per channel with the amp im looking at so Ill have to bump the power down on all the speakers or run 2 different amps which is a PITA for such a small setup.

 

Ill see, im just going to install the speakers now and see how I like the sound then figure out the amp later.