$300ish Speaker Budget. Suggestions?

[DaViper]

Ok, so I just ordered an Alpine CDA-9856 from crutchfield and will be installing it this weekend. I already have a Kicker Solobaric S10L5 powered by a Kicker Kx400.1, so I'm all set for bass at the moment, since I have more than enough bass for what I need. My question is, what will be the best way for me to improve my sound quality, and get a little more volume than my stock stereo?

My budget is about $300, $400 at the max if I have to. I'm guessing that people will tell me not to amplify them for this budget, but I'm okay with maybe amplifying them down the road when I want to put a little more money into the car (if it'll make a big difference).

In the past, I always seemed to like the Alpine Type-S speakers at circuit city (when they used to carry them) and tweeter, but it seems that crutchfield doesn't show them fitting in my car. They do show the type-r's fitting, but wouldn't they have to be amplified to get good sound out of them? Lastly, I've noticed a lot of people talking about Infinity 6810cs front components, but I've never heard them in person. Please let me know hat you think my best options for replacement speakers are. Although people say that rear speakers are useless, I often have friends in the backseat that would like the volume, and I'm not trying to make my system win any competitions or anything like that. I know many people will say to go and listen to them, and I plan to, but I'd appreciate some advice first before I go to the stores without any guidance.

As a reminder, at first I will only be powering these with the Alpine CDA-9856
I don't mind spending $200-300 for an amplifier later to amplify the speakers (cost is without wiring)

Your help is greatly appreciated!
-DaViper

 

[chuyler1]

Regardless of what Crutchfield says. 99% of 6x8 and 5x7 speakers will fit in the Protege/Protege5 front doors. 6.5" and 5.25" will also fit if you build a baffle to mount them with. See this how-to for details on installing 6.5" speakers

Now for your $300 budget, the JL Audio XR570CSi 5x7 component speakers would be a great choice. WoofersEtc has them for under $300 but I DO NOT recommend buying from them. Instead, find a local JL dealer by going to JL Audio's website and make a visit to listen to them.

 

[DaViper]

Regardless of what Crutchfield says. 99% of 6x8 and 5x7 speakers will fit in the Protege/Protege5 front doors. 6.5" and 5.25" will also fit if you build a baffle to mount them with. See this how-to for details on installing 6.5" speakers

Now for your $300 budget, the JL Audio XR570CSi 5x7 component speakers would be a great choice. WoofersEtc has them for under $300 but I DO NOT recommend buying from them. Instead, find a local JL dealer by going to JL Audio's website and make a visit to listen to them.

Oddly enough I just came back from tweeter and read your message after. I ended up getting a pair of JL Audio TR570-CXI's for the front and a pair of TR650-CXI's for the rear. They were on sale and the total came to $243.50 . What do you think of these speakers? I liked the way they sounded in the store unamplified with the deck that I'll be putting in, but I didn't see the xr's there. The salesperson seemed to think that I wouldn't need to amplify the speakers for what I want, and that if I weren't going to amplify them I wouldn't need the xr's, which are made for more power. Was he right?

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[Drake13]

well... This is what I got into mine

System:
2 10" 1800watt FUBR-10 Power Acoustik
LT980/2 980watts Hyper Bass Series Power Acoustik Amp
Street Wires amp kit.
Pro Box (Sealed)
2.0 Fard Power Acoustik Cap.
2 Infinity Reference 6" x 9" 3-Way Car Speakers w/ Plus One Polypropylene Cones
2 Infinity Reference 6-1/2" 2-Way Car Speaker with Plus One Polypropylene Cone
Jensen MP8610BT MP3/CD Player Featuring Bluetooth Technology... thats right.



I highly recommend Infinity for your highs. They are very crisp, but you won't ever get the full effect out of them unless until you ditch your stock sterio. I'd recommend finding a friend who gots the " hook up " and buy a CD player of him/her for cheap to get you by and get you some Infinitys.

 

[chuyler1]

The XRs can handle more power, yes. But they also sound better under any amount of power. I would have just bought one pair of XRs with your budget and skipped rear speakers (you don't need them). The XRs will sound fine under head unit power in the meantime but will really shine with external amplifier power. However, if you are happy with what you bought...don't let me stop you from installing everything. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

 

[Drake13]

Oh.. dont leave out pawn shop's.. they ALWAYS got good quality stuff because crack heads are always looking for cash

 

[DaViper]

I think I'll try them out and see how I like them, I have 30 days to bring them back. I'm guessing I'll be very happy with them since I liked the way they sounded in the store in the sound room, and I'd imagine they'd sound a lot better in a smaller space like my car, so they'll sound better when I install them. Thanks for your help though so far, I really appreciate it. I'll let everyone know how it goes after the install.

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[DaViper]

well... This is what I got into mine

System:
2 10" 1800watt FUBR-10 Power Acoustik
LT980/2 980watts Hyper Bass Series Power Acoustik Amp
Street Wires amp kit.
Pro Box (Sealed)
2.0 Fard Power Acoustik Cap.
2 Infinity Reference 6" x 9" 3-Way Car Speakers w/ Plus One Polypropylene Cones
2 Infinity Reference 6-1/2" 2-Way Car Speaker with Plus One Polypropylene Cone
Jensen MP8610BT MP3/CD Player Featuring Bluetooth Technology... thats right.



I highly recommend Infinity for your highs. They are very crisp, but you won't ever get the full effect out of them unless until you ditch your stock sterio. I'd recommend finding a friend who gots the " hook up " and buy a CD player of him/her for cheap to get you by and get you some Infinitys.

lol it sounds like you didn't even read my post. It looks like you like best buy a lot too

-Daviper

 

[Drake13]

well.. i kinda skimmed thru it. Ya i got my subs and amp from Best Buy but they tried to screw me on some warrenty along time ago so I just go there to "browse around" now. Good luck with the install.

 

[1sty]

JL Audio VR 625csi
Polk audio Momo MMC6500

 

[1sty]

Oddly enough I just came back from tweeter and read your message after. I ended up getting a pair of JL Audio TR570-CXI's for the front and a pair of TR650-CXI's for the rear. They were on sale and the total came to $243.50 . What do you think of these speakers? I liked the way they sounded in the store unamplified with the deck that I'll be putting in, but I didn't see the xr's there. The salesperson seemed to think that I wouldn't need to amplify the speakers for what I want, and that if I weren't going to amplify them I wouldn't need the xr's, which are made for more power. Was he right?

Thanks!
-DaViper

I would not suggest the XRs without an amp either. They are a well built speaker but really should have an amp to their intended work. For JL, I think you got the best speakers for you. I have run the VRs both amp powered and alpine head unit power that had V-Drive and both sounded nice. V Drive had a good amount more power then a factory deck though.

Also, I like the sound of the VRs better then the XRs. The XRs always had an overemphasis on the midrange to the point of being muddy. Thats just my ear though.

 

[DaViper]

Ok, I installed everything today...and wow was I dissapointed with the TR's. I didn't realize how loud I like to listen to music, and the speakers sounded just ok at quieter volumes, until when I turned the volume to 20 or higher, then there was serious distortion. I went back to Tweeter and the salesperson came out and listened in my car and said that this was normal for these speakers at that volume. He said that if I wanted louder and clearer I NEED an amplifier. So, I listened to the following setup, which he recommened that will expand the budget to about $500 now, but I definetily want something better than what I just installed. Here is what he recommened, and everything is on sale until Saturday (the package will cost about $500 without the wiring):

JBL P652 6.5" Coaxials for rear
JBL P8652 5x7" Coaxials for the front
JBL GTO75.4 II Amplifier

What do you think of this setup to go with my Alpine CDA-9856 and my Kicker Solobaric S10L5 powered by a Kicker KX400.1?

The salesperson at tweeter was very helpful, and the sound did seem best out of the JBL amp over the JL audio and Alpine one's, but I just want to make sure that the salesperson wasn't too biased with his oppinion of JBL (I tend to be very biased when it comes to Alpine head units so I can see why he might be the same to JBL). So, I guess the budget is now $500, including an amplifier. Also, the TR's had sounded pretty good in the listening room with the 9856 HU, so I want to make sure I'm not just liking the way they sound in the Tweeter sound room on Tweeter's powering rather than how it will ACTUALLY sound in my car.

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[chuyler1]

How about you focus on the front stage and get a set of components and an amp. The speakers he recommended are hardly an upgrade from the JL Audio ones you weren't satisfied with.

Try this on for size. Get a 2-channel amp that puts out 75-100w per channel. Here are some options:
Rockford Fosgate Punch P5002
Kicker ZX350.2
Rockford Fosgate Punch P450.2
MTX Thunder TC 4002
Kenwood KAC-7202
Infinity Reference 7521a

Then get a nice set of 6.5" or 5x7" components or coaxials for the front and forget about the rear. You should be able to do this and stay under $500.

 

[Poseur]

IF you're only concern for the rear seat is volume, TRUST me, rear seaters can hear a decent ly setup front stage just fine. I sit in the back of my car on occasion just out of curioisity and I'm rarely disappointed. even if you DO want to keep speakers back there, the stock ones are sufficient to add sound without too negatively affecting your front stage.

You're really getting into a level of audio here where you need to ditch preconceptions or else you'll wind up wasting alot of money on speakess that you should honestly never use not to mention amplified power for them.
FRONT STAGE=good. ONE good pair of speakers is what you want. it is called "STEREO" afterall. Perhaps you can hookup with someone locally who's got a heavy front-staged setup for you to wrap your ears around.

Any salesman who's preaching 4 speakers at you if you're on a budget looking for good sound is NOT truely into SQ. So I'd really not listen to much of what he has to say, instead listen to speakers with your ears and as few preconceptions as you can manage. Hopefully with familiar music, etc.

Broken record time:
ONE good set of components, and a decent 50-100wRMS 2channel amp and you're good. Keeping this within your 5 bill budget while still gettign decent quality equiptment shouldn't be that difficult.

 

[1sty]

one thing to keep in mind is that JBL is new to tweeter and per there common marketing tactics, that salesmen is very likely making a direct bonus from JBL for selling their products.

As an example of this, when i worked there, we got $50 from polk directly for selling there signature reference adn if we sold like 6 pairs, we got a pair free. This was actualy benifical to everyone as in my opinion it was the best speaker we had compared to the $1000 focals. So the other side is that he may actualy really like the JBL product, I don't. Also the JBL amp is probably cheaper then its JL and Alpine counter part.

If this was my $500 I would do a set of JL audio VR650csi and an alpine MRPF250 bridged to them for butt loads of power. I would not bother with the rear speakers. Leave the stocks in the rear off the deck.

 

[DaViper]

If this was my $500 I would do a set of JL audio VR650csi and an alpine MRPF250 bridged to them for butt loads of power. I would not bother with the rear speakers. Leave the stocks in the rear off the deck.

I think I'm going to give this setup a try. I agree with you about the possible JBL incentive, I was worried that that might have been the case since he basically didn't even consider any other system in the room (whereas most honest salespeople have told me to listen to them all and choose what my ears like best, which they said would probably be the Alpine's JL's or Polks or something). I think you are both right about the rear speakers, as long as the fronts are loud and great quality, that's all I need as long as I leave the stock ones in the rear. All I basically hear right now are the front speakers with my stock rear ones in the back anyways. I'll probably stop by Tweeter tomorrow afternoon and exchange the two sets of speakers and get the Alpine MRPF250 and a pair of VR650csi's. Are there adapter plates I can buy to put the 6.5" speakers up front (I don't really want to make them myself)? And can I put the tweeter for these speakers in place of where the stock ones are?

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[1sty]

I think its your want for rear speakers that made them go JBL as no other products were going to do it for that price. Then again, I dont know the price of the amp.

What I do know is that the car audio guys dont make crap these days on products and the only way they make money is to bundle. So if I sell 2 sets of speakers and an amp, then I get 5.5% commision instead of 4% where as 1 speaker set and an amp is only 4%. Also JBL probably has a bunch more profit in them then JL or alpine which have much less mark up as alpine and Jl knows people will sell them just to have the option.

Tweeter actuayl had a major shift this year. They were $10/hour + 1/2 commision, so there was no huge driving force to not sell the best product. Now that they are completely back on commision, salesguys ahve to sell the highest profit and most bundled products they can.

ALOT of there sales guys said F-this and left a few month ago when they made the changes.

 

[chuyler1]

I agree with 1sty. For him to switch brands that quickly on you is odd. The only other explanation would be that he knows you think you want an amp and 4 speakers so the only way to sell that to you is to drop a rung on the quality scale to fit everything into your budget.

...but as everyone else has tried to hammer in, you only need one set of speakers and a 2-channel amp. When you set the crossover on the amp to high-pass the speakers you will be able to crank them with little to no distortion. Your subwoofer will be set to lowpass and you'll get nice even sound and a great sound stage in front of you (instead of behind you or on the floor).

 

[Chiguy_2002]

I would agree with only needing one good set of components and an amp. Also settings and crossover points come to mind to me in this scenario, I don't know of any full range speakers to distort at volume, unless you try to pump some bass though them which they are not really made to handle. The speakers should be crossed over at a point where no deep bass goes through them, as well as not having the bass or loudness turned on the head unit, that will create distortion as well. The amp will help, but the speakers still need to be crossed over...

 

[DaViper]

Tweeter actuayl had a major shift this year. They were $10/hour + 1/2 commision, so there was no huge driving force to not sell the best product. Now that they are completely back on commision, salesguys ahve to sell the highest profit and most bundled products they can.

ALOT of there sales guys said F-this and left a few month ago when they made the changes.

Yea, I went to tweeter a bunch of times last year when my friend had some subswoofers put in there with a cleansweep etc. We got to know the people there kind of since we went so much. When I went in the other day the salesperson told us that everyone basically went down the street at circuit city, where they make much more money. I've gotta say if tweeter's installers are working at circuit city then circuit city's installation quality must be better than I thought.

So how do I go about mounting these speakers? Can I buy an adapter plate for the fronts and put the tweeters up in the stock tweeter location? I just read chuyler's how-to (great write-up!) but if I could just buy some instead of having to mkae them I'd prefer that. Does anyone know where they sell them at a store or online?

Thanks!
-DaViper