Car stereo Speakers

[Ronflugelguy]

I'm looking right now for speakers to complement my Eclispe Deck and my sony poweramp, that I just recently bought. JL Audio, Eclispe, or Infinity?

[Sckott]

Infinity. Just keep away from Pioneer and Sony speakers as of late..... sheesh.

[Cliff]

I've heard great things about Eclipse Seperates, from a few friends in the industry. If/when I do my car, that's what I'll go with...

[Aquateen]

I have Infinity reference and LOVE them. You might want to look at Polks or elsewhere if you have or going to add a sub. If not Infintys have really nice low end.

[joelee]

Boston Acoustics or Polk. I'm not a fan of sub woofers though.

[Kevin Farley]

You can get Morel, A/D/S, Dynaudio, Seas, Vifa, and other excellent audiophile High End speakers from places like Madisound. You're not limited to commercial offerings...

[Cliff]

Originally posted by joelee
Boston Acoustics or Polk. I'm not a fan of sub woofers though.

Have Polk Audio changed their tweeters recently? They are one of the reasons I stopped upgrading my car systems, and moved into the world of home audio. Those tri-metal tweeters killed my ears :eek:

[-=Rudy=-]

Tri-metal tweeters?? Ouch! That sounds more like S&M done via speakers!! ;) My Polks, all early 90's vintage or earlier, have the mylar dome tweeters. Very nice, even after all these years. I haven't shopped for car stereo speakers in many years...in fact, I bought my Polks unheard via mail order and never was disappointed. I wouldn't mind trying some Boston Acoustics either. MB Quart used to have a good reputation as well, but not having shopped, I don't even know if they're around anymore.

Definitely consider a sub. I rolled my own, using two 10" woofers in a ported cabinet. In the trunk, I have usable response down to 30Hz. :D The sub gives you "meat" that you just can't get from even 6X9's. Plenty of power too. You needn't "boom" the whole 'hood to get good bass either. ;)

I'm considering getting one of those 1-farad capacitors to keep the voltage up. Especially on the subwoofer amp. Can't wait to get that system back on the road one of these days!

[thxdave]

I had to look at a SH**LOAD of speakers to replace my 7 year old set of a/d/s separates before I settled on Dynaudio. Silk dome tweeters, dome midranges and solid woofers. I'm running them bi-amped with a/d/s amps and love it.

d

[-=Rudy=-]

Dynaudio makes car speakers now??? Interesting. I'll have to check that out!

[thxdave]

They've been at it for a while, apparently. Here's a link to the page with my 3-ways:
http://www.dynaudiona.com/products/car/3way.htm

dave

[Cliff]

Originally posted by Rudy@A&MCorner
Tri-metal tweeters?? Ouch! That sounds more like S&M done via speakers!! ;) My Polks, all early 90's vintage or earlier, have the mylar dome tweeters. Very nice, even after all these years. I haven't shopped for car stereo speakers in many years...in fact, I bought my Polks unheard via mail order and never was disappointed. I wouldn't mind trying some Boston Acoustics either. MB Quart used to have a good reputation as well, but not having shopped, I don't even know if they're around anymore.

Definitely consider a sub. I rolled my own, using two 10" woofers in a ported cabinet. In the trunk, I have usable response down to 30Hz. :D The sub gives you "meat" that you just can't get from even 6X9's. Plenty of power too. You needn't "boom" the whole 'hood to get good bass either. ;)

I'm considering getting one of those 1-farad capacitors to keep the voltage up. Especially on the subwoofer amp. Can't wait to get that system back on the road one of these days!

Actually, I was slightly wrong in the type of Polk Tweeters I had. It's not trimetal, but "tri-laminate metal". I believe it's only two metals - aluminum and stainless steel. Sorry to mis-quote (it's been 10 years since I bought them).

I bought MB Quart Seperates after the Polks, and they were a dramatic improvement. But, they had titanium domed tweeters, so they were still harsh at loud volume levels (now I know better since going mid-fi home audio). Boston Acoustics, I remember, had silk domes. I'd love to hear how those sound currently.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by Cliff


Actually, I was slightly wrong in the type of Polk Tweeters I had. It's not trimetal, but "tri-laminate metal". I believe it's only two metals - aluminum and stainless steel. Sorry to mis-quote (it's been 10 years since I bought them).

I bought MB Quart Seperates after the Polks, and they were a dramatic improvement. But, they had titanium domed tweeters, so they were still harsh at loud volume levels (now I know better since going mid-fi home audio). Boston Acoustics, I remember, had silk domes. I'd love to hear how those sound currently.

No problem on the mis-quote--just the thought of metal in *any* speaker driver gives me impressions of fingernails on a blackboard. ;)

For the FX "Full Range" series, Boston is saying "soft dome tweeter". I actually just found a driver I might be able to use--they have a model FX6-H (the "H" is for Honda). Their others are showing a "Kortec" dome tweeter. Whatever that means. The "Pro" series uses an aluminum dome tweeter. :(

I found my Polks yesterday--still trying to figure out how to fit them in the stock location in my CR-V...the baskets are slightly larger, and I'm not doing any cutting. A large, thick gasket would be perfect. :)

[thxdave]

On my way to the Dynaudio's, I went through the current line of a/d/s separates (not as smooth as my old set), Boston Acoustics (harsh metal-domed tweeters), Diamond Audio (again, harsh mid-range) until I ordered the Dyn's without even hearing them. Unfortunately, when you get up to the price of the Dyn's and the Morels, you have a hard time finding any local shops that carry them. Most of the "kids" are looking for more BOOM than detail. I got very lucky with the Dyns and eventually got the bi-amp version of the crossovers. I'm also running a Stealthbox sub and a Nakamichi CD-700 head unit....and that's another story in itself. Here's a "hidden" page on my website showing how I built some door pods for my Boston's and what I went through to find the best imaging spot for my tweeters...just substitute the Dynaudio set for the Bostons.

http://www.morrisonphotographics.com/caraudio

dave

[JohnG]

I use Boston RM speakers all around my Camry with a Phoenix Gold amp and a Kicker sub powered by its own Kicker amp. Sony head-unit and cd changer. A Pioneer EQ is set up between the head-unit and the speakers including control of the subwoofer's frequencies.

Nice little system.

For speakers I hear JL Audio and Infinity's are fine.

If you can afford Focal's or Dynaudio, go for them.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by JohnG
I use Boston RM speakers all around my Camry ...

What type of tweeter? Those are listed as "Kortec" tweeters in Boston's specs. Can't really tell, but it doesn't look like a metal tweeter.

[JohnG]

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/images/4x4/RM9.JPG

Yes, its called a Kortec tweeter. Guess its kind of a cross between silk domed and a metal tweeter.

Sounds very nice. These RM9's and 6's are the best speakers I have ever had in a car.
For my next new car I would like to try a complete Focal package including subwoofer.
My present car (the Camry) is 11 years old so until I can afford the next one....

[-=Rudy=-]

I hear ya on the aging automobile. I'm still trying to figure out why I have FOUR cars, and there's only ONE of me living here! :D Two are inherited. I'm waiting to settle Dad's estate before cleaning out the driveway and getting something new. ;) I'm leaning toward a Honda Pilot. I'll most likely have to stick with the in-dash, but they do offer a subwoofer (Kelton Bassworks?) that is made for a custom fit in that vehicle. I can always swap in new speakers on all four corners, but I don't know if I have the energy to do my all-out treatment with the high-wattage amps and take apart part of the interior of a new car. ;)

[Gary Freed]

Hi Ron,

We have the EClipse system in our car

Head Unit Eclipse 8061
Amp 3244
Speakers Eliclipse Component Fronts 6 1/2" Woofer w/ separate tweeter
Eclipse Coax 6 x 9 in rear

The Eclipse crossovers are excellent audiophile grade so we decided to match everything. The speakers sound very good with the high current head unit.

All the best,

Gary

[YaQuin]

Originally posted by Sckott
Infinity. Just keep away from Pioneer and Sony speakers as of late..... sheesh.

Ditto Sckott, Infinity is mighty fine. Hightly detailed and accurate. Watch what amp you use though, as they are very revealing.

[petzi]

Folks,

if you are looking for the very best tweeter for car use, check this out:

http://www.d-s-t.com/scs/data/d2904_600000b.htm (with grille)
http://www.d-s-t.com/scs/data/d2904_6000-01a.htm (without grille)
http://www.d-s-t.com/scs/index.htm

You should expect to pay something like $350 - $400 for a pair though.

[David P. Hill]

Check out these speakers: http://www.focal-america.com/support/tn45xo.htm
I have the tweeters and midrange Focal setup and two 10" Focal subwoofer I have them hooked up to Eclipse cd player.

[Ronflugelguy]

Ended up getting JL Audio speakers. Just got them in today and they sound fine. I may end up putting a sub in, but i don't want to lose my storage space under one of my backseats in the extra cab. They do sound good though!

[-=Rudy=-]

I'm eyeballing a Bazooka EL6A tube sub for the CR-V...it's the only thing that will fit in the well under the rear deck. The EL8A is just an inch too large in its smallest dimension to fit. Gotta be stealthy since I'm going to be hauling a lot and there isn't a lot of room back there. Trying to retrofit my Polk 6-1/2" speakers to the existing speaker mounts right now...if they were a little more shallow, it wouldn't be a problem.

[Ronflugelguy]

Ended up adding a JL sub to my system, with a 250 watt JL Sub amp. Its in a special enclosure made for the Tacoma extra cab,It sits between the two backseats and fires down. Acts as an armrest and looks like it came with the truck. Really fills out the sound of the system.Its what was missing, the fundamental bass tones.:cool:


BTW: BUMP