Resident Stereo Expert?

I have a question for the resident stereo expert. I took my New Xterra apart tonight to see how it worked. I noticed the front speakers are part of a molded housing and that the speakers are 2ohm units. I have the 6 disc cd changer and I believe it came with a factory Rockford Fosgate 210 watt amp.

The stock Clarion speakers excellent for stock units and I was suprised to find they were polypropolene cones, but I'm wanting a little more sound quality. I'm wanting to upgrade the stock speakers to 3 way units to give more sound dispersion. I don't want anything super loud, just something with crispness. I'll likely go with some Kenwood units I saw today at Circuit City. They had three-way 6x9s (rear) and 6.5" (front).

Talking to some of the stereo guys at Circuit City, they told me that with the factory speakers being 2ohm units, I will loose 50% of my power when I upgrade the speakers as aftermarket speakers are 4ohm. The amp is expecting to push a 2ohm speaker, so they said I can either live with the loss, bypass the amp, or buy a new 4ohm amp. I really don't want to get into all that. I just wanna pop the new speakers in. Does anyone know where the factory amp is and whether or not is has a 2ohm/4ohm selector?

Finally, the rear speakers seemed to be glued into place. Are they hard to remove? The front speakers were inside a plastic housing. Does anyone know if there is an aftermarket adapter to make the new speakers fit?

Thanks in advance.

I just sent XXXTerra a PM.

He is the knows his stuff.
If you are bored have a look at his stereo setup:

http://www.xxxterra.ca/stereo.htm

I think the amp is built-in power from the head unit, but I could be wrong. Although 2 and 3 way speakers are convenient, you may run into space issues. The stock grille is part of the door and will not allow for too much flex. I would suggest a decent pair of component speakers that include a 6 1/2" and tweeter. This will deliver a better sound and no modifications required. The black housing in the front doors is only there to hold the speaker in place and far enough from the window track, if the new speakers come with a different mount pattern don't worry about making new holes in the housing.
The rear speakers have even less room to play with, I did not even bother. All you have to do is remove the rear panel, unscrew the speaker and use a flat head to pry the 2 sided tape off the metal.

Originally posted by XXXTERRA
I think the amp is built-in power from the head unit, but I could be wrong. Although 2 and 3 way speakers are convenient, you may run into space issues. The stock grille is part of the door and will not allow for too much flex. I would suggest a decent pair of component speakers that include a 6 1/2" and tweeter. This will deliver a better sound and no modifications required. The black housing in the front doors is only there to hold the speaker in place and far enough from the window track, if the new speakers come with a different mount pattern don't worry about making new holes in the housing.
The rear speakers have even less room to play with, I did not even bother. All you have to do is remove the rear panel, unscrew the speaker and use a flat head to pry the 2 sided tape off the metal.

My 2002 came with tweeter pods mounted in the column by the "oh shit" handle. I was just used to the 3 way Kenwood's I had in my truck. They separated the sounds out a little more. I talked to another stereo place tonight and the guy said going to an aftermarket 3 way would be a problem due to the stock amp. He said that if the only reason I was upgrading was just to put a 3 way in, that it wasn't worth the effort as the difference would be negligible. Maybe he's right.

The Kenwood speakers I looked at appear as if they would easity fit, I'm just concerned about the amp. I've never dealt with amps or anything and know very little about car stereos other than they can get $$ quick.

The speakers I'm looking at can be seen Here (http://www.circuitcity.com/ewebIMa/detail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1991136645.1016327454@ @@@&BV_EngineID=ccdjadcejfddjmkcfngcfkmdffhdffk.0&bookmark=bookmark_27&oid=20751) and Here (http://www.circuitcity.com/ewebIMa/detail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1991136645.1016327454@ @@@&BV_EngineID=ccdjadcejfddjmkcfngcfkmdffhdffk.0&bookmark=bookmark_38&oid=19524). I'm sure these are nothing compared to what you're used to....but I'm just looking for a little more cripsness. If it ends up being too much hassle I'll just keep the stock system since it's quite adequate.

Comments?

Your links have some sort of timed out error.

I'm not familiar with the 2002 head unit, but many people have done simple upgardes without adding an amp. The amp will not have a 2/ 4 ohm switch as this is determined by how you wire your speakers. I understand about carrying equipment over, that's what I did with my sub, but I would still advice a component set to avoid the power loss issue. There are some quality speakers in all price ranges. I would spend more on the front speakers rather than the rear, think of the rear as filler. Maybe you can sell the 3 ways.

As far as the brackets for the front speakers, crutchfield has them. The A pillar tweeter are really easy to get to. I would also recommend going with separates and if you want cleaner sound, an amp is definitely the way to go. The reason is that you can control the gain so you never distort the sound no matter what volume you are at. Most if not all head units are really meant to be used at higher than 3/4 volume. Higher and they distort. That'll blow a car speaker quick. I don't really like 2 way and 3 way speakers because it has to try and produce accurate sound in one speaker. Look at home speakers. You have a separate woofer, midrange and tweeter. Cars are the same. And to add to that, if you are at a concert, most of the mid range and tweeter sound is coming from right in front of you with some echo as rear fill. That's the soundstage. Your front speakers are far more important than the rears. A good 6x9 for rear fill with some good low end sound would complete the soundstage. Remember a simple rule. The higher the frequency the more directional it is. That's why the tweeters are in the A pillars.

I put a new head unit, amp, front speakers and a small sealed 10" sub box I built in my 2002 Xterra XE and it sounds alot better and cleaner than the stock unit.

I'm not sure about any of this, I'm only hazzarding a guess. The front speakers may be wired in series, which is why they would be 2-ohm. For those of you who are non-electrical minded, resistance adds in series so to the amp, it would look just like one 4-ohm speaker. As far as the amp, I think its right under the head-unit since I don't have that little storage area right under the radio.

Be careful with the speakers you pick, although they were designed by Rockford Fosgate, they are pretty compact. Last I looked on Crutchfield.com they didn't have any component sets that would fit, I believe because of space restrictions. Most of the component sets come with passive crossovers which will help the sound quality significantly. Also, the front speakers are 6-3/4" not 6.5, so if you get 6.5 speakers you'll need an adapter plate. Though many manufacturers are now making 6-3/4" speakers. Just have to find a set that will fit.