infinity kappa speakers?

hey i was wondering what everyone thought of infinity kappa speakers if you have heard them. i am thinking about getting them and was just wondering. thanks

they sound pretty nice. not the best, but its alright. u should be happy with it if you're just looking to replace stock speakers.

what would you consider "the best"?

Originally posted by GSteg
they sound pretty nice. not the best, but its alright. u should be happy with it if you're just looking to replace stock speakers.

Alright? Have you heard Kappas? Would you consider $250 speakers "alright?" Kappas are AWESOME speakers, they have great sound, and an excellent design. I have Infinity Referance series speakers all throughout my car, and I love them. Not as good as Kappas, but they do have some better features, such as higher efficiency ratings which mean they will play louder with less power. That's always a good thing, especially in car speakers. Kappas are great, but I'd personally get the Referance models. They are just as good in sound, but cheaper, and more efficient like I said. I could have gotten a FULL set (fronts and rears) of Kappas for under $120 but I got the referance because things of them just sppealed to me more. Plus you can't beat $61 for a full set of speakers, and it helps having a cousin that works for Harmon Int'l. :tongue:

GSTeg, what would be exceptional speakers if Kappas are just "alright" for replacement speakers? :rolleyes:

WOW ... something I can sink my teeth into

Firstly, unlike pretty much all of the other components in you system - speakers DEFINITELY have different sounds too them. The most important part of a stereo system (IMHO) are the spekers and how they are installed. No amount of electronic twiddling can make up for crappy speakers or poor placement. If you're gonna overspend - this is the place to do it if you want good sounds.

Some of my favorites:
Boston Acoustic Pro series
Focal (most of them)
ADS
Infinty reference

I think the next pair of mid/tweets I get will be CDT - I have heard a lot of good things about them, but I have never actually listened to them

My advice when buying speakers ...... LISTEN to to them, see what they sound like in YOUR car. You have to listen to it everyday, might as well make it sound good to you.

Originally posted by PaulD
WOW ... something I can sink my teeth into

My advice when buying speakers ...... LISTEN to to them, see what they sound like in YOUR car. You have to listen to it everyday, might as well make it sound good to you.

I couldn't agree more, thanks PaulD. :cool:

What sounds good to one ear, won't nessacerily to the next, but I CAN assure you Kappas aren't just "alright." My personal favs that I've heard are:

Infinity Referance
Alpine Type S and R
Eclipse
Pioneer

Kenwood suck IMO. My sis's Civic has some and they are terrible, not to mention crappy bass response, and a Wrangler my parents recently bought which had a crappy Sony Xplode HU to begin with, had Kenwood speakers front and back, and they get all crackily at even half volumes. They aren't blown, they just are that bad. Also a combo of a crappy sound signal from the Sony HU.

Kenwood's are good when they are nearly free. :wink: When i first bought my car it had Kenwood's up front and tweeters, but the stock 6x9's in the rear. Go figure. One of the first things i did was take my car to one of the local stereo shops that's featured in the local PennySaver catalog. :rolleyes: To my suprise a guy from my h.s. worked there. The dude pointed to an opened box of kenwood's in the garage area that had been left there and were collecting dust. After i got them home i found out that they were the latest model of kenwood's available and they cheap either. About a month ago i hooked up a small Eclipse amp that i had lying around to those 6x9's. Oh that was fun. They still hold up and are ok imo to replace the stock one's. I haven't heard too many other's, but it's not like kenwood's are totally crap. By chance the same guy that worked at the stereo place passed by the other day. I can't remember what he had in his jallopy, but he did mention the infinity kappa's and Alpine. Which ever he had sounded worth the money.

Originally posted by SilverY2KCivic
[B]

Alright? Have you heard Kappas? Would you consider $250 speakers "alright?" Kappas are AWESOME speakers, they have great sound, and an excellent design. I have Infinity Referance series speakers all throughout my car, and I love them.

i'm glad they sound good to you. they sound alright to me. price does not reflect performance. most people from other forum knows i have a thing for SQ, but that shouldn't influence anyone's decision.

i first had CDT audio cambria components and they were pretty damn good. then switch to the high defintion. loved it, but sold it. thats only good to my ears.

maybe its because i demand more SQ than most consumers? believe me though, to my ears, the kappas does not touch speakers i have listened to in the past. but again, thats just me. maybe i don't like the infinity tweeters? maybe because i don't think the kappas has enough depth to it? heck..some people even praised pioneer speakers as the best in the world. more power to them.

maybe my first post up there should have said.."listened with your ears". but i did voice my opinion which i'm entitled to.

not saying infinity isn't good or anything, but there are so much more brands out there i believe would be better for the price. (again..voicing own opinion)

Of course. To each their own as I said. Price doesn't always affect how it's gonna sound, but they WILL certainly sound better than bargin basement speakers or ones that cost a fraction of the price, that much I'm sure you can agree to. Considering your sig is true about your age, my ears have 8 more years of SQ experience than yours, meaning I've heard quite a bit more systems and speakers than you, and am one of the most audiophilic people that my friends know of. I take sound quality very seriously, and I don't usually settle for just standard. I also don't like to overpay for what I get either. ;) Also keep in mind, what you hear at a shop or store, is almost never how it'll end up sounding in your car. That's also true of home audio as well as professional audio systems as well. Each car differs in it's accoustics, and a tiny cube of a space Al & Ed's or Best Buy sets up for speakers is about the worst thing you can listen to them in, although it'll give you a general idea of how each will sound. Also speaker size makes a huge differance too, as well as how they are mounted.

Originally posted by whiteracer
After i got them home i found out that they were the latest model of kenwood's available and they cheap either. About a month ago i hooked up a small Eclipse amp that i had lying around to those 6x9's. Oh that was fun. They still hold up and are ok imo to replace the stock one's. I haven't heard too many other's, but it's not like kenwood's are totally crap. By chance the same guy that worked at the stereo place passed by the other day. I can't remember what he had in his jallopy, but he did mention the infinity kappa's and Alpine. Which ever he had sounded worth the money.

True enough on the Kenwoods, but the ones I've heard in action in cars have not sounded all that good. Yeah the ones I've heard have been various models of "6.5's but still, the ones of now-a-day don't seem to sound any better than the ones of 8 years ago from what I have experienced by hearing.

Of course. To each their own as I said. Price doesn't always affect how it's gonna sound, but they WILL certainly sound better than bargin basement speakers or ones that cost a fraction of the price, that much I'm sure you can agree to.

what do you mean by bargain basement speakers? speakers that are homemade? if so, then do not agree. why? because i have made speakers in the past a couple of times and i say they sound much better than your average best buy speakers. most speakers cost about $15 to make anyways. manufactors and dealers rack up the prices all the time.


Considering your sig is true about your age, my ears have 8 more years of SQ experience than yours, meaning I've heard quite a bit more systems and speakers than you, and am one of the most audiophilic people that my friends know of.

age is nothing but a number.

example 1..my good friend dustin from caraudio.com 16 years old. many people have more experience than he does (obviously). 2 12" SI magnum with a single EQ d2. SPL score? 147.6db on a linearX (equivalent to ~156db on an AC mic). enough to take home 1st place trophy. if thats not enough, then taking home the record for his class in the NSPL (which he just broke his own) has to be something. not to mention from all the records he broke (all 3 of them), he used SQ subs, not SPL or SQL or whatever. straight SQ. expecience? not really as long (probably 1 or 2 years). 10% equipment, 45% install, 45% knowledge.

example 2..nick morgan. 18 years old. countless of state SPL records. one of the well known guys around the forums.

point is i there are soooo many more people out there that are just like those 2. i can keep on going forever.

I take sound quality very seriously, and I don't usually settle for just standard. I also don't like to overpay for what I get either.

i don't settle for standards also. by the way, what's included in your setup and where do you put your speakers in? doors or kicks? i also don't like overpaying, thats why its nice when u know a lot of people in the industry.


Also keep in mind, what you hear at a shop or store, is almost never how it'll end up sounding in your car. That's also true of home audio as well as professional audio systems as well. Each car differs in it's accoustics, and a tiny cube of a space Al & Ed's or Best Buy sets up for speakers is about the worst thing you can listen to them in, although it'll give you a general idea of how each will sound

agreed. thats why i like crutchfield's service so much. they actually let you try it in you car for 30-day and if u don't like it, send it back and they will reimburse you for shipping. big ups to him.

Also speaker size makes a huge differance too, as well as how they are mounted.

what do you mean by speakers size?

also, don't think this is a flame. i love these kinds of debates. i enjoy talking back and forth about car audio.

Originally posted by GSteg
also, don't think this is a flame. i love these kinds of debates. i enjoy talking back and forth about car audio.

It's all good, I do too. :)


To my understanding, db soundoffs don't take sound quality into consideration since you simply put a constant tone through the speakers for a given amount of time. A top of the line system (one you could play a GOOD recording of first quality classical music on) and get near concert like results isn't gonna win any soundoff. ;) Putting together amps and hooking speakers for a predetermined tone doesn't require the speakers needed to playback a good song soundtrack. But since I don't do soundoffs, I'm not sure what all is involved in them.

As for my system, it's not the best by any means, but it sounds awesome for what it is, and it pleases my ears, that's mission accomplished right there. :) Oh, and I only paid about $500 total for it all too, hookups are a grand thing, and not shop hook ups, direct manufacture hookups. My system uses Infinity Referance all around, "6.5 fronts, and "6x9 rears, front are 2-way, rear are 3-way. I figured the front mid of the 3-way version wouldn't do as much justice as the mid of the rears, so I opted for the 2-way front instead. All are mounted in stock locations, doors in front, and rears on the shelf deck. Those all hooked up to my Alpine HU, and then I have a "10 Pioneer IMPP sub hooked to an Infinity 300w amp, which is controlled off the HU. The amp is actually a European spec model as they stopped manking amps for the US in '99. It's a 2002 model amp. Right now I'm waiting till the end of the year when I can get a JBL 4-channel amp for my 4 main channel speakers for better quality. Why wait? It'll be the differance between paying retail for it, or 75% less. ;) Industry hookups like you mentioned. My cousin works for Harman Int'l.

My expereiance is all about even across. The installation is a no brainer if you know simple electronics and how to hook stuff up. Also tearing your interior up for projects gives you the knowledge on that end of the installation side. I've worked with audio equipment ever since I was a kid, and I LOVE messing around with my uncle's $25k Conrad Johnson stereo system whenever i happen to be at his house. I can tell you for a fact, records (vinyl) DOES sound better than CDs when played through the right equipment. :cool: Might have to figure out a way to specially shock mount a VPI TNT2 turntable in the trunk of my car, haha, I wish!

Oh, and by bargn basement speakers, I mean the cheap $9-$20 OEM style ones that places like Best Buy sell, or cheap under $50 speakers that other places sell. I heave yet to hear an actual home made speaker. I DO have a friend though with a huge "30 driver unit that his brother aquired from Cal-Tech that they used for testing purposes. Talk about a serious speaker! Imagine the damage that thing would do at a soundoff. hehe

kappas are aswome speakers but i heard you need an amp to make them actually sound good, i got boston accustics pro series in my truck and they are not as good as kappa's but cost alot less
but they are aswome clear sounding speakers

thanks for everyones replys you are giving me a good idea of how they measure up to other speakers. keep on sending your opinions, thanks

i know SPL doesn't really have anything to do with SQ, but they don't have much experience as say nathan munson or loyd lorwy. taking a SQ sub and farting it to bring him state/national records has to be something.

or SQ wise. leon (from another forum) just competed in a comp. took hom first place using home-made crossovers, scan-speak midrange, and a pair of tweeters for $25. there goes the price arguement. all for under $250. he's been taking him many seconds place too. not bad considering he's around 19 or 20. eh..can't remember. u can ask him...he'll vouch me as big SQ-junkie. lol.

looks like u have the infinity beta amp. those pretty darn expensive back then. too bad infinity discontinued it. :bloated:

but what did you mean by cone size? to my knowledge, speaker size isn't really that important.:confused:

I'm down with GSteg. Infinity makes some good speakers. Good bang for the buck. As far as their stuff being considered "the best"...give me a break. I like Infinity speakers and have recommended and used them many times in the past. But if you think Infinity Kappas or Reference are anywhere near the best sounding speakers on the market, you need to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE and go listen to some other brands. There are plenty of mfgs. out there producing far superior product to Infinity. Listen to Focal or Rainbow or CDT Audio or Boston Acoustics Pro Series or Dynaudio. Granted, most of it is more expensive (however I did pick up my CDT HD-642 3-way components for $279). Infinity has it's place in the middle of the market.
Someone mentioned something about Boston Acoustics Pro Series being not as good as Infinity Kappas. It's your opinion and, as such, I respect that but I don't think you'll find many SQ guys out there who will agree with that. Also, I would have a hard time finding Boston Pros cheaper than Infinity Kappas. Perhaps you were referring to Boston Rally Series or something. Regarding efficiency ratings, most high end speakers have lower efficiency ratings. That certainly doesn't mean the lower the better. That means that you should pretty much ignore efficiency ratings when comparing speakers unless you can't decide between two speakers that sound identical to you, then efficiency would be a consideration. I'm not an SPL guy and never will be. If you're into that, then cool. Age is just a number. I applaud GSteg for taking such an interest as a young age. I was already into car audio at his age but not nearly as deep (mostly because I wasn't able to buy equipment to fart around with because I wasn't working yet). As for my experience, I worked in 12V for many years. It's been a while but I've been there and done that.

Originally posted by k67p67
I'm down with GSteg. Infinity makes some good speakers. Good bang for the buck. As far as their stuff being considered "the best"...give me a break. I like Infinity speakers and have recommended and used them many times in the past. But if you think Infinity Kappas or Reference are anywhere near the best sounding speakers on the market, you need to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE and go listen to some other brands. There are plenty of mfgs. out there producing far superior product to Infinity. Listen to Focal or Rainbow or CDT Audio or Boston Acoustics Pro Series or Dynaudio. Granted, most of it is more expensive (however I did pick up my CDT HD-642 3-way components for $279). Infinity has it's place in the middle of the market.
Someone mentioned something about Boston Acoustics Pro Series being not as good as Infinity Kappas. It's your opinion and, as such, I respect that but I don't think you'll find many SQ guys out there who will agree with that. Also, I would have a hard time finding Boston Pros cheaper than Infinity Kappas. Perhaps you were referring to Boston Rally Series or something. Regarding efficiency ratings, most high end speakers have lower efficiency ratings. That certainly doesn't mean the lower the better. That means that you should pretty much ignore efficiency ratings when comparing speakers unless you can't decide between two speakers that sound identical to you, then efficiency would be a consideration. I'm not an SPL guy and never will be. If you're into that, then cool. Age is just a number. I applaud GSteg for taking such an interest as a young age. I was already into car audio at his age but not nearly as deep (mostly because I wasn't able to buy equipment to fart around with because I wasn't working yet). As for my experience, I worked in 12V for many years. It's been a while but I've been there and done that.

Nowhere in my post did I say that Kappas let alone Referance are the best car speakers, I suggest you go back a re-read my post. ;) I simply said that they are not just average.

Originally posted by GSteg
i know SPL doesn't really have anything to do with SQ, but they don't have much experience as say nathan munson or loyd lorwy. taking a SQ sub and farting it to bring him state/national records has to be something.

or SQ wise. leon (from another forum) just competed in a comp. took hom first place using home-made crossovers, scan-speak midrange, and a pair of tweeters for $25. there goes the price arguement. all for under $250. he's been taking him many seconds place too. not bad considering he's around 19 or 20. eh..can't remember. u can ask him...he'll vouch me as big SQ-junkie. lol.

looks like u have the infinity beta amp. those pretty darn expensive back then. too bad infinity discontinued it. :bloated:

but what did you mean by cone size? to my knowledge, speaker size isn't really that important.:confused:

I knew I forgot something, lol!

When I mentioned speaker size, I meant that a 6x9 is almost always going to sound better and have better results and frequency response than say a "5.25 or "6.5 speaker will. Of course placement of them has a lot to do with it as well.

I'm not knocking on db comps, but they just aren't my sort of bag, they test more of what a speaker can handle, rather than it's quality/performance in a real world musical situation. Of course mad props to the one with the loudest and winning system. :cool:

Originally posted by SilverY2KCivic


I

When I mentioned speaker size, I meant that a 6x9 is almost always going to sound better and have better results and frequency response than say a "5.25 or "6.5 speaker will.


due to the nature of 6x9's, they will tend to flex easier than circular cone speakers at high volume so theres more distortion for ya since its losing its not in its linear operation anymore. u know what dr. krippel says..."70% of distortion comes from non-linearity".

frequency response..hrm..i know that midranges are suppose to play midrange. that is of course u like your midrange putting out low bass:bloated:

i have never seen anyone that won SQ comps using 6x9's. its either 6.5" or 5.25" for midranges (some 4", etc..). don't know how its suppose to sound better. :frown:

Originally posted by SilverY2KCivic


Nowhere in my post did I say that Kappas let alone Referance are the best car speakers, I suggest you go back a re-read my post. ;) I simply said that they are not just average.
I wasn't specifically responding to your reply. Although you did say
My personal favs that I've heard are:

Infinity Referance
Alpine Type S and R
Eclipse
Pioneer

So, I'm guessing that you haven't heard most of what many would consider the "good stuff". Personal preference is just that and it's all subjective. Honestly though, none of those lines would make my top 10. That's just me. I agree that Infinity's Reference and Kappa lines are not just "alright" or "average". I would consider them "above average" but far from "spectacular" or I think someone called them "awesome".

I've heard many more than you think I have. I'm just suggesting what I like personally that won't set you back an arm and a leg. You know the upper quality stuff will do that. Most on here looking for audio, don't need a something that will sound marginal compared to what chain stores sell, as you have to have all the RIGHT equipment for them to sound how they are supposed to. Why spend the money or effort on them if you aren't going to get their fullest potential out of them?

Originally posted by GSteg


due to the nature of 6x9's, they will tend to flex easier than circular cone speakers at high volume so theres more distortion for ya since its losing its not in its linear operation anymore. u know what dr. krippel says..."70% of distortion comes from non-linearity".

frequency response..hrm..i know that midranges are suppose to play midrange. that is of course u like your midrange putting out low bass:bloated:

i have never seen anyone that won SQ comps using 6x9's. its either 6.5" or 5.25" for midranges (some 4", etc..). don't know how its suppose to sound better. :frown:

They sound better in stock replacement applications. I'm not talking competition here, just pure NORMAL music listening instances.

Originally posted by SilverY2KCivic


They sound better in stock replacement applications. I'm not talking competition here, just pure NORMAL music listening instances.

they will flex and distort no matter what they are used for. its simple nature of it that we can't overlook. applies to subs also. drive the sub out of its linear range and whala. distortion.

anyone else wanna add anything?:frown:

Originally posted by GSteg
anyone else wanna add anything?:frown:

Ditto... :confused:

I got something, sometimes I'll notice my bass (or sub rather) clipping when cranked faily high, is my amp overpowering my sub, or is my sub demanding too much from my amp?

Infinity (Beta) amp, RMS power on it is 75w @ 4ohms, and RMS on my sub is 100w also at 4ohms. Actually amp is 220w bridged at 4ohms if that makes a differance. It's fine until volume is cranked I'm guessling like 2/3 of the way or higher. Amp max power is 300w, and sub max power handling is 350w. Which is over powering what here, amp over extending sub, or sub asking too much of amp? :bloated:

does xivera even visit anymore?:confused:

Any answers to my above question? :confused:

oops..i posted that right after u posted yours so i didnt see it:frown: anyways......


first..do u have the silver IMPP pioneers?

Originally posted by GSteg
oops..i posted that right after u posted yours so i didnt see it:frown: anyways......


first..do u have the silver IMPP pioneers?

hehe, it's coo, I noticed your's under mine when right after I posted it.

Anywho, nope, I have the model just below. The IMPP with the aluminum cap was rated at 450w max, where mine is 350w max. :bloated: I wish I had the higher IMPP. Mine is an IMPP cone by material and design, but I forget which line exactly it's from.

oh that..the older pioneers aren't that great (compared to the new ones obviously). u are probably driving it out of it xmax. same thing happened to my 8" pioneer (computer sub). at low volume it was amazing, but at the upper volume, it would just crap out (less than 5mm of xmax owns me).

220 watts to that sub should be enough. driving it out of its linear range could most likely have caused it to sound bad. once the voice coil is not linear anymore, the cone cant' be controlled that well anymore.