Help Changing Speakers Please = )

[SEVILLEMAN601]

I want to change my 6x9s and 4x6 door speakers but dont want to break anything, especially not a door panel. Has anyone ever changed their speakers in a 91-96 caprice. Mine is a 95 if it makes a dif. I am thinking about going with the sony 4 way 6x9 and 4x6s. Any better suggestions?

[silicon212]

I can't help you with location and R&R on a 91-up, but I can offer you this advice:

Re: Sony speakers - run. Run far away, and run as fast as you can. Run and don't stop running - they don't call them 'X-plod' for nothing.

They are no good, a sure-fire way to lighten your wallet.

[PeteA216]

Yeha, Sony: No go. Sony makes great computers, TVs and things of that sort, but car audio, forget about it. I've tried many, many, many different 6x9's in my car in the past years. The first one's I bought were in fact 3 way Sony X-Plodes. They were better than stock, but thats not saying much. They had some bass, but performed poorly in power handling and clarity. I tried a bunch more in the years after: Infinity, Panasonic, Kicker, Alpine Type S, Powerbass, JVC. Out of all those I'd say the best sounding, most durable speakers were the Kickers, but the price was most definately not worth it because the Alpine Type S 6x9's were not close behind at all. The Alpine's were $140.00 cheaper than Kicker, and had great clarity al low sound levels and kept that same clarity even at maximum volume. People were really impressed with those and I regret losing them the way I did. (The subwoofers in the trunk sent such a huge sound wave through them, moving the cones way more than they were designed, wrecking the inner flex rings of the 6x9's. I've since built sealed enclosures behind the speakers to protect the new ones from the woofer's blast.)

All in all, my true recommendation: Any high end Alpine speakers. If you really want to over pay to gain very little, then go with the Kicker 6x9s.

[mike561]

I have a sony x-plod head unit, only because i got it for a good price though.

[SEVILLEMAN601]

Originally Posted by PeteA216

Yeha, Sony: No go. Sony makes great computers, TVs and things of that sort, but car audio, forget about it. I've tried many, many, many different 6x9's in my car in the past years. The first one's I bought were in fact 3 way Sony X-Plodes. They were better than stock, but thats not saying much. They had some bass, but performed poorly in power handling and clarity. I tried a bunch more in the years after: Infinity, Panasonic, Kicker, Alpine Type S, Powerbass, JVC. Out of all those I'd say the best sounding, most durable speakers were the Kickers, but the price was most definately not worth it because the Alpine Type S 6x9's were not close behind at all. The Alpine's were $140.00 cheaper than Kicker, and had great clarity al low sound levels and kept that same clarity even at maximum volume. People were really impressed with those and I regret losing them the way I did. (The subwoofers in the trunk sent such a huge sound wave through them, moving the cones way more than they were designed, wrecking the inner flex rings of the 6x9's. I've since built sealed enclosures behind the speakers to protect the new ones from the woofer's blast.)

All in all, my true recommendation: Any high end Alpine speakers. If you really want to over pay to gain very little, then go with the Kicker 6x9s.

ok, I was gonna go with the 4 way sonys but I will check on the alpines. Any other brands you suggest? i was thinking about the kickers since I have CVR15 kicker subs but they are only 2 way... Also, keep in mind that I will be getting these on ebay so they will be alot cheaper. I see a pair of ALPINE 3 way 6X9s and a pair of 2 way 4x6 for around $140 including shipping. 4 sonys would have ran me $96 but they are 4 way? Are you telling me that Alpline 2 way/3 way sound better/play louder than sony 4 ways??? If that is true, they really suck. I know their car cd players sucked but not speakers...

[PeteA216]

2 way, 4 way, 126 way.... Sony simply doesn't make high quality car audio equipment. A 4 way speaker is only good if you don't have subwoofers. If you have subs, a 4 way speaker will actually be more pront to distort at higher volume levels, but that also depends on the speaker, different types of speakers will act differently. Compared to stock, Sony will definately seem to be great, but once you expierience the superior sound quality of higher end equipment, sony will seem like junk. In terms of x-way (2 way, 3 way etc), more DOES NOT mean better. In your case a 2 or 3-way speaker will sound the best. You do not want the 6x9 to act as a subwoofer which is sort of what Sony does. You already have subs so to sound good you want the 6x9 to act as a mid-range speaker and the one-two tweeters on the top of the 6x9 to produce the higher frequency sounds. A sound system is sort of like an engine, it will perform the best with the right combination of parts. If your "engine" is supercharged (subwoofers) then you need to change other aspects of the "engine" accordingly to get it to run properly and at it's peak. With a "supercharger" you need to lower engine compression (go with less bass producting interior speakers) and focus more on the bearing tolerances (sound quality and clarity). Now that I typed all that you're probably confused. In a nutshell, You need not to focus on the amount of speakers, or how much bass they produce because you have the subwoofers for that. Focus on sound quality and clarity. I forgot to mention before that Polk also makes some very nice speakers. I know all of this from experience back when I was younger and focused more on stereos, not only my own, but tons of student's cars from highschool as well.

[SEVILLEMAN601]

Originally Posted by PeteA216

2 way, 4 way, 126 way.... Sony simply doesn't make high quality car audio equipment. A 4 way speaker is only good if you don't have subwoofers. If you have subs, a 4 way speaker will actually be more pront to distort at higher volume levels, but that also depends on the speaker, different types of speakers will act differently. Compared to stock, Sony will definately seem to be great, but once you expierience the superior sound quality of higher end equipment, sony will seem like junk. In terms of x-way (2 way, 3 way etc), more DOES NOT mean better. In your case a 2 or 3-way speaker will sound the best. You do not want the 6x9 to act as a subwoofer which is sort of what Sony does. You already have subs so to sound good you want the 6x9 to act as a mid-range speaker and the one-two tweeters on the top of the 6x9 to produce the higher frequency sounds. A sound system is sort of like an engine, it will perform the best with the right combination of parts. If your "engine" is supercharged (subwoofers) then you need to change other aspects of the "engine" accordingly to get it to run properly and at it's peak. With a "supercharger" you need to lower engine compression (go with less bass producting interior speakers) and focus more on the bearing tolerances (sound quality and clarity). Now that I typed all that you're probably confused. In a nutshell, You need not to focus on the amount of speakers, or how much bass they produce because you have the subwoofers for that. Focus on sound quality and clarity. I forgot to mention before that Polk also makes some very nice speakers. I know all of this from experience back when I was younger and focused more on stereos, not only my own, but tons of student's cars from highschool as well.

I kind of understand and thanks. What about rockford fosgate?

[PeteA216]

I haven't tried thier 6x9's but they do make some nice quality subs and some very good amplifiers.

[moparvwfreak]

i actually ahd a set of 4 inch fosgates in my old rabbit. they were litterally stuffed into the whole where my stock speaker would have been. theya ctually sounded pretty good for such small speakers. i have some pioneers in my jetta now and they sound like ass. but they were cheap. but in my caprice i have a set of kenwood 4x10s? in teh back side panels (not my doing.. PO) and they actually sound pretty good. i am also running kenwoods in my cherokee and they REALLY sound good for 6" speakers. so i hope this helps.

[PeteA216]

Personally I've never used Kenwood speakers, but I do have two 1000 watt Kenwood KAC series amps powering my two subwoofers. They power those subs very nicely and efficiently without heating up hardly at all. I've also dealt with Kenwood subs before. They're not too bad for thier buck in my opinion.

[SEVILLEMAN601]

Originally Posted by PeteA216

Personally I've never used Kenwood speakers, but I do have two 1000 watt Kenwood KAC series amps powering my two subwoofers. They power those subs very nicely and efficiently without heating up hardly at all. I've also dealt with Kenwood subs before. They're not too bad for thier buck in my opinion.

Well if anyone needs an amp, I have a nice kicker SX900.2. It says 450W RMS X 2 at 2 ohms, but the birth certificate says it is actually pushing 1284 total RMS watts. Let me know if anyone is interested. Pete, Im sure this thing will outdo both of your kenwoods... It is one of the top of the line kicker amps with digital display, tuning, (everything is digitial, there are no knobs). The only reason I am selling it is because i can run 2 ohms mono, just 2 ohms stereo. If I have different subs, it would be fine, but I have changed to a kicker zx1000.1 mono amp. Let me know if anyone is interested.

[PeteA216]

It'd probably power my subs perfecty where the Kenwoods are underpowering them by 200 watts each, but I'm happy with what I have now. I'm not looking to upgrade. I appreciate the offer though.

[SEVILLEMAN601]

Originally Posted by PeteA216

It'd probably power my subs perfecty where the Kenwoods are underpowering them by 200 watts each, but I'm happy with what I have now. I'm not looking to upgrade. I appreciate the offer though.

well, the ZX1000.1 mono really bumps in my car. I can see the backseat bump with the beat and all of my mirrors are useless when I have the volume at 30 out of 50. I could only imagine what would happen if I had a capacitor and the sx900.2 in there... probably a broken window, haha

[PeteA216]

Yeah, even though mine totals 200 watts RMS less than yours it still makes my mirrors competely useless as well. At higher volume (20 out of 35) if you try to look at a street sign in the distance you can't focus on it. It looks like the sign is shaking when really it's your head. And try swallowing food at that volume level... forget about it. It's wierd how high sound levels can actualyl affect you physically.