I just got my short shifter in and I'm very happy with the way that went, so I need a new project and my stereo is DEFINITELY the next thing that has to get upgraded. I know everyone has favorites and all, but what would be the best "bang for my buck" as far as a new head unit and speakers? I'm trying to stay close to $300 on this project and don't mind buying used parts for any of the components, I almost prefer used if they're in great condition. I have a 97 4door Cavalier.
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Head Unit: The head unit needs to just be of a good quality, (nothing too flashy) and have an aux input for my mp3 player (or guitar
hehe). The cheaper the better here without sacrificing too much quality. From what I understand, not all units will fit due to the shallow depth of our dashes, and I have no idea which ones will fit well, but I was thinking something along
these lines as far as price, brand, and features are concerned. I'm partial to Alpine and Pioneer, but will def consider anything of good quality (just had good experiences w/both). I know I'll need a wiring harness to convert the old school setup. If someone could point me in the direction of the right one, that'd be great. Also, I'll need some sort of dash kit because the old head unit is 1 1/2 or double size.. right? No idea what I'm doing here so again, please point me in the right direction.
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Speakers: I want the stock sizes so it's not too complicated to just swap them out. I think they should be 4x6s front and 6x9s in the back. I don't need to run new speaker wire do I? I'm looking for a relatively balanced sound, basically good highs and mids, and some serious bass seeing as I'm not getting subs or anything. These have to be of good quality too so they don't blow... I assume i'll be pushing them pretty hard on a regular basis. Other than that, I don't care about brands specifically, and if I can get these slightly used, even better. At any rate, what specific models do you suggest here?
Product suggestions (that will work in my setup), along with any other advice you all have as far as installation is more than welcome. I've seen some really knowledgeable people on here, hope you guys can help me out. Thanks in advance!
Interesting.... Crutchfield tells me that somehow 5 1/4"s and several other sizes will fit in the back (adapter?), but the ONLY 6x9s that will fit are the Infinity Kappa 692.7i. They're nice as hell and cheap on ebay (about 65% off) so I wouldn't mind those one bit. Just thought I'd mention that.
Assuming Crutchfield knows what they're talking about fit-wise on their website.... As a combo, I'm thinking go all infinity for speakers and Alpine for the head unit:
FRONT: Infinity Reference 6422cf
REAR: Infinity Kappa 692.7i
RECEIVER: Alpine CDA-9885
Again, I'm just bored and browsing. I'll let this simmer for a while and see what everyone thinks. Still need to figure out wiring & dash fit situation either way.
best thing to do is double your budget.
good luck.
You can fit other 6x9's in the back. Some are fussy and you have to mount from underneath. Do yourself a favor and get adapters for 6 1/2's in the doors. You can thank me later for that.
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:You can fit other 6x9's in the back. Some are fussy and you have to mount from underneath. Do yourself a favor and get adapters for 6 1/2's in the doors. You can thank me later for that.
Whats the main advantage of the 6.5s over 4x6s ? I'm assuming better bass production and can that they can handle more power, but they're about twice as expensive as the 4x6s... worth it?? I don't want to mess around with component speakers and seperate tweeters, making custom mounts, etc. Will I be able to get a good high/midrange sound from 6x9s in the back and 6.5s in the front alone?
I know an amazing installer who can hook you up with Sony Explodes, you won't believe your ears and the install is "World Finals" worthey.
Actually for your budget, the above advice is all pretty good.
^CLICK ME TO SEE HOW I BUILT EVERYTHING^ How To in Interior Forum
I got the Infinity Kappa 6x9s for the back, the Pioneer DEH-P5900IB head unit, and a dash kit w/ wiring harness, so what about these front speakers? I want a balanced sound that is loud. Which SPECIFIC models should I be looking at?
mennitti,
if your referring to daleosis, your right. its all in how you install them..... i mean he installed the most overrated sound system that i havent heard....
"I did it because I wanted to see what it would look like. You should be greatful that I even told you that it would look good. If your to dumb to use photoshop and change the color of your own car then you don't need to see it changed. I'm not going to give my work away. I'll sell the pic to you though for $15."-Adam Kalin
^^JBO is about not being that guy
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:You can fit other 6x9's in the back. Some are fussy and you have to mount from underneath. Do yourself a favor and get adapters for 6 1/2's in the doors. You can thank me later for that.
Where do you get them adapters for the front doors my brotha?
**fresh**
yes... so then back to the question ... anything you suggest specifically for the front speakers? I was looking at the JBL P552. Those are 5.25s but they sound nice on paper, handle decent power, and aren't too expensive. Could be better than the Infinity 6422cf mentioned earlier, but I haven't heard both, so I can't really be sure. I wasn't blown away by any 6.5s I browsed though, but if anyone has any USEFUL ideas, please let me know. I'm ordering them tomorrow (later today technically). thanks
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:Do yourself a favor and get adapters for 6 1/2's in the doors.
Go with a 6 1/2 and it doesn't matter if it is Infinity or JBL. Just don't buy low end economy lines, get something in the middle and you will be happy.
Chris,
^CLICK ME TO SEE HOW I BUILT EVERYTHING^ How To in Interior Forum
MaNdO wrote:Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:You can fit other 6x9's in the back. Some are fussy and you have to mount from underneath. Do yourself a favor and get adapters for 6 1/2's in the doors. You can thank me later for that.
Where do you get them adapters for the front doors my brotha?
I've seen plastic adapters sold on ebay, probably not too hard to find online or from a shop.
But they are very easy to make yourself out of MDF. That's what I would suggest, since it's cheap and really easy to do.
Things to watch out for though: you want the adapter to be thick enough so that the magnet on your mids clears the window (when rolled down). But you don't want it so thick that the cone hits the stock speaker grill when you put the door panels back on (*if* you want to keep things looking stock).
I tried fitting my 6.5" CDT Eurosports in the factory location, but found that the mounting depth was far too much. Going more than 3/4" MDF caused the cone to hit the door panel, so I ended up building my own FG kicks. My old 6.5" aluminum-coned Planets cleared no problem. Once you have a speaker picked out, post it up here to see if others have made them fit.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote: if you think you're that much better than them because you're "correct" I hope your progeny don't turn out as screwed up as yourself.
Best buy has them for like 15 bucks. They don't fit a sunfire too well, but they do fit a cavalier door.
I'll consider up to about 150 or so retail cost, assuming that I can find them for much cheaper if I dig around enough. I don't know what the hell i'm doing as far as wiring goes and I wouldn't have the slightest clue where/how to mount separate tweeters, etc, so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible and sidestep the component speakers.
what do you think of these?:
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=400&i=107DB651S&tp=105&tab=features_and_specs
If someone has fit something deeper and with better bass in there (that has a built in tweeter), tell me what it is. I'll hold of as long as I need to for this not to suck, but I'd like to order it tomorrow so I can install it next week. ok so what 6.5"s do you suggest? I want specific models! What do you guys have in your cars?
i would go with all pioneer for that price range and check out ebay you can get that stuffalot cheaper on there.
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Alright, I got impatient and bought it all. Wasn't blown away by any of the 6.5s so I went with 5.25s for the front, but if someone presents me with a SPECIFIC model of good 6.5 speaker (w/ built in tweeter), I'd probably return these. The adapters I bought are supposed to work for 6 1/2 as well as 5 1/4 speakers. I'm guessing I'll be pretty happy with the setup as long as everything works fine. I hope the rear speakers will sound good running at 4ohm, because they're designed to be run at 2, but I'm not getting another amp or complicating this further.
what it's looking like now:
*RECEIVER: Pioneer DEH-P5900IB
*FRONT: JBL Power P552 5 1/4
*REAR: Infinity Kappa 692.7i 6x9
total cost (including shipping and accessories): $315
If you can think of a better front speaker in the same price range, issues that might arise, or a good installation guide / instructions, let me know!
someone correct me if i am wrong but if your speakers are 2 ohm they will draw a 2 ohm load from their source and if so i hope your HU is up to the task.
ToBoGgAn wrote:someone correct me if i am wrong but if your speakers are 2 ohm they will draw a 2 ohm load from their source and if so i hope your HU is up to the task.
Well, I looked into it some, and essentially you're right. They'll pull as much current as they need, and if your head unit is grossly mismatched, it will overheat and fry. The thing is though, these speakers are actually closer to 3 ohm impedance, so its not as big of an issue. Although no HU manufacturers will state that their receiver amps are 2ohm stable, or 3ohm (in most cases) stable, they will run and unless you push your setup extremely hard for extended periods of time, this configuration won't usually result in damage to the amp. I've heard of people hooking up stock and after market 4ohm rated HUs to these speakers and them working fine. Infinity wouldn't put out a product as a direct speaker replacement that would consistently result in fried head units, it's just not good business sense.
Infinity has been quoted as saying on this topic:
"We’ve tested many factory and aftermarket head units and none have failed or malfunctioned as a result of driving Kappa speakers connected directly to the head-unit’s outputs.”
In other news, I cant wait for my stuff to get here. If someone has a "how to" thread or site to recommend... or the fabled perfect 6.5"s I should have gotten for the front doors instead of the JBL 5.25"s, that'd be fantastic!
John, thank you! thats pretty much exactly what I was looking for. those seem shallow enough to fit, and are def serious.
