door speaker upgrade opinions ?

elephantrider

elephantrider

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looking to upgrade the factory sound system this month, and want to do all of the door speakers,
along with adding rear deck speakers, 1 10 or 12 inch sub along with an amp to push the sub
and rear deck units.

have been going to best buy / fry's, etc.. listening to different speakers. i do like the polk audio
db571's for the doors, but have no clue as to what i should add for the rear deck speakers.

was going to go with jl audio sub, and a good solid, clean power amp to push with...

so what say you, adiophiles... i'm honestly looking for really good clarity over just bumping, so
keep that in mind...

edit - i do not have the alpine system, just the basic factory hardware.
 
okay, so been looking all over online ( including here ) - cant find if you can fit
a 6.5" speaker with the 5x7 adapter - is there room behind the door for the
adapter and 6.5" speaker ?
 
The factory rear deck speakers are 6X9 free-air subs. I installed some 4-way Pioneers in my old 2000 in that location. I also put Polk components in the front doors but I don't remember the woofer size.
 
so there's room for a 6.5" speaker in the front and rear doors ? still on the fence about
putting speakers in the rear deck - from reading some of the car audio forum info, some
folks are put WAY off by having sound coming from the rear location. have no idea why,
as i am absolutely clueless on car audio, generally speaking.

there are a ton more 6.5" options compared to 5x7 or 6x8...
 
elephantrider said:
so there's room for a 6.5" speaker in the front and rear doors ? still on the fence about
putting speakers in the rear deck - from reading some of the car audio forum info, some
folks are put WAY off by having sound coming from the rear location. have no idea why,
as i am absolutely clueless on car audio, generally speaking.

there are a ton more 6.5" options compared to 5x7 or 6x8...
Click to expand...

Honestly, it's been about 14 years since I did this and really don't remember. I would check with an installer and see if the 5X7/6X8 is interchangeable with the 6.5 woofer. My gut says it is.....
 
ill be the installer :) looks like as long as you get the correct adapter it will fit... thanks for the info - ill keep on searching
around. cant wait to get a little bit of good sound, now that i got the rest of the car sorted out.
 
yes, there is plenty of room for a 6.5 adapter and a 6.5" speaker as this is what I'm doing right now with a round set of Type R's. in my first LS I had type R 6x8 components but after that car got wrecked out (couldn't get the speakers out) they no longer made the components in 6x8 so I just went with the 6.5" rounds.

now I'm really not a huge fan of the DXi polks the BBY sells, they are not terrible sounding but I feel like better can be bought for the same price. lately I have really been digging Pioneers newer D series speakers (anything with a "TS-D" starting the model number) and they make but 6x8 ovals, 6.5 rounds, 6.5 components to choose from.




now here is my opinion of the rear speakers/ OEM subs issue. having two sets of rear speakers is gonna be a total waste. the best two options would be to totally ignore the OEM rear speakers and just disconnect them. then you put new 6x9" full range speakers in the rear deck. the OEM rear speakers are in a terrible location, they are just too low in the door to be able to hear well, and moving them to the new location would make them a ton easier to hear and fitting a bigger speaker in there gives you a little more cone area for better mid bass, then of course up front you just have a very good set of speakers and a real sub in the trunk for all the bass. then this whole system could be driven off of a very efficient and compact 5ch amp with a standard 4ch and a much more powerful 5th channel meant to drive a sub as opposed to using a 4 channel with two channels driving the new two extra speakers (including all 4 OEM speakers) and bridging a channel for a sub.


the other great option I like is to go ahead of just replace the rear speakers with a good solid driver along with the front speakers (since the rear are really just for fill in anyways if there are not people actually sitting the back seat) then removing the OEM subs as to have a path unblocked for the sound from the real sub to travel through (you would be surprised at just how much sound is lost going through the rear seat and heavy insulated rear deck lid)



two big downsides to having rear deck lid mounted speakers would be A: the rear speakers can then be way too loud and overpowering for a good soundstage, and B: if you are running a pretty decent real sub, the air movement from the sub can cause a lot of distortion to those rear speakers by over powering their own movements.
 
awesome info, there. do appreciate the insight. was thinking about getting a solid 6.5" component set up for the front,
and using a 6x9 mid for the rear deck. i was lost on what to do with the rear doors, but just ignoring those makes sense,
as you explained. i will be using a 10" sub more than likely, and sure would like to power the rear deck speakers and sub
all on one amp, and have the new head unit drive the fronts.

again, thanks for the clarification, helps on the decision making process for sure.
 
Other than the deck and front doors, I put Infiniti Reference 2-way speakers in the rear doors. I powered it all with a Rockford Fosgate 200X4 amp.
 
elephantrider said:
i will be using a 10" sub more than likely, and sure would like to power the rear deck speakers and sub
all on one amp, and have the new head unit drive the fronts.
Click to expand...

honestly, really consider amplifying the front speakers too, those are the main one that you will be hearing, its not just about the loudness, but a dedicated amplifier makes sooo much of a difference in how good they will sound. if you did not want to run a 5 ch amp for all speakers and a sub, then consider just running the front speakers and the sub off of an amp and letting the deck power the rear speakers instead.
 
ah okay got it - would running this set up be a good general idea ?

front door - 6.5 component ( amp driven )
rear door - 5x7 mid range ( head unit driven )
rear deck - small driver of some sort ( amp driven )
trunk - 10" sub ( amp driven

dont want the highs and mids to be washed out by all of the bass, so maybe
just do delete the rear door idea. understand what your saying about an amp
driving the fronts, makes total sense.
 
Hello. This is my first post here. This really caught my attention as I am planning to upgrade my sound system in my 05 LS soon. The front and rear doors fit 6x8, so I plan to fill that space. Considering replacing the rear deck with a full rang 6x9 and set the amp for low pass, so just the bass comes through. Powering it all with a 5 ch amp.
 
elephantrider said:
ah okay got it - would running this set up be a good general idea ?

front door - 6.5 component ( amp driven )
rear door - 5x7 mid range ( head unit driven )
rear deck - small driver of some sort ( amp driven )
trunk - 10" sub ( amp driven

dont want the highs and mids to be washed out by all of the bass, so maybe
just do delete the rear door idea. understand what your saying about an amp
driving the fronts, makes total sense.
Click to expand...

that would work great.

I definitely would just ignore replacing the OEM rear speakers if you put anything in the rear deck, because of their higher location, you really wound even hear anything coming from them, the rear deck drivers would way over power them, kind of waste of money to me, I would want to spend it somewhere else!
 
thanks for confirming, loud...

any recommendation on a good driver for the rear deck, that would sound / compliment
the 10" sub ?

...and 2nd question - you wouldnt want to go any bigger than a 10" sub if i was going to
run two small drivers on the rear deck..?

thanks again for the info. i spent uber hours last night searching around and it was basically
info overload lol
 
I would do a set of 6x9" full ranges in the rear deck and a matching set of either coaxials if you dont want to deal with mounting tweeters, or the component versions if you don't mind the extra work.

what I'm really liking right now, especially for the price (i dont even know if you can get anything better for double the price...) are the TS-d's...

6x9

6.5 coaxial



the size of the woofer will really depend on what you're listening to more than what other speakers you have. 10's are better for music with a higher bass note like rock, acoustic, country...12's subs are better for anything with a very deep bass note like rap, hip hop, dub step, most electronic music. personally, I think 12 inches is right in the sweet spot for the most flexible between most music.

a 10" sub usually takes up a little less space too if that is an important concern...
 
elephantrider said:
ah okay got it - would running this set up be a good general idea ?

front door - 6.5 component ( amp driven )
rear door - 5x7 mid range ( head unit driven )
rear deck - small driver of some sort ( amp driven )
trunk - 10" sub ( amp driven

dont want the highs and mids to be washed out by all of the bass, so maybe
just do delete the rear door idea. understand what your saying about an amp
driving the fronts, makes total sense.
Click to expand...

If it matters...... My 535i with the base system has components in the front doors, subs under each front seat and (I believe) plate components in the rear deck. Nothing in the rear doors. I may upgrade but it ain't cheap! About $600 just for the 8 speakers (sans subs)!!
 
Subs under the seats... brought to you by the people who installed subs in the movie theaters for Earthquake
 
the KFC-C6865R are kenwood's "road" series and is their entry level models.

the KFC-C6895PS are their "performance series" and are a step up the food chain.



the R series wouldn't really be an upgrade to what the Lincoln come with stock, the OEM system is actually made of some pretty good components and the biggest thing you would notice would be the highs being a lot brighter (and a lot of the time too bright)


the PS series is a little better, but i still think if you like to listen to it loud, the highs can be quite harsh.
 
hey there , 1loudls ,, have you ever worked on 2000 ish conti's . im not happy with the factory highs and low's , im running standard factory non alpine , just the base model . they seam to have lots of mid range and lacking in high and low to me . ive been thinking about some changes in the next few months . your thoughts would be appreciated well to tell you the truth the low's could use some help , thinking about an isobaric chamber for the sub in the rear deck

drew

so you say you don't like your job ,..... they have a support group for that , yep they do ,, they meet at the bar down the street at about 600 pm.
 
dfoy50 said:
hey there , 1loudls ,, have you ever worked on 2000 ish conti's .
Click to expand...


dfoy50 said:
im not happy with the factory highs and low's... ... just the base model . they seam to have lots of mid range and lacking in high and low to me . ive been thinking about some changes in the next few months . your thoughts would be appreciated well to tell you the truth the low's could use some help , thinking about an isobaric chamber for the sub in the rear deck
Click to expand...



your solution is the same as ours, you will want to get better speakers... and start there. good quality speakers will yield you much better and clearer highs and mids.


as for Lows, if your not happy with the OEM sub (its been a while and I could totally be wrong on this one, but I though the base package didn't have one, I know my grandmothers 02 had one with the alpine system) then messing with that sub will not make you happy, adding an enclosure if definitely not going to give you what you want.

for example, early LS had two subs in an enclosure, it didn't sound too bad, but then after awhile, they ditched the sub box and just use a free air system. that change made a huge difference (for the better) so I don't believe that re-engineering that sub will really help you. the biggest problem is the low amount of power the OEM amp has, if youre serious about wanting better bass, then the only option to me would be to look at getting a real subwoofer and amp (as explained above)

then if you have better speakers and a real sub and are still not happy with the quality of sound (assuming that you didn't cheap out on the drivers you picked) it will be time for more control of the sound by replacing the radio with one that will give you that more control.


pretty much everything from the LS still applies to the Conti with the exception that I believe that the front speakers are 6.5" rounds instead of ovals like the rears are, and that (at least for some packages) there should only be one larger sub instead of the two 6x9 subs in the rear deck(I do think some of them may have came with the two 6x9, either depending on the year of or the sound package).

if you dont want to lose the trunk space to a sub box (which I say is almost always worth it, the conti has a huge trunk and a single 10" or 12" wont take up too much space anyways) would be to find a proper "free air" sub that you could replace your sub with but still needing to use a new amp (if your option has the single center sub woofer)
 
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