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Is it worth upgrading the stock speakers

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Old 04-11-2008, 04:30 PM
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Default Is it worth upgrading the stock speakers

Was planning on upgrading the stock speakers to some infinity 60221's or alpines but wanted to get opinions if its worth doing it if Im not getting an amp for em... The stock sounds OK but I've had to turn down the amp for my sub just to try an even out the sounds...

thanks in advance
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Old 04-11-2008, 05:33 PM
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if you aren't going to put an amp on them i would just keep the stocks till they start to buzz and rattle hah ... then buy new speakers and an amp for them.
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Old 04-11-2008, 06:11 PM
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Sosche makes an awesome custom fit enclosure, that sits in the storage bin next to the spare tire for $179, you can probably get it cheaper elsewhere, I'd love to have one
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Old 04-11-2008, 06:13 PM
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Custom sub, that is, I love the factories, except the rears. I would definately upgrade the rears. Do we have a pre-out for the amp with factory stereo, someone told me we did?
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Old 04-11-2008, 06:16 PM
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depending on which stereo yours came with ... you should ...

the base model one does not but the next two do i beleive
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Old 04-11-2008, 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by BayAreaScion
Sosche makes an awesome custom fit enclosure, that sits in the storage bin next to the spare tire for $179, you can probably get it cheaper elsewhere, I'd love to have one
never heard of a box being sold by scosche
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Old 04-11-2008, 07:44 PM
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Originally Posted by BayAreaScion
Sosche makes an awesome custom fit enclosure, that sits in the storage bin next to the spare tire for $179, you can probably get it cheaper elsewhere, I'd love to have one
Not for the 2nd gen xB.
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Old 04-11-2008, 07:45 PM
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I have Kicker components all the way around with a 4 channel kicker amp and I like it a lot but if anything make sure you replace the rear stock speakers if you want a good sound for a long time the rear stock ones suck
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Old 04-11-2008, 11:07 PM
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upgrade fronts first... you don't want better highs coming from behind you.. it'll pull your sound stage back.. i upgraded my front speakers days after i got my xb and i'm glad i did... huge difference over the stocksi did the polk momo 6½" components... they are louder & clearer with an amp.. but i rode around for about a week without an amp and they still sounded 10x better than the stocks
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Old 04-11-2008, 11:58 PM
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box and sub combo, check crutchfield.com. As far as upgrading the front first, what I was trying to say is, stock form, the rears are the weak point to me. Not that the fronts are Awesome, but for stock they really arent half bad, the lows it is missing only a sub can fix, adding a crossover to the fronts might make a big difference, but there is only so much adjustment you can get from the stock deck. Anyone ever hear of Image Dynamics? Great audio products, their ID Max line of subs are incredible, the 12 hits like a 15. Compareable to JL Audio...god I miss my 15W6
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Old 04-12-2008, 12:08 AM
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yeah the rears are the weaker of the two... but i'd spend the money on the fronts... because if you upgrade the rears and the clarity and highs are better the the fronts then it'll sound weird... when i put in my 4channel the other day the rears amped made for some weird imaging because with my seat back i could hear the rears much better on the amp i hated it.. not that they were bad but my sound stage shifted wayyy back.. so i had to fade a little to the front.. but my momo component set sounds amazing in there now
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Old 04-13-2008, 01:23 AM
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I say yes. I'm running infinity's and an alpine sub on an 800 watt alpine amp. The sound is even and it sounds great.
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Old 04-17-2008, 11:43 PM
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Hertz speakers FTMFW
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Old 04-18-2008, 09:46 AM
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I wasn't able to find any spec's on Infinity 60221's but i did find 6022i's which are a coaxial setup. The xB comes stock with components in the front so i would look at something more like the Alpine SPS-600C which is a 6 1/2in woofer and 1in tweeter set close to that price range, or the Reference 6020CS's if you want to stick with Infinity.

I think the high's of the sock system are a little harsh while the mid's sound nice and punchy... so I would replace the fronts because of listening fatigue caused by the highs, but wouldn't bother with the rears because my system is for me to listen to, not my passengers. Aftermarket speakers will definately sound better but it probably won't solve your balancing issues. Usually this will require feeding the speakers thier rms power rating to get the most out of them.

For either set i suggested, you could get a nice 2-channel amp that pushes 75-100 watts per channel for $100-$200. Just out of curiosity, what amp and sub are you running?
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Old 04-18-2008, 09:56 AM
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Im going thru the same thing, my stock upgraded jl audio, speakers are rattleing and the rear ones r pretty much dead, it came wit the amp, its under my seat, oits a lil one, about 1ft x 10 in, neway, shud i get an amp or just better speakers?
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Old 04-18-2008, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Gymo
Im going thru the same thing, my stock upgraded jl audio, speakers are rattleing and the rear ones r pretty much dead, it came wit the amp, its under my seat, oits a lil one, about 1ft x 10 in, neway, shud i get an amp or just better speakers?
I wasn't aware that an upgraded JL Audio system was an option. Regardless, do your fronts rattle all the time, when they are cranked up pretty loud, or just on certain bass notes? And please clarify what you mean about dead rears and what kind of amp is under your seat.
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Old 04-18-2008, 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by BayAreaScion
Custom sub, that is, I love the factories, except the rears. I would definately upgrade the rears. Do we have a pre-out for the amp with factory stereo, someone told me we did?
I believe the base deck and the nav are lacking pre-outs. A High-Lo converter can fix that though. The premium's pre-outs also have some line noise from what i've read in other posts, so it looks like aftermarket is the way to go.
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Old 04-18-2008, 07:31 PM
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Originally Posted by blazin_xb2
Originally Posted by Gymo
Im going thru the same thing, my stock upgraded jl audio, speakers are rattleing and the rear ones r pretty much dead, it came wit the amp, its under my seat, oits a lil one, about 1ft x 10 in, neway, shud i get an amp or just better speakers?
I wasn't aware that an upgraded JL Audio system was an option. Regardless, do your fronts rattle all the time, when they are cranked up pretty loud, or just on certain bass notes? And please clarify what you mean about dead rears and what kind of amp is under your seat.
The rear speakers rattle like crazy, web bass is up, over 0, it rattles on ne kind of bass, the front r ok, but they r sometimes scratchy. Yea some dealers offer the audio upgrade, idk wut kind of amp it is, my bro said its just 4 the speakers, not enough to handle a sub
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Old 04-18-2008, 11:03 PM
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if they "rattle" at all times.. may be a bad install... but if it's distorting.. check the amp to make sure the bass boost isn't boosted all the way up.. and maybe turn the crossover up a little bit
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Old 04-19-2008, 03:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Gymo
The rear speakers rattle like crazy, web bass is up, over 0, it rattles on ne kind of bass, the front r ok, but they r sometimes scratchy. Yea some dealers offer the audio upgrade, idk wut kind of amp it is, my bro said its just 4 the speakers, not enough to handle a sub
Yea traditionally a 4-channel amp is not used to power a subwoofer. It is possible that the bass boost is up too high, but since it was factory installed i would assume it was tuned for the vehicle and speakers, but i wouldn't be suprised if that wasn't the case. It sounds more like the rears have blown and the front tweeters may also have been blown or the high/low pass crossover isn't set correctly. You should probably replace both front and back sets with something that can handle a little more power, or just turn it down. You will want to find out the specs of the amp so you can match a set of speakers to it.

Im gonna go out on a limb and say you don't have an xB, considering the JL upgrade you probably have a tundra or something. If it's still pretty new, I would hit up the dealer and see what they say about it.
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