Hello everyone.

I'm thinking about upgrading my sound system and wanted some input. I don't really want to go crazy, but want the system to sound good. Should I put 2 way speakers in the front doors, mid bass speakers in the back, 2 or 3 way all around? What about the dash speakers? What brand should I go with? I'm leaning towards Kicker, but will definitely consider others. Thanks for the help.

 

I personally disconnected the front (dash) speakers, put components in the front doors, unplugged the rear speakers, and put a couple of 10's under the seats. sounds fine to me

 

If you haven't decided on speakers yet, go out listening. Talk to the sales guys and hear what they use in their own cars. Avoid Best Buy's and Circuit City's. Choose by what you like and not what someone else tells you. Components are the way to go as far as a speaker system goes. The woofer in the door and the tweeter in the dash. With some bigger bucks, a three way component set will definately bring it up. Wish I could do that.

 

I agree with the above....listen to as many different car setups as you can and base your decision on that....

I would suggest a good 4 channel amp with the front 2 channels running left and right components and the rear 2 channels bridged together to run a single sub... That's what I usually recommend to people who want some extra sound and thump but don't want to spend a lot of $$ to get it....

 

The 4ch setup is certainly appropriate for the small confines of an xB. I'm actually about to go redo my set up in my own car. I use a good Pioneer Premier HU, Infinity Kappa Perfect components, woofer in the door, tweeter was in the dash until I added a pair of Memphis 4.5" coaxials in the factory spot. I'll be running a Phoenix Gold MS-275 to all the fronts through 3-way MB Quart passive crossovers. I have a pair of Infinity Kappa coaxials in the back but I'll probably just cut those out after today. I'll also be running two Diamond D3 12" subs, dual 2 ohm, with a pair of Polk/Momo C300.2's. One to each sub. I'll get pictures up in a new thread as soon as I can.

 

^^^where are your tweeters at now??

to achieve the best sound quality in imaging and staging, you should use as few drivers as possible... eg. one component system and a sub(s) would be the best because you wouldn't have as many issues with cancellation from the different speakers...

 

Thanks for the info.

I'm planning on upgrading but leaving everything in the stock locations. I was also thinking about getting a pair of 6.5 mid bass speakers for the rear doors. I saw some Kicker free air mid bass speakers. Would free air work in the stock rear speaker location? As far as an amp. I have an old Sanyo 100, but I think it's a 2 channel. I love that amp!!! I think it's one of the best ever. I'll look into a 4 channel. Any suggestions?

 

As said before, the less speakers(drivers), the better imaging and staging your going to be capable of... If it were me, I'd just get a component system with good midbass drivers and don't worry about having to cut holes and everything in the rear doors for an extra mid... get a single sub and a 4ch amp for power to all of it and call it a day...

the components will sound 10x better than almost any 2 or 3 way coaxial you can find...

 

My tweeters are on the 4" coaxials I've split to go to my three way crossover. Imaging and staging are just buzz words that the customer will likely never understand. It all depends on the combination. I'm happy with how it turned out.

 

Just buzz words??? You mean like things the everyday joe isn't going to be worried about?? I'd agree with ya there...I just know I have a passion for imaging and staging and I feel like I've passed that on to other people through this forum for the most part...

 

So what 4 channel amp would you guys recommend? Keep in mind that I'm not looking to spend too much $$$.

 

http://edesignaudio.com/product.php?...pid=10&cur=USD is a good amp... you'd want a component system that is 2ohm per side and a sub setup that takes 150RMS and is 4ohm

 

SCI_TC_GUY,

I was just wondering where you got 2 ohm from the conmponents speakers, I thought they would be 4 ohm like most speakers.


Cofused!

 

most speakers are 4 ohm and even when wired through crossovers, the set is 4ohm but there are some that run down to 2ohm because the crossover design (even if it's a 16ohm woofer and 8ohm tweeter or whatever, you can still get 4 ohm at the crossover because of the design)

I suggested to find 2ohm per side components so the amp would push 100watts to each side (front stereo) and then bridge the 2 rear channels at 4ohm to get 150 from the amp (rear mono is only stable to 4 ohm)

 

Understood!


Thx

 

NP

 

While we're somewhat on the topic of staging I had a question.

I've got a set of components to put in the front of my xB. The woofers will make it into the stock location in the doors but I'm curious about the location of the tweeters.

From where I sit I see three possible locations:
1.Factory 4" mounts
2. In the door little sail panel
3. In a custom fiberglass pod tucked into the front left and right lower corners of where the dash and front windshield meet.

At this point I'm leaning toward the fiberglass approach because I think I'll have more flexibility in the direction of the tweeters and closer to equal length of sound path between the two speakers.

Let me know what you think.

 

Most definitely....If you're wanting staging and imaging, put them in the fiberglass in the corners of the winshield/dash... as stated it will even out the path length and give you a little more balance.... If you're going to just put them there and not listen to them first, I'd say aim them toward the center of the headliner(left to right AND front to back)..that should get you to a great starting point at least.....otherwise, use angle mounts or double stick tape and play around untill you get what you like best...

 

Thanks. Good call on the initial mounting. I'm pretty sure these are adjustable, but it will give me a place to aim the fiberglass mount itself.

I also thought about something in the kickpanel location as they seem to be all the rage with Q Logic. I think it might make the path length just a little closer, but then my leg's may get in the way of the passenger's ear and throw the staging all off.

Thoughts? Go with original plan?

 

infinity diamond components are bomb =]

and i'd say get 1 12" kicker with a decent amp