Do components HAVE to be in kick panels to sound good?

[Mugen 10+ year member]

I'm looking at these mids, and the car they'd go in is a Pontiac Vibe, which has 6.5" spots in the door and also has seperate tweeter chambers in each door. So basically, if I just bought that component set and put them where the current stock components are, would it sound good? I really don't want to deal with kick panels at all, and I don't care about aiming stuff. Also, I'm thinking this amp to power them.

If that's not a good idea, then what about just replacing the stock 6.5"s with these, once again off the same amp I posted above.

Click to read more...

 

[Suomi 10+ year member]

You don't need kick panels. Kick panels might give you optimal sound, but mounting the comps in the stock location can sound good. I just installed comps in the stock locations (6.5" in the doors, and 1" tweets in the sail panels) of my Mazda6 and I'm very happy with the sound.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

No, they don't. Some may sound better that way to some people, but you can definitely get good sound out of your stock locations. It will help if you use sound deadener on your doors.

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

Sweet //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Ooo, how are those Xtec 6.5"s? And I'm just going to assume the MBQs > Kappas...?

 

[Suomi 10+ year member]

Sweet //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
Ooo, how are those Xtec 6.5"s? And I'm just going to assume the MBQs > Kappas...?

I'm very happy with the Xtecs. They are so clean sounding. The highs are smooth without a bit of harshness. One of my first tests with these speakers was a Weather Report track which used to make my ears bleed with my old Kenwood coaxs, and I didn't need to turn the volume down to listen to it with these. The mids have much better separation too, but that's to be expected when compared to cheap coaxs.

And I'd go with the MBQs over the Kappas. I haven't actually heard the MBQs, but the Kappa's tweets are quite harsh.

 

[Big Dee 10+ year member]

IMO no, they can sound OK in stock locations, but never great.

I think kicks or door pods properly aimed make speakers a minimum of 10x better.

It's subjective though, my OK will be somebody else's great.

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

I'll be switching from these which are currently in this truck (but are staying in it when I sell it), and I'm very happy with the SQ from these, so I'd imagine I'll be blown away by those Components, especially going from like 40w to 100w on each //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

How much are the Xtecs? Is a pair less than $200?

 

[Suomi 10+ year member]

Retail on the Xtecs is $350 per pair.

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

Oh snap, those are out of my league

 

[Mugen 10+ year member]

How does this sound for front stage...

Premier DEH-P680MP

MB Quart RVF 216

Hifonics TX4005

Total: $481

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I dunno if any of you Vibe drivers are still around. About how much depth do you have to work with?