I bought too many budget speakers! Help me decide what to run. :)

[Elias]

I feel like many or most of the 3 and 4 ways speakers like that are more for looks than actual function. Can’t say I noticed much difference in them either. My oldest car has some Pioneer 3 ways I got a thrift store for 8 bucks years ago, they were a current model at the time. When I put them in I just looked at them as 2-way, and honestly I don't think that super tweeter did much of anything.

I remember my parents bought a used car in the 90’s, the rear speakers were Urban Audio Works 3 way. Anyway, the small super tweeter was not even a tweeter, was just a chrome color dust cap glued to a grill with nothing connected to it.

Yeah I don't expect the super tweeter to do anything. Even if it does it will probably be out of human hearing range. Haha.

So no Kicker CS fans or haters over here? They're so popular I thought people would start arguing about those.

 

[Elias]

I really appreciate all of the responses so far. Thanks for welcoming a newbie into the forum.

 

[Deiimos]

I have no opinion on any brand. To me the Kicker and Pioneer will perform similarly, you’d have to test both to see which works, or sounds best to you. I expect the Black Diamond to be pretty harsh in midrange, but as suggested might be okay for rears. Since you have all three sets, perhaps testing each for a while to see which combination you prefer.

 

[HardofWhoring]

I would leave the kickers out. They are a plastic cone speaker, and to me the cheapest quality of the three. They are also 100w RMS and 300w peak, so they can take much more than 100W. Considering you have a wide variety of music, I think you would better off keeping these out. - (There's a long shot here, but just in case. IF:
Your head unit runs 50w RMS per channel, &
You can run your amp at 2ch at lets say 130-150w x 2... THEN, you might want to consider running the kickers, BUT ONLY if you like it loud, your hearing isn't that good, and you don't want to spend another penny unless you have to. )


A 99 CR-V is not exactly a big vehicle. As long as you are not trying to make a full vehicle sound stage, and more trying to make the stereo sound good for the front seats; then the black diamonds in the back will enhance the midrange and the Pioneers up front.


What I think you should really do is create yourself a long set of speaker wires, and connect all of them up to the amp two sets at a time. I would start with the kickers up front (because I think once you put the pioneers up front, you will know those are the best, and then it's just which ones go in the back. Won't be any need to bother with the black diamonds up front, those are only to enhance the other set. Don't need to fully install, or even install em, to just see how they sound. I'm the kind of person, that would probably even fully install em, and play em for a few days or a week while making notes on how it sounds, and then changing em out.

 

[huberoy123 10+ year member]

Here's the situation. I am building a budget sound system for my 1999 CR-V.

There will be a 12" shallow Rockford Fosgate in the trunk with a mono amp. I'm installing a pioneer double din that is "50w" x 4. I think it's actually 14w rms x 4. I am not going to install an additional amp for the four 6.5" speakers.

So I found some great deals locally and one on Amazon and I ended up with 3 pairs of speakers when I only need 2.

-Pioneer TS-A1680R 4 way speakers

-Kicker CS65 2 way speakers

-Black Diamond CM6.4B midrange speakers

So basically I'm going back and forth on combinations and what will sound the most full.

Any suggestions or questions are appreciated thanks!

THE BEST JUDGE OF SOUND QUALITY WILL BE YOU. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED HOOKING UP VARIOUS COMBINATIONS AND LISTENING TO THEM? I USUALLY GET RECOMMENDATIONS AND DO MY OWN ASSESSMENTS OF SOUND QUALITY. GOOD LUCK.

 

[Elias]

Thanks everyone. I think you all helped me decide to test them together before installing. I think I'll probably end up doing the Pioneers up front and the Black Diamonds in the back (if they aren't super difficult to make fit). The kickers also have the best resale value of all 3 pairs.

But we'll see! Maybe the pioneers sound harsh or the kickers sound better than expected!

I'll try to update when I get all this stuff installed. Could be a while because my mail got stolen with my amp wiring kit and speaker harnesses in it. Figures.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Thanks everyone. I think you all helped me decide to test them together before installing. I think I'll probably end up doing the Pioneers up front and the Black Diamonds in the back (if they aren't super difficult to make fit). The kickers also have the best resale value of all 3 pairs.

But we'll see! Maybe the pioneers sound harsh or the kickers sound better than expected!

I'll try to update when I get all this stuff installed. Could be a while because my mail got stolen with my amp wiring kit and speaker harnesses in it. Figures.

Ill bet it was the Mail Lady

 

[AstoSoup 10+ year member]

As previously mentioned, 3/4 ways sound terrible… I bought 4 RF Power Series 3 way 6.5”s, expected good sound from $350 in speakers but even the best model coaxials sound harsh. Since then I have strictly used components or pro audio drivers…

As for the Kickers, I’m not sure what the model was but I had a pair of their 6.5”s, entry level plastic cone 2 ways, in my truck when I got it. Even being coaxial, the mid range sounded really good and that was also off a Pioneer single DIN head unit. I actually just took them out when I upgraded my sub stage and ended up with an amp on my front stage. Unknown how old they were when I bought the truck, I ran them 4 months and gave them to a friend still sounding good! They surely surprised me, believe they were the Comp series. Yellow lettering.

 

[Elias]

Alright sorry this took so long. Here's the update. I tried out all the sets of speakers, the black diamonds did not fit front or back. I think if I cut some plastic I could make them fit but I didn't feel like it. I tested out the pioneers and the kenwoods. The Pioneers sounded a little harsh on the high end but had nice punchy midrange. The kickers were less refined but overall had a nicer sound to my ear. Less abrasive. Pretty well rounded. Could probably use a little more clarity up top but they hit harder and sound much fuller than the pioneers.

So, I installed the Kickers up front and the Pioneers in back and set the fader 2 clicks towards the back so I get some of those high frequencies without as much harshness.

I am hoping when I add my sub in the trunk and install my double din with a 13 band eq I can get it all dialed in for a enjoyable cheap system.