Hello fellow car audio enthusiasts.
This is my first post so hopefully it doesn't ****.
Before I get to my issue I'd like to offer a bit of background on myself.
Back in the early to mid 2000's I really got into car audio. Back then bills were small, and stupid spending money was plentiful. A wife and 2 kids later, oh how things have changed lol.
Back in the day I was running the following...
Boston Acoustics Z6's (6.5 comps) up front
Boston Acoustics SL95 (6x9s) out back
Boston Acoustics G512's
That was my speaker set up. I had various amps along the way so the only one I'm going to list is a Kenwood Excelon xxv-02, four channel amp for the comps. More on this a little later.
The reason I'm telling you this is because I still have what I listed above to this day.
Today was the day to get my system back installed in my car. I have been working on it for about 2 weeks now. Running RCA's and the switch wire one day. Getting my power wires ran from the battery to the trunk a different day. Doing a little testing to make sure things were still working. Today was going to be the day I put in my front comps, and 1 of my G5's (one should be plenty for me now)
However, things didn't go as planned to say the least.
I spent about 12 hours on it before I said screw it and went back to stock.
I had component issues, and wiring issues (due to my own stupidity). I finally got every sorted out on the passengers side and was ready to get things back together when for no reason my tweeter went out. So like I said I pulled everything (not the wires) and went back to stock for now.
Everything worked great when I pulled it about 2 years ago from my last car. Everything just sat up in my attic, not sure what happened. All of this stuff is pretty high end, or it was back in the day.
So here is where my issue comes in. I really, really like my Z6's. However I'm almost positive one if not both of the components are either dead or dying. Part of me wants to keep them, but I don't know if I can just hook up any crossovers to them and they still sound just as good. I'm guessing no, but at the same time I know how fast technology changes.
Let me break down my options with a kind of pro's and con's.
Option 1
Keep the Z6's. Try to troubleshoot the components and hope I can get them to work, and hope they stay working. Obviously this would be the least expensive option. The bad side to this is what do I pair the Z6s in the front with in the back? It's not like I can just go out and buy a new Boston comp set, or any Boston speakers for that matter. What sounds similar to old school Boston? I have no clue. Also what if they do stop working in the near future. Nothing worse then doing a job a 2nd time only to be back to where you started.
Option 2
Start fresh. This would be matching 6.5 component speakers in both the front and rear. It would also be new amps to power them. This is obviously going to be much more expensive. The other big issue is that car audio shops are a bit of a dying breed from 20 years ago. I'm not saying we don't have any in my area, we do. However they almost all sell the same brands, JL, Rockford, Alpine, Kicker, Kenwood, what I would consider the "common" brands. Nothing wrong with them (though I do personally hate Kicker) there just isn't a lot of variety.
Option 3
Save my money and stick with boring stock....
So I think what I'm going to do is trouble shoot the Z6's out of the car and see what happens. Much faster to mess with them out of the car. But I also am coming to the realization that it is probably time to.... upgrade(?). Not sure if that is the right word because my Z6's were $1,000 back in the day. I'm just not sure if todays more budget friendly options will meet the same level of an audio experience. I guess what I'm saying is I have what I really like, and don't want to settle for something that I don't like as much.
This is where you guys finally come in. I know this is going to be geared to the older people in here. Hopefully people that had or have at least heard Boston Pro's or Z's back in the day. What are your guy's suggestions? I'm looking for an SQ build. I mainly listen to rock, and love when speakers can accurately produce the melody of the Eagles for example. Or when you can feel and AC/DC guitar solo. Hoping to keep the comps under $200 per set if that's at all possible. My days of spending a grand on a set are over.
Thanks for reading my big first post. Let me know what you guys think, or would do in my shoes.
PS
Brands I liked for SQ back then were as follows. Also this is a speakers list, not amps or subs. Oh also Boston was obviously my favorite so they're off the list
Diamond Audio
MB Quart
JL (really good, but I couldn't ever justify the price. Plus it seemed like it was the most popular choice for the non Best Buy crowd)
Infinity Kappa
Those are the ones that I can remember listening to. I also remember Image Dynamics having really good subs, but I can't remember if they had, or that I heard there comps, so I'm going to give them an honorable mention.
I've never heard Hertz or Focal, though I've always wanted to. No one in town sold them back in the day. I know Focal used to be really really expensive, I can't remember if Hertz was too.
Thanks again everyone!
This is my first post so hopefully it doesn't ****.
Before I get to my issue I'd like to offer a bit of background on myself.
Back in the early to mid 2000's I really got into car audio. Back then bills were small, and stupid spending money was plentiful. A wife and 2 kids later, oh how things have changed lol.
Back in the day I was running the following...
Boston Acoustics Z6's (6.5 comps) up front
Boston Acoustics SL95 (6x9s) out back
Boston Acoustics G512's
That was my speaker set up. I had various amps along the way so the only one I'm going to list is a Kenwood Excelon xxv-02, four channel amp for the comps. More on this a little later.
The reason I'm telling you this is because I still have what I listed above to this day.
Today was the day to get my system back installed in my car. I have been working on it for about 2 weeks now. Running RCA's and the switch wire one day. Getting my power wires ran from the battery to the trunk a different day. Doing a little testing to make sure things were still working. Today was going to be the day I put in my front comps, and 1 of my G5's (one should be plenty for me now)
However, things didn't go as planned to say the least.
I spent about 12 hours on it before I said screw it and went back to stock.
I had component issues, and wiring issues (due to my own stupidity). I finally got every sorted out on the passengers side and was ready to get things back together when for no reason my tweeter went out. So like I said I pulled everything (not the wires) and went back to stock for now.
Everything worked great when I pulled it about 2 years ago from my last car. Everything just sat up in my attic, not sure what happened. All of this stuff is pretty high end, or it was back in the day.
So here is where my issue comes in. I really, really like my Z6's. However I'm almost positive one if not both of the components are either dead or dying. Part of me wants to keep them, but I don't know if I can just hook up any crossovers to them and they still sound just as good. I'm guessing no, but at the same time I know how fast technology changes.
Let me break down my options with a kind of pro's and con's.
Option 1
Keep the Z6's. Try to troubleshoot the components and hope I can get them to work, and hope they stay working. Obviously this would be the least expensive option. The bad side to this is what do I pair the Z6s in the front with in the back? It's not like I can just go out and buy a new Boston comp set, or any Boston speakers for that matter. What sounds similar to old school Boston? I have no clue. Also what if they do stop working in the near future. Nothing worse then doing a job a 2nd time only to be back to where you started.
Option 2
Start fresh. This would be matching 6.5 component speakers in both the front and rear. It would also be new amps to power them. This is obviously going to be much more expensive. The other big issue is that car audio shops are a bit of a dying breed from 20 years ago. I'm not saying we don't have any in my area, we do. However they almost all sell the same brands, JL, Rockford, Alpine, Kicker, Kenwood, what I would consider the "common" brands. Nothing wrong with them (though I do personally hate Kicker) there just isn't a lot of variety.
Option 3
Save my money and stick with boring stock....
So I think what I'm going to do is trouble shoot the Z6's out of the car and see what happens. Much faster to mess with them out of the car. But I also am coming to the realization that it is probably time to.... upgrade(?). Not sure if that is the right word because my Z6's were $1,000 back in the day. I'm just not sure if todays more budget friendly options will meet the same level of an audio experience. I guess what I'm saying is I have what I really like, and don't want to settle for something that I don't like as much.
This is where you guys finally come in. I know this is going to be geared to the older people in here. Hopefully people that had or have at least heard Boston Pro's or Z's back in the day. What are your guy's suggestions? I'm looking for an SQ build. I mainly listen to rock, and love when speakers can accurately produce the melody of the Eagles for example. Or when you can feel and AC/DC guitar solo. Hoping to keep the comps under $200 per set if that's at all possible. My days of spending a grand on a set are over.
Thanks for reading my big first post. Let me know what you guys think, or would do in my shoes.
PS
Brands I liked for SQ back then were as follows. Also this is a speakers list, not amps or subs. Oh also Boston was obviously my favorite so they're off the list
Diamond Audio
MB Quart
JL (really good, but I couldn't ever justify the price. Plus it seemed like it was the most popular choice for the non Best Buy crowd)
Infinity Kappa
Those are the ones that I can remember listening to. I also remember Image Dynamics having really good subs, but I can't remember if they had, or that I heard there comps, so I'm going to give them an honorable mention.
I've never heard Hertz or Focal, though I've always wanted to. No one in town sold them back in the day. I know Focal used to be really really expensive, I can't remember if Hertz was too.
Thanks again everyone!
