Should I go with a component setup?

[mikeb23ft]

Putting a small system in my Focus. I already know what I want to do with sound deadening in the car (64 sq. ft. of MLV and CLD tiles) and bass (Infinity Basslink). I bought some Boston SX85 speakers before I knew what a component system was. Now that I know more, I'm thinking about selling the SX85s and going with a component system. How much of a difference will I hear between the Boston 2 ways and a decent two way passive component setup? I was going to put 6x8 drivers in the doors and mount the tweeters near the side mirror adjustments. Should I go for it?

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[dafobbishon3 10+ year member]

always go for a component setup.

 

[mikeb23ft]

That's what I was thinking. What's the reasoning behind this idea though? Is it really that much of a difference to get the tweeter off of the top of the woofer?

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

tweeters are directional, so having them up above your knees, pointed toward you, helps you get more out of them vs having them down in the doors, blocked by your legs. mids arent as directional and subs arent directional, for the most part. also the crossovers are better on components since theres no size restrictions cause they arent mounted to the speakers like they are on coaxials

 

[slam 5,000+ posts]

Why yes u should

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I'm in the process of putting componets in my Focus

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

Components aren't necessarily better from the placement, but that they are almost always built with significantly higher quality materials.

It's actually best to have the speakers close to each other for the ideal placement, but in most cases it won't make a difference in the overall sound. In particular because the door is not an ideal place. Having the tweeter up closer in the dash/A-Pillar/wherever gives it a better position, and you are stuck with the door for the woofer regardless.

 

[mikeb23ft]

Louisiana CRX- What are your plans, specifically?

My Focus is an 02, I'm running the speakers off of the head unit. It seems like I could fit a tweeter in the trim piece where the manual mirror adjustment is, right at the front of the windows. I could probably Dremel a hole in there for wiring and mounting pretty easily. That would put the tweets a little higher than chest level, but they would still only be about 18 inches from the woofers.

What angle should the tweeters be mounted at? It seems logical that at a 45 degree angle towards the middle of the vehicle would give nice staging, correct? I actually think that would look pretty cool, and if it would sound substantially better I might buy some components.

As far as the rear speakers are concerned- should I put my Boston SX85s in the rear speakers if I get front components? I suppose I could just adjust the fade to the front of the car if I did that to keep good stereo staging and just have nice ambiance from the back. On the other hand, if I could get more power from the HU to the front speakers by running the rear speaker wires into the fronts, that might be better. Would I get more power running two sets of speaker wires into one set of speakers?

****, I wrote a lot. Thoughts?