speaker recommendation needed

[mr personality 10+ year member]

hello guys

i'm a new owner of a bmw suv and looking to modify the speakers & amps in the car (6.5"). can anybody recommend me some high end speakers in the market? still considering (currently) the jl audio xr653 csi 3 way system.

i'm not into loudness eg. hard rock/metallica stuff but more into the jazz & slow kinda music, just looking for a good crisp & clear sound. heard good comments on mb quart but i'd confirm with y'all audiophiles

your replies are appreciated. thanks

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

What kind of budget do you have to work with?

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

prolly around high 200 - mid 400s since i'm getting 2 pairs of speakers for the suv

plus the amp alone costs 500+

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Either 1) don't get rear speakers, or 2) get some decently priced (read: $50) co-axials and either save the extra money or put it towards something more useful. You seem to be the sound quality kind of guy, and rear speakers will only detract from that. The only usefulness that rear speakers have is to help the rear seat passengers hear the music (and even then they may not be necessary depending on your front speakers).

Check out the DLS Iridium 6.2 or 6.3 component sets; very nice. Other brands to look into are Dynaudio, Focal, Morel, Rainbow, Arc Audio, Image Dynamics, Boston Acoustics (I've heard their Z6 components, really nice), **** it's getting late and that's all I can think of right now.

And you have an amp, or need an amp??

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

will it make the sound funny if i just install a 3 way speaker on the front and go with the factory on the rear? anyway i'll be driving by myself most of the time & dont have to care about passangers in the rear.

i'm going to get an amp too. prolly a 4 channel amp

 

[Einzee 10+ year member]

What kind of budget do you have to work with?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif Uhh Hello? BMW SUV = $$$

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

ohh and one more question. if i go with your idea of just changing the front, is it better for the sound quality if i get an mb quart qsd 216 speaker (v expensive 2 way speaker) or a cheaper 3 way jl audio xr 653

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

bmw suv = //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/driving.gif.c4dead4599dda895032b63e51f52b126.gif = $$$$$ = //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

 

[nosaj070 10+ year member]

ohh and one more question. if i go with your idea of just changing the front, is it better for the sound quality if i get an mb quart qsd 216 speaker (v expensive 2 way speaker) or a cheaper 3 way jl audio xr 653

IMO If you have the room for a 3 way speaker set, there is no beating it. Basically every set mentioned in this thread is very nice, and I'm sure you would be very happy with any of them. One of the biggest differences in speakers (besides the x-over and whatnot) is the tweeter. Different materials obviously produce a different sound. Metal tweets tend to be a bit harsher, so expect some amount of ear piercing on some sounds, but they also are in general much more detailed, and in all honesty I love the sound of an acoustic guitar on harsh tweets, it sounds so real.

On the other hand listening to a cd where s's are recorded and are very harsh, it is difficult to listen to, it is very annoying, and although it can be eq'd out, it is many times very difficult. This is where silk tweeters and other soft materials come into play. Although in some cases they do lack detail, in general i prefer the softer sound, only so at high volumes I don't feel like my ears are bleeding on certain sounds.

Now granted everything I said can be easily contradicted through the install. You can make harsh tweeters sound softer just by their placement. So in reality, thinka bout where you will place the speakers, and then if a metal tweeter is aimed directly at you, and relatively close, you may want to consider silk (this is my opinion). I know in escalades they actually have the tweets reflecing off the windshield, this would be a good case for metal tweets.

I Hope ive been of some help to you, and remember this is all my opinion, and what i've found from different experiences. Good luck.

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

thanks nosaj for the post. i appreciate it.

any opinion on just changing the front & keeping the rear factory ?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Frankly, I'd go with a "better" 2-way system then a "not as good" 3-way system. Not saying that the JL you asked about is better or worse then the QSD's (as I've not used either personally), but being 3-way doesn't automatically make them "better" than a 2-way........it's actually more a personal preference than anything. Some people swear by 2-ways, some people swear by 3-ways; and they each have their advantages and disadvantages.

And the midrange will be a very, very important factor in components, more so than the tweeter IMO. The midrange frequencies is where most of the musical content is located and is where the "important" frequencies are located (vocals, guitars, etc). Buy a set with a good tweet but an "average" mid, and the results will be less than stellar. This is one of the advantages of a 3-way system. Each speaker has a more limited bandwidth to play which should allow each speaker to play their dedicated bandwidth a little better. And by having a dedicated midrange, which can typically play higher than a mid doubling as a midbass can, then you aren't splitting up the important frequencies between the mid and tweeter (as is what normally happens) which can give it a more "coherent" sound since they are all coming from a single speaker. But, tuning and installing a 3-way can be much harder because they take up more space (obviously, since there are 3 speakers) and phasing and level matching can be much harder because there are more drivers.

But again, install plays a major role in this. You can buy the best components in the world, but install them improperly and they'll sound like poop.

Oh, and if you are going to run the stock rears, run them off of your HU's power and fade mostly to the front so that the stock rears aren't playing very loud at all.......just a little "accent" for rear seat passangers (when you have them). Or leave it faded to the front all the time, except for when you have rear seat passengers.

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

squeak, another one for you. i know i can put whatever & whichever i want, but how would it sound like if i were to put a 3 way for the front and a 2 way for the rear? weird combination?

and would the mentioned mb quart/jl audio speaker on the front alone enough to withstand a 4 channel amp?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

squeak, another one for you. i know i can put whatever & whichever i want, but how would it sound like if i were to put a 3 way for the front and a 2 way for the rear? weird combination?

Weird; No. Unnecessary; Yes. As I stated earlier, with a good comp set up front, those rears are not going to be needed, other than for rear seat passengers or if you think you may upgrade to a 5.1 surround sound system at some point in time. In either of those cases, generally a cheaper co-axial will do just fine......no point in spending $$ where $$ is not needed.

and would the mentioned mb quart/jl audio speaker on the front alone enough to withstand a 4 channel amp?

Sorry, don't quite understand the question here?? Are you talking about power wise will they handle it, or are you asking if they will get loud enough for you??

 

[mr personality 10+ year member]

yeap power-wise, can they handle it? (since the factory speaker cannot handle it)

or will it strain the front speakers and as a result, they will break down faster

i'm not really into loudness, prefer quality of sound to loudness.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Depends; You need to find an amp that will not over power your fronts.......so it's really dependent upon the speakers you choose, the amp you have, and the install.

But components are meant to be used with an amp, so you do definitely want to put an amp on them.