Speaker upgrade. Advice

[trini23]

Hi all, this is my first thread and here is my problem. i have a pontiac montana (02) minivan and I put in a premier deh 670 HU, along with an alpine MRV-T 420 amp to push my new solobaric L7 woofer. This was a huge sonic improvement compared to the stock equipment. I kept the stock speakers since i figured they sounded ok with the new gear, that was until my sub stopped working, now it's at kicker ( 1 year warranty from authorized dealer ). What i have now realised is how weak these speakers really are, you see with the decks HP filter the were only pushing mids and highs ( dealer told me that i should change them, didn't listen ), now I nead them to do full range duty temporarily and now I hear them for what they are //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif ,any suggestions on upgrading to speakers that can carry the load if necessary without a sub. (budget $300). any advice on future upgrades e.g. additional amp etc, will also be appreciated, i generally play bass heavy reggae music.

Click to read more...

 

[Ape 10+ year member]

reggae, good stuff.

$300 for speakers should be plenty for a nice improvement, Amping your speakers is a very good idea cause ive heard ( i have 0 experiance in anything) that it not only makes them/allows them to get louder but it produces a better sound. I would look into some component sets.. and from here I will let the pro's take over //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

amping speakers makes a huge difference, both in loudness and sound quality. Id bet even your stock speakers would sound better with an amp, but upgrading speakers never hurts either. I havn't had that much experience with different speakers to really suggest a good set, but im sure one of the experienced members on this board will suggest a type.

You'll also need to tell us what size speakers you'd want... if you want a coaxial configuration or a component set, how much power you have to work with, how much custom work youd like to do, etc etc etc

 

[trini23]

thanks alot for the feedback, if i had to amp my speaks I wouldn,t mind alpine products, since i'm really impressed with my amp. i wouldn't want to spend more than $200 for an amp. power is not more important than sound quality though and i see alot of talk about other brands so with 500 to work with please advise me on some options. thanks alot and i will use the pros to hook it all up.

 

[trini23]

be advised speaker need to be 6.5, what are the pros and cons of components up front and coaxial in the rear as i don't know if i'll benefit from comps in the rear due to the bass from the L7.

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

That is plenty of $ for speakers. BTW imo your amp would be better hooked up to your front speakers than your sub. Who set ur amp and sub up? I'm thinking you blew your sub by turning the gain up way too much, trying to compensate for the lack of power it was giving you.

edit as for rear speakers, most on here will say spend more on a nice component set up front and just throw some decent coax in the back. I would also agree with this.

 

[trini23]

dedaler suggested my amp, i took his suggestion but and i'm very pleased with the performance so far. maximum output is 600w and the l 7 10inch should be able tom handle this but i'm still open to any suggestion that dealers are going to offer what they owe. so exploring other options from consumers seems logical so keep posting.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

If your just going to be using factory locations I would suggest some high end coaxial speakers, components are nice but never reach there full potential unless you build custom pods for them that are aimed perfectly for best soundstage.

For cheap simple good sounding go with 4 coaxials powered off a 4 channel amp with 50 to 75 watts x4 RMS.

To save even more money you could just keep the rear speakers stock and power them off the HU (high pass them with the decks internal xover or install some bass caps) Then put some really nice coaxials up front with a 75 to100 x2 RMS amp.

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

huh, really nice coaxials?

I love the way my components sound in both my vehicles over coaxials, and neither have had custom pods are you saying Im crazy?

Or are you trying to say $300 isn't going to buy you real nice components and an amp?

maybe neither?

You can blow a speaker with less than full power if the amp is clipping because you don't have enough power to power it properly. 600 watts peak but what is the RMS rating?. Sounds to me like you should be using that amp to power your components.

I'd just leave the rear stock if it was me and I had a limited budget.

If you have to use that amp turn the gain down on it, or replace the sub with a better match.

 

[trini23]

You can blow a speaker with less than full power if the amp is clipping because you don't have enough power to power it properly. 600 watts peak but what is the RMS rating?. Sounds to me like you should be using that amp to power your components

Great info, please tell me more, my amp [alpine mrv T-4200] is in bridged into 4ohms (please explain) which indicates that the RMS is either 240 or 340 W depending on voltage which can be 14.4 or 12.0 ( i'm not which i am using, but based on the subs 600W capabilities i'll guess the 340w option).

How can i tell if the amp is clipping, i have seen no signs (what are they) of distress by this amp and the bass is very clean and not distorted even at maximum volume (which is frequently the case).

When the sub was first installed it did not produce the bass signal periodically for 10 -20 second intervals then resume normal playback, after about three weeks this never occurred again and i was in love with performance since then. i will receive the sub back in two days and i will have the dealer trouble shoot in issues, what are some questions or concerns ishould have the dealer look at based on the onfo provided.

also keep in mind that i am looking for some suggestions on great speakers to replace my stock crap. suggestions anyone? i reaally like the comps upfronts suggestion, but what brands offer great value in my $300 budget (2 pairs) and does it look like i need to reaassign my amp and go with a dedicated mono amp for the sub (what's good $200 max). Keep in mind that i see or hear no distortion from my current amp. Thanx all.

 

[OlogyAudio 10+ year member]

"You can blow a speaker with less than full power if the amp is clipping because you don't have enough power to power it properly."

An amp with a fully clipped output (sounds horrible for one) but it will deliver in the neighborhood of 4x the normal RMS power... this excess power is what blows drivers... not to mention moderate clipping makes tons of THD mostly in the higher frequencies -- and has a tendency to blow tweeters with their normally low power handling... $300 for amps and components is a little low... You can have quality sound off deck power and nice components the biggest limitation is volume before the THD of the head unit goes through the roof...

There are tons of good options out there... however I would recommend great components in the front, a decent amp to power them and neglect the rears for now atleast...

 

[trini23]

thanx alot for the feedback, however the sound i received from my young system (see original post) was very clean (even with the stock speakers) and did not give of any type of distortion. that's why i'm puzzled (other than the fact that i'm a novice of course). Let me also clarify my budget is $300 for speakers and $200 for and amp for these speakers.

 

[trini23]

hey stones, how about some, examples of what you would buy if you had $500 to spend on speakers and an amp to push them (brands and models please. all comments appreciated. 6.5" speakers with the same specs from your post.