Point me to good Speakers

[joeclarke]

My Carerra has an Alpine head unit driven by a Pioneer amp (bridgeable(?), with a buncha dials and switches on it) in the trunk. It has 7 inch or so round 2-way Polks in the doors and 4 inch or so mids in the rear side panels (cabriolet) complimented with separate 1.5 inch or so tweeters (no brand name on the rears).

The sound outta this thing sounds like tepid dishwater - weak mids and little (no suprise) bass worth mentioning. Even the upper frequencies are a huge disappointment. I generally like my music unmolested but I have to crank bass to plus 4 and treble to minus 4 to get some tolerable noise out of my system.

The best way I can sum it up is to say that it sounds like the system was hooked up with 24 guage speaker wire. But it does have honkin' big 16 guage running everywhere.

I don't really want loudness, just richness and I'm not looking for the boom of a subwoofer. Neither do I really want to modify the install. I also assume that the head unit is not much of an issue in the sound quality equation.

Is it possible to get a speaker config like this (7"-7.5" doors, 4-4.5" rears with/without tweeters) that will produce decent sound?

If so what brands are recommended?

[TurboRuf]

Joeclarke,

A convertible poses a variety of challenges when it comes to audio. Road and wind noise play a huge factor in the equation.

I would highly suggest a small, high quality, subwoofer (8” or 10”). It will make a world of difference, especially when the top is down. I personally like the Boston Pro Series line-up (for subs and components).

I wouldn’t bother with the rear speakers. The best systems I’ve listened to don’t even have rear speakers. How many times do you go to a concert and face the opposite direction of the band playing?

The 911 door is a terrible speaker enclosure, it’s essentially an infinite baffle (like holding a speaker in mid-air). Difficult to obtain decent mid/bass this way. One solution is to create fiberglass buckets in the door speaker openings. This will create a sealed enclosure that should help you achieve the mid/bass you are looking for. You can obtain spectacular results if you use a high quality 6.5 component set. Once again, I suggest Boston Acoustic Pro Series. They are built using some of the finest materials and sound fantastic. When it comes to speakers, you get what you pay for.

What is your Pioneer amp rated at (watts)?

[}{arlequin]

This thread will tell you more about speakers than you ever thought you needed to know. LOL Title says "Amp" but read all the pages and you'll see.
Where did you mount your Stereo Amp?

[joeclarke]

What is your Pioneer amp rated at (watts)?

It's a GMX-304, says 30w by 4 on my google search.

Thanks for that information - I'll look into the BA's and check out that thread.

Sounds like a bit of a challenge to get decent (all I want is decent) sound without creating some kind of enclosures.

Thanks guys

[304065]

Call Rod Birch at www.caraudioinnovations.com

Why do you need a stereo to listen to NPR?

[rpiper]

I'll second what TurboRuf said. I have BA pro series 6.5 separates in the doors (no enclosures though) and a small (10") sub in the trunk. It sounds fantastic.

[emcon5]

Some good info here:

Which mufflers have the nicest note



Tom

[joeclarke]

Originally posted by john_cramer
Call Rod Birch at www.caraudioinnovations.com

Why do you need a stereo to listen to NPR?

Because the damn PO neglected to hook up the antenna with his snazzy Alpine install and I much prefer listening to Michelle Norris's dulcet tones on the AM band, thank you very much...

Her voice is just soooo better suited to AM than FM don'tcha think?

Oh and John - thanks for the chuckle.

Oh and John - Have a Nice Day.

[joeclarke]

Originally posted by emcon5
Some good info here:

Which mufflers have the nicest note



Tom

Man this place is full of comedians.

Thats actually my normal practise Tom, but gotta have tunes on those highway cruises.

[joeclarke]

Originally posted by rpiper
I'll second what TurboRuf said. I have BA pro series 6.5 separates in the doors (no enclosures though) and a small (10") sub in the trunk. It sounds fantastic.

You can actually mount a sub in the trunk?????

Non-directional - why not, I guess.

[Overpaid Slacker]

NPR? That crypto-fascist cabal? Air America for Mr. Clarke, methinks.

I second the Rod Birch recommendation. He installed my system before I had the car shipped out east, and it sounded fantastic.

JP

[joeclarke]

I hate that - I actually went to look up "crypto-fascist" there for a second...

This Birch guy is like next door to the summer place!

Thanks for the tip - I'll cruise by for a consult. I'll be sure to drop your names (initials, anyway) John & JP.

[drummer323]

Infinity Kappa's are excellent as well. I use separates in door, 4X6 plates in the rear shelf with an enclosure and a custom built sub enclosre that mounts on the passenger floor with two 8" subs for some additional punch. I run 500 watts to all of it, and have an alpine deck and a/d/c crossovers on the front and an equalizer (nice one not a cheapy) to shape sound to interior. Trust me this system rocks!

[howie944]

On your stop by Rod's place tell him Howie said Hi. He's a real guru when it comes to this stuff (lives for it and makes his living from it). First met him about 10 years ago (I'm in Sacto) when he was building sub enclosures out of his garage and worked for Circuit City. Helped me design a sub box for my 944 which I built while working at a cabinet factory. Great sound. He also custom built and installed a sub enclosure for my 10" Boston Pro subs (his normal enclosure is for 8" subs). A bit of trial and error in the fiting but final poroduct is outstanding. He's got my endorsement as a stand up guy with great amount of knowledge.

[Randy Webb]

Don't rule out rear speakers. I never liked the idea ... until I tried it. The rear can provide fill and will help you get decent sound esp. with the top down. You will not get audiophile level sound with rear fill speakers, but you say you aren't aiming for that (a good idea since it cannot be done in a 911 -- or probably any car).

I like Focals - the BA's will be fine for decent sound.

[LonL]

I also reccomend Rod Birch fro WWW.caraudioninnovations.com , I just got my sub enclosures for my 964 Targa. I never run the Targa Top and I have to tell you, I am not lacking for sound at all. I use a Kenwood head unit, Kenwood 5 channel amp, Eclips 6.5 speakers in the doors and Alpine 4x6 in the deck. My car rocks real well.

Lon

[Randy Webb]

Rods' sub box goes in the rear footwell. Since the rear seats are only for small kids, it doesn't harm the space's function much.

But, it is heavy and puts more wt. towards the rear.

How much of a sports car is your car? That's what you have to answer before adding 30-35 lbs to it. I had Rods' box (from a PO) on my prev. car. I will do w/o a "sub" woofer on my current one. If I were to add one, I think I'd spend the extra time to put it in the smuggler's box and see how that sounded.

I used the term sub in parentheses, because these speakers are really just woofers, not sub woofers. 8" speakers are usually considered woofers as they don't go low enough to be called sub-woofers (except in the elastic terminology of car audio).

[Rondinone]

I'll add my .02. I just put a set of Sony xplod 6.5 in the front of my 79, and the bass is far, far better than I expected. This is a targa, and the bass is good even with the top off. They're very clean, well balanced speaker. They were $65.

[turbo6bar]

Anyone had luck getting 6.5" speakers in doors with manual windows? I recall a tight fit with MB Quart 6.5" coaxials in a 912E with manual windows. Jurgen

[kbruz]

Did you check the wiring set up on the amp and speakers? I wonder if the cross over frequency is not set correctly or that the high pass and low pass filters are not set correctly. The doors are not the best enclosures but having problems with both the highs and lows would suggest something different then just the door enclosure.