Question for the group.

I am taking delivery of a 2008 2LT Coupe in three weeks and have a question about the non-Bose speakers. One of the first things I will do to the car is to add an Elite Thermal Abs tunnel plate and Cowboy's insulation kit with added noise damping. While the door panels are off, I would like to replace the four door speakers and run any wires in preparation for adding a Kenwood 7100 NAV later in the year (after I know the car is problem free). Any recommendations (BTW, I have a set of TheKomoman's speaker plates for the doors)?

I would like to keep the cost of the four door speakers to under $500 and will replace the other speakers when adding the NAV.

Thanks for any recommendations for an overall speaker replacement strategy.

2008 2LT Audio system:

AM/FM stereo with CD player and MP3 playback, seek-and-scan, digital clock, auto-tone control, Radio Data System (RDS), automatic volume, TheftLock and auxiliary input jack. Includes (U66) 7-speaker system
TheKomoman

 

a couple questions, are you considering adding a subwoofer in the mix and are the speakers going to be amped?

 

I had not intended to add a sub-woofer or amp. My main goal was to improve the quality/durability of the speaker while getting better sound than the stock system. I realize that sound improvement will be better with the sub-woofer and amp, but want to keep the car and wiring as "simple" as possible.

I was told the stock speakers use paper cones and they will wear and rattle sooner than better quality speakers. I figure this is the time to make changes since the door panels, seats and carpet will be removed to install insulation and noise damping material.

 

First off, thanks for buying the plates.

You're onto a slippery slope here. Certainly a good idea to replace the door speakers "while you're at it" but the reality is that the kinds of speakers you'd use my plate for won't run well off the stock amplifier. I'd say you'd be better off running new speaker wires from the Kenwood's onboard amp (assuming it has one?) than relying on the stock amp. A good set of components will need at least 50W of power to run worth anything and I'm not sure that the stock amp has that much oomph.

Responses to requests like this become rather circular as the setup of the speakers & amp in our cars make for alot of compromises. Here are the combinations I'd recommend, in all cases based on the assumption that you're replacing the stock head with that Kenwood:

Leave the door speakers alone and do only the Kenwood. This will give you better functionality and more options and be the least expensive. But you will be stuck with stock sound.

Do a direct speaker replacement of only the 3.5" in the doors with coaxial 3.5" speakers like the Bostons, Eclipse or Infinity. This will give you improved highs and a bit more midrange clarity. This is the "little bit pregnant" setup as I don't think you'll find an 8" driver worth using to replace the stock speaker that the stock amp is capable of driving.

Go whole hog and add an amp, a sub and a good set of components in the door. The most expensive proposition but running away the best results.


Which way you go will depend on what you're looking for. If the stock system sounds "good enough" to your ears, then you can get away with alot less money. But once you've decided it ain't... the slope gets even more slippery!

 

Thanks for the information. Sounds like I need to add an amp.

 

as many don't want to add an amp, it's almost essential to add one. You are better off in the long run and will be happier in the end.

 

if you deaden your doors enough you may be happy to go without a sub, but you will be missing out on the lows.

 

I agree with Scott. Damping my doors really brought out the bass/mid-bass in my C5. I don't have "******** smashing oontz," but it sounds surprisingly good for a lack of a subwoofer. (I am trying to decide on what sub to put in my car... )

Hey Komoman: Any chance you can/would/will make C5 plates? The ones for the C6 look sexy as hell!

Mark

 

you can only go so low without a sub

 

if you are going with an amp for the components and you dont want an sub id look at this amp:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Soundstream-Refe...QQcmdZViewItem

it'll give you 75 wrms x2 and it pretty small but a great amp

 

Hey Mark,

Making C5 plates wouldn't be any more difficult than making the C6. I've seen lots of pics, but I don't have a car or template to work from in order to get the dimensions. One of these days I'll manage it and will pop some of those out as well.

Dan

 

You can get very low without a subwoofer. You just can't get as loud.

 

I purchased a set of Pioneer TS-C720PRS for $238 on Ebay and a Alpine PDX 4.150 (4 channel x 150 watts) amp for $360. This puts you over your budget by about $100. You could opt for the Alpine PDX 4.100 (4 channel x 100watts) and get within budget.

From what I hear the Pioneer components are pretty nice and the Alpine amp is a really nice amp.

I started off like you with the intent of only upgrading speakers with a $400 budget and ended up spending $1,700 on a Pioneer D3 HU, Alpine Amp, Pioneer components, speaker plates from nakidparts, wiring harness, metra kit, antenna adapter, rearview camera, and ipod connector. In the next month or so I'm planning to finish the upgrade by adding a subwoofer.

Like someone else mentioned its a slippery slope once you start and as you can tell I fell down it .....

I'm hoping to have everything installed no later than next week.

 

from what i hear the prs components' mids are pretty inefficient so 100-150 wrms may get you some befeficial headroom. that being said, the mids are supposed to be fantastic

 

The plan is to pump 150 watts to each door leaving me with 300 watts bridged on channel 3 and 4 for the future sub. I would think 150 watts should do.

 

Dan,

I can send you a template out of MDF to use as a pattern, or even send you a Bose speaker pod if that works for you.

I can probably draw up a pattern on AutoCAD, if you would like that instead... just let me know.

Mark