This would be in a C6 coupe.

Dnx7100 head unit
Alpine PDX4.150 amp
IDQ 10" sub

Initially I was looking at Dynaudio/Morel/Focal etc...

But I think I want to hold it to less than $500. Where is the best tweeter placement - I'm thinking the where the doors 3.5" used to be angled to be on axis?

Bill

 

listen to the pioneer 720prs's

 

Mark

 

In the box... Focal Polyglass VR

Ultimately, custom components are far better than anything in a box, and half the price if not less.

 

Alms for the poor?

 

These places have lots of raw drivers with better response, lower distortion and cheaper prices than pretty much everything intended for car audio.

E-Speakers
Madisound
Orca design
Parts Express
Zalytron

 

Another vote for the 720PRS's. I have them and I love them. Given.. I am not an audiophile though.. but they sound magnitudes better than the Blose that came in the car.

 

Ill suggest JL C5-650s. I have them in mine and love them. Give them a listen somewhere if you can.

 

 

Spkr lists some very solid spots to buy from, however I feel I need to play devil's advocate here a little bit. Unless you are of the skill and knowledge to build your own crossovers (and preferably do your own driver tests) than buying raw drivers is probably not for you. An alternative however is if you plan on buying a HU with a built in 3 way crossover or other processing components as part of your system you can get acceptable results with some research and tuning with an "active" set up and raw drivers. You can get decent results using only built in amplifier crossovers, but they generally do not afford you the ability to change the slope at a given frequency, and are often only 12db (sometimes, but rarely steep enough for a car application IMO)

If you are just starting out and replacing the blose set up and want to keep things simple, a set of components like the Pioneer 720prs or something from the Focal line that your ear likes, plus a 4 channel amp that is bridgeable to a sub on the rear channels and a HU with the features that you like is probably a good step.

If you consider yourself above an 8 on the 1-10 scale of "audiophile" than look into active systems and raw drivers as they will outperform packaged sets for less money 9/10 times. If you are a 10/10 get yourself some testing gear and have at it And IMO if you are a 9 or 10 spend the money on the home system and keep your budget down for your car, it is such a poor listening area that no matter what you do, your home system will probably blow your car system away.

Fej

 

Fej,

Well said. While I'm am a EE, and competed in IASCA when I was 20, I'm now 40 and spending hours tuning the system, adding a 1/3 octave eq, and/or running the speakers active just doesn't appeal, especially in a car as loud as the vette.

While I agree with Speakerboy that you could put together a system cheaper if you do it yourself, that only works if you don't value your time, or it's what you do for fun.

What I'd really like is an out of the box 8" two way system, but not sure it exist for under $500.

Bill

 

Dyn can piece one together for you - blows your budget on just the midranges.

Most 8s just cant play high enough.

And I dont know of any OTS 8" 2 ways with an 8 and a large format tweeter...

Stick to the 6.5s...
Focal Polyglass or Access would be my choice...

 

For what you can save by buying OEM drivers, you've easily covered the most if not all cost of the additional amplifier. If you choose drivers appropriately, you can avoid the passive components completely.

In terms of 8" mids, you're fighting physics. The rule-of-thumb is that the upper limit for a driver's crossover frequency is the speed of sound (345 m/s) divided by the driver's effective diameter. For a typical 8" driver, this is around 1900 Hz. Other factors like non-linear distortion force this number considerably lower. The practical limit is generally about 1200. It's one hell of a tweeter that can cover down to that point. I don't know of anything in car audio capable of that at any price.

 

USD Waveguide For The Win!?!?

800-20k... But I'm sure there is some roll-off..

Mark

 

Spkrboy...of the places you posted and based on the lines that they carry...do have any specific makes and model numbers that you would recommend to match together that would comprise a balanced sounding component set?

 

Yeah, those are amazing drivers. The problem with those is there's no 8" that can hang with them!

Look at this thread for some answers. There are so many options, you'll have to trim down the possibilities before we can talk about specifics.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1920171

 

I have not looked on this forum much but really great to see some very educated recommendations, not everybody here is just a gearhead

I have been dabbling in car audio for 40 years or more, really,installed the first system I ever saw in my mothers 58 Pontiac

I have owned what may be the best component speakers ever(Rainbow Rerference), the crossovers looked like amps and were incredibly built. I tried them for a week or so then right back to an active front stage and have done so for all my systems since.

Sometimes you get lucky with the vehicle, location of drivers, etc and passives work out really well, one install for a buddy I did we never had to use the EQ, very hard for me to believe even though I tuned it!

Here is a great place to learn about all kinds of cool DIY ideas, I know there are at least couple of guys that know this site that hang out here

DIYmobileaudio.com

 

Rick! You have a Vette now?

 

rick...raam...raamatt?

 

One look at his profile and you got your answer.

I'm glad to see that he is here, too!

Mark