I started a thread a couple of days ago stating the the BA s35 speakers did not meet my expectations. For those who would like to a simple cost efective upgrade, the Infinity Kappa 32.5cf are a better way to go.

32.5cf kappas. They are actually component speakers not coaxial. They are 2 ohm (because of the external crossover) but they work just fine with the Bose amp. Trust me I am not alone on this... I have had at least 7 people agree that the Infinities are by far better then the BA and of course the Bose. My car is an 07 so there maybe some differences in the 05-06 models. As for the 07... if you get the BA you will not be very impressed. The difference is so slight that you would be trying to justify that there was any difference at all. That's what I was doing... I finally stopped trying to convince myself that I was hearing a significant improvement with the BA's. I am not saying that the Kappa will make you fall on your knees with sound pleasure happiness, but you will hear a good sound stage improvement. The difference being you won't have to justify leaving them in you car just because you bought them. You will keep them becasue they sound better then the Bose.

Many people will disagree with me because they have made the choice to go with the BA's. That's fine, they are entitled to their opinion, As am I. I orignally posted several weeks ago asking which was better. I got varied responses. I made the wrong choice for me... I have now corrected that choice. Nobody had a strong opinion when I orignally posted my question as to which 3.5" speaker to use. I am now giving a strong opinion... one is better then the other by a large amount... The Kappas are better. I am sure that I will get a lot of flak, people may feel that I have diminished their opinions in favor of my own. So be it... sorry to all of you that might be offended in advance.

For the record. I sat with the door off and 4 different 3.5" speakers.

3.5" kickers
3.5" BA's
3.5" Bose
3.5" Infinity Kappa's

I listened to XM, FM and various CD's from pop to country and everything inbetween. I did this not just for me, but for everyone on this forum. I have found this forum to be very helpful and in return I wanted to do the same. I had someone change the speakers while the music was playing. My eyes were closed and I chose the Kappa's everytime. I then perfromed the same test on three different people. All different music genres.. one guy loved country, another hip hop and the other guy loved rock. They all chose the Kappa's.

 

lol... you must spend too much time in c6 general. we are all pretty open here. thanks for your review and i'm sure it'll help people in the future.

 

I am a big Infinity fan also

 

I am replacing all my speakers with Infinity Kappa's(components in front,coaxials in rear,and two 10" subs in back.I am very impressed with them.It sounds like you made a good choice to me.

 

Speakers are the single most subjective piece of equipment since they are the single biggest factor in any system. I love Focals, but to some people they sound too forward or bright. The lesson as always... use what sounds good to YOU.

 

I agree, that's why I went with all INFINITY (amps & speakers) with a pioneer N3, I can't wait to get it all installed. All the components are sitting in my garage as we speak. good choice.

 

I have to agree with you, after all the great reports on the BA S35, I was disappointed. I have an 06 and the Bose speakers had lots of harsh treble, but no midrange. The BA had nice smooth midrange, but surprisingly the highs just seemed to be missing.

I have always preferred even balance between front and rears in my cars whereas the Bose was completed front biased. I measured my Bose 3.5 speakers at 3.0-3.1 ohms. I wound up replacing the center speaker with BA S35 hoping to add some midrange to the system. Also this higher ohm speaker in the center has less volume and allows better separation in the front between left and right instead of omnipresent wall of sound. I have left the Bose 3.5s in the doors for now.

I then bought the Infinity reference 5022I for the rears. These are 2.65 ohms and have tweeters that point towards the front. There is also a switch for an added 3db boost. I thought they would be perfect for balancing front and rear. It sounds great to me with fader set 2 clicks towards the rear. These speakers swaps changed the soundstage in the car to my liking and I can hear frequencies that were absent before. I think I am getting some mid bass from the rears that was not present in the stock system.

Now I need to decide if I want to change the 3.5s in the doors with the Kappas. I think it would be awesome, but my main concern was the 2 ohm impedance eventually killing the amp. It sounds like many are using the 2 ohm Kappas with no problems.

 

I'm using Kappa's front (32.7cf) and rear (52.7i),with a 3012 reference in the middle. I adjusted the tweeters for +3db. It was more than a little bit of an improvement. I went on a trip with a friend recently and he commented on how good the system sounded - he didn't remember it sounding that good. That's when I told him about the speaker swap!

Anyway, no problem with my Bose amp yet, and I have not spared the volume ****, if you know what I mean.

 

Did you use the included crossovers? Thanks!

 

Yes I did. The passenger side was easy to find a place for but the drivers side was a little more difficult. I put the rt. side in the recess of the armrest. The left side was located right next to the speaker in a little cutout in a felt sound deadening pad (existing).

BTW - my fronts came with a plastic spacer ring attached to the mounting face. It had to be carefully removed and then the speaker mounting tabs bent to fit the screw holes. I have a couple of pictures that I'll hunt down and post.

 

Here are some pictures:

 

I replace my sound system last summer...
Infinity Kappa Perfects
Q Perfects SUBS!
Infinity all the way!!!
Amazing!!!

 

Great Pics! Thanks! I agree these sound much better than the BA S35s. I will leave my BA S35 in the center. In case anyone is curious, I measured these Infinity Kappas 32.7CF at 2.5 ohms through the crossover. They are rated at 2. Two of my Boses measured 3.0-3.1 and the other was 3.4.

 

That's great info. There really should be no issues with the amp if that's the case.