What 6.5" speakers sound the best in our cars?

[hockeyman]

I am shopping for 4 new speakers for my 96 Camaro. I have a 300w 4 channel amp that gives off 75w per channel, and I am looking for a set of speakers that will hold the sound through-out the volume without too much distortion. I have a Sony CDX-M8810 HU. I don't have any mega bass coming from the car (nor do I want any), but I just want something that sounds nice.

Oh, I plan on installing 2-way crossovers on the set that I buy. I already have 4 new tweeters that I'm going to use.

Thanx!

[Ender2664]

I am about to get JL speakers, they should be in my car by Friday at the latest, so i can at least tell you how those sound on my stock amp. And then in a couple of weeks i will have new amps running my system and i can give a review of them with that amp too.

[rhouse21]

You do realize that asking what's the "best" speaker is kinda like asking what's the best drink or the best restaurant. It's very personal and subjective.

The "best" I've heard are the MB Quart Q-series, but they're pretty pricey. The JL's offer a good bang for the buck, though.

...and why would you buy tweeters before the main speakers? I've played that game and it's really tough to match a set of tweaters to a good set of main speakers. If you want separate speakers, it's much better to buy them as part of a matched component set. If you're ear isn't too discriminating, you may be able to get away with it, but you'd be much happier with a good set of components.

[mwh27]

Our doors are pretty terrible for IB setups. Out rear holes are very easy to get IB out of them.


I sugest deading and sealing the front, thats what I'm doing this weekend.

[hockeyman]

Deadening huh? Didn't think about that and it sounds like a good idea. I'll get some dynomat and start there.

I've also heard that MB Quart's put out an awesome sound, but they are kinda pricey. I'll see if I can find a deal on them somewhere.

Thanks for the help!

[rhouse21]

Tweater.com has a set of their mid-grade series for $149.

[T-Punk]

Do not buy new MB-quart, the quality has gone way down since rockford bought them out. I would suggest ditching your tweets and using crossovers and tweets that come with a good set of components. My personal favorites are the cdt cl's which are available at http://www.thezeb.com/p-CDT-Audio-CL...tem-101083.htm or for the price the elemental designs 6000s are great as well (in fact they are what i am getting for my new cheap system) and they are available at www.edesignaudio.com (the 6500's are even better but cost more as well). good luck with the install.

[01blackbird]

t-punk you and i share common ground. i love elemental and hate rockford & dei. love cdt. it seems you spend your days researching on e-coustic forums and such, as i have the past 4 years. [img]smile.gif[/img]
hockeyman, if your really insist on putting 4 seperate tweeters in your car, use one of the cdt's crossover which has an option for image tweet. also, please buy a decent amp, otherwise your system will not crank loud at all and sound tinny. you will thank yourself for investing in one. hope that helps.

[articacid]

I have the elemental designs edi-6000's($150) in the doors, edu-600's($110) in the sails, and run them off an eD nine.4 amp(4x65 rms $235).

the edu-600's have just the 6.5 speaker from the edi6000 setup.

it sounds very good, sq is amazing. they do hold the lows pretty good. i dont reccomend running 4 tweeter(2 front 2 back). my buddy had a set up like that is the highs are just overwhelming.

[mwh27]

Originally posted by T-Punk:
Do not buy new MB-quart, the quality has gone way down since rockford bought them out. I would suggest ditching your tweets and using crossovers and tweets that come with a good set of components. My personal favorites are the cdt cl's which are available at http://www.thezeb.com/p-CDT-Audio-CL...tem-101083.htm or for the price the elemental designs 6000s are great as well (in fact they are what i am getting for my new cheap system) and they are available at www.edesignaudio.com (the 6500's are even better but cost more as well). good luck with the install.

Heh, I got 2 pairs of older MB Quarts. Q's and reference.

BTW hockeybob, don't get dynamat unless you have lots of extra money to spend.

goto to http://www.raamaudio.com/

Get a roll of BXT, and 2 yards of ensolite, and 1 can of adhesive. About $150 to your door.

Put 2-layers of BXT all over the outer skin of the door, and 1-2 ONTOP of that behind the speaker, then 1-2 layers of ensolite behind the speaker/entire door.

Check http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/ for reviews of all the deadners.

BTW, heres the Q's
http://www.mikewillhiggs.com/94_Camaro_General/PANA0085

[mwh27]

Originally posted by 01blackbird:
t-punk you and i share common ground. i love elemental and hate rockford & dei. love cdt. it seems you spend your days researching on e-coustic forums and such, as i have the past 4 years. [img]smile.gif[/img]
hockeyman, if your really insist on putting 4 seperate tweeters in your car, use one of the cdt's crossover which has an option for image tweet. also, please buy a decent amp, otherwise your system will not crank loud at all and sound tinny. you will thank yourself for investing in one. hope that helps.

Having 4 tweets in your car isn't a bad thing, you just want the rear tweets very quite as to not bring the image all the way into the back seat.

[rhouse21]

I've been out of the scene for a while since I settled on my stereo gear a few years back. I didn't even know that Rockford had bought MB Quart. Still, I'm surprised that they let the speakers go down so much. I used to be a big fan of Rockford back in the Punch 45 days.

...and blackbird hit a really good point about the amp. When shopping, pay particular attention to how they define the peak RMS power (meaning at what distortion level it's quoted). A good amp will make peak power with very little distortion. But, a lot of the cheap/crap amps quote their peak power with 10 - 1000 times more distortion than a good amp. Yeah, they'll make power, but they distort so bad they'll make even the best speakers sound like crap. Oh, and they might blow your speakers in the process.

That's actually why people loved the old RF Punch 45 back in the day. It was rated at 45 W rms but had some rediculously low distortion number. As a result, you could actually get more usable power out of it than many other amps rated 4-5 times higher, especially when driving subs. That's why my 12 year old subs powered by a really clean 100 W per channel amp can KILL a lot posers with their shiny, brand new, crappy 500 or 1,000 W amps.

And remember, If you have subs, x-over your mains at about 80 - 120 Hz and you can actually get REALLY good sound out of a REALLY small amp because the sub's will take care of all the "heavy lifting." This will also dramatically cut down on the bass-rattles from the doors and the sail panels. I'm still using the 12 year old Clarion EQ/"booster" from my first car that's rated at a monsterous 12 1/2 Wrms per channel for my mains and I can nearly deafen you with clean, distortion-free highs & mids. Combine that with the subs and I have a well balanced system that sounds good playing everything from Hip-hop, to Jazz, to Classical. Not everybody can say that.

If you invest in good equipment, it'll keep you happy for a LONG, LONG time. Just something to think about.

[articacid]

Originally posted by mwh27:
Combine that with the subs and I have a well balanced system that sounds good playing everything from Hip-hop, to Jazz, to Classical. Not everybody can say that.

I can, the ed stuff is well balanced, and can get very loud as well.

[01blackbird]

the 4 tweeter thing is for imaging. tweeters are placed pointing toward windshield, and others in the doors. the ones up high have a -3 to -6db attentuation so they are not overwhelming; it simply provides a nice spacious soundstage.
also keep in mind installing one strategically placed tweeter is better than installing 4 inferior tweeters. just something to think about.

tweeters:
The Silk dome is the smoothest. Always gentle and forgiving, this tweeter emphasizes the music and avoids noise and artifacts that may embed some source material or be characteristic of less than perfect amplifiers. Very low listening fatigue and an easy quality that puts an emphasis on the system¹s midrange.

The Aluminum is more aggressive at retrieving fine detail. Cleaner and more revealing than the silk but more critical also. The lower end (in a tweeter) is perhaps the lowest in distortion. The all-around choice.

The Titanium is the speed demon. For those who demand the maximum air and energy the Titanium takes the top end into the violet. Very critical and revealing of high end details.

[ September 23, 2005, 01:03 PM: Message edited by: 01blackbird ]

[hockeyman]

^^Good tweeter advice...thanks!!

MWH27, do you have any pics of the BXT installed inside your doors?