[rampagingsloth]

Ok guys, get me off the fence. Amp wont get here till wednesday anyway (i work wed-sat nights). Should i return the 5.25" rounds and get 6x9? 5.25 F and 6x8R or 6x8F and 6x9 R. Im more of a midrange guy, i like full cabin sound, not just the front. I generally turn down trebel on most radios, my ears are pretty sensitive in the high ranges.

I went with 6x8 3-ways in all 4 speaker locations (Pioneer, I think), a sub in the trunk, 2 amps (they're getting old and need replacement) and a Kenwood Excelon head unit (KDC-X702) because it can read FLAC files directly off of flash drives (my other beater car has an older Kenwood that didn't so I use the AUX in with a media player). Music sounds great, volume around 20 or 21 is loud enough for comfortable listening without going deaf. I like the 3-ways because I don't want speakers having to do too much each.

 

[Dox]

Deck and 6x8s showed up. Figure ill put the door speakers in now and do the rest this weekend. Anything special about having the door panel off? Also, while im in there, drivers window is a little loosey goosey, any adjustment in there?

 

[Kidd-7]

These door panels are hooked in, not popped. Remove screws and lift upward to "unhook". There is a screw behind the reflector if I remember correctly.

I like seperates too. The problem with MN12's is that there's really no good place to put a tweeter in a separate set up. Believe me, I looked!

See this thread for my stereo build details.

Looking for Car Audio Suggestions - Best of 2020

I'm going to tackle upgrading the stereo in the car finally. If you guys were to upgrade your stereo what would be your choice for a head unit in 2020? Would you go single DIN with a pop-out screen? Single DIN with a standard display? Or fab up a Double DIN configuration? I've also considered...

www.tccoa.com

I was pleased with my tweets on the dash at the a-piller, understand not ideal though.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I was pleased with my tweets on the dash at the a-piller, understand not ideal though.

How did you install them? Could you post a pic. Thanks.

 

[Kidd-7]

Not sure if I can find any pics, it was my previous Cougar. The pic below are the tweets I installed, using double sided tape to attached the setup on the right to the dash right up against the A-pillar.

 

[joshbea6]

What, if anything, did you use to filter out the alternator noise on the input power to the system?

 

[Kidd-7]

I didn't have any issues with alternator noise.
Back in the day when I had a portable CD player connected via RCA jacks I had to use a RCA cable with a ground loop isolator to get rid of alternator noise.

 

[joshbea6]

I didn't have any issues with alternator noise.
Back in the day when I had a portable CD player connected via RCA jacks I had to use a RCA cable with a ground loop isolator to get rid of alternator noise.

The reason I ask, is off the stock head unit (mine has the cassette deck at the moment) I'm hearing alternator noise at about 1/2 -2/3 volume, and wanted to know what people were using for noise elimination.

Eventually, I'm looking at an upgraded head unit, 4-ch amp with upgraded 6x8 speakers throughout, a single 10" woofer with a dedicated amp, and a couple of cross overs to keep the low end going through the sub, and the mid-high range going through the doors, rear panels, and possibly putting some 6x9's in the rear deck (still unsure about this, however).

 

[Kidd-7]

Alternator noise is usually caused by bad grounding. The factory ground wires on these cars are small. I'd start with the big 3 upgrade, basically adding beefier ground cables.

 

[Dox]

Got it all put in. Sounds good, nice and clear, not as loud as I expected or hoped nor the bass, probably need to turn up the gain for the loud, and just get a sub for the bass. Is there a simple answer for why stock stereos in newer cars sound so good? Old lady's Milan hiiits for what it is, fairly low optioned I'm sure there's no substitute in it.

 

[beuford318]

I'm with you on the separates up front and party in the back. I may have found the only decent priced separates for people like us (that enjoy luxury and reliability only found in one brand). It's got an amazing passive crossover, they are2.5" deep and they sound amazing even with only stock wattage. However they sound even better if later you throw a couple hundered watts on them!

Cadence QR57K. I'll try to find the inside of that crossover and post them bc they are impressive!

 

[theterminator93]

The CD3's speaker placement is much better than it is on the MN12, and there are way more of them. More speakers = greater air movement capacity = more "hit".

 

[Muscle&Thunder]

I don't know if you want factory looks with a good sound but I went the micro amp route and replaced the in dash amp with it. Throttled Channel RMS to 80 so I wouldn't overload the thin 20 plus year wiring. I also installed the old sub box from the 89-93 models to the 97'. If you are interested I can give pics.

 

[Dox]

The CD3's speaker placement is much better than it is on the MN12, and there are way more of them. More speakers = greater air movement capacity = more "hit".

Wasnt aware of that, just assumed it had 4 speakers in it, just being a base model. I suspected the newer ones probably have intricate speaker boxes.

I don't know if you want factory looks with a good sound but I went the micro amp route and replaced the in dash amp with it. Throttled Channel RMS to 80 so I wouldn't overload the thin 20 plus year wiring. I also installed the old sub box from the 89-93 models to the 97'. If you are interested I can give pics.

I installed a mini 4 channel under the dash in front of the shifter. Deck i chose has rgb, so it doesnt clash with the factory lighting at least. Idk what the factory sub box looks like, probably going to build a box to fit in the spare tire area. Car is hub swapped, and once i have the cobra brakes on there packing a spare is getting increasingly useless, especially since im probably going to go staggered.

 

[Dox]

Its recently come to my attention that apparently most newer cars, even the cheaper trim levels, have 6" subs in the doors. Would explain why they sound the way they do. Instead of the "sub in the trunk" route, im wondering how pointless it would be to put a pair of subs in the interior next to the factory speakers, front or back. Not sure they would even fit. I imagine without an enclosure they probably wouldnt end up doing much? Having done a bit more reading up on the subject, it seems like our cars kill the base pretty bad when putting the box in the trunk. Dont want to have to go with something so big that it ends up rattling the car just to hear it. Wondering what yall have to say on the subject. Havent ruled out a single 8 or 10 in the spare tire well, i think that would be the easiest and least intrusive solution, but also least performance.

 

[Zep5.0]

They aren't subs, just 6" round speakers. They do well for mid and semi-low frequency, then a separate tweeter carries the higher notes.

A decent 10" in a nice box and appropriate amp sounds really nice IMO.

 

[Grog6]

I use s single 12" sub with about 500W to it.

 

[Dox]

ffs.... just lost about 3 paragraphs. To summarize then, been reading up on this all night, dont have a hard answer. Apparently sealed has better fidelity but takes more power for the same booms. Listen to rock the majority of the time, but by a narrow margin. Pandora mix will go from rachmaninov to jerry reed to dio to eminem. Dual voice coil 4ohm with a single channel seems to be what im after best i can tell, but dunno how much power i really need. Given you can always turn it down, but it only goes up so far, suppose ill err on the side of bigger is better within reason (600-800 rms?) Not looking to really pound out the bass (most of the time) just want balanced music. How much should i worry about matching the subs sensitivity to the rest of my speakers? End of the day, is there a big difference between 10s and 12s? With the exception of a bazooka tube in my ranger, a cheap 10" in my 79, and a buddy who spent an obscene amount of money on 12s, i dont have a lot of experience with subs. My bazooka was okay for what it was / cost, the 10 was disappointing but too small of an amp, and for $4k (in 98 or so) that talon would make the back window dance like water.

 

[97 30th]

I used this one in my 97 cat Memphis Audio MJME8S1

It fits under the rear deck and I wanted something removable because of the fold down rear seat. It can be a little muddier than a sealed box but it works pretty well.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

ffs.... just lost about 3 paragraphs. To summarize then, been reading up on this all night, don't have a hard answer. Apparently sealed has better fidelity but takes more power for the same booms. Listen to rock the majority of the time, but by a narrow margin. Pandora mix will go from rachmaninov to jerry reed to dio to eminem.

Dual voice coil 4ohm with a single channel seems to be what im after best i can tell, but dunno how much power i really need. Given you can always turn it down, but it only goes up so far, suppose ill err on the side of bigger is better within reason (600-800 rms?) Not looking to really pound out the bass (most of the time) just want balanced music.

How much should i worry about matching the subs sensitivity to the rest of my speakers?

End of the day, is there a big difference between 10s and 12s? With the exception of a bazooka tube in my ranger, a cheap 10" in my 79, and a buddy who spent an obscene amount of money on 12s, i dont have a lot of experience with subs. My bazooka was okay for what it was / cost, the 10 was disappointing but too small of an amp, and for $4k (in 98 or so) that talon would make the back window dance like water.

One thing I learned when building my system is that bass is mono in sound, not stereo. So you can use a mono block amp to drive your sub or subs. I use a 500W JL Audio monoblock on mine and a 75x4 stereo amp for the other speakers.

Yes. Ideally your speakers should be matched. Use speakers from the same manufacturer.

See this thread for my build details. I get into the nitty gritty around post #46: Looking for Car Audio Suggestions - Best of 2020

I run my door and rear quarter speakers on this 75 x 4 amp: JL Audio JD400/4

I run my subs on this amp: 500 x 1 monoblock: JL Audio JD500/1

Do not overdrive your speakers. Overdriving them can be as bad or worse than underdriving them. From an audio forum:

"Speaker ratings aren't like a fuse, that if you go beyond that it automatically pops. The majority of ... speakers when pushed can distort a bit, but there is also a factor called "power compression." After a point, more watts will not produce any volume increase, instead the the energy is dissipated as heat. Too much and it can heat up enough to burn out the voice coil. "