Recently got a green 94 SE 5spd w/80k. Leather, sunroof, cd player. I just bought new rims because the old ones were really pitted. Just one problem left. The speakers have no kick.


What size are the stock (Bose) speakers that I have? I have a kenwood head unit with 40W X 4, so that is probably enough power. The rear speakers now have their own small amplifiers. What are some suggestions for $200-$400 speaker upgrades that would work for this car?

 

MA audio synergy comps. they're the exact same as some line of MB quart comps (patent ran out, MA bought it)
thats for the front, 6x9's are in the back i believe. i'm a big cerwin vega fan, so i'd say the vegas with the biggest magnets you can find. then you'll crave some low end stuff.. with the 6x9's and the 6.5's you should be covered for midbass..get a JL 15w3 D4(mmmm) or an MA audio MAW615(like mine!)..or you could go with 2 12"s..i'd recommend JL or audiomobile (get the MASS!!!) but since i'm still very new at all this, my opinions only count for about .5 cents, do what you want, listen to everything possible. deck power usually isnt clean enough and just doesnt sound as good as power from amps.
-PaT-
'86 bmw 325 2 door 5 speed decent stereo (i like it better without rear speaks)
waiting for parents to decide about a loan for a VQ, hopefully they decide soon.

 

i got 2 BRAND NEW 12" JBL LCS1250W subwoofers for sale.(still in original packaging). Asking $175/OBO. Shipping is from 78680 so you can work it out.

http://www.jbl.com/car/product.asp?p...at=SUB&ser=LNC

 

I've had 2 JL 15W4 D2 In my car for about 3years and can say that they are good for sound quality ,but lack in the SPL range. JL is has new subs that are going to kick a**
but they are way to expensive. I plan on selling my JL and trying something new, I was thinking about Audiobahn.

 

I just put in a Pioner 3300 something CD. How do you know if the car came with the Bose system? It had a really good stereo, but the head unit broke, so I replaced it with a sorry sony tape deck, then just now replaced that w/ the cd player. It has cup holders below it that look like they bolt in and replace a equilizer that I'm assuming a bose system would have, but I'm not sure, so thats why Im asking.

 

I have a friend who replaced the speakers in her '92 SE with Bose. The speaker measurements are as follows:

4" in the doors
6x9s in the rears

She replaced them with Rockford Fosgate coaxials and Eclipse 3-way 6x9s (along with purchasing the Eclipse 4440 HU).

Speakers you might want to take a look at are:

Infinity (Perfect Series)
JL Audio Evolution (I am getting a set of TR690s for my '94 GXE)
Kenwood Excelon
Kicker
JBL
MTX

 

If you're just looking for bass for yourself, one 12" sub will be sufficient, when you turn it up you'll be able to boom around town, with another pro being that your trunk doesn't rattle . the 12" will also hit lower frequencies than smaller size subwoofers. if you are getting a set of components, AMP them, they sound MUCH different. when I put an amp to my speakers, it was a new world of listening.

 

I am partial to The Boston Acoustics Pro Series and the Diamond Audio Hex Series. Both are pretty much the same in price. That being $$$$$$$$$. Expensive. They kick some serious a$$ though. As far as subs and amps go, try Rockford Fosgate for both or Kicker or Cerwin Vega subs with Memphis amps. If you've got the dinero, pick up some Eclipse Titanium series DVC subs. Those beotches hammer.

 

I recently got the 2 10 MTX subs powered by a 600watt Kenwood amp and those things hit hard. Doesn't make my trunk rattle either.
If you want to find a nice system for not a lot of $$ try going to http://www.ubid.com
They have some nice stuff there.

 

Thanks for all the input. sounds like a single 12" sub might be what I'm looking for. Combined with some new speakers for the front, this would be a nice system that wouldn't cost too much. Does everyone think 40W x 4 is enough power.

 

not enough power. 40 watts head unit power isn't really 40 RMS. look at any decent 4x40 amp, and see how much heat sync is needed to release the heat, it really can't be done in a headunit. that is why bose uses amps at each speaker to get the power.

I would get a 4 channel amp use 1+2 for the front speakers, bridge 3-4 for the sub, and run the rears off of the headunit.

 

Why don't you tell us what you want. The type of system. Sound quality? big bass? what do you want. We can't help you to the best of our abilities unless you let us

 

Okay. First thing. Price is up to $400.

Sound, good quality, not absolute top of the line, but certainly above average. Probably replacing all the speakers. If I could put a single 12" sub between the 6x9s in the back window, that would be another possibility.

Bass, has to have kick and quality bass, but I don't need enough to be heard throughout the neighborhood (or even around the block).

Basically I want a strong system with enough power to fill the car, but not a whole lot more.

One of my friends spent $400 on two 12" subs (pioneer I think) for his dodge shadow. That really rocks but isn't what I'm looking for. Would 2 12" fit easily into the back window?

Speaker brands? After looking at some web sites it seems like sony is cheaper than both pioneer and kenwood (in general for the same type of speaker) Has anybody found a brand that isn't too expensive and has great sound?

Feel free to ask any other specific questions.

 

This is just something that a friend of mine did with great results: he bought a cheap Radio Shack amp for like a $100(200watts) and bought a good set of subs. This might be a good idea if you are on a budget. I don't exactly know what the advantages are of having a good brand name amp but I'm sure if you get a cheapo high powered amp and a good set of subs it'll be cheap and effective.

 

Fix the bose, there are plenty sittin in peeps garages/ basements ect. add a sub. unfortunately $400 could be a start to a system, but wiil not go far.

 

I think the 2 JBL subs that were offered earlier and a nice MTX amp will fill the bill nicely.

What you should do is take a look at is the classified section and the Audio and Electronics section on the board and you might be able to find the items you need.

 

what did you do with all that plastic crap that encases the speaker, amp, etc. when i replaced my rear speakers, all that plastic rattled like crazy. its so annoying. i wanted to take it out, but i dont know what to do with the stock amp wiring, or how i'll mount the speakers. the rattling got so annoying that i eventually just unplugged the rears, and its like that to this day! so, what did you guys do, if anything?

 

I would not try cutting a 12 inch hole in the top of your trunk to put a speaker. That alone is gonna cost you some serious money I bet. Just get a band pass box and mount it to the floor of the trunk and get an average sized amp....hook them up and your ready to go. ANd the best thing is you didnt break the bank!!!! But expect to spend a little more than $400 on a good quality system.

 

Here is my opinion:

Don't replace teh BOSE, to replace the BOSE you'll be looking to spend about the same as you would to buy new aftermarket parts, and anything aftermarket will sound better than stock.

Check the back of your car, does it say, "ACTIVE SPEAKER SYSTEM" orsomething to that effect on the rear grilles, if so, it will be VERY easy to replace your system.

Since you already have a deck, the 40x4 will be sufficient just for your listening. If you crank it up it will probably distort, but you should generally have no problem. If you want to amp your speakers with a good decnt four channel amp look to spend around $200 to $300 for JUST the amp.

For a subwoofer and amp, if you're not looking to pound, I would highly reccomend an Image Dynamics subwoofer, it has good sound quality, and you should be happy with it. Remember that with any subwoofer you'll have bass, you might not be setting off car alarms, but it'll put out a noticable difference compared to speakers. Look to spend maybe $100 or so on the subw, that leaves $300. You can find a decent amp to power that sub for about $200-$250 and with hte rest of the money you can buy an amp kit or a box.

When you consider an amp...don't get say..radioshack, Pyle, Power Acoustik, Legacy, etc...those do not offer "clean" power; your subwoofer will only sound as good as the weakest link in your system. If you have bad wire, bad power, bad subwoofer, bad signal, etc, it won't sound good

As for speaker size, I'd reccomend a 12" subwoofer in a sealed box. A 10" speaker will hit "crisper" but won't reproduce frequiences as low, the 12" will be ea more all around sub, but won't hit as "crisp". The larger you up size, the lower you can hit, generally...but then again, how low do you need to go? When I said a sealed box, I said so because it is maintance free, overtime bandpasses deterioite and need to be adjusted, and ported are troublesome...I hope this all helps you...my fingers hurt

 

Yeah, that helps a lot. Thanks. I probably won't be able to get the new sytem till school is out and I have more time, but look for my new system info in a month or two

 

Any estimates on my idea. Thinking about getting a 10-12" sub in the rear deck over the trunk. How much would the sub, the installation and an amp for the sub cost total? Assume a mid to high end sub and decent amp.

 

Just some advice--> When you start to spend that type of money, you should wait until you have enough to do everything at once. This will cut installation costs (if you can't do it yourself) and reduce the amount of time that you will be stuck without your wheels. I would NOT recommend a sub in the rear deck. You would have to cut into it and that will reduce the structural integrity of the car. If you are wanting to save trunk space, get some free-air subs and mount them to a baffle against your rear seat. You can get some decent 12" subs for less than $150. Rockford Fosgate or Kicker are good ones. When it comes to amps as well as subs, you get what you pay for. Even though amps such as Rockwood or Pyramid may say that they produce 900 watts into 1 channel at 4 ohms, that is bullcrap. You can take that 900 and multiply it by 15%. This leaves you with about 135. That is about ALL that those amps will produce. They only give you about 15% of what they say they will. Think about it. There is a reason why amps such as Rockford Fosgate, Kicker, Precision Power, Memphis, Xtant, and Phoenix Gold are so expensive. Better materials, more power, better warranties, more reliability, and better reputations. Power Acoustik makes some value-priced amps that produce well. I have personally had some of their Platinum Series in the past. Some other value priced amps are USAcoustics and Profile. They aren't the best in the world, but they are damn better than some Radio Shack or Wal-Mart pieces of crap. You can get them from Crutchfield at www.crutchfield.com or you can buy them from Apex-Audio. You have to be a member of Apex to buy from them. Apex is a wholesale company. If you are interested, you could send me the money and I could buy it for you and have them drop ship it to you if you want to save the membership fee. So, in conclusion, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Wait and save the money until you are ready to bite the bullet and buy some decent quality stuff. You will be glad that you did.

 

I have the Active Speaker System in mine and I decided to start piecing things together. Technically, $400 can be spent on a good head unit and decent quality speakers. For example, I am currently running my Eclipse with the factory speakers and amp. For now, it sounds pretty good and I can hear it from at least 25 feet away.

The rest of my stuff including installation is going to run me around $2500. If you take a look at my sig, you will see the components I am getting. But like they said, you get what you pay for.

 

Well i'm not excatly sure if you have already purchased the headunit yet. If you have then that's great because now you have $400 to spend on the components. First, if you can get those speakers that were like MBquarts...then that's great, i'd get those. Next 6x9's...Check out the power handling on the speakers and choose the one accordingly to the amp/power output that you have. As for you "bumps", if you want something crisp and clean but not too distracting to others...get a single 12" in a sealed box. You don't always have the buy the sub that can handle the most power. Get the sub that'll go accordingly to your amp. Usually as long as you give it the RMS power handling on the sub or alittle more....they tend to sound pretty damn good. Anyways, as for me and my SPL addiction....I'm going with 2 15"s in a ported box with about 2000watts going to them.(soon to be 4000watts) But remember if you get multiple amps...make sure you have enough voltage for it. Multiple batteries will help, capacitors may or may not depending on what you're going for.