I had a system in my old car that sounded great, but I'm not sure if she'll do the trick in my Max. I'll worry about the headunit later (I'm currently see-sawing between the Eclipse 8445 and the Alpine 9855 though), and my amp (a 3 channel Xtant 3150 amp, which other than having only 3 channels , might not have enough umph for what I want) but for now, I'm thinking speakers. anyway......

Here's the thing: I've got 4 Boston Acoustic RM6's and a Xtant A10 sub from my old setup just begging to be installed. The A10 is in, but I can't decide what to do with the RM6's. I'd like to toss all that stuff in my car, save some cheddar and call it a day, but being coaxial speakers in a car that has a component setup, I'm not sure what to do.

My question: What will the SQ difference be if I decide to put them all round vs. putting 2 of em in the back and getting components for the front instead?

It'd be a shame not to use them and have to buy new speakers, but if the difference is undeniable, then I might have to bite the bullet.

Thoughts and potential options would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, if I did put them up front, what should I do with the stock tweeters? Hook em up to the new headunit, buy new ones, or disconnect them seen as I already have them in my coaxials?

 

First of all, go with the Eclipse 8455. Second, it depends where you want your sound stage to come from, I dont know what you like but I would want the tweeters to raise the stage up higher. I say piece together some crossovers and tweeters, and make yourself a DIY component set using the RM6s, because if you dont wanna get rid of em thats gonna probably be the most cost effective and best sounding way to go. And lastly, whatever you do, take the Bose tweeters (and bose altogether) out. Coming from Boston, Eclipse, etc, Im surprised your even considering using these tweeters

GL
Kevin

 

Indeed. I do believe I was thinking with my wallet rather than with my nugget. yeah, those little bastards are as good as gone.

As far as raising the sound stage up, it seems that my RM6's (as good as they sound) are pulling it down. Hence, the dilema I find myself in.

I am still a bit confused though. From what you say, would I be adding aftermarket tweeters along with the RM6's? (I'm not an audiophile, so my knowledge is limited at best so please pardon the retarded questions if they appear to be that way)

If I do so, would there be a high overkill seen as the RM6's have tweeters in them or would it blend in nicely depending on where and how I have my signals feeding into them? (I don't know a whole lot about crossovers either, so perhaps you could let me know how they work, and where they come from. I.E headunit, amp, seperate components etc.)

How would you piece it together?

 

Yes, you would be adding aftermarket tweeters along with the RM6's. Ill start with the basics. Your head unit's amp or a 4 channel amp will send a full range signal to the speakers, meaning lows/mids/highs. A crossover takes that output, and splits it, sending only the highs to the tweeter and only the lows/mids to the 6.5" speaker. When you buy a component set of speakers you get the midrange speaker, the tweeter, and the crossover. So my advice is, rather than buying an entirely new component set, buy a pair of crossovers and a pair of tweeters. Youll get the best sound, raise the stage, and probably end up not spending too much. You will probably have to shop online for this kind of stuff, since stores arent usually going to carry individual crossovers or individual tweeters. Check out the classifieds at elitecaraudio.com, soundillusions.net, etc since a lot of guys have pieced together their systems for the best sound, or just start searching online, like the following
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...761469545&rd=1
Or Crutchfield's tweeter selection (although overpriced and not too great, as all crutchfield stuff is)
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-uz52N7P...sp?g=430&avf=N

P.S. I have a pair of crossovers from Infinity Kappa 6.5's laying around that I might sell

Kevin

 

Excellent. You've been a wicked good help. Would you recommend going Boston on the tweeters as well?

In regards to the Eclipse headunits, you recommended the 8455 over the 8445. What is the difference and what would I gain from that one over the other one? Is there a tweakability difference, a difference in sound quality, or is it a subtle bell and whistle difference?

Thanks again

 

Thats up to you on the tweeters. Boston does have very good sound quality but it might be a little harder to find em. Its not really going to matter though in terms of sound quality.

As for the Eclipse decks either pm Pearl96Max (don) the moderator of this forum, because he carries them and would know, or ask MannyNJ2k2Max because he just got the 8455 and Im sure he would know, or check www.eclipse-web.com. Im not sure, havent had time to read up on em.

-Kevin

 

the 8445 is just a good SQ deck as the 8455- just has 3 less PEQ bands (7 instead of the 10-9855) and no digital input

Either way the 8445 outshines the Alpine model-with its preouts, with its processing (24bit vs 1bit) and its DSP.

Good luck

 

Thank you for your help too Manny. Alas, my lack of knowledge isn't allowing me to fully comprehend what the differences are, so if I may.......

Q1: What might I lose with 3 less PEQ bands? (I noticed that the Alpine only has 5)

Q2:How bout the digital input. What is it used for or why may I want one? (I don't think Alpine even has one. Not sure though)

Lastly, in terms of the Eclipse vs. Alpine preouts, what makes the Eclipse ones better? (I don't know much about preouts either, so perhaps you can tell me a little about those too)

Thanks

 

you will be fine with the 3 less bands. eclipse preouts typically have 55ohm preouts with higher voltage (actually do the stated voltage) alpine has like lets say... 80-100 ohm pre outs(just a guess) and from an experience with an alpine unit they do not put out their rated pre outs at all.