Upgrading Speakers

[War_Panda04]

i have an 07 STi and i'm starting to notice the speakers are crapping out. time to upgrade.

i currently have this head unit (not blutooth) accidentally ordered the wrong one but oh well i will live without it. but that's it as far as audio mods.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130X520UI/Pioneer-FH-X520UI.html?tp=5684

i have a set of 2 12" Infinity subs in a box with a Sony Xplod amp on the back but its not installed i took it out of my last car.

wasn't planning on installing it but i might.

basically i need a decent set of (4) speakers to put in the car. i don't need the top of the line ones but something with good quality sound and r pretty loud.

thanks guys

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

I'm currently watching these on Ebay... I looked at allot of speakers and finally settled on these. They seem to have the specs I'm looking for and I heard them recently in a local stereo shop... I like them and they are priced just right for me. They seem like a good modest speaker...

 

[War_Panda04]

don't know much about aftermarket audio. i've heard rockford fosgates are great.

any particular reason you r getting 2 different brands for speakers?

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

The specs

Each one meets my criteria for both power handling and frequency response and sensitivity and price individually.

I don't buy into the premise that you need to brand match every component. You need to base your decision on quality and performance and balance that with price. Are there better speaker out there? Hell yes. But for the price, these are right up my alley.

 

[War_Panda04]

How do i determine what specs i need/ want? Like i said i want decent quality sound at a somewhat loud volume u know..

 

[HolyCrapItsFast]

To be honest the specs are only half of the selection process and are really meant to give you a starting point. I look at the specs and then sample the speakers if I can because even something with great specs can sound like shit once it is installed. The best thing to do is to sample them at a local stereo shop and compare. I think BestBuy still has car audio displays that allow you to sample different speakers. Just find what you like and ignore the specs.

For me it really doesn't matter much because I have all kinds of equalizer and room correction software to compensate for any un-nerving frequencies.

 

[War_Panda04]

Ok i actually need to go to best buy tonight anyway ill check them out... I dont need any of that fancy stuff lol but i wanna turn the volume up on a nice day with the windows down and not have it sound like shit

 

[OldManSTI]

Another thing to consider (further muddying the car audio waters) is to get the volume you want you should really consider an amplifier for your new speakers as well. I'm assuming your subs are going to be driven by the Sony amp, and you'll find your highs may be completely drowned out by your subs. Also, aftermarket speakers will almost always be less sensitive than oem's, meaning they need more power to drive them than your factory speakers.

I'm glad to see that Crutchfield is properly listing the power output of the headunit you selected as 14WRMS per channel, which unfortunately isn't a ton of juice compared to what your subs are getting. That being said, amplification for your speakers will really help.

 

[War_Panda04]

I was talking to a friend of mine and he suggested selling the 2 subs and going with a single 10 and getting an amp for the speakers

 

[OldManSTI]

I was talking to a friend of mine and he suggested selling the 2 subs and going with a single 10 and getting an amp for the speakers

Might be a good suggestion, depending on your music tastes. The dual twelve box seems like a default starting point for a lot of folks, but for many it's completely overkill.

 

[War_Panda04]

I listen to a little bit of everything really

 

[OldManSTI]

I listen to a little bit of everything really

I've always enjoyed a single 10 in a well designed ported enclosure with plenty of power. The extra juice allows for a good volume when I listen to bass heavy stuff, but the smaller sub can be faster and more accurate when listening to quicker stuff like rock.

A good ported box will be larger than sealed, but can reach lower frequencies than a sealed so I'm ok with the compromise.

 

[War_Panda04]

I listen to alot of hip hop, spanish music and a bit of country thrown in.. Wat do u suggest? I dont need to hear the music 3 miles from my car tho u know

 

[OldManSTI]

IF you can find a good ported 10, I'd go with that. However, a good ported box might be a bit expensive with all that you're doing so a good 10 in a sealed box with a good amount of power may give you the dynamics you need. The sealed enclosure will increase your power handling, and as long as you keep the signal clean, speakers can take more power than they're rated for (i.e. I had a first gen Kicker L7 12" rated for 350watts, and in a properly designed enclosure with clean signal, I was able to pump 900watts RMS with no problem). Both styles of enclosure can handle the type of music you like.

For your highs, you don't need a gigantic amp since you're not going for REALLY loud. Both Alpine and Clarion (and probably others, though these are the two I know of) make small amplifiers that are meant as upgrades for the head unit. In fact, the two I've mentioned are designed to connect directly behind the head unit and be stashed somewhere in or under the dash. I used the Clarion version in my Expedition, and was very pleased with the results. As I have yet to pull my STi apart, I'm not sure how much room they left in the dash, but this may be a simple option for you rather than buying a big 4 channel amp that you have to mount in the trunk.

 

[War_Panda04]

In my 07 there is a bit of room behind my head unit.. I replaced the one the old owner had in the car and there was a god awful mess of wires behind the radio that i cleaned out and made so much more space.. Ill have to look up the size of that unit to tell for sure if it will fit

 

[War_Panda04]

So i lied about which subs i had and i got all the details for them... I have 2 "Infinity reference 1062w 10" 1,1000watt high performance sub" and its a sony Xplod 2 channel amp

 

[War_Panda04]

i dont need to get a sub right away. lets just start with the speakers cuz i need those soon. i will amplify them but i just need to figure out the best specs to get for the type of music i listen to and i can start researching brands.

 

[War_Panda04]

From what i can tell these look like a decent set and are within my price range

 

[OldManSTI]

Any reason you're going with 5 1/4" up front instead of the 6 1/2" that you're rated for?

Rockford Fosgate is a good brand, so I could see them being a good choice.

The two amps I suggested from Clarion or Alpine were (I believe) rated for 45x4, which should be more than enough for moderate to loud listening levels.

 

[War_Panda04]

I didnt know the car could fit both sizes would a bigger soeaker be better? I was also looking at a kicker DXA250.4 4 channel amp that looks like it will fit behind my radio 30 watts RMS x 4