[razorguy]

I figured this is the best place to post this..move/delete if necessary...

Anywho, I am wanting to upgrade the speakers in my car (93 Chevy Camaro). This car is my baby and I've finally got the motor/exterior how I want it so now I want to upgrade the audio but don't know much about it

I'll start by saying I do not want subs. All I am really looking for are some high quality speakers to upgrade the factory ones with, and possibly an amp to power them if needed. I've had the car for over four years now and the only thing I have changed is the head unit (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-WrRfVGfsSfD/p_113MP532/Kenwood-KDC-MP532U.html). I have read where having the built in amp in your head unit is a bad move but I don't know anything about that now and definitely didn't four years ago when I bought it so if the head unit needs to go, then throw me some recommendations for it as well.

I listen to a lot of rock/metal and recently started getting into dubstep. I want some speakers with some high quality bass, but I don't necessarily need a lot of it (hence why I don't want subs).

I think that covers it but feel free to ask more questions if you want some more details. Hopefully some of you know your car audio. Thanks

 

[Mjolnir]

I've never heard that you shouldn't use the head unit to power your speakers. Maybe for people who are very concerned about their total level of THD (distortion) and feel their high-end amplifiers do a better job of sound reproduction. I think for the casual listener, it should be fine, especially of you aren't going to be running large power-hungry subs.

As far as speaker upgrades, almost any brand-name speaker will be a significant upgrade over thd cheap paper cones the factory installed. The real factor is your budget.
Pay attention to your mounting depth, but a speaker with a big beefy magnet and room for good speaker excursion is going to sound better.

Personally, I like component set ups, but the 2 & 3-way speakers are not bad if your stock locations are a limiting factor.

I think as far as which brand of speaker to go with varies depending on the kind of music you listen to. I would read a number of reviews and go to an audio store so I could listen to a number of speakers to get a feel for what will sound good for your personal musical tastes.

Don't listen to anyone who espouses one particular brand over another, go with what sounds "right" to your ears.
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[razorguy]

I don't really have a set budget. I was thinking up to $400 or so could be used for the speakers (I only have 4). Judging by prices online that should get me something good. Then the amp I don't know anything about so something good, yet reasonably priced (or just suggest one and I'll let you know if I can afford it

). If my head unit is fine I can allocate some funds to other places if needed.

 

[Mjolnir]

What size are your stock speakers?

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[razorguy]

6-3/4" for all 4 according the Crutchfield so I guess 6-1/2" also fits and then 5-1/4" fits with a bracket.

 

[Ironcobra]

Look no further then elemental design..the are by far the best bang for the buck speakers on the planet ...and they are charlie sheen certified "winners" they are american made to order there customer support is outstanding they called me 3 weeks after i bought my home theater package to see how i was doing and how i liked it and it wasnt some secretary it was one of the lead designers very serious company they also have a system builder option that saves money if u buy packages which is a now brainer google reviews on these if u must but...
http://www.edesignaudio.com/

They are famous for there car audio and subs, but there Home speakers are just as win i have a full package from them and its mind numbing how good they are compared to speakers that cost 5 times more, ill save u the month of research just click buy no really buy them!!

 

[Invidiafanboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironcobra;12995578
Look no further then elemental design..the are by far the best bang for the buck speakers on the planet ...and they are charlie sheen certified "winners" they are american made to order there customer support is outstanding they called me 3 weeks after i bought my home theater package to see how i was doing and how i liked it and it wasnt some secretary it was one of the lead designers very serious company they also have a system builder option that saves money if u buy packages which is a now brainer google reviews on these if u must but...
http://www.edesignaudio.com/

They are famous for there car audio and subs, but there Home speakers are just as win i have a full package from them and its mind numbing how good they are compared to speakers that cost 5 times more, ill save u the month of research just click buy no really buy them!!

+1 to this. Elemental Design is what Customer Service should always be about! I had them build a custom box for one of their 8" sub for my older 5 series BMW. It fit perfect where the center armrest folds down in the back seat. Construction was top notch. I have also heard their Home theater subs.

I also had a set of Polk components in the SRT-4 as well with a single 10" Diamond Audio Sub in sealed box that was all ran by a hiphonics amp(old amp from when they were good). It was an awesome setup for rock. Bass was "tight" and not at all "boomy".
And if you really want good music, you need to at least have a nice 8" sub. the 6.75's just can not move enough air.

 

[Nick911]

BEST there is: http://www.hybrid-audio.com/products.htm

 

[Mark the Bold]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick911;13017440
BEST there is: http://www.hybrid-audio.com/products.htm

Dude the guy only has $400 bucks. I think the owner's manual alone for HAT cost that.

First off, we need to be real about bass expectations from 6.5" speakers in stock locations. If you can't build an engineered enclosure (a box), you'll have a hard time getting sub bass (30hz-60hz). Midbass sounds great mind you, but dont let someone lie to you by saying IF you buy these $$$$ speakers they have WAY more bass than those cheap ass speakers Mark the Bold recommended. The laws of physics (Hoffman's rule) for bass are undefeatable. You can put competition grade HAT's in those stock locations and you still won't get as good as bass as building an MDF box with some $15 cheap a$$ sub-drivers.

Secondly while you certainly can power speakers off a headunit that 50w x 4 is a REALLY optimistic and misleading number. The power wire to your headunit is 20awg at best so getting 200w RMS from ANY headunit is a total myth. And if you do manage to get that power, it will only be for a few seconds before the headunit catches on fire.

Thirdly, getting 4 identical speakers is pointless and a waste of money. Get (1) set of components for the front and (1) sets of 6.5" or 7" mid bass for the back.

Having said that, I recommend the following equipment.

A decent 4 channel amp:
Clarion XH4110 - $210 of egay (my pick- designed by Warren Zeff with over 100w per channel @ 4ohm)
Kicker ZX 350.4 - $150 of egay (bullet proof amp)

Front components: (for your 70hz on up signals - the MOST important range of music)
Alpine Type S 6.5" Components ($80-$90)
or
Cadence CS265K 6.5" Components ($70)

Rear Mid-Bass: (for your 45hz to 80hz - miss bass and SLIGHLY sub bass frequencies)
Tang Band 6.5"
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-832 ($122 for the pair)
The only thing you need to check with these is that you have 3-3/4" of mounting depth. Might be tight, but doable in most cars.

Now you'll also need an amp kit for your system, so I suggest you get knukonceptz CCA 4 awg amp kit. should be $30 shipped. Don't get one of those cheap ebay 4awg amp kits as they make the plastic WAY thicker than knuconceptz at the expense of wire.

So what I recommended is:

$150 - 4 channel amp
$70-80 - front components
$122 - rear mid bass subs
$30 - amp kit
________________

approx $382 total.

Use the crossovers on the amp to filter out frequencies your speakers arent designed for (HPF the fronts @ 60-70hz and LPF the subs @ 90-100hz). Some overlap is ok as the fronts will not be particularly effective at their lower ranges.

Hope this helps. This setup will sound fantastic.

 

[trulsrohk]

Hey someone recommending Cadence, I like it!

I have the cvl5k component kit up front in my m3 and they sound great with enough power to them.

Have em running off a diamond audio amp, which I would also reccomend, you can get them off fleabay at great prices for a real solid amp.

Also depending on your tastes you might just run the fronts off an amp and the rear off the deck. I personally just like rear speakers for a little bit of fill, so they dont need much power.

 

[Mark the Bold]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trulsrohk;13040234
Hey someone recommending Cadence, I like it!

I have the cvl5k component kit up front in my m3 and they sound great with enough power to them.

Have em running off a diamond audio amp, which I would also reccomend, you can get them off fleabay at great prices for a real solid amp.

Also depending on your tastes you might just run the fronts off an amp and the rear off the deck. I personally just like rear speakers for a little bit of fill, so they dont need much power.

There are plenty of options out there for components. I've drank the active crossover kool-aid and can never go back to passive comps again. However, I've heard both the alpine type s and cadence cs comps and both sound very good for the price. There are also some $140 morels components that sound magical if you can squeeze them in your budget. I just did an install with these last week and was VERY impressed but I fear these are out of his price range. What I really liked about the Morels was the HUGE amounts of installation brackets and accessories they included. Left a nice taste in my mouth and saved me lots of time. But really, most components out there sound great so long as you FILTER OUT THE SUB BASS FREQUENCIES!!!!!! Even stock factory paper speakers sound infinitely better if you put a simple HPF on them.

I recommended that Tang Bands because they use a neodynium magnet that seriously reduces their weight and make them suitable for stock locations as it will not put too much strain on the existing speaker frames. However, if the original poster has the time, I recommend he go to home depot, buy a 4x2 3/4" or 5/8" MDF, have home depot use their panel saw and make a simple 0.5ft^3 cubic box with some carpenter glue and pre-drilled holes drywall screws. He should easily be able to hide this in his camarro somewhere, and put a SINGLE tang band in their and bridge the 3&4 channels on the amp to a single channel. Let me tell you that just one little 6.5" - 8" like that in a solid 0.5ft^3 box in a car with nice cabin gain like a camarro with just 100w will sound fantastic. Won't be obnoxious or boomy and will give you a very nice bass compliment to the front components. The MDF and glue / screws will work out to $20 tops, and you can get carpeting real cheap at local fabric shops if you want it to match the carpet of your camarro. That's what I would do if it were my car, my budget and if I didn't want excessive bass.

PS: if you go this route you will need a 4 ohm sub; a 2 ohm sub will NOT work with a bridged amp.

 

[trulsrohk]

Very true about the hpf even stock speakers on newer cars are capable of at least decent volume if you filter out frequencies below 80 hz or so... Heck doing that and installing a subwoofer would be good enough for the majority of the population.

Check out the cvl k series cadence speakers if you get the chance and let me know what you think. Like I said they need a good bit of power to move the 3 inch voice coils, but they are really a high end set that you can get a steal on often due to the lack of reputation.