New Door Speakers and headunit

[Version3]

Fosgate has been all over the map on their own, Kicker to some extent too (making to much entry-level gear does take it's toll) but JL as far as I know has always stayed in the deeper end of the quality pool.

[Titus]

Are they these?
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/psho...number=299-275

(I think I blew-up one of the Kenwoods I currently have in the doors)

I went ahead and order a set of these... just couldn't pass up the price.

[sammm]

I went ahead and order a set of these... just couldn't pass up the price.

They are a helluva price...let me know what you think once you get them. You have something to install them in, or keeping them for the future?

[Titus]

They are a helluva price...let me know what you think once you get them. You have something to install them in, or keeping them for the future?

It may be a while... I am holding on to them for the Miata I will be buying for my wife in a few months. In the mean time, this thread has kicked my butt into installing the amps and fatmat I have into my Miata over my Christmas break. I ordered the speaker wires and power cable needed for the job when I ordered the speakers.

[jeepinbanditrider]

I just placed an order for the same speakers they will be going in after I get them

[motorollow]

It may be a while... I am holding on to them for the Miata I will be buying for my wife in a few months. In the mean time, this thread has kicked my butt into installing the amps and fatmat I have into my Miata over my Christmas break. I ordered the speaker wires and power cable needed for the job when I ordered the speakers.

Let me know if you need any help, I have done a few installs. It sounds like you have might have done a few installs "back in the day".

[Titus]

Let me know if you need any help, I have done a few installs. It sounds like you have might have done a few installs "back in the day".

Cool... I have no problem with the wiring, but my aesthetic mounting abilities are lacking.

[bmcreider]

My word of advice is stay away from Sony.

I have a Pioneer deck, and I like Pioneer the best for the money IMHO.
I have an Alpine amp, but I don't think amps of any kind fit in your budget - although it should be in the future if you want "good sound" as you will tire of head unit power.
And for speakers, I prefer Focal. If you find any Focal what-so-ever that is a 6.5", get it. Any of them sound good.

[jeepinbanditrider]

Thanks for the advice. I've never been into the big sound systems, but I do like quality sound. It doesn't have to be loud enough to blow my ears out lol. The Marine Corps damages my hearing enough or me.

[bmcreider]

I am about quality over quantity as well, especially in the bass department...

Try craigslist and ebay before you make any final decisions, that's where I found my amp and focal speakers (craigslist)

[sammm]

Polk DB651's on sale at Amazon for $40 shipped -

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

[Titus]

I went ahead and order a set of these... just couldn't pass up the price.

Just received my $15 Vifas from Parts express. It's a smaller magnet and lower quality tweeter than the Vifas I run in my Miata, but still look to be very nice. They have separate wiring posts for the woofer an tweeter, with wires and a cap ran between them. This allows you to run them as is, or remove the wire and cap for use with a full external crossover. I wish all coaxials were designed that way!

[sammm]

Just received my $15 Vifas from Parts express. It's a smaller magnet and lower quality tweeter than the Vifas I run in my Miata, but still look to be very nice. They have separate wiring posts for the woofer an tweeter, with wires and a cap ran between them. This allows you to run them as is, or remove the wire and cap for use with a full external crossover. I wish all coaxials were designed that way!

Throw them in your Miata and report back!

[Titus]

Throw them in your Miata and report back!

Too much of a headache.

[jeepinbanditrider]

I just installed the suggested Alpine headunit I managed to find one lightly used locally from a guy on craigslist. I also installed the 15 dollar Vifas. This setup is lightyears ahead of the system that was in there it sounds SOOOO much better. I've to an aux hookup so I can listen to Pandora off my phone and I went ahead and ran the Alpine IPOD lead back to the armrest storage console.

You still have to be careful with the volume to the Vifas though when set to any volume level over 20 on the alpine they start to get distorted and sound bad. Over all I'm very happy with them so far but may replace them with something from Rockford Fosgate later or another high end piece. Now I want to get the clearwater speakers for the headrests. The units in there now are blown way out lol.

[CraiginTX]

You still have to be careful with the volume to the Vifas though when set to any volume level over 20 on the alpine they start to get distorted and sound bad.

I'd guess you're clipping the headunit amp, not driving the speakers beyond their limit. Add a real, ouboard amplifier and your results should improve dramatically - even if it's nominally a "small" amp. My 30 watt per channel Soundstream will easily outperform the "75 watt" amp in my headunit...

And YMMV on the headrest speakers, but I've found that with decent door speakers and sufficient amplification, headrest speakers sound pretty lame in comparison. I've heard the stock HR speakers, blown stock speakers, and the Jeff Anderson recommended replacements. Check the pointy board for more on headrest speakers and Jeff Anderson.

Congrats on the good deal on the Alpine, and glad you like the Vifas. Sounds like a great bang for the buck!

[jeepinbanditrider]

Got it all installed drove it to work this morning..........................listening to alternator whine the whole way I tried to mess with the wires thinking something was looped around really bad but to no avail. The heat sink on the back of this thing is very hot lol.

[Version3]

Bummer! I had a clicking associated with what I think was alternator noise... I just ran a fresh ground, and it solved the problem for me.

[jeepinbanditrider]

I'm going to run a new ground I guess. It wasn't making any weird noises on the way home but as I got closer to home it was getting dark and I clicked on the lights to find the alt. whine present itself.

Also the speakers are already getting low sound quality. Not sure if that's due to the ground issue I'm having and if I'm getting electrical noise even with the lights off but deep bass sounds absolutely horrible though the Vifas and some mid range sounds, sound garbled and scratchy.

[sammm]

Here's my new setup. '03 Protege radio and Polk DB651's. I'm going to try and install after work today. I'll post up some 'after' pics when I'm done.