Thoughts on component speakers?
 

Hey guys, I wanted to run a couple things by you audiophiles here on the board.

I've been dying to upgrade my stock stereo system but have been holding off for a while but I REALLY need an upgrade, at the very least a sub. Going off the fact that our factory HU does not have any preouts I decided in order to get the best sound I would need to replace the head unit and door speakers as well if I was going to upgrade. I've got the sub/box combo picked out that I want to use, now it's down to door speakers.

My question is: would it be worth it to mess with adding a midrange driver in the factory location? I know some have expressed concerns because of the shallow mounting depth and lack of airspace behind the driver would affect it's performance and SQ. The midranges I'm considering are from Addictive Audio. They're 3" midrange drivers and are marketed to be specifically for OEM location applications. They have passive crossovers wired in, and I would be using these with the Addictive Audio components.

I know everyone's ears are different and quality is subjective, but I really like how the front stage sits with the factory speakers and am wanting to keep that when I upgrade. What are y'alls thoughts on the matter?

I'm happy I upgraded the front stage with some MB quart components that set me back about $120 for a set. But I got an aftermarket pioneer and decent external amp too. If you want to keep the OEM head unit I recommend the OEM+ lineup of upgrades.

I will not be keeping the OEM head unit. I will be running 2 amplifiers, one 4 channel and one mono for the sub.

Those MB components, did you just replace the door woofers and the tweeters or were there 3 sets of speakers?

Just the 2 sets - the door speakers and a pair of tweeters. I don't think you'd get that much more midrange in the 3.5" range of speakers. I considered upgrading the rear speakers but just kept the stock speakers there being driven by the head unit - provided a decent amount of fill. I'm running a single 4 ch amp - two channels for the components and two bridged for my 10" sealed sub.

Ya I had planned on leaving the rear alone. No one sits back there anyway and the speakers are so small and underpowered that they don't make that much difference. The midranges I'm considering buying are not expensive, but I've learned with Addictive's speakers that inexpensive with them doesn't mean cheap. $80 for the pair and a little more work running speaker wire back to the amp. That is of course if they fit in the stock location without much modification. If I have to get to messing with it or pay someone to install it would mean a lot of $$$ for what might be a small gain.

I WENT ALL ALPINE :thumbsup:!1!

It's AWESOME,but I also used 60ft of DYNAMAT in the car....

I am running kappa 62.11i and a ktp-445u + jl 10 in power wedge + pioneer Hu. I'm pretty satisfied.

I checked out your build thread, that enclosure looks perfect for me. Which one is it? And where did you buy it?

He's using a JL Audio pre-assembled enclosure with sub.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-s2D2L32...10-JXWXv2.html

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

Yeah I'm using the most economical pre-assembled JL enclosure. IMO way more than enough bass for our little cars - just make sure you're giving it enough power. And dynamating will help with SQ too.

Yes. I have the 250w amp, and that enclosure. I currently do not have dynamat, and you can really tell if you run test tones. I run my doors with 125 hpf to reduce rattles.