Let's Talk Speakers

[Ruckus]

Originally Posted by ecko04

Well it depends. How is your Excelon connected now? Are you bridging channels to run the sub or do you have a sub amp as well?

The amp is bridged. It looks like the c5s come with a sweet crossover network thingy. So I think I have it figured out.

Does anyone know where to find I diagram of the factory wiring? In particular what wires go to the factory amp? I would luv to drop these network deals there and utilize the wires already there to get to the front speakers. Would save so much time!

[cruzinbill]

Originally Posted by Ruckus

The amp is bridged. It looks like the c5s come with a sweet crossover network thingy. So I think I have it figured out.

Does anyone know where to find I diagram of the factory wiring? In particular what wires go to the factory amp? I would luv to drop these network deals there and utilize the wires already there to get to the front speakers. Would save so much time!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14981

scroll some

[ecko04]

So here's what I ultimately got around to doing thus far.

Anyone who's familiar with component speakers knows they usually come with a crossover with 3 inputs (tweeter, woofer, input). I went with the Polk DXi 6.5" Components and Polk 3.5" coaxials. I also ordered a forward and reverse radio harness (necessary to keep the factory wires "unmolested"), Metra (Install Bay) Multiconductor Wire, Kicker X-Series wiring and a JL XD 400/4.

Instead of taking the long route of running wires through the door boot, I took the front door panel off and noticed that on the factor woofer, blue was (-) and white was (+). I then went to the drivers kick panel and metered the wires coming into the vehicle, which read 2 ohms, as they should. As I pushed in on the cone, the impedance changed, as it should. When I used a speaker polarity tester, the cone moved, as it should. That's a pretty safe indication that I found my speaker wires. I then cut the wires, used the vehicle body side as the input and used the side coming in from the boot as the woofer input.

I repeated the same steps on the passenger side (I can't remember the colors, i'll update later). Now my aftermarket crossovers are installed underneath the carpet of each kick panel. Tested the system and all speakers play with my aftermarket crossovers installed.

Now, on to installing the tweeters. Anyone who has read any of my posts here know I love my bench grinder and Dremel. What I noticed, was the majority of the Polk DXi Component Tweeters was fancy plastic, which no one would see anyway. As i've done on my other vehicles, I grind off a nice bit of that fancy plastic. After doing so, the tweeter then fit flush in the stock tweeter location. I think added some hot glue just for security's sake. I simply ran the tweeter wires, down to the crossover and wired them in, simply enough.

Now on to the fun stuff, adding the 3.5" coaxial and the multiconductor speed wire. Mutlticonductor speed wire is an installer's best friend. Sure, you could grab the front speakers at the factory amp and the rear speakers from...the rear speakers. OR you can catch them all at one spot, behind the radio, which is where the speed wire as well as a forward and reverse harness come in.

In speed wire, you have 9 wires (4 +/- speakers & 1 remote) in 1 sheath. So instead of running 9 wires, you're really running 1. It's amazing stuff. Essentially, you take the vehicle body speaker wires and run them into the speed wire back to the amp. The radio side of the speaker wires you tape off or in my case, I used the front channels to run the 3.5" coaxials and taped off the rear. Along, with the multiconductor wire, you also have your remote wire.



Once it's all said and done, we have goodness.

Polk 3.5" coaxial speakers & tweeters











JL XD 600/1 Monoblock



JL XD 400/4



Hardware left neatly in one of the styrofoam holders



HiVi SP10 (left), Kicker CompR (right)











I still need to install the rear Polk 4" coaxial speakers.

[m.wood0213]

STAY OEM! Its going to be extremely difficult to upgrade at all w/o adding multiple amps (4chan and mono) to get slightly better sound.

[ecko04]

Originally Posted by m.wood0213

STAY OEM! Its going to be extremely difficult to upgrade at all w/o adding multiple amps (4chan and mono) to get slightly better sound.

That's a joke right? I've already added the amps and "slightly better" is a drastic understatement.

[pheoxs]

Originally Posted by m.wood0213

STAY OEM! Its going to be extremely difficult to upgrade at all w/o adding multiple amps (4chan and mono) to get slightly better sound.

uhh ... what?

OEM sucks. Swapping out just the speakers without upgrading the HU or amps won't be much better, but upgrading the system as a whole is a drastic improvement. And you don't need multiple amps, you could use a 5 channel amp or get creative.

There's never a clear cut solution, everyone does something different but that being said simply saying 'stay oem' is the dumbest thing I've read in this subforum.

[ecko04]

I finally got around to ripping out the factory amp. I also ordered the Kicker Front Row DSP

[crash.1340]

Talks like an audiophile and uses Kicker and Polk. Dafuq? All your efforts aren't going to be utilized fully if you're using subpar components.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by crash.1340

Talks like an audiophile and uses Kicker and Polk. Dafuq? All your efforts aren't going to be utilized fully if you're using subpar components.

and what might be 'good brands' then mr. nose-in-the-air?

i don't particularly agree with most of the setups that people run these days, but i ran a set of mids and tweeters that cost me less then $200 and i feel performed better than $600 component sets...

everyone's got a different taste in audio. just because their preference doesn't line up with yours doesn't immediately make their setup junk.

[crash.1340]

Originally Posted by soundman98

and what might be 'good brands' then mr. nose-in-the-air?

i don't particularly agree with most of the setups that people run these days, but i ran a set of mids and tweeters that cost me less then $200 and i feel performed better than $600 component sets...

everyone's got a different taste in audio. just because their preference doesn't line up with yours doesn't immediately make their setup junk.

I'm not saying it's junk, but if you're going to go through all that trouble setting up a proper stage and amping everything, why not go with higher end brands?

JL is good, Polk isn't bad (not quite the best). I like Focal (horribly expensive, just for the name), Hertz, CDT (depending on series), Infinity *can* sound good, Image Dynamics, and at last resort, MB Quart.

I was simply wondering why you chose Kickers amongst a sea of other (at least decent) stuff. I have my preferences of course (mine's getting an 8" in each door) but still... Kicker?

[ecko04]

Originally Posted by crash.1340

Talks like an audiophile and uses Kicker and Polk. Dafuq? All your efforts aren't going to be utilized fully if you're using subpar components.

I don't know who you're referencing but I don't run Kicker anything. I ordered a Kicker Front Row DSP that is still sitting in my closet. I used a Kicker sub for comparison to the HiVi to display Kicker's lackluster quality.

In my opinion, Polk, Alpine and Infinity are all on the same level. I simply like the sound of Polk over the other 2 brands I mentioned.

[ean611]

Originally Posted by soundman98

and what might be 'good brands' then mr. nose-in-the-air?

i don't particularly agree with most of the setups that people run these days, but i ran a set of mids and tweeters that cost me less then $200 and i feel performed better than $600 component sets...

everyone's got a different taste in audio. just because their preference doesn't line up with yours doesn't immediately make their setup junk.

I'm really like Hybrid Audio. www.hybrid-audio.com

Their low end is phenomenal, and they tend to be higher end than their price. I'd compare them against Focal, only I find Hybrid to be better.

YMMV. Audio is very subjective.

[FreshFRS]

I planning a full active setup with a P99RS head unit, alpine PDX amps (F4 + V9) and the full complement of Arc Black series Components, it'll take a bit of work to get the 4" in the dash up front and mount the tweeters in the A-pillars but after sealing + deadening the doors and chasing down all the rattles i can find, i think this setup will sound very nice.

on another note,

i would say that hybrid audio speakers stack up to just about any speaker brand you care to name. Focal and Dynaudio included, though subjectively i'd say that both of those brands sound better to my ears.

[ean611]

Originally Posted by FreshFRS

I planning a full active setup with a P99RS head unit, alpine PDX amps (F4 + V9) and the full complement of Arc Black series Components, it'll take a bit of work to get the 4" in the dash up front and mount the tweeters in the A-pillars but after sealing + deadening the doors and chasing down all the rattles i can find, i think this setup will sound very nice.

on another note,

i would say that hybrid audio speakers stack up to just about any speaker brand you care to name. Focal and Dynaudio included, though subjectively i'd say that both of those brands sound better to my ears.

Right, Audio is very subjective. I love my Hybrid Audio Legatia setup. So a lot of IASCA and MECA winners. Focal and Dynaudio make killer products too. It's splitting hairs really, but human hearing is funny like that.

I also find that Hybrid is better bang for the buck, but that's another story.