I have it narrowed down to these two,
Replacement speakers.
- Thread starter Scott S
- Start date
What's wrong with the speakers you have now?
I'm a bit confused as to why the finalists are a 5x7" marine-rated speaker vs. a 6x8" which doesn't appear to be specifically marketed as marine-rated.
With either one, I do think you're on the right track with a fabric tweeter. Metal tweeters sound too sharp to me.
Is listening to them in person an option? At the risk of regurgitating something that is mentioned in nearly every speaker thread ever, sound is subjective. What sounds good to me with my preferred music may sound horrible to you with a different genre or EQ settings.
With either one, I do think you're on the right track with a fabric tweeter. Metal tweeters sound too sharp to me.
Is listening to them in person an option? At the risk of regurgitating something that is mentioned in nearly every speaker thread ever, sound is subjective. What sounds good to me with my preferred music may sound horrible to you with a different genre or EQ settings.
I lean towards the polks, but either will do. They are about same Chinese quality.
Driver side is crackling. And I'm looking to upgrade..
Well 5x7 and 6x8 is what will fit in there. Without going too much smaller.
If any of you have another opinion? Please send me a link? The only one I've been able to listen to is the Rockford, I'm going to try to listen to the Polk..
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I’ve had good luck soliciting help from Crutchfield CS. If they don’t cost much more I usually buy from them. I’ve never had a problem with an adapter, spacer, connector or speaker from them, and their support was top notch then.
Be aware that the stock head units I’ve paired with aftermarket speakers has resulted in positives AND negatives. In a Focus, the aftermarket speakers were clearer, but all low frequency (bass) was gone. Even in past instances where I’ve used an aftermarket HU and amp, the speakers were not as powerful in the low-end. I mean, door speakers aren’t really the solution to adding more bass AND quality mids/highs, so this is more for information than anything.
On the contrary, the aftermarket speakers I installed in my Legacy are much larger than stock, and the low frequency response is hit or miss. For some low frequencies it’s markedly better than stock, but then another song comes on and it’s all awful, boomy noise. The EQ has half a dozen frequency adjustments (not just base and treble), but the adjustment is pretty basic and the frequency of concern coincides with the better-sounding frequency, so I was forced to lower that setting to almost nothing. In basic systems like this I tend to use a preset and make minor adjustments. Pop and Rock are awful in this instance.
Overall the setup is an improvement, but you maybe stuck with some bad behavior you can’t get past, if you can’t adjust away what you don’t like. I mean, I like hearing the full range in music, so if I had to turn the “bass” setting down to nothing just to make the sound tolerable I’d have swapped back to stock or, in your case, tried to find a stock replacement.
Be aware that the stock head units I’ve paired with aftermarket speakers has resulted in positives AND negatives. In a Focus, the aftermarket speakers were clearer, but all low frequency (bass) was gone. Even in past instances where I’ve used an aftermarket HU and amp, the speakers were not as powerful in the low-end. I mean, door speakers aren’t really the solution to adding more bass AND quality mids/highs, so this is more for information than anything.
On the contrary, the aftermarket speakers I installed in my Legacy are much larger than stock, and the low frequency response is hit or miss. For some low frequencies it’s markedly better than stock, but then another song comes on and it’s all awful, boomy noise. The EQ has half a dozen frequency adjustments (not just base and treble), but the adjustment is pretty basic and the frequency of concern coincides with the better-sounding frequency, so I was forced to lower that setting to almost nothing. In basic systems like this I tend to use a preset and make minor adjustments. Pop and Rock are awful in this instance.
Overall the setup is an improvement, but you maybe stuck with some bad behavior you can’t get past, if you can’t adjust away what you don’t like. I mean, I like hearing the full range in music, so if I had to turn the “bass” setting down to nothing just to make the sound tolerable I’d have swapped back to stock or, in your case, tried to find a stock replacement.
Radio Shack still around? Back in the day they had generic speakers for all the popular sizes.
Ahhhh....the good ol days!I would just go to K-mart and get a set of Krako 6x9's
In this case, if you listen to a lot of rock (heavier music) get the Fosgates. Anything else, get the Polk's.
I am a Polk/Infinity fan, no contest IMHO - leave RF for subs and amps.
The Rockford is a 3 way and the polk is a 2 way - i would typically go with the larger cone but the larger tweeter array may negate any advantage.
Sensitivity slightly better on polk.
Honestly, neither and give the
Serious consideration in that price class.
Sensitivity slightly better on polk.
Honestly, neither and give the
Infinity Reference REF-8632CFX
Serious consideration in that price class.
They're both great speakers. Flip a coin to decide.
I'm not trying to deter your choice, but these are what I have in my F150 (all 4 doors). And they ROCK!
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This
In the past, if an oem paper speaker couldn't handle certain frequencies they would spec radios that wouldn't output those bands. Adding an amp was insufficient if there is "missing signal"
While the tech dosen't exactly address, pay attention to the mids on the graphing equipment.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
The Rockford is a 3 way and the polk is a 2 way - i would typically go with the larger cone but the larger tweeter array may negate any advantage.
Sensitivity slightly better on polk.
Honestly, neither and give the
Infinity Reference REF-8632CFX
Serious consideration in that price class.
That’s a good recommendation. I was told recently (was it here?) that sensitivity is best in these instances, since power capability is a non-issue.
Maybe I’m off base, but wouldn‘t a larger tweeter array waste the precious little power the stock HU can output, considering that the signal will most likely also be relatively poor? In other words, would the highest sensitivity and simplest configuration (2-way in this case) be better for a stock HU?
f355spider
$50 Site Donor 2024
Recently replaced some speakers in a car with oem head unit (rated with about 25 watt output per channel). The originals were blown, and a couple years ago, I replaced the speakers with some 8 ohm units that were rather inefficient, but recommended by others with same car. They sounded nice, but just really wouldn't play very loudly, or with much bass. I realized everyone else using these speakers had the factory upgraded stereo which has an additional amp. This week I found some Polk speakers, that were 4 ohm with much higher sensitivity rating and wow, huge difference. Now they play cleanly and loud with good bass response. Night and day difference. The 8 ohm, lower sensitivity speakers were not bad, just not optimal for the lower output HU I had.
I guess the point is sensitivity rating is important for a lower powered HU.
I guess the point is sensitivity rating is important for a lower powered HU.
Did you pair it, with a subwoofer and amp to improve the sound of the factory radio?They're both great speakers. Flip a coin to decide.
I'm not trying to deter your choice, but these are what I have in my F150 (all 4 doors). And they ROCK!
I used to have an Alpine CDE-170 head unit in it. All I have ever used since I was 15 years old is Alpine. My son gave me a BOSS 7" screen head unit for Christmas. It has 20 watts RMS, 85 watts peak. I have a TC-10 Kicker 10" subwoofer behind the seat with an Alpine mono amp (150 watts RMS, 300 max) pushing the subwoofer. Believe me, it can be heard very clear outside at great distances.
I seen them Sonic electronics even less than that, Amazon has them all four for $99The Rockford is a 3 way and the polk is a 2 way - i would typically go with the larger cone but the larger tweeter array may negate any advantage.
Sensitivity slightly better on polk.
Honestly, neither and give the
Infinity Reference REF-8632CFX
Serious consideration in that price class.
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