Components

Components

I'm looking to get a set for my car. What brand do you guys suggest? I want something that will be loud and sound sharp/clean. The amp I have to push the speakers is a Planet Audio 4-ch model P400.4
RMS Power (4 ohms) : 100W x 4
Help?? :?

With that kind of power, for the fronts:

http://www.infinitysystems.com/caraudio/product.aspx?ProdId='KAPPA PERFECT6.1'&Ser=KPE&Cat=COS

and the rears:

http://www.infinitysystems.com/caraudio/product.aspx?ProdId='KAPPA693.5I'&Ser=KAP&Cat=MEL

if you really want an awesome system put 6.5 seperates in the front and the rear. They have brackets for the 6x9 hole in the back to accomidate seperates.

I would go with MB Quart or infinity.

I would go for Infinity or MB Quarts. Those two companies are related in someway. I forgot how, but they are. And their products are almost equally good.

How about Focal? I heard they are pretty good too.

Infinity no doubt.................whatever series you chose is good.

Focal is great. If I had enough money, I'd take those in a heartbeat (Utopias)

Infinity is not in the same level as MBQ and Focal, but it's two notches above regular Fosgate/Kicker stuff.

The key to good and clear sound is proper staging, imaging, and setup.
You might aw well try to use an EQ to smoothen out frequencies.

I say got with MB quart but another I know which is pretty good is CDT audio

It seems like Infinity is a favorite with most here. I am thinking about going to a few places that have speakers on display, that way I can hear the way each sound and base my decision off that. Do you guys think that is a relevant comparison???

hehe I don't think you can find CDT's on your regular stores.. but If you DO find these, they are most likely expensive.. well, most GOOD stuffs are!

I don't know about the Whittier area.. hehe but there's a shop here in the Valley that sells NICE and I mean NICE stuff. (Focals, Image Dynamics, MBQ, CDT's etc) I could go there with you if you want and you can "audition" the speakers.

But take note that they WILL sound different inside a car......

You should go around town and listen to people's setup INSIDE THE CAR. Then decide.
I'd say go to eBay when buying equipment- Can't beat the prices! Just make sure you buy from a reputable person...

later :twisted:

How can you say infinity is "below" other companies? Infinity Perfect series are exceptional speakers... Remember, there is no "best" as no one can judge other people's hearing tastes... If you need a name brand to make a car sound good your not an installer! Stay away from EQs too unless they are built in to the radio, majority of the time they cause more trouble than good unless its a really nice 12,15 or 30 band name brand EQ (yes name brand matters when it comes to equipment like this), in which you have to pretty much be a professional to tune anyways. If your not an audiophile stay away from EQs.

Actually not at all to my knowledge, Fosgate is in with MB and Infinity is Harmon Kardon

You can hear the speakers in peoples cars, but then again it all comes down to tuning... Ive heard $600 bostons sound worse than stock, and also heard a set of stock S-10 speakers off an amp sound better than a lot of $5,000 systems! Best bet is do some research on the speakers themselves and go for your tastes... the main difference is going to be the tweeters.
If you prefer very crisp highs (ie that tst tst tst sound and ear piercing highs that cut through bass) then go with JBL, Infinity Kappa, MB Quart, Boston Pro, Polk dB, Fosgate Fanatics, or any other speaker with a silk dome or titanium tweeter...
If you prefer more mid range and listen to more rock take a brand like Alpine type R, Boston Rally or Boston Z, Infinity Perfect, Polk DX, Diamond Audio Hex, etc...

Then keep in mind as well if your running separates front and rear your going to want an adjustable crossover on the speakers so you can turn the tweeter down in the rear, and possibly the front as well if needed. If you want a good above average setup try the Boston Rally or alpine Type R speakers, thye are extremly clean, very efficient, and to me personally, as well as EVERY customer I have installed them for they sound great! The bostons are a little harder to dial in though as they have a loud tweet, but they are very crisp. Alpines have a bit more mid range. Just my 2 cents though!

Also remember, if you purchase from a reputable dealer you have an exchange policy on the speakers, just make sure they dont cut holes for the tweets until you decided you want to keep them!

SS On Your Six,

Can you explain "Tuning" a little bit more? Like after installing a system, how do you tune them? Is there any trick? All I know is make front 125 HP and sub 80 LP, then make rear speakers loud enough just for some refill.

Tuning as far as amps and crossovers go, then also easy things like bass and treble... with decks the way they are these days, ESPECIALLY the new alpines, its easy to mess things up. Even pioneer with the 3 band EQ and bass/treble makes tuning easy or difficult. In my personal vehicle I have Boston Zs in front and boston pros in the rear... two speakers with a ton of highs powered by two big fosgate power amps running off a high end pioneer deck... so I dialed a lot of highs out of the speakers by putting the rears on -6 db for the tweets and -4 db up front... then on the deck EQ I had the mids up and the highs lower. Makes a very clear sound with just slighly more sound from the fronts.... then again in my last camaro I had all 8 stock speakers running off a PPI 4800 and a stock deck that BLEW away most high dollar systems. literally only thing I had was a PPI 4800, PPI PAR-245 to control the sub, then a JL 10w6. So that proves that tuning was a huge part with how I set the xovers in the amp, and how I dialed in the mids and highs to work with the stock deck!

The point im trying to put accross is that brand name wont get you sound, the install and dialing it in will though....

Well after looking and looking I think I pretty much narrowed it down to the Infinity Kappa 60.5cs series. I had checked out some MB quarts too, but they have so many different series I dont know whats good and what sucks, anybody know what model MB Quart components will be good?
BTW, thanks guys for all of you suggestions, you really helped me out on this one!!

I GOT MB QUART COMPONENTS. :twisted:

In response to "SS on your Six's" post:

Sure Perfects are great, but no one's disputing that. It might be a notch above RF or MTX, but Infinity is crap compared to let's say an a/d/s, ID's or Morel, and that's why I said that Infinity is "not God".

hehe.. two phrases in one paragraph that contradict each other. Anyways, THERE IS BEST. Would you use Pyramid and expect a perfectly smooth frequency response?? Ever heard of poor quality, mass produced equipments?? There IS a reason why certain brands are expensive, and it's because they are manufactured with performance as a goal and have the ABILITY to perform!

Also, not all installers can make a car sound good. Most of the time, a DIYer is a better tweaker.

He meant "STAY AWAY FROM AN EQ UNLESS IT IS AN EXTERNAL UNIT. Built-In EQ's are the worst ones. Here ya go son I've corrected it for ya

Like what trouble? Care to explain?

You don't need to be a "pro" nor need a "special" equipment to tune an EQ. All you need is this thing called "EARS", look at the mirror and you will find them. "EARS" are extremely useful not only for tuning an EQ, but for.... ready for this? LISTENING TO MUSIC!

If you have to use an RTA to tune a system (or an O-Scope or AudioControl RTA), you don't deserve to be an Audiophile.

FUCKIN SWEET. Which ones did you get?

Have you installed them yet? How do they sound? How'd you like them?

Good choice!

I bought the Referenz model on Sunday and installed them as soon as I got home. I've only had them in a couple of days but Im lovin' them already!!! They were just what I was looking for. The tweeters look perfect where I mounted them too. I love cruising in my car even more now just to hear my music through these speakers .