Need suggestions for Speakers

[FriedRiceBob]

Ok, I've got a Blaupunkt San Jose MP41 (25x4 rms) cd/MP3/WMA reciever in on my '93 ATX. I have the premium sound speakers, and have bypassed the amp. I'm getting some distortion, mainly from the 6x8's and have some questions.
First, what is a good, High efficiency (thats the same as SPL right?) replacement speaker for the 6x8's, and can 6x9s' be used instead?
second, for the doors, what speakers would you suggest (i've heard of 5 1/4 or 6 1/2 as common sizes). again, i think High efficiency is one of my goals here as well.
Finally, how big is that un-used hole in the center of my rear deck? Would an 8" sub or something fit here, and would it be dificult to give it a box? Would free-air be an option?
Also, would it be possible to bridge the factory amp at all to power something, or should I just chunk it.

EDIT: I forgot to add that this is to be on a budget. I would prefer less than $100/pair for the rear deck, less for the front. thanks!

EDIT, again:
ok I did some poking around on Crutchfield.com
what I found follows:
seems that in 6x8 country these Blaupunkt's have good sensitivity and a good price
and for the doors, i can pick up this component set from Blau for only $69
both of these choices have high sensitivity, meaning I will get the most out of my 25w RMS.
It is kind of odd that Blaupunkt just happens to have the features I wanted at the right price.
Any thoughts on these Blaupunkt speakers?
Is that component set $69 for a reason (i.e. it sucks)?

<small>[ February 07, 2003, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: FriedRiceBob ]</small>

 

[FAST4DR]

You will never get the best sound out of the speakers with the decks power. A dedicated amp will make the same speakers sound much better. The factory amps IMO are weak.

The front doors are 6.5" and the rear deck are 5x7 or 8 but I think you can fit 6x9(not sure though). I use 6.5's in the rear. Just had to make a little bar the bridged the gap to bolt the speaker down to. As for brand that's kinda a personal choice. Some people like certain sounds. I have Infinity Kappa's and some think they are too tinty, but I like them. You can get a set of 3 way kappas off of ebay for $114 shipped. I think their $199 at crookfield.

Not sure about the sub, but seems possible to do a free air but I bet that rear deck will rattle like crazy without somekind of bracing.

<small>[ February 07, 2003, 11:42 AM: Message edited by: FAST4DR ]</small>

 

[30footSHO]

He's right. You want better sound, you MUST step up to a component amp. Even a small 4-channel with speaker level inputs will make a WORLD of difference.

Dave

 

[shoRunner]

First off the reason you speakers are distorting is because your headunit does not have enough power to power the bass to them. So if you want high volume then get an amp. I also have some experience with blaupunkt speakers. And would suggest you go with the OverDrive series(their competition quality line of speakers) I have the odxa694 6x9 and they are 4 way and are a pretty high quality speaker. They produced copious amounts of bass from my Alpine head unit. I also have the odca66 component speakers and they have good quality, but I don't have an amp yet to really see what they sound like. You can get both of these speakers for under a hundred $. I paid $52 shipped brand new for the 6x9 off ebay and $104 shipped brand new off ebay for the component 6.5". They are now alittle more on ebay, but stil under a hundred before shipping. Those component speakers you linked to are also pretty nice, I heard them in a friends car with an amp and they sounded great. I was able to mount the 6x9 in the back of my '93 ATX will little modification....can't say that about my '90 MTX. Oh yeah I'd only use crutchfield or a car audio store to find what I want...I buy exclusively from ebay and the internet....MUCH CHEAPER.


check this out....
Ebay seach for Blaupunkt OverDrive series

 

[FriedRiceBob]

Thank you for your replys
Thanks shoRunner, in particular, you gave me exactly what I think I need.
I know that the speakers will not sound AS good without external amplification, however, I believe that they will be much better then the stock speakers, and louder too, due to the greater sensitivity. i have read that for every 3 dB of sensitivity, a speaker will play approximately twice as loud with the same input watts, and i have no reason to doubt this. Perhaps in the future, i will add an external amp to these speakers and really let them shine, but for now, i think this will suit me fine.
what would you rate the stock speakers' sensitivity at anyways? and did the premium sound system get 6 OHM speakers like the JBL, or standard 4 OHM.?

 

[30footSHO]

You really have to watch out running directly from the deck's internal amp... using speakers that handle lots of power, but underpowering them directly from the deck will make it overheat quickly. I've had systems back when I was younger and stupider that ruined tapes and CDs because the deck overheated from high-volume, low-power abuse.

Go ahead and step up to the blaupunkt; I've always liked their sound and price. Just don't expect to be able to pump them with just the deck!

-D-

 

[FriedRiceBob]

yeah i went ahead and grabbed some overdrive 6x9s and components. boink
are there some guides anywhere on fitting 6x9's into the stock 6x8 holes? all i have been able to find are that it requires some metal work
30footSHO, I would think that the only thing that would require the Deck to put out more power and therefore overheat would be using low-resistance load (2 ohm speakers or 2x4 ohms in parallel = 2 ohm load), therefore making the deck produce more current at a given volume setting. I feel that if i have standard-resistance 4 ohm speakers with high sensitivity, the volume setting will be lower for a given amount of volume, so the deck will be working about the same or less hard. but i could be wrong.
so basically, a speaker of 90 sensitivity would require approx. 2x the power to achieve a given volume then a speaker of 93 sensitivity. in this case, the 90 sensitivity speaker would be making the amp work harder to produce the volume that you want. That's probably where the overheating comes into play.
My roomate had an Onkyo reciever which he connected some polk 8ohms on the L/R channels and some older kenwoods on the surround. It had a problem with overheating. he asked me to take a look at it and i found that the kenwoods were lower ohm (4) then the reciever was designed to handle. so the surround channels were pulling more current, causeing it to overheat. wer switched out his kenwood surrounds for some pioneer 8-ohms that i had lying around, now no more overheating.

wow, that was a long post. sorry.

 

[30footSHO]

Well, my Alpine is rated at 45x4 or 50x4 or something like that. The thing is, that 25x4 could mean anything. It's probably never going to put out 25x4, as my deck probably will never put out 45x4 either.

You're right about the load, but pushing those speakers ******* a deck amp will soon have your lights dimming on the HU. Wait and see.

Good luck with your system!

Dave

 

[shoRunner]

The only reason the Head Unit's lights dim is because you haven't run a direct line from your battery to the HU. If you did that the dimming problems would be over.

 

[30footSHO]

If it were only that simple, young padua.

 

[SHOMurph]

speakers.....can't hear anything over my exhaust!!!

WHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

 

[Dave Ladely]

RMS power is the only meaningful wattage measurement and head amps have about 1/4 their claimed watts in reality. And they have relatively high distortion. Distortion is ******* speakers, especially tweeters.
Even a cheap separate amp would sound better.
I prefer round speakers over oval, and 8" round should fit in the rear and sound better.
Also efficiency is not really a virtue here; an inefficient speaker will usually sound better and smoother because the "jaggies", which are peaks of volume in response have been smoothed out and so it will not be as loud per watt, but the response will therefore be smoother and much more accurate. That is why good home speakers are inefficient and why public address speakers are efficient - public address has less demands for smooth response for music.

 

[Dave Ladely]

Another thing, when you decrease the impedance, say from 4 ohms to 2 ohms, you do increase the volume per watt, but at the expense of poorer damping, which causes a "looser", less tight and poorer controlled sound.