speaker question

I have a basic Kenwood CD/tuner
I want to replace my stock 5 1/4" door mounts with Kenwood door mounts. Since I dont have an external amplifier, do I have to be careful about the peak output of the speakers? For example, would there be any difference in sound quality with 110 watt speakers as opposed to 200 watt speakers? I'm totally clueless when it comes to car audio.

Could someone throw me a frickin bone?

Yes there is a difference, the higher watt speakers can handle more power, which means that would probably be less likely to bottom out when you turn up the volume. The problem with running a higher watt speaker with your CD/Tuner is that your CD/Tuner puts out something like 22watts and the higher the wattage of the speakers, the harder it will be for your CD/tuner to make the speaker move. By just upgrading your speakers to aftermarket ones that still fit in the stock locations, you should be fine, but your CD/Tuner will probably run a bit hotter.

thanks . . . that helps a lot

make sure you pay special attention to the RMS speaker ratings when looking into getting new ones. While peak wattage may be somewhere in the 200 range, the actual watts (on normal use, w/out an amp) are going to be significantly less. if your deck can put out 22wX4 RMS, then look for some speakers that compliment that well. Also, you may want to check out the dB ratings on the speakers. It has to do with the efficiency of the speaker and how well it can handle power. For instance, i have some Kappa perfect components up front. They have a lower dB rating than the Alpine Type R components, which means that they require a bit more power than the Type R's (i think). Talk to www.crutchfield.com about any questions you might have. I live in Charlottesville, VA so it's always been convenient for me to go to their retail store, but they are great with service/answering questions over the phone. I would suggest talking to any of the installers at the shop if you can and seeing what they might recommend. I blew a couple sets of speakers from them (bad amp) and they replaced them at no cost and with no questions asked (as long as its within the warranty). Let me know if you have any other questions about 'em or the speakers!

p.s. i'd definitely recommend the infinity kappa's to you. I have some regular 5 1/4" in the back and they sound WONDERFUL!

definitely look at the sensitivity(dB) rating.
Me likes the Infinity components(CS505?) too.
They have a sensitivity of 92 or 93dB, and they sound nice. You pay a little more, but they are well worth it.

Yes on the RMS but.......

Last tiem i checked the Polk RMS was different form the Infinity RMS and the Kenwood was different from the Alpine RMS..... and so on! Basically the RMS is only as reliable as the company. some use their peek as the RMS. Do some homework or by a quality speaker.... IE: Polk, Infinity, Fosgate, etc. In High Fi Audio you will find that compalies that are conserned with their equipment build very few items. Look at Polk and Infinity and Klipse for example. They all build speakers and that is all they build. HTH!

I guess it would be fair to let you know why I'm interested in a speaker change.

When I bought the '94 sport last August, I was actually impressed with how good the stock sytem sounded. The low end was solid and the highs were crisp. only problem was, it was AM/FM/Cass and I wanted a CD player. Since Kenwoods have been serving me well for years, that's what I chose to put in the XJ (and keep the stock speakers).
Much to my dismay, that solid low end vanished. Needless to say, I was disappointed. So, I'm just assuming that if I mate up some Kenwood SPeakers w/ my Kenwood HU I may get the sound I want.

Is it not that easy?
What the explaination behind the loss of sound quality with the HU change?

I had a similar problem, when I upgraded to a Sony head unit. I believe it is because the aftermarket head unit puts out more power than the factory unit, causing distortion at higher volumes, because the stock speakers cant handle that much power. Of course when you upgrade the factory speakers, they usually require more power than the head unit will put out, so they will distort at high volumes, because of not enough power, giving you a dilemma. Then you will have to buy an amp to get everything to equal out and sound nice. It is a pain in the butt to learn and costs a lot the first time. Anyway, hopes this makes sense and helps. Later.

Matching speaker and receiver brands WILL NOT make any difference sonically whatsoever. Go and listen to several different brands and get what your ears like regardless of what fancy name it may be. If you want to get fancy and look at figures such as input sensitivity, remember that the higher the number (most 6.5's are in the 89-95db range) will play SLIGHTLY louder with a given input signal. Power handling is inconsequential if you are using deck power-which will give little more than 20 watts CLEAN- so don't worry if they'll handle 125watts unless you are adding a BIG amp.

Spend wisely!! Have fun
HTH

PS. not to make myself look good or anything but I've been installing car audio for around 21 years(hobby business). Been there done that. Let your ears guide youl

asatxj said:

PS. not to make myself look good or anything but I've been installing car audio for around 21 years(hobby business). Been there done that. Let your ears guide youl

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why did I lose my good low end when I installed an aftermarket head unit?

The most likely cause is the center frequency of the Bass control. The stock deck might have been lower than the aftermarket deck.
The stock deck didn't have loudness did it? Activate the loudness control on your new deck and see if that doesn't improve the situation.

BTW Crutchfield Rocks. Been doing business with them nearly 20 years.

if your speakers are distorting at higher volumes many things can be factors and can be working in combination
they are worn out
the bass and treble settings are too high and causing distortion as the amp is running out of gas trying to reproduce the frequencies sent to it.
The amp isn't very powerful (not likely Kwood stuff is good quality)
You simply need more power to reproduce music at the level you want.
Get a UsAcoustics amp from Crutchfield, 4 new speakers and a Sub-- you'll have all you ever wanted at a reasonable cost (Ask about OUTLET stuff!)
HTH

Crutchfield may have good service, but they do sell some garbage, just know what you are buying ahead of time. It doesnt hurt to visit a car stereo store that has a display set up so you can actually hear what the speakers you are looking at buying will sound like, running just off of your deck, and then how they would sound with an amp. Thats the biggest disadvantage with Catalog buying, you are only going on a picture and how the manufacturer or retailer describes the product.

I can tell you this. an amp is a must with MB Quarts. They sound sickly without the boost, but once you got em hooked up nice, they are hands down awsome IMHO.

Moto said:

Crutchfield may have good service, but they do sell some garbage, just know what you are buying ahead of time. It doesnt hurt to visit a car stereo store that has a display set up so you can actually hear what the speakers you are looking at buying will sound like, running just off of your deck, and then how they would sound with an amp. Thats the biggest disadvantage with Catalog buying, you are only going on a picture and how the manufacturer or retailer describes the product.

Click to expand...

PROFILE :banghead: :explosion

asatxj said:

The most likely cause is the center frequency of the Bass control. The stock deck might have been lower than the aftermarket deck.
The stock deck didn't have loudness did it? Activate the loudness control on your new deck and see if that doesn't improve the situation.
if your speakers are distorting at higher volumes many things can be factors and can be working in combination
they are worn out
the bass and treble settings are too high and causing distortion as the amp is running out of gas trying to reproduce the frequencies sent to it.
The amp isn't very powerful (not likely Kwood stuff is good quality)
You simply need more power to reproduce music at the level you want.

HTH

Click to expand...

Fortunately, there is no distortion. The signal is clean at all volumes. I dont believe my stock unit had a "Loudness" function, but I know my Kwood does and its not helping things much. If I dont get any improvement with the new door mounts, I may look into a small amp. I dont want to get too carried away. Just dont have that kind of scrill to throw around.

Dumb question, where is your Fader set?
The USacoustics amps are good pcs. The smallest one will serve you well at nominal cost.

BTW for you folks wondering about the 12v --- 14v question. Some mfgrs rate their amps at a given output at 14.4 volts. That is the normal operating current in an automotive system. An amp rated at 12 volts SHOULD theoretically be able to put out more power at 14.4 volts as it has more power being supplied to it. Is this true always? No. But I can tell you that my Orion (rated at 12v) is a truly incredible 25w/ch amp. I would guess that it's more like 45w/ch. Drives my 10" sub quite well. Sorry, off task. Hope this answered the voltage rating question.

asatxj said:

Dumb question, where is your Fader set?

Click to expand...

slightly fore

Are there speakers in the dash of a '94 sport?

There are no dash speakers in the 94 Sport, but I'm not sure about the other models. I have a 94 Sport, but was not as lucky as you. My pass door speaker was blown when I bought it(used) and the driver's side didn't sound much better. I replaced the stock head unit with a sony CD player out of my previous vehicle and installed 2 sony 3-ways in the front doors and 2 pioneer 2-ways in the rear speaker bridge. The 3-ways were on clearance and are pretty decent, but the head unit only put out 19 watts RMS, not enough to push them at a decent volume without distortion. After putting up with it for a couple years, I finally went to the dirt mall and bought a 4x40 watt Coustic amp for like $50. The 3-ways now sound great, it's too much for the pioneers but they were cheap so I need to upgrade them anyway. The front speakers seem to use the door as a resonance chamber, providing alot more bass than you would expect. Unlike the rears which might as well be suspended in mid-air. I re-wired all my speakers with 14ga wire to the amp, it wasn't exactly fun but I accomplished it in 1 day along with the amp install and am very happy with the results. It's nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

i installed a alpine 9803 head unit and installed 6x9s in the front doors,just a little cutting,it sounds great,the 6x9s are polks.