Cheap upgrade from the the trash ek speakers?

[manonastick]

Hi
basically the story is i want to upgrade the speakers as the current stock ek speakers packs no bass punch and sounds like wooden speakers from the 70s. I don't really want to spend alot as im not a audiophile but would like something with bass punch. I have a mazda 2 and i quite like the stock speaker and how it sounds so if anyones been in one of those something around that quality is fine for me. looking to spend around 300dollars including installing as im not how to do them myself. Thinking about something like this https://www.jbhifionline.com.au/car-sound/car-speakers/sony-xsgtx1641-6-4-way-car-speakers/528903.

Thanks

[RAD]

Not sure what your expectations are as far as bass goes, aftermarket speakers will add a little extra kick but nothing like adding a sub.

Can't say i'd recommend the sony's, if you gotta buy from JB look at these if you want splits: https://www.jbhifionline.com.au/car-sound/car-speakers/orion-cobalt-series-6-5-2-way-component-speaker-system/435858

Otherwise you can look at these: http://www.lifestylestore.com.au/product.php?id=148&brand_id=4

Or thesehttp://www.mycarstereo.com.au/Morel_Maximo_Coax_6-details.aspx

Should leave $$$ left over for installation and maybe a little dynamat.

[manonastick]

I went to jb hifi today and was quite happy with those sony one soo i might just get as it around $110 installed.
Thanks for the reply though RAD the one in my ek currently have noo bass what so ever so im actually quite happy with what i heard today.

[NightKids]

Plz for the luv of god, don't buy Sony! It's crap...

[EKVTIR-T]

Yeah have to agree dude don't get the Sony,they're truly garbage.

The few that RAD posted would be a nicer choice for the sake of $10 or $20 more

You wont regret going for Boston or Orion but it's common knowledge cheap Sony is terrible,even ask randoms on the street and they know :D

[androo]

Hey if you aren't going to amp your speakers, make sure the speakers you heard were not amped. I hate when they amp the speakers and tell you they aren't. Once, I asked the guy and he said 'nah they're not amped'. He walked away and I pressed the magic '0' on the sound board for the amps and OMG....... The speakers sounded horrible...

[1996_EK_Civic]

sony and orion are made by the same company lol... and you won't get alot of bass from 6's as others said.
or even get the pioneer tsa1674 for $119, nice magnet size

[arverson]

cant believe no-one has mentioned this yet.. but instead of worrying about what speakers, focus on the install.

you said yourself you're happy with the current sound & just want a little more midbass kick.. so make a solid mdf spacer, seal up those service holes & place a diffuser behind the speakers. apply some sound deadning too if required. you'll get more results in terms of midbass kick doing all that instead of 'upgrading' to cheap, entry-level, low-budget coaxials.

if you bought cheapies without any focus on the install then dont be surprised if theres a very minimal increase in the midbass region. ask jb what that $110 includes. i doubt they will include all the above for $110. if its just to 'screw the speakers in' then forget it cus you're gonna walk away disappointed. you get what you pay for....

also, by taking care of the foundation work you'll be setting the stage for a decent pair of speakers. tho if you cant save up or wait then ill suggest the Morel Maximos at this pricepoint. go see/speak to Marty at FHRX. www.fhrxstudios.com

heres a quick & general tutorial on sealing & deadning your doors. http://www.mobileelectronics.com.au/article/tutorials/effective_sound_deadening/

hopefully your expectations aernt that high cus you gotta keep in mind we're talking about entry-level speakers here.. good luck :)

[RAD]

Mate, no-one mentioned it because it's gonna far exceed his $300 budget, he does'nt want to DIY, and what a waste of effort for the sake of keeping stock speakers.

Being a n00b i didn't know if recommending business' was OK, but yes i'd whole-heartedly recommend seeing Marty @ FHRX, and for the budget a set of Maximo's, even coaxial's would poop all over anything available at JB.

[arverson]

mate, it wont exceed his budget. $300 is more than enough to get the above done. quote me where he has said he wont attempt to 'DIY'. even if we presumed he wont then its ok, as getting all that done by a specialist would be under $300. its all in the name of addressing his number one priority, where he specifically mentions he wants a gain in the mid-bass kick/punch department. its not a waste of effort if he achieves that instead of 'upgrading' to $100 coax's in a leaky door.

taking care of the door work will prepare them for the next upgrade, if & when he decides to, like i mentioned.

if my goal was to get more mid-bass kick/punch then id rather have my mid-woofer driver in a well-treated door - whether it be a stock driver, a $50 driver, a $200 driver or a $2000+ driver. how about you RAD?

if he's happy with the mid-bass punch/kick from the sonys in a leaky door, then good on him.

manonastick, any plans of adding a head unit or amplifier in the future? any possibility of saving up a little more? also, remember this: do it once, do it right. :)

[RAD]

How about me? If i had $300 to spend on speakers and install, and didn't know how to DIY, i would'nt spend it all trying to make some 15yr old speakers sound better. Not that any shop properly sealing the door would charge under $400.

Morel Maximo's, installed correctly with MDF speaker rings, if there's any money left over in that, spend it on getting a little dynamat put behind the woofer, Done.

[arverson]

Lets just agree to disagree & note that the op's budget is the major factor which may or may not satisfy his mid-bass performance expectations - $50 sony coaxials, morel maximos (coaxial or components) or x brand in a leaky door or not.

He originally wanted to increase his mid-bass output so was simply trying to emphasis the point that there needs to be a focus on the install (specifically SEALING the doors, creating somewhat of an enclosure for your speakers. It's NOT about simply placing some dynamat directly behind the speakers like you've said, which wont increase his mid-bass performance at all..).

Just trying to educate him on what needs to be done so he can be prepared to ask the right questions to the installer if thats what they will do.

How'd you go with those sonys manonastick? Or did you end up speaking to Marty?

[manonastick]

Well im been reading replies from you guys and got lost lol and suddenly bit tight on cash because of my workplace not playing me properly which they are fixing now soo maybe in 2weeks time. I like to do my research first.
To be honest, i know how to solider and actually don't mind DIY'ing myself if i can find a proper guide. But for i know apparently i have to hack through some of the metal on the door to install some speakers so that was the worrying part. If its remove and re-solider and screw back on im perfectly fine. im not looking for ultimate sound quality for 300 bucks just want some cheap upgrade to these not awful speakers after getting being in my new ek for 2 weeks ( i must be going nuts but the sound doesn't sound soo bad anymore) I just want some speakers that that would be equivalent to something stock in a brand new car (like my mazda 2) for example. I would just love the idea of achieving that for less than 100dollars even if i had to do it myself.

[androo]

Pop the speaker cover off, unplug and unscrew the speaker. Remove old speaker, put new one in, that's it! You might need to make a spacer if your speaker is too deep. Or just cut the plastic speaker bucket that comes stock in the door and you'll be fine. And NO CUTTING THE METAL is needed. EK's run 6.5" speakers. Get the same size and you will be fine.

[blabla]

Try the Philips stuff its new and there ment to be sql speakers. About $160

Or even jaycar.

[manonastick]

Pop the speaker cover off, unplug and unscrew the speaker. Remove old speaker, put new one in, that's it! You might need to make a spacer if your speaker is too deep. Or just cut the plastic speaker bucket that comes stock in the door and you'll be fine. And NO CUTTING THE METAL is needed. EK's run 6.5" speakers. Get the same size and you will be fine.|

Thanks for the hint mate. I might save my self money and do it myself then.

[NightKids]

Totally agree with RAD about replacing the stock speakers with a pair of Morel Maximos. You can get it from Frankston Car Audio for a good price.

Don't really know what arverson is on about sound properly sealing the door for the Sonys... like wtf? Don't waste your time sealing the doors, you'll be more than happy with the Morels. You'll love the sound once they're in...!

[arverson]

Nightkids, i guess you missed his location.. OP is from sydney. Theres a reason why i suggested contacting Marty @ FHRX. Otherwise i would have lead him towards Phatt or FCA.

In regards to sealing and focusing on the install, i think you have to read my previous posts again, slowly, cus it seems you may have misunderstood a bunch of things.. I never said seal the doors ONLY for the sony coaxials, but seal it for ANY driver/speaker. OP has said himself he wants more midbass output, how do you achieve that with any speaker? seal the doors. simple.

You must not have heard the difference creating a enclosure for a speaker, especially when it comes to mid-bass punch/kick.. If you have then i dont know why you'd argue otherwise. The difference is night and day.

The budget is $300. Morel Maximo coaxials retail for $158 and can definitely be had for less. That leaves plenty for a good install, especially when the op is willing to DIY. All he needs now is some 12ish mm mdf for spacers, some 3mm or 6mm mdf.. mdf that be had for less than $20, or free if he asks for offcuts. then some primer/paint to seal the mdf from moisture (wont need much). cheap paint brushes (or none if he gets primer/paint in a spraycan). some tape. maybe some silicone/sikaflex. maybe some dynamat (no he wont need a bulk or even trunk kit to do the doors).

Im NOT saying to only seal the doors and not upgrade. Im saying with that budget, he can do both. And if he does both, he'll get much more mid-bass performance compared to that same speaker in a leaky door. That's mid-bass performance he asked for in his very first post. Sometimes we need to listen and absorb the customers wishes instead of just recommending x or y brand..

Last post otherwise i'll be going in circles and repeating myself.

[NightKids]

To be honest, i know how to solider and actually don't mind DIY'ing myself if i can find a proper guide. But for i know apparently i have to hack through some of the metal on the door to install some speakers so that was the worrying part. If its remove and re-solider and screw back on im perfectly fine. im not looking for ultimate sound quality for 300 bucks just want some cheap upgrade to these not awful speakers after getting being in my new ek for 2 weeks ( i must be going nuts but the sound doesn't sound soo bad anymore) I just want some speakers that that would be equivalent to something stock in a brand new car (like my mazda 2) for example. I would just love the idea of achieving that for less than 100dollars even if i had to do it myself.

I have read the OPs latest update post and it seems as though he's only looking for an upgrade of his stock speakers and not looking to sound deafened. He also mentioned that he wanted to save some money if possible which a speaker upgrade can achieve.

[manonastick]

Firstly, Nightkids my decision changed again.

Ok updates guys!
I went out and bought a pair of splits from FLi Audio and had fun with 2 friends DIYing and loved figuring what to do with minimal tools. (Currently connections wrapped in insulation tape only ;D ) To my surprise. . .i found out something interesting. The stock speakers i "assumed" are actually aftermarket speakers. . . There was pair of 30w pioneer in the front and some sony ones in the back. After removing the front speakers all the sudden the back speakers became much more louder and the bass level was increased as well for some unknown reason. . My new speakers did provide provide much more bass compared to the ones before but still not the level i was expecting because of 2 things. Properly the head unit is old and i can not set the rear speakers to be less quieter as they louder than the front and covers up the front speaker and i realized most new cars has sound deadening done from factory so thats why my mazda 2 packed soo much bass with the stock speakers so might be attempting some sound deadening. To be honest i had no idea sound deadening could do so much difference until today and was actually bit lost when you guys mentions about it but now i see what i maybe able to achieve with it but because the original 300dollars was originally planned for headunit + new speaker and my budget isn't as high before im trying to find alternative to dynamat.

Thanks for the replies though guys, Learning alot so lots of thanks from me.

[NightKids]

It's all a big learning experience! Glad you're picking up new things as you go. Good on ya buddy!

[manonastick]

Ok.
new questions after abit of reading today. In my install i realized i didn't use any spacers at all because the guy i was talking to at Autobarn in blacktown had a look at the front speakers and said i should be fine without spacers and what i did was drill a hole in the plastic and used screws to hold it in place. Wondering if that will somewhat affect performance of the speakers?
Next question i have is because i'm not very flexible with cash currently, i was planning maybe to pick up just some acoustic foam and place it behind the speakers. Will that help increase sound insulation? and improve the midbass? Im planning to save up abit and get dynamat to do sound deadening later on and do it correctly.

[RAD]

Did you use the stock plastic spacer? If you did, you can still use it, but you might find that a nice solid MDF spacer, with no gaps will improve midbass. I can't picture EK's too well, but if there are those little plastic pieces that fit into the door, that you screw into, remove them. They'll leave a 1mm air gap, coupled with a weak plastic spacer, that can rob you of midbass.

Use chip board screws to mount the MDF spacer, metal or tek screws don't have thick enough threads to really hold it in well.

A little clear silicone (NON acetic!) around the MDF spacer and door metal will keep it nice and sealed.

Acoustic foam works better for higher frequency ranges, Dynamat and other CLD's (constrained layer dampener) still work best for low frequencies near 100hz - Midbass. Even if you can twist a shops arm into selling you a sheet for roughly $30-25 or a wedge pack for $50 would be best.

Acoustic foam also absorbs water in a door, and might leave you with a wet dog smell in your car :(

[manonastick]

I didn't have any spacers with my speakers when i uninstalled the previous speakers. . . I ordered some today and i found Flashtac at my local mitre 10 which i heard a few layer of this stuff does wonders to sound deadening and for 10metres X 35mm for 35dollars it sounds like a good alternative to Dynamat? Anyone tried?

[RAD]

Flashtac might be OK to cover those little holes in the inner skin, but for what you want it to do you need dynamat.

And even if you gotta grab $10 DNA speaker rings from Autobarn or something, it will help.