6" speaker replacements to run off stock HU [Archive]

EuroDude

25-05-2006, 09:13 AM

SLOWEGG

25-05-2006, 10:13 AM

$200 is alot for front 6" speakers. Pioneer has always done me good with their cheap prices and quaility. One of my friend thats doing up his sound gear atm is going with soundstream, apparently they are very good speakers and is cheaper then most major brands and performs the same if not better.

EuroDude

25-05-2006, 10:36 AM

Yeah $200 is quite a lot just for 6"s. ~$100 should be fine. I may get Pioneer.

But to run it from the stock head unit, what wattage should I get?
And should I get dual cone or single cone?
I think Single cone 1-way should be fine.

Plus I may need one with a built in crossover so no bass gets outputted since the HU isnt very powerful and to avoid distortion.
The problem is that I cant turn down the bass on the HU since I am using the rear speaker wires for the rear Amp's audio inputs.

Can you recommend a model?

JaCe

25-05-2006, 10:52 PM

I can't recommend anything in particular since I don't know much... but why don't you head up to JB or something and see what's on special?

mugeneration

25-05-2006, 11:20 PM

I got myself some top powered pioneer speakers (ie not top of the line, 2nd top in fact, but their competition speakers werent as powerful as these ones, at the time ne way). The are really good. Some 6 inch components for $300. I'd recommend them to anyone!

EuroDude

26-05-2006, 08:58 AM

Do they have a crossover built in to cut out the bass?

ROLLED

26-05-2006, 09:06 AM

EuroDude, head onto Ebay, I picked up a set of MB Quart 6.5" splits for $120 "buy it now", they sound awesome, and i know you dont want tweeters but it falls into ur budget so u might as well just go for the whole set!

JaCe

26-05-2006, 09:20 AM

EuroDude- I'm not sure about those models, but I remember the S60 (Boston Acoustics) splits had an external crossover unit. Should be cheaper than the MB; but not sure how much it'll be since the price of the MB quoted above was from eBay (as opposed to a retail store).

EuroDude

26-05-2006, 09:55 AM

Thanks guys I'll look into those speakers. The S60's look good.

btw What do you guys recommend for sound deadening the front doors?

tranhq

26-05-2006, 07:52 PM

Hi guys,

I would like to replace the front 6" speakers in my Euro (or are they 6.5"?) to something decent (no amp). Could you recommend a brand/model speaker?

Conditions are:
- It must run off the stock Honda Head Unit, and sound good considering the limited power from the HU (I really dont want to use another Amp)
- I already have mega bass from a 12" Subwoofer in the back so I only want good Mids/Highs.
- I dont care about high freq treble so I dont want tweeters, the Euro already has tweeters anyway.
- I already have 6x9's powered from an amp in the back, so the speaker power output doesnt have to be loud, I just want something to co-exist with the 6x9's.
- The speakers need to fit in the existing housing to avoid cutting.
-Budget is max $200

you're going to run splits off an headunit? and amp the 6x9's?????? sounds like you're just in a quest for just bass?

How about you do it the other way around. and amp the splits and use the stock headunit for the 6x9's and fade it more to the front and if you're going to otherwise you're best to use your filters to stop the 6x9's from playing the low bass frequencies its better for SQ.
You should focus on your front as thats where you're sitting.... the front! Its better to have the full frequency spectrum than to hear only 3/4's of it. you'll find out later how dull it really is.
You may as well install the splits with the tweeter and amp as you're going to sound deaden your doors anyway.

Dont get me wrong i love my bass too. But if it doesnt come with the complete package the bass just sounds like anus. I like my bass to complement my music not over power it. :)

EuroDude

26-05-2006, 09:27 PM

tranhq yeah I know what you are saying, but I prefer most of the sound coming from the back (12" sub and 6x9's) and have the front 6" speakers simply balance the front->rear so its centered to my head. Therefore the fronts dont need to be very powerful at all, hence the ability to power the fronts from the HU.

The problem with the stock fronts in the Euro is they dont handle bass at all really, which can be fixed by a crossover, but the clarity of the front speakers are not very good, which means I need decent speakers that can run off the HU and filter out the bass.

arverson

26-05-2006, 09:31 PM

Today 09:55 AM
EuroDude
Thanks guys I'll look into those speakers. The S60's look good.

btw What do you guys recommend for sound deadening the front doors?

Today 08:58 AM
EuroDude
Do they have a crossover built in to cut out the bass?

Yesterday 09:13 AM
EuroDude
Hi guys,

I would like to replace the front 6" speakers in my Euro (or are they 6.5"?) to something decent (no amp). Could you recommend a brand/model speaker?

Conditions are:
- It must run off the stock Honda Head Unit, and sound good considering the limited power from the HU (I really dont want to use another Amp)
- I already have mega bass from a 12" Subwoofer in the back so I only want good Mids/Highs.
- I dont care about high freq treble so I dont want tweeters, the Euro already has tweeters anyway.
- I already have 6x9's powered from an amp in the back, so the speaker power output doesnt have to be loud, I just want something to co-exist with the 6x9's.
- The speakers need to fit in the existing housing to avoid cutting.
-Budget is max $200

all this talk bout splits. yet 1 of ur conditions are that u dont want splits :confused: u know the difference btween splits & coaxils right?? u dont want tweeters, sorry to burst ur bubble but splits DO come with tweeters. (splits=tweeter+midrange woofer) oh u dont care bout high freq treble?? well good luck listening to only subbass, midbass & midrange only....

this crossover unit that 'filters' out the bass, all splits comes with it.

i agree u should amp ur fronts, 6x9s off the HU. not the other way around

splits for $200 max. hmmm jaycar, hertz, focal access series come to mind....

them s60s RRP for $350 btw. unless ur $200max budget has changed

EuroDude

26-05-2006, 11:09 PM

thanks for your input arverson, yeah I may get jaycars - almost anything better than the stock speakers will do lol, as long as I can filter the bass, it should be ok.

hehe yeah I know I should amp the fronts but its gonna muck up everything. Since I am not using RCA's, I would need to redirect the front speaker wires to the amp in the back (due to amp speaker input), then run wires from the amp to the front speakers, which is a biatch in the Euro since the carpet is the solid type. Basically the stock front speakers to a good job if there is no bass.

EuroDude

26-05-2006, 11:14 PM

ps. Is there such thing as 6" car speakers? Or are they all 6.5" ???

I just need to confirm 6.5" fronts will fit the euro without cutting up anything.

JaCe

26-05-2006, 11:33 PM

I've seen 6" speakers for sale; but mostly they are 6.5" I thought.

The only thing concerning me is some ppl have told me my car uses 6.5", but others have said 6"... any definitive answers on the Civic06?

EuroDude

26-05-2006, 11:46 PM

Thought as much, I'm gonna rip 'em out and measure them tomozza before buying the speakers, just to be sure.

Zdster

27-05-2006, 03:46 PM

ps. Is there such thing as 6" car speakers? Or are they all 6.5" ???

I just need to confirm 6.5" fronts will fit the euro without cutting up anything.

There certainly are 6" speakers. I have some in my car right now ;). If you want to increase your budget a bit more, then I highly recommend the top of the line pioneer splits. Sound awesome.

EuroDude

27-05-2006, 05:37 PM

Yep they sure are 6", I took one out today after buying some JayCar 2way speakers. (And yes, I broke that lame top speaker clip too, I think everyone does lol)

The Jaycars didnt fit at all since the metal frame wont fit into the Euro's door speaker cavity. Depth wise, there is plenty of space though.

In the pic below ive drawn the speakers' rear frame dimension in blue.
Note the size of the stock magnet, its tiny lol!

The jaycars actually sound great, much better than stock.
But I dont want to cut up the door frame :(

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5186/image24dh.th.jpg (http://img138.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image24dh.jpg)

Are there decent 6" speakers I can buy that has a slim rear mount point?
Something that can fit in the speaker hole:

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6999/image42ku.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image42ku.jpg)

tranhq

27-05-2006, 10:38 PM

get yourself a spacer.

EuroDude

27-05-2006, 11:32 PM

It still wont fit, the speaker frame is just to big even when flush to the door trim.

Gonna get some smaller speakers.

JaCe

28-05-2006, 12:22 AM

Can you elaborate a bit? Isn't coaxial the one where the speaker has the tweeter mounted in the centre?, whereas splits are where the tweeter is separate and can be mounted seperately? *could be wrong*

Btw, the S60s are definitely worth the extra cost but I think if you get 'em on sale they'll be <$300. Eg. At the Lifestyle Store (a place in Sydney) sale in April, they dropped the price from $349 to $265 so you at least know you have some negotiation room if someone's trying to sell it for $349. Although based on the April catalogue, if it were me buying speakers, I'd put in a bit more with the $349 for the 6.5" RF twin-tweeter splits which RRP for $599!.. but without amplification, I don't know how good those speakers will sound- you might even be wasting money buying such good speakers if the HU can't drive them.

EuroDude

28-05-2006, 01:05 AM

Yeah splits have a seperate tweeter module.

To be honest I dont need the top of the range front speakers since I accomidate the rears to provide 50% of the sound. The fronts are just to balance the front-rear fade, so they dont have to be amped or excessively expensive.

I just need something that will fit ok and provide decent bass handling and decent sound quality. 1way or 2way doesnt bother me, I hate too much treble anyway.

EuroDude

28-05-2006, 08:57 PM

Well I bought some Boston Accoustic S55 2-way 5.25" 35wRMS/100wPeak speakers ($149) :)

They fit straight into the existing hole nicely, and the magnet does not hit the window when wound down. The front fits behind the existing grill perfectly. The only "damage" was four holes drilled into the door frame.
I used two flat metal connectors and simply plugged them into the existing honda speaker connector, so I can put the stock speakers back with no hassle.

Sound quality wise, they sound decent running of the stock Honda HU. Boston speakers perform well using low wattage anyway.
They are no where near as bassy as the stock 6" speakers, but thats fine because I already have a 12" sub providing low bass and 6x9's providing mid bass, and I dont want the doors to shake and cause rattles etc..
As for clarity, they sound much cleaner and less boofy, and provide a richer and louder treble range.

Now I gotta save up and get some decent 6x9's ;)

EuroDude

28-05-2006, 10:02 PM

Quick question....

Do the tweeters on the dash have their own channel? Or do they piggyback off the front speaker cables/channel?

I'm just wandering, the new speakers have tweeters... they wouldnt cause problems with the stock tweeters right?

JaCe

28-05-2006, 11:39 PM

I thoguht when you buy component speakers, the tweeters connect to a unit which also connects to the speaker- ie. the audio channel connects to a unit which then splits the signal so that the higher stuff goes to the tweeter and the rest goes to the woofer; or am I mistaken?... but if you are using a stock HU, then I'm inclined to think that the HU either already has the tweeter-outputs, or there's a crossover unit (or something like that) which does the splitting elsewhere.

Btw good choice of speakers :) I noticed that too when I was sampling various speakers that none of them have any bass, but then upon reading the product literature (ie. brochure) they are designed to compliment a subwoofer.

EuroDude

29-05-2006, 12:09 AM

hehe yeah initially I was a bit dissapointed when I didnt hear any bass from the Boston's, but after activating the Sub, the complete cabin sound sounded way better than with the stock 6"s.

The stock tweeters are a mystery, I may have a look at the workshop manual and see what I can find out. i.e. The audio circuit diagram.

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7306/speaker9lj.jpg

JaCe

29-05-2006, 11:05 PM

I wonder why the stock speakers seem to have bass yet the more professional ones don't? I also noticed that the Pioneer splits at JB had quite a bit of bass.... can any experts give me any indication?

ICACHA

29-05-2006, 11:09 PM

hehe yeah initially I was a bit dissapointed when I didnt hear any bass from the Boston's

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/7306/speaker9lj.jpg

I can see from your picture why you dont have any bass coming from them :wave:

arverson

29-05-2006, 11:15 PM

yes. its a 6" speaker. theyre not designed to play alot of bass loudly. how much bass r u expecting from them?? as much as a 8/10/12/15 inch sub??

EuroDude

29-05-2006, 11:16 PM

@ICACHA

lol why?

1) Because of the holes?
2) Because of the rubber grommets?
3) Because I didnt use an MDF spacer?

EuroDude

29-05-2006, 11:19 PM

yes. its a 6" speaker. theyre not designed to play alot of bass loudly. how much bass r u expecting from them?? as much as a 8/10/12/15 inch sub??

They are giving out almost no bass at all. I mean even my cheap Dick Smith 4" PC speakers give out more bass than these. The stock 6" speakers actually gave out some decent base (well for its size at least).

arverson

29-05-2006, 11:23 PM

why wat?? why dont lil speakers play as much bass loudly as a sub??

MAYBE its cus:
1. doesnt have as much cone area as bigger subs
2. has very little excursion compared to a sub
3. that speaker is a coaxil. tweeter placed in front of cone. maybe it blocks/muddys sum bass the speakers is trying to play
3. holes. yer maybe. if ur doors r sealed & SD'd, ull notice a improvement in ur midbass
4. other

arverson

29-05-2006, 11:29 PM

Today 11:19 PM
EuroDude

They are giving out almost no bass at all. I mean even my cheap Dick Smith 4" PC speakers give out more bass than these. The stock 6" speakers actually gave out some decent base (well for its size at least).

meh, not sure y then. they should give give sum decent bass. polarity mayb??

EuroDude

29-05-2006, 11:29 PM

[edit] post timing mixup ;)

[ricer]

29-05-2006, 11:39 PM

i guess im too late
but focal access series is perfect for oem headunits (thats what they're designed for!)
i had them running off a stock head unit and the sound was clear as

looks like u wont be getting bass because of the holes around the speakers. and usually stock speakers are only like 15-20 watt which makes them so so cool when u plug after market decks to them... so i guess ur new speakers are much more power hungry then ur standard ones....

EuroDude

29-05-2006, 11:55 PM

ricer, yeah you have a point. The Bostons should be bassier with an Amp, and I could patch up the holes.

But in reality, I have sufficient bass coming from the 12" sub and 6x9's in the rear, and trust me, there is plenty of bass already. Plus bass travels very far so there is no need for bass upfront.

The fronts are just there to complement the rest of the system - to fill the front cabin with mid/high, and to mix with the 6x9's.

Tuned right (HU fading, rear amp levels, crossovers, etc..), it works very well :)

ICACHA

30-05-2006, 08:59 PM

yes. its a 6" speaker. theyre not designed to play alot of bass loudly. how much bass r u expecting from them?? as much as a 8/10/12/15 inch sub??

how much you want to bet? :)

ICACHA

30-05-2006, 09:00 PM

@ICACHA

lol why?

1) Because of the holes?
2) Because of the rubber grommets?
3) Because I didnt use an MDF spacer?

2 words, sound damping or as some call it sound deadening :)

ICACHA

30-05-2006, 09:01 PM

ok kids, whos in sydney and wants to listen to some bassy 6 1/2 inch splits? :)

arverson

30-05-2006, 09:17 PM

hehehe no bet. ive heard how u blew some guy away by making him think u had subs, when really it was only ur 6.5 woofers on CAA.

when i say 'its', im talkin bout eurodudes speakers. not others. can those bassy splits ur talkin bout play 40hz loudly?? if they can, sweeet. i want a pair!! :p

eurodude, didnt notice those holes. DIRECTLY around the speaker too. no wonder u say u got no bass at all. dunno how u measured n know ur only getting 300hz & up, but damnnn if u really r missing 100hz-300hz (dunno ur exact HPF/LPF settings) ur missin out on alotta midbass. seal them holes up yo