whalebird

Thanks J. I agree with you on all points. My old speakers will be re-coned before their use; they are in storage in my home.
I do consider some audio upgrades to my cars, but as stated, those plans get pushed back. Especially since the new stuff is expensive for quality, and most all of it is butt ugly. A secondary consideration is the cars in play in this thread; period correct components fit the bill perfectly.

JBrown

whalebird. Look at the new jlaudio amps . They are very clean looking and are very small. To run interior speakers the new 400.4 xd amp is great. It is about 5in by 6in and it is 75 rms by 4. I use this in my 911. I run a set off menphis audio 8" comp upfront and a jl audio 12" sub in the back with that amp.

The hybrid audio speakers are one of my favorite and they have a very clean look. They are not cheap but great preformance and unbelievable warranty on them.

Now that I am older (46), I also dont like flashy equipment. Like sony exsplod and that is exactly what it does. Most of your higher end companies product does not look too much different that 20 year old stuff except it is more exspensive , lol
John

rusnak

Oh man, I totally agree about the look of most stuff out there. I think that is why most guys like the conservative look of MB Quart for example. I think talking about amps and speakers without actually listening to the combination is sort of academic. There is nothing like listening to the actual end result, and comparing back to back with another setup.

JBrown

rusnak, I dont know if you know but MB quarts was sold to Rockfrod fosgate awhile back. Then they got ride of it and another company took over the name. It is not the same company that you might be thinking of way back.. Most high end speaker companies product is not flashy at all. I think most of you guys just have not seen the higher end stuff and are just use to seeing the flashy generic stuff.

There is no question that listening to the product is the best way to judge what the person wants out of the speakers but we here are talking about higher end amps and speakers .. Good product is Good product.. I can take a pair of MB Quart speakers and use 10 different amps that I have used in the past and make them sound exactly the same.

Most peaple dont under stand that the same speaker is going to sound alittle different in every car because the acoustics of each car are different. That is why shopping for a quality system is like looking for a good engine builder.

When peaple come in my shop and are looking for a good system there are two ways we can do it.
You can tell me what kind of music you listen to , what budjet you are on, what features you want and how much space if any you want to take up. Then I will design a system for them on what I know from working in this industry for 30 years, or the customer can tell me what he wants in the car and I will do that. 100% of the time my system is going to be better because I know what sound good in that car and what speakers and amps are best suited for there needs.

So what I am saying is the best way to get what you are looking for is to go to a reputable high end shop that does good work and talk to the saleman and head installer and see what they recommend.
Most of the time they are going to know alot more about you cars audio system then the customer.

wwest

Lately I have not been able to find a tech even in the high end shops around here that knows the difference between driving speakers with the battery 12 volts in the reciever vs a DC-DC mosfet amp inverter that uses >150 volts.

IMMHO cheap low grade (small magnets, round voice coil wire) car audio speakers don't even exist anymore, haven't seen any of those for years.

The Chrysler Penastar logo.......what does that matter.....might even be Bose origin.

Tremelune

What now? 150V inverter amp...?

Carrera3.2LG50

Doors are all back together, fixed what I needed to fix, and when I was done everything still worked, which is a good thing.

Regarding the speakers, I decided to get Boston Acoustics SC55 5 1/4". I am very happy with the results. First, they fit right into the stock location and I was able to use the stock grills (once I turned the speakers 90 degrees. Duh.)

While my system might not be audiophile quality, these speakers are much better than what I found when the panels came off. They can handle volume without sounding all muddy and vibrating. While the lows are not all that low, the midrange is way better and I can actually hear the highs now.

I would highly recommend Boston Acoustics.
...and for the record, they were made in Malaysia, not Boston.

User 4221

External power amplifiers are basically high frequency converters.
They take 12V in and boost it up to typically 50-80V

The high voltage DC is modulated by the input signal from the head unit to create high voltage audio output., thus amplifying a 0.5V signal to a much higher voltage signal.

shadopadla

Thanks for the update, when I get to the stereo I'll definitely check those out!