I will never get rid of my original Monterey, but want to upgrade the 4 speakers. What's the best source??

 

try these guys http://www.swstereo.com

but seriously, consider adding an amp and external crossover if you want to keep that. Otherwise consider newer units.

 

Hertz brand speakers sound fantastic, have good sensitivity and drop right in since they are metric sized speakers. No need to drill new holes in the door panels. I have a pair of Hertz co-axials on the shelf that I removed from my 911.

Kenwood makes a 4x6 model that drops into the rear deck as well.

Rod has everything you need:

http://www.caraudioinnovations.com/

 

Not looking for more power, just less distortion when I turn the volume up. Usually the culprit is the speakers.

 

Thanks, I am simply looking for a drop in like you suggested.

 

Distortion typically comes from overdriving an amplifier past it's rated power. The more power you have, the less chance there is to "clip" the amplifier, which is what you hear as distortion. Clipping is essentially "clipping" off the top of the sound wave, making for a very un-smooth sound wave which, to the ear, is unclean or distorted sound waves.

You are correct in that if a speaker is blown (has physical damage to the voice coil), you can hear that as distortion as well.

My rule of thumb is to take the RMS rating of the speaker and double it for amplifier power.

You can damage a speaker from too little power more quickly than from too much power. A 20 watt RMS rated speaker will love a 50 watt per channel amplifier. A 20 watt speaker has much more of a chance to blow up from an 8 watt per channel head unit internal power amp.

Just food for thought.

Some fun:
Vintage '80's Blau

Vintage Bamburg w/Amp

 

I think that the age has simply taken it's toll on the speakers and most likely also the cones are also shot. I hear ya about the amp, if you get a real nice amp, it also cleans up the sound. Where as a head unit amp has it's limitations. I simply want to restore the system to it's original glory, which is definitely better than it is now.

 

I emailed your contact and received no response. What model numbers are you referring to, so I can simply order myself online?

 

PM Sent!!

 

+1 here, Stefan is THE guy for German car stereos, IMO.

 

I actually had a great "audio" experiance today! I have the cassette, that has a wire to plug into the Ipod. I was rocking the Depesche Mode station on Pandora! IMO, I feel that, that 80's Genre, personfies the 80's more that any other. I was a big metal head in the 80's, but also appreciated the new "alternative" music. I was born in '70 and was obviously 18 in '88. As I am writing this, I am listening to "I wear my sun glasses at night"! haha

Back to the point, the smartphone tape, doubled the "fidelity" of the stock system.

 

I do that too with the cassette adapter with the 1/8th inch jack into the iPhone into the original Monterey. It does help "double" the fidelity.

It's amazing how much people paid for these systems in these cars. Even some of the most inexpensive cars built today have systems that sound a thousand times better...

 

It's all relative, back then, the average cars sounded like transistor radios!

 

I just installed these: Alpine SPR-50 in the front and the SPS-406 in the rear deck (no R-type for the 4x6" ovals). They keep a classic look, stock size, and have fantastic sound.

 

I replaced all 4 of my speakers and it made a big difference. I cant remember what brand I used?? It was a either Pioneer or Kenwood. They fit exactly like stock with the stock grills. I use a GPS with a MP3 player feature with a cassette tape adapter. I just removed the ashtray and you would think it was a stock fit. Now I have 8G of digital music and a working GPS with a classic interior.