Coop

Hi all,

Looking to upgrade my "basic" four speaker system. I think I have blown the 4x6 in the back and need a more recent, robust upgrade.

I current run the Becker 7990 Grand Prix head unit and have no issues with it. It really is a speaker issue from what I gather.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Coop

hkspwrsche

I gather you want to only upgrade speakers. Newer component set in a 6.5" in the front door will do. Get wattage to match the power. Low power stuff if no amp. You can go with stock drop in 4x6 in rear or push out to 6x9 but you might want a small amp if you dont go with stock sizes and minimum power speakers.

For stock upgrade I went with the kicker ks series components that took fewer watts to power so as not to burn up the out puts on the stock stereo. I got bose speaker grilles for the mid woofers in the doors from a stereo shop that had left overs since they had the stock look grille and the kicker doesn't look stock with the spokes on the grille. I actually used a dremel sanding wheel to grind the tweeter down to fit behind the stock tweeter grille. The titanium tweeters are adjustable and dont seem to sharp with all the engine noise etc.. Kenwood 2 way in the rear. Sounds much better!

Coop

Hi Harold, any JBL option for the back? That seems to be the issue. The 4x6s seem like they can't push / hold the power and tear.

kflory

I went with Infinity Kappa 462.11 (4x6) in the rear and am very happy with them.

See this post here for more details.

Baj

Spend your money on some decent front 6.5 speakers and screw them to the metal of the door not just the door card.
I would not bother with rear speakers.

hkspwrsche

I believe thats typical of most 4x6 options. If you want good sound Id say change everything else and don't rely on the rear except for fill in sound.

But....
If you must have better mid and highs from the rear you want to push out to 6x9 which may not look great to some. If you have tinted windows it wont be as obvious. I would avoid that personally.

One good set up would be a small 4 channel amp to run nicer front components and and two channels bridged for a small sub in the rear. This works better with a new head unit and will give you a very full sound even with two channel 4x6s in the rear running off of the head unit rear channels. Also making sure the power is matched up to the rear channel output. This would give you a very full sound with good staging in the front.

If you want it to stay stock make sure what ever speakers and components you buy are low enough on power draw to work within the stock power output. They should sound decent compared to blown factory 20 year old junk.
Factory Low power needs low wattage speakers = low expectations

One more thing Id add. If your car is a garage queen then put the money in your daily driver stereo. Amps go bad if they sit and you will want to hear the engine and exhaust the first few hours you drive so it wont get used much.

I stay away from brands since those can be personal for some. Thats why I am pointing towards speaker specs.

kflory

While the front speakers are obviously the most important, don't dismiss the rears so fast.

I updated my rears and am driving them and a good amp and the contribubtion to the quality of the sound in the cabin is far more that I expected. If you can hear them, then they count.