need new speakers...stock amp work?

[alwaysnicekicks]

This is my first thread post so sorry if this is in the wrong forum or if there is something wrong. My 6x9's are going out in my 2002 accord se i was looking into some new ones. I was wondering how many watts the stock amp can take. I'm looking into some pioneers that are 100 watts. I was wondering if you guys have any comments or suggestions on what i should do, and should i just get a new sound system? I don't really want subs just new speakers. Thanks for your help

 

[xx24xx]

This is my first thread post so sorry if this is in the wrong forum or if there is something wrong. My 6x9's are going out in my 2002 accord se i was looking into some new ones. I was wondering how many watts the stock amp can take. I'm looking into some pioneers that are 100 watts. I was wondering if you guys have any comments or suggestions on what i should do, and should i just get a new sound system? I don't really want subs just new speakers. Thanks for your help

Using your factory head unit on aftermarket speakers is OK to a certain point. If you crank the volume up too high then you can clip the speakers to death. Using your head unit also generates heat. Heat = electronic death. What most experienced audiophiles will tell you is that you should spend more money on the front speakers, rather than the rear, because essentially they are all you need. A lot of people simply remove the rear speakers. Think of it this way...imagine you are at a concert. The music is coming from in front of you, not behind you. Right?

The whole process starts by finding out what exactly you want and what your budget is. An aftermarket head unit will have significant improvements not only with sound quality, but also drive aftermarket speakers with much less effort, but only to a certain point. It's also eye candy. With this route figure a budget of $200 on the head unit, $140 replacing front and rear speakers and $25 upgrading to decent speaker wire. That's $365 out of pocket. Doing "the big 3" is also recommended.

If you want more accurate, punchy and cleaner at louder volumes of music then step it up a level. Instead of buying a set of cheap 6.5" fronts and cheap 6x9s for rear fill, buy a nice component set. You will have the opportunity to fine tune your music exactly how you want it. A head unit with time alignment will make it sound even better, in my opinion of course, although I'm sure a lot will agree. So you will want a nice set of components like the Audioque set for $200. You will want an amp for even cleaner, louder, more accurate music. Audioque makes a terrific amp for $230. Get some even better wire to ensure you aren't holding the performance of the speakers back and VOILA! That's about $680 give or take. You will also need speaker rings to fit the new mid ranges. Upgrading your factory battery is also recommended at this point, but not crucial.

Oh and welcome!

 

[alwaysnicekicks]

OK thanks for the info I think I need to read it over a couple times a lot of info to take in at once. By head unit you mean aftermarket deck right? If so, I have a pioneer deck already and I am not really sure how to go about upgrading the sound system. I will take your advice and look into more 6.5 speakers as they are more important and I might also just want to take out my 6x9's since my trunk bars keep rubbing up against them for some reason. If I want to just get some good quality 6.5's and maybe some cheap 6x9's what do I need to do about the amp?

Thanks for all the help again

 

[xx24xx]

The pioneer deck will work fine. If your 6x9s are hitting and you don't want to get rid of them...then look into shallow mounting speakers. The amp I suggested is a powerful amp for the price. It's 4x90w rms. This means it will power 2 sets of speakers or you can bridge it to give 2x240w rms for a nice set of components and give them headroom OR run them active. But that is a bit more advance lol.

YW. I'm from Danville BTW. Norcal FTW.

 

[ryan s]

you can never kill a speaker by clipping when its not passing its thermal limits (in other words: if a speaker blew when it was being underpowered, every single time you turned the volume down from "max" you'd be needing new speakers ). and the big 3 is worthless unless your stock wiring requires replacement due to corrosion. and the stock battery will be fine. and audioque is garbage.

get a good pair of 6.5s in the doors and go from there. if they're not loud enough, get an amp. if after that they dont sound good, upgrade them. it all depends how involved you want to get...

rear speakers are only needed if you care about your passengers back there

 

[xx24xx]

Perhaps my audio vocabulary needs some brushing up on. Regardless Audioque isn't garbage. But your manners are.

 

[ryan s]

they're built by a house in korea or china...right next to brands like performance tecknikz (or however it's spelled), power acoustik, and all those. just different heatsinks...maybe some different control knobs. same boards, caps, transistors, etc...

how am i rude, exactly? because science and facts are on my side? with 700 watts of (fairly) inefficient class A/B amps, i have zero dimming with a $45 battery, stock alternator which i know is over 5 years old, and...gasp...stock wiring under the hood. talking "big 3 upgrade" and battery replacement is nothing more than throwing money at a non-existent problem. so the OP has a ways to go...

 

[swollen_cu]

they're built by a house in korea or china...right next to brands like performance tecknikz (or however it's spelled), power acoustik, and all those. just different heatsinks...maybe some different control knobs. same boards, caps, transistors, etc...

how am i rude, exactly? because science and facts are on my side? with 700 watts of (fairly) inefficient class A/B amps, i have zero dimming with a $45 battery, stock alternator which i know is over 5 years old, and...gasp...stock wiring under the hood. talking "big 3 upgrade" and battery replacement is nothing more than throwing money at a non-existent problem. so the OP has a ways to go...

AQ and DD are virtually the same...

Look at the designs..

AQ is just a cheaper alternative to DD. Like comparing a Toyota to a Lexus.

 

[ryan s]

AQ and DD are virtually the same...

Look at the designs..

AQ is just a cheaper alternative to DD. Like comparing a Toyota to a Lexus.

...if lexus was made in the US and toyota was made in the same factories as hyundai and kia, sharing the lexus design but the korean parts.

aq is just another build house brand. the chinese will be ripping off their designs sooner than later. oops, i think crescendo already does that

 

[ryan s]

OP, whats your budget? i had a look through woofersetc (not the best retailer but a good selection) and there's a few component sets worth considering...

if you dont want a component set, you'll have to look at coaxials. and all of these component sets will require a 3/4" thick spacer to clear the window when its down. you have 1 15/16" of mounting depth inside the stock mounting basket...2 3/4" total if you remove it and make your own spacer.

i'd also advise mounting the tweeter as close to the midbass as possible for the moment, or youll run into phasing issues. the boston SL/SR60 set, unfortunately, is the only one that can do it. there's other sets which can...but you'd have to find them or get creative with your tweeter mounting.

basic: PG RSd had been the value leader for a while.

mid: the bostons can have the tweeters mounted in the center of the cone (coaxially). this pioneer set shares a lot of things with the most expensive set i'll link to later. ive heard good things about the new zapco set, and the ID CTX has plenty of reviews out there.

top of the line: maybe not "the top" but what i would consider reasonable. the alpine type-x set has a great tweeter, but a lackluster midbass. the premier has a wonderful midbass but a not-so-good tweeter

for amps, if you're not opposed to going used, there's tons of options. a couple new ones to look at that you could bridge for the moment if you promise to be careful with the gain and volume knobs:

cheap as hell for a few months...lots of people have them. this could fit inside your spare tire if you wanted to mount it there.