School me on Speakers

[Mrs. Crash]

I have to replace the speakers in my truck and in shopping I will pretty much stick with what I had. Which was Pioneer. The front ones were stolen and I looked it up and found out those were 4".

Pioneer has a "3 way" speaker for $65 and a "2 way" speaker for $50.00

What's the difference there?

What else do I need to be looking for??

 

[SeaRubi]

christa - anything but pioneer :flipoff:

below is the 30 and over tutorial i'm sure some younger guys will pop on and skool us on all the latest.

i tend to look for Inifinity, JBL, or Polk Audio - the Polks generally sound really good. check out fleabay - there's usually a glut from each of these mfrs at reasonable prices.

2 way refers to a speaker that reproduces primarily mid and high tones in the sound range. roughly, there are 3 - low, mid, and high. a 4" 3-way speaker isn't going to have much in the way of bass, but it might make sense to look for 3way if you don't have a subwoofer, or if the rear speakers don't provide much in the way of thump. use a 2 way speakers if the rear is putting out decent bass, or if you have a subwoofer.

hope this helps

 

[NotMatt]

Whatever you do, get good speakers that are poly and not cheap paper junk (I think even pioneer's low-end ones are poly). They sound much better and won't rot out due to moisture.

 

[KarlVP]

I would get some Infinity 3 ways for the front. You can put any speaker anywhere you want. I'm sure you could modify the existing enclosures for some 6 1/2 or 6X9's if you want to go crazy.

A good infinity component set (less than $100) Comes with some 6 1/2 2 way speakers with some silk dome tweeters to put in your dash. They also include some crossovers for the frequency distribution. Add another set of 6X9's in the rear with a small 4 way amp and you will have a very clean sounding audio system. I did that in the ZJ and it rocks. Total cost was about $300.

Another install I did was 4 5 1/4 infinitys powered off a sony head unit. It was really impressive for what it was.

 

[War-Jeeper]

Lets see i would go with a set of component speakers first of all. I personally like the sound of memphis audio's compnent speakers. I also like infity's speakers as well.

You could also google reviews on speakers and such and see what gets the best rating

 

[Alpine4x4]

For your doors:
http://car.rainbow-audio.de/products/details.php?lan=2&pro=1&lin=9&art=231456
Sub:
http://sonicelectronix.com/item_2175.html
Any alpine amp(i like this one presonally)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-MRV-F345-amplifier-4-channel-600-Watts-RMS_W0QQitemZ130075010054QQihZ003QQcategoryZ39740QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Pretty much any wiring kit. Sub boxes are easy to build. I have a program to give your proper size and vent size depending on the sub specs. Need any help just ask! BTW those rainbow speakers are around $200 but well worth it. You wont need rear speakers if oyu run a good set of front components.

 

[Alpine4x4]

O btw pioneers are garbage IMO. Ex GF had some...no bass at all and very crappy high end. I ran some alpine type-S..loved em but i stepped up to a 3-way comp set...now i just need an amp for my boston sub!

 

[Glenn]

...I'm sure you could modify the existing enclosures for some 6 1/2 or 6X9's if you want to go crazy.

6x9s??? No offense Karl, but have you seen the front dash speakers on that truck? I'm sure 6x9s are not going there.

Crista, look at www.crutchfield.com for some ideas of what works. You don't have to buy from them, but they have useful information you can use. FWIW, pay no attention to speaker manufacturers who say you MUST get 4T (specialty) speakers to fit. You can fit nearly any 4" speaker in the dash. Some brands might need to be trimmed with tin snips, but you won't notice that when they are installed.

 

[64FJ40]

Were you happy with what you had? If so, there's really no reason to spend a lot of money on high-end stuff that sounds the same at 60mph on 33" mudders.

Like Matt said, definitely make sure you get poly cones because paper cones sound like crap really quick in a topless rig even without direct rain contact.

For a 4" speaker, a "2-way" will have the main 4" speaker and a smaller (like 1") tweeter. A "3-way", as fun as it sounds, really isn't going to be much of an improvement in a speaker this size IMO. It will have 2 (probably different sized) tweeters instead of 1, but IMO the extra clarity is wasted on a rig with loud tires and especially one that goes topless.

Rather than spending extra money on tweeters, I'd allocate it toward all the power handling you can afford. Even when you're only pushing 50W, speakers that are 'rated' for 200W sound better than those that are rated for 100W.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Pioneer stuff in general, but their speakers are fine. I'd look into other brands (Boston Acoustics makes nice stuff in that size range), but it's your rig so do what you want.

Eric

 

[CrustyJeep]

Were you happy with what you had? If so, there's really no reason to spend a lot of money on high-end stuff that sounds the same at 60mph on 33" mudders.

So true.

 

[tommyjohnston]

Alright a good thing to get if you love to listen to music in your ride is get a component set. Which means there is a main speaker with a tweeter that goes through a box, main speaker wire from cd player into crossover(box) then one set of wires to main speaker 4", 5 1/4, or 6" then the other output is speaker wires going to the tweeters. mount the tweeter within 1 foot from main speaker for optimal sound or mount it like 3 or 4 feet away from main speaker. A good brand is Rockford Fosgate from bestbuy:; Alpine is good too. Alpine sells the component set on Ebay I bought some for $90 ?? cant really remember they range from $90-300 depending on where you go or what brand to get. OH another decent speaker is kenwood. Three way speakers is the main speaker then a tweeter in the middle of the speaker. which means you get your bass/mid range/high range sounds out of one speaker. the first speaker is a 3 way and the other is the component set.

 

[lilyota]

Go with the polk seperates they are a great speaker and they marine quality we use them in are boats and my wheeler.

 

[Alpine4x4]

Rather than spending extra money on tweeters, I'd allocate it toward all the power handling you can afford. Even when you're only pushing 50W, speakers that are 'rated' for 200W sound better than those that are rated for 100W.

Nope. Those rainbows i posted are rated for 150w and i garuntee they sound better than any namebrand 300w speaker you put em up against. Power handling has NOTHING AT ALL to do with sound quality. The material, voice coil(s), surround, basket, and suspension are for that. If she wants great sound a compnent is a must. If she just wants it to listen to then some 6.5" speakers in the doors (coaxial) and a sub rear is perfect. Id stay away from using rear speakers, it ruins the sound stage(makes the sound that should come from infront of oyu like on a stage come from behind and sounds crappy) plus it muddies the mid range. I clipped the tweeter leads on my 6x9's out back so its only running bass and mids and yet it still ruins soundstage. Mrs.C if ya have any certain questions or specific questions shoot me a PM. I thought about running sound comps instead of 4wheelin so i know a bit, and my dad is an audiophile so i gots some knowledge. THis is somehting i have experience with:kissmyass:

 

[War-Jeeper]

Stay away from Alpine subs, even there high end stuff sucks ass, for once a tech question has come up that i have pretty good knowledge in hahaha.

O and see if you can get a hold of an old school phoneix gold amp if your going to do a sub they kick ass for amps probably the best made in my opion, O and if your looking for a sub i have an extra Memphis audio (older) but was the highest end you could buy 2 years ago just sitting collecting dust give me a fair offer i will most likely take it.

Component speakers will also give you better control of your sound qaulity like more highs lows or mids in my opion.

Let me know about the sub though, o and its in a custom made sealed box too

 

[Mrs. Crash]

6x9s??? No offense Karl, but have you seen the front dash speakers on that truck? I'm sure 6x9s are not going there.

Crista, look at www.crutchfield.com for some ideas of what works. You don't have to buy from them, but they have useful information you can use. FWIW, pay no attention to speaker manufacturers who say you MUST get 4T (specialty) speakers to fit. You can fit nearly any 4" speaker in the dash. Some brands might need to be trimmed with tin snips, but you won't notice that when they are installed.

That's where I found out (or reminded myself) what size I needed.

I don't want to cram anything larger into the dash. I'm ok with the 4inch ones.

I had the basic speaker set up before, except I had two 10 inch subs (pioneer) in the back and an amp.

 

[Mrs. Crash]

Keep in mind too. The reason my old set up wasn't the best was cause I have the top off all summer and I didn't want anything to stand out and scream "steal me" What they took was good enough sound and easy to replace if stolen (and look what happened)

If I had a vehicle that wasn't a convertable and a little harder to steal I would invest in much better stuff as I love the sound quality that can come out of higher end stuff. I do love the bass but I also have kids in the rig alot so I prefer to let them keep their hearing.

My subs in the back were just encased in Wal Mart encloser boxes. Granted I lost a good amount of money in all my stuff but not as much as I could have.

 

[War-Jeeper]

Keep in mind too. The reason my old set up wasn't the best was cause I have the top off all summer and I didn't want anything to stand out and scream "steal me" What they took was good enough sound and easy to replace if stolen (and look what happened)

If I had a vehicle that wasn't a convertable and a little harder to steal I would invest in much better stuff as I love the sound quality that can come out of higher end stuff. I do love the bass but I also have kids in the rig alot so I prefer to let them keep their hearing.

My subs in the back were just encased in Wal Mart encloser boxes. Granted I lost a good amount of money in all my stuff but not as much as I could have.

In that case go with the 3 way version you were talking about earlier, my offer still stands on the sub though it would be only one but its a 12"

 

[Mrs. Crash]

I've already had a couple offers on an amp and a couple subs. I will let you know as soon as I get to that point. First I just want to replace the front speakers.

So you all really don't like Pioneer then? My stereo is pioneer so I've pretty much always gone with them.

 

[Alpine4x4]

Stay away from Alpine subs, even there high end stuff sucks ass, for once a tech question has come up that i have pretty good knowledge in hahaha.

Say that to my friends type-x running 1kw rms and around 135db. The typeE and TypeS are theyre low end ones. The s sounds ok. THe TypeR kill destroy you in the 40hz range and the Type-X is top end sound quality. Its a great sub, i love those things.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I've already had a couple offers on an amp and a couple subs. I will let you know as soon as I get to that point. First I just want to replace the front speakers.

So you all really don't like Pioneer then? My stereo is pioneer so I've pretty much always gone with them.

Pioneers stereos are hella nice, theyre speakers...kinda shitay! If your looking for something simple and cheap some 4" for the dash and dare i say 6x9's for the rear for that little xtra bass.