Speakers

[csheatz]

I have searched and cant find what I am looking for....

 

I know I need new speakers, so now I am looking at them online. I have found out I need 6 3/4 round for the front doors, or smaller. The crutchfield site brings up 5 1/4, to 6 3/4 sizes and says they all fit? got me, but I would get the biggest one that fits. for the rear doors i need 4"x6", thats easy enough.

 

What I dont understand is the 2 way and 3 way speakers, can someone tell me the difference, and which ones I need?

 

Every type of music gets played through these speakers, country, rock, metal, rap, sports talk, howard stern. I want it all to sound good, and when I crank it up I really want it to sound good, good bass and tone. so help me out please.

 

The last time I but stereo equipment in a car was almost 10 years ago, the seats were out, the carpet was out, I ran component cables from the head unit to amps, then from the amps to speakers, same for a 15" sub. Even had a can thing (I can never remember what its called) that stored power and would read and amps going through the system. That stuff sounded great! Now I look at the things and setups available and I am lost. I have not idea what I have missed, or forgot over the years. Im not even that old, this is depressing.

[Se77vN]

I have searched and cant find what I am looking for....

 

I know I need new speakers, so now I am looking at them online. I have found out I need 6 3/4 round for the front doors, or smaller. The crutchfield site brings up 5 1/4, to 6 3/4 sizes and says they all fit? got me, but I would get the biggest one that fits. for the rear doors i need 4"x6", thats easy enough.

 

What I dont understand is the 2 way and 3 way speakers, can someone tell me the difference, and which ones I need?

 

Every type of music gets played through these speakers, country, rock, metal, rap, sports talk, howard stern. I want it all to sound good, and when I crank it up I really want it to sound good, good bass and tone. so help me out please.

 

The last time I but stereo equipment in a car was almost 10 years ago, the seats were out, the carpet was out, I ran component cables from the head unit to amps, then from the amps to speakers, same for a 15" sub. Even had a can thing (I can never remember what its called) that stored power and would read and amps going through the system. That stuff sounded great! Now I look at the things and setups available and I am lost. I have not idea what I have missed, or forgot over the years. Im not even that old, this is depressing.

 

IMO the infinity kappa's are excellent!! dont know what your budget is though

 

If your looking for clarity go with the 3-way's... this will separate the high's from the low's. Thus your not making the high's come from the voice coil, and the main body of the speaker is free to push out the bass.

[csheatz]

seems like 3ways are the way to go. Any idea on the size? I dont want to be doing any cutting, just a "plug and play" fit. As for the price..... I dunno maybe no more than 150-200 for the whole thing (front and back).

[bigdogxx]

Just remember speakers are only as good as what ever is powering them.

[csheatz]

Just remember speakers are only as good as what ever is powering them.

 

 

everything is stock, and will remain. this is just a speaker upgrade.

[Se77vN]

seems like 3ways are the way to go. Any idea on the size? I dont want to be doing any cutting, just a "plug and play" fit. As for the price..... I dunno maybe no more than 150-200 for the whole thing (front and back).

 

This is VERY true.... even with kappa's don't expect Bose quality without an amp.... if you really want them to sound good and be able to crank it up, I'd go with an amp to push them all. Does not need to be huge, but the thing is your only getting maybe 25w from the stock head unit.

[csheatz]

dont these units have a built in amp? if I want to put in a amp I would need a 4 way amp? and can I hook it up easy without any major re wiring?

[bigdogxx]

If it is the bose setup yes, but then i think replacing the speaker with aftermarket requires extra cash and steps to complete. I had to spend a extra 150 bucks for an adapter to make my pioneer nav unit work in mine.

[csheatz]

No bose, no onstar

[High Plains Drifter]

Indeed, far more speakers are blown and have distorted sound because they are underpowered, not overpowered. Upgrading just the speakers will not be that noticeable, if at all.

 

Most factory systems are matched well with their components but they are far from powerful. The factory head unit has a moderate continuous power rating, usually somewhere between 10-15 watts, sometimes 5-10. A good aftermarket amplifier will provide a high continuous rating and have reserve, undistorted power for peaks.

 

When low or moderate power amps are driven beyond their continuous rating, they will send a clipped signal that is much more damaging to the speakers.

 

For speakers to really sound good, they must be driven with a matched amp that will drive the speaker into its continuous rating. I would recommend an amp that supplies at least twice as much peak power as the speaker is rated for.

 

For example, a speaker is rated for 50 watts RMS (root mean square) and 100 watts peak. I would match it with an amp that is at least rated for 100 continuous watts and 200 peak power. No lower than 50 watts continuous and 150 watts peak.

 

I would go with an amp that doubles the peak power rating of the speaker. If you want decent sound pressure levels that are clean and have reserve power, an amplifier is a must. I wouldn't even consider a speaker upgrade without a separate amp. It protects your speakers much more if you have adequate amplifier power.

[bigdogxx]

I'm pretty sure you should be ok to add anything you like then as far as speaker and amp. I'm no professional on this but when i replaced my head unit this was the sense i got from most installer's, no bose or onstar = best for upgrading / bose with onstar = screwed and paying out the you know what!

[killterrorists]

If you just want cheap speakers that sound good go with pioneer.

 

If you want noticeably better and louder sound add an aftermarket head unit.

 

If you still arent satisfied add an amp, subs etc.

[csheatz]

Thank you all for informing me on all this. Since starting this post I think I am wanting to stick with the oem head unit, add a nice set of speakers (3way) and a amp that is good for atleast double the rating of the speakers.

 

So I need to find some speakers, and a 4 way amp.

 

Now my question is; can I splice into the factory harness, install the amp (kinda like inline) then have the amp output run through the factory wires? If I could find a place to mount the amp up front somewhere I would have very little wiring to do, I would just have to know the color code for the speaker wires. which I am sure is easy to find. Do these trucks have the old school 2 wires to one speaker? nothing funky? If I have 4 speakers I should have 8 wires right?

 

Sorry for the clueless type questions, this is something i never thought I would get into. Just sick of the rattle in my front speakers.

[georgecdisc]

Thank you all for informing me on all this. Since starting this post I think I am wanting to stick with the oem head unit, add a nice set of speakers (3way) and a amp that is good for atleast double the rating of the speakers.

 

So I need to find some speakers, and a 4 way amp.

 

Now my question is; can I splice into the factory harness, install the amp (kinda like inline) then have the amp output run through the factory wires? If I could find a place to mount the amp up front somewhere I would have very little wiring to do, I would just have to know the color code for the speaker wires. which I am sure is easy to find. Do these trucks have the old school 2 wires to one speaker? nothing funky? If I have 4 speakers I should have 8 wires right?

 

Sorry for the clueless type questions, this is something i never thought I would get into. Just sick of the rattle in my front speakers.

If you are doing only speakers, 3 way is good. If you are ever going to add a sub I would probably go more towards a two way speaker.

 

I would not do double the power rating. If you have 75 Watt RMS speakers I would say a 100 Watt RMS amp for it, double is overkill. It will be loud enough as is.

 

Find a connector to plug into your head unit that will break out RCA. This is the best way to go. I skimped out on my GMT900 and tried the high-level inputs (splicing into speaker wire) and ended up getting a lot of feedback from the blinkers (my subs would thump every time a blinker blinked). I do not know the specific module you need, but for the 900 series most people use a PAC adapter. Plug and play, no splicing, and you can run RCA to the amp.

[takevin]

Thank you all for informing me on all this. Since starting this post I think I am wanting to stick with the oem head unit, add a nice set of speakers (3way) and a amp that is good for atleast double the rating of the speakers.

 

So I need to find some speakers, and a 4 way amp.

 

Now my question is; can I splice into the factory harness, install the amp (kinda like inline) then have the amp output run through the factory wires? If I could find a place to mount the amp up front somewhere I would have very little wiring to do, I would just have to know the color code for the speaker wires. which I am sure is easy to find. Do these trucks have the old school 2 wires to one speaker? nothing funky? If I have 4 speakers I should have 8 wires right?

 

Sorry for the clueless type questions, this is something i never thought I would get into. Just sick of the rattle in my front speakers.

 

 

Best thing you can do is a go to a stereo store and educate yourself and learn from the salespeople, go to a couple of the stores and compare from what each place says. As said, if you want plug and play 3 way is to go, want to go a little custom and nicer sound, is to do a component, speaker on the bottom, and a tweeter replacement higher up in the door.