Front Door Components

[1999grandamse]

Before I begin, I know that this subject has been beaten to a pulp, but I still have a question.
I searched for stuff about component sets for the front doors and didn't find the answers I wanted.

I have 4x6 plates right now and I am ready to buy components. I got a new credit card with 0% APR until May 2007, so I am going to take advantage of it.
I am having difficulty deciding what size to go with; 5.25 or 6.25.
I also can't decide on the brand. I have Polk MOMO speakers now, and I like how they sound, and was planning on getting the same for the front as I do for the back. But I have heard about other brands like Resonant Engineering that make quality component sets for comparable prices.

One of the big questions I have is whether the MOMO 6.5inch components will fit because they are so deep. I know someone did it, I think it was MysteriousGT1, but I am worried that it will require extensive modification to fit them. I have a sub, but I want more clean bass up front also.

To give you an idea, I listen to a lot of stuff including My chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Coldplay, some HipHop and Rap, etc.

I'm shooting for ~$200-$300 range

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, as I want to take advantage of the christmas sales next month.:D

[MantaGreen97]

I'm not too sure about using 6.5s in the front of a 99+ but I do know that 5.25s are the easiest way to go. I think you're right in that it was MysteriousGT1 that put in the Momo coponents, though I can't recall the size. Maybe PM him and ask for details/assitance?

Polk Momos are pretty good and among some of the better stuff you can get at mainstream retail stores (which it sounds like you plan on buying from). You also have some other Polk/Momo gear so if you want to stick with that, that's one idea. I really wouldn't worry too much about matching the front and rear speakers, or brand-matching at all but some people feel good buying similar/same-branded stuff.

I would however do a couple things. One, definitely look into other brands so you know what else is out there before purchase. And two, definitlely listen to/audition the speakers before purchase. If you can buy from somewhere with a returns policy like Best Lie you can try to buy more than one set, and audition them in the car and return the one(s) you don't like or like less.

The reasoning behind #1 is so that you don't say centred on one brand when you might prefer something else that you haven't heard or even heard of. Reasoning behind #2 is that speaker selection is something that is really quite subjective. One person's "great sounding" may be your "too muddy" or "too bright", etc. Therefore you auditioning/listening to the speakers, with the music you'll be listening to, is quite important. This is especially the case when you're spending $200-$300 on a component set as you don't want to buy something that you'll be unhappy with, or even something you wouldn't be as happy with as if you had bought something else.

Some other brands I could recommend off the top of my head would be CDT, Focal, Boston, MB Quart. There are definitely others just some I thought of right away...

PS: Yay for TBS! :D They sound quite good on my Focal set ;) Oh and who's Red Jumpsuit Apparatus? Are they anything like TBS?

[zero53121]

My suggestion would be to take a look at elemental designs.

Clicky (http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/index.php?cPath=1_23)

Your also going to want an amp for any componet speakers you get. Because most decks will not be able to support the power componets speakers need.

Over at the jbody.org we have a forum discount we get which will net you an awesome discount. From the reviews i have been reading people have been very happy with all music types on these speakers.

Edit for grammar.

[MysteriousGT1]

I do have 6 1/2 Components in my doors, but its not in a GA, my speaker size is for 6.5's already so they were mount and play!

and the components give a very nice sound to almost any kind of music, my only downside to them is they put off enough bass to rattle all my panels apart making it sound wierd from the outside "Desperate need of Dynomat :D"

The mids and Highs out of the components beat my 6 x 9's by a mile, the 6 x 9's give out a little more bass from what i hear though!

[Ralph]

I have 6.5 Kappa Perfect components in my 2000 GA. Don't expect the easiest conversion in the world but with a bracket and some time it can be done. Possible drilling into the door at times.

[1999grandamse]

Thanks for the replies.

I do already have a Polk MOMO 400.4 amp (rated 75rmsx4, certified to do 96x4) that powers all the speakers.

I have considered some of the brands mentioned, but I don't know where to buy, let alone listen to, these component sets. My local car audio shops sell only the big mainstream brands (like Polk, Alpine, JL, Pioneer, and Infinity).

I've always heard good things about Focal, but since I don't have anywhere to go to hear them, how do they sound? I consider Infinity speakers to be too bright; are Focals the same way? I also want whatever speakers I buy to pack a punch. A lot of the music I listen to is forceful and strong and I want the speakers to reproduce that feeling well with a strong low-end.

Those elemental designs components look good to me, but will they fit? They are 6.5s, and I will most likely be putting these in during the winter, so I don't want to have to do strange modifications to the door. As far as the Jbody discount, I have an Nbody, so I guess I don't qualify:(


I will be using Dynamat Extreme when installing these, so bigger bass response is not a bad thing.


MantaGreen97 i notice that on my current front speakers, the song MakeDamnSure is somewhat muddled because so much is going on during the chorus. Is it clear, yet strong on your focals?

BTW, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is similar to Taking Back Sunday, but with a bit more screaming (not too much) to go with the lead singer's emotional voice. Not as good as Taking Back Sunday or My Chemical Romance, but they are good considering that the band members are all around 21 years old.





Thanks in advance for your advice:D

[Chain]

Crossfire for high quality sound.

http://www.crossfirecaraudio.com/images/LoudSpeakers/RS/rs6.jpg

Morel for extreme high quality sound

http://www.morelhifi.com/products/images/2way_elate1.jpg

[1999grandamse]

I've looked over your suggestions and I think I am just going to stick with the Polks because I know I like the way they sound and I have no places to go to hear some Focals (my second choice). As nice as they Morels look, there are no dealers in Ohio and I would guess that they are as expensive as they look.

Besides, the amp I have is designed with the PolkMOMO components in mind, so they should sound excellent. I also worry that chosing speakers from multiple different brands could result in the same kind of problems with frequency cancellation that one encounters when mixing subwoofer brands and sizes.


I do still have one question: will the Metra adapters also allow you to put 6.5s in the 4x6 location? The FAQ says yes, but I want to know if anyone can verify this because it says on the site that they are only meant to hold 5.25s

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
I've always heard good things about Focal, but since I don't have anywhere to go to hear them, how do they sound? I consider Infinity speakers to be too bright; are Focals the same way? I also want whatever speakers I buy to pack a punch. A lot of the music I listen to is forceful and strong and I want the speakers to reproduce that feeling well with a strong low-end.
Yeah I would have to say Focals are generally a bright sounding speaker... So if you don't like bright speakers they may not be the best choice for you. They do have sligtly different tweeters these days (than the TN45s I have with my 165V component set) and I haven't heard the newer ones but I would think they would be on the bright side since that's the way most Focals are.

As for packing a punch the Polyglass and Polykev line do indeed pack a good punch. Polyglasses have been known to be slightly stronger in the midbass area than the Polykevs though Polykev also comes in the "power" version (like the 165K2P) which are a bit more pricey but handle more power.

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
Those elemental designs components look good to me, but will they fit? They are 6.5s, and I will most likely be putting these in during the winter, so I don't want to have to do strange modifications to the door. As far as the Jbody discount, I have an Nbody, so I guess I don't qualify:(
I'm an eD fan too (I own two elemental designs e12a subs, only one in use currently)... I try not to make recommendations solely based on the gear I have but the eD components are nice as well. Whether they will fit your car I'm not sure about, however.

As for the discount, I'm sure they'd let you in on the J-body group buy, all you'd have to do is register on the appropriate site ;) You can read more about them on certain car audio forums. Some forums are biased against eD though. On the other hand you can go to eD's "home" forums, ICIXsound. Some people might say that ICIX forums is perhaps full of "eD fanboys" as some put it, but it's still a good source for information on eD stuff since a lot of people there run elemental designs and give their honest opinions.

As for the note about your amp being "meant for" the Polk Momo components, that really isn't the case. Thinking about the fact that Polk audio never made amps before and surely has them OEM'd by another amp manufacturer, I doubt the amps were every purpose-built in anyway to somehow favour Polk speakers. Their amps are actually quite good, yes, but you will get great results with any speaker set (in the appropriate power range) with your amp :) So if you want to get Polk speakers that's fine, but rest assured your amp will drive any speakers quite well.

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
I will be using Dynamat Extreme when installing these, so bigger bass response is not a bad thing.
Though you don't have to use dynamat brand stuff (there are other brands) deadening the doors is definitely a very, very good idea :) Sound damping makes a night and day difference, particularly on our cars. I can say this first hand as I had more than one component set installed without mat and it does make a big difference.

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
MantaGreen97 i notice that on my current front speakers, the song MakeDamnSure is somewhat muddled because so much is going on during the chorus. Is it clear, yet strong on your focals?
Problem with Louder Now unfortunately (especially since they're under the WB label now) is the same as most "pop" music records... The recording is a bit compressed (when I say compressed I mean that in terms of dynamic range, not data rate). So it does suffer from being one of "those" recordings. It isn't a particularly "bad" recording really (I've heard much worse) but it is still in that group of over-compressed mixes.

Still I can say with confidence I hear both Adam and Fred screaming through pretty clear, despite the somewhat congested chorus :) I have to say that I've heard TBS on several stock sound systems and it just doesn't do them justice at all. Whether you go with Focals or Polk Momos or whatever mid-range decent component set, I'm sure you will be impressed. Where You Want To Be in particular, just sounds awesome in my car IMO. Their use of stereo and them singing their hearts out really comes throgh :)

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
BTW, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is similar to Taking Back Sunday, but with a bit more screaming (not too much) to go with the lead singer's emotional voice. Not as good as Taking Back Sunday or My Chemical Romance, but they are good considering that the band members are all around 21 years old.

Well strangely enough, I'm not at all an MCR fan; but I will check out Red Jumpsuit Apparatus when I can, see how I like them :)

[hamiltonaudio]

the RE6.1 compo set is extremely smooth and tight - and with a full cdn retail of $300, they're far from expensive. I've made them fit in all manner of car...your GA will be no issue.

Another consideration for the "forceful" sound you're looking for is the Digital Designs 6.5" compo set. I've done a bunch of those too, and the quality is solid. Very strong, crisp and clear sound...most wanted to put the tweet 3db down because of their strength....the xover allows for -3 on both the mid and/or the tweet...so its flexible. Also a CDN$300 set.

Both sets offer very strong midrange...I've got 2 pairs of the RE6.1's in my car on USAmps power, and if the sub is off I often don't notice at low volumes because the sound is extremely fat and full-bodied.

Good luck!

bmoney

[1999grandamse]

Originally posted by MantaGreen97
Y
As for the note about your amp being "meant for" the Polk Momo components, that really isn't the case.

I didn't specify, but I meant that the power output is perfectly matched to give the speakers more than 70% of their rated power as the rated power of the amp is 75watts RMSx4, and the amps are underrated, so there is plenty of extra.

More to the point, the amp has a special pre-equalizer meant for PolkMOMO components when being bi-amped, tuned for Polks. But yes, I understand that they can power other speakers. I'm not *quite* as gullable as Polk would like me to be:D

As far as the song goes, I didn't even think of compression and audio engineering issues causing some of the issues. Sometimes you develop such an esteem for a band that you begin to think that they would never do anything to take away from the listening experience, but then someone brings you back into reality and reminds you that someone else counting costs and catering to mindless "Pop" listeners masters the album.



I've always heard good things about RE, so if I don't go with the Polks, I like what Hamilton Audio is saying about the RE Components, but where can I buy them online that is reputable?
Also, what is their power range? The website doesn't say and I don't always trust other claims found on the internet. I'd rather hear it from an installer.

And...uh...what is $300CN in real money?:lol: :peepsofa:

There is a local audio store called Audio Outlaws that sells them, but I refuse to buy from them because if I buy from a specialty audio store, I only buy from Motion Audio (long story)

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
...the RE Components, but where can I buy them online that is reputable?
Well their website should have a dealer-locator IIRC, so maybe try that out?

Originally posted by 1999grandamse
And...uh...what is $300CN in real money?:lol: :peepsofa:
LOL. At present time $300 CDN is around $260 US or so... But things are almost always cheaper in the US, so something that retails here for that much will likely be a bit cheaper in the States.