DrDiaboloco

I've read several threads about replacing the speakers for those of us who don't have the Bose system, and I have a few questions that are either unanswered or unclear. Some queries are specific to the Infinity 6810cs, which is mentioned in a few threads and sounds like a good deal.

1- Seems like the consensus is that 6x8 works for the front, and 6x9 works for the rear, but in the rear you have to mount the speakers from below. My question is... Howcome? I see the stockers are mounted from above, why do you have to mount aftermarket speakers from below?

2- To those who have used the Infinity 6810cs, or indeed any component speakers, is there room enough behind the sail panel (front, behind the trim at the base of the a-pillar) to install the tweeters... or do you HAVE to drill a hole in the piece for a flush mount like I saw in a picture on another thread?

3- Is there enough room under the REAR speaker panel for the same tweeter to fit?

4- One thread mentioned that the best bet for the stock radio was to get speakers with 2ohm ratings, which the 6810 does NOT have (they're rated at the auto standard of 4ohms). If my knowledge of speakers and their impedance ratings is correct, this means that an amp driving 2ohm stock speakers would actually have to work LESS hard to drive 4ohm speakers. Am I doing wrong by going for 4ohm speakers in an installation that comes stock with 2ohm speakers?

Any input on any of the above questions would be greatly appreciated.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

You don't - I installed my rear speakers from above, just like the stock speakers were. I suppose this will depend on the actual replacement speaker model - some will fit from above, others won't.

Again, this will probably depend on the replacement tweeter - but generally speaking you should have sufficient space behind the sail panel if your tweeter allows that type of mounting.

The non-Bose speakers are all 4 Ohms. It's the Bose speakers that have weird impedances - like 0.5 Ohm for the front and 2 Ohms in the rear or something like that. You will be fine with the 6810 for the non-Bose system.

DrDiaboloco

Thanks for your response. NOW I'm considering moving up to Kappas F&R. On eBay and on some online retailers the Kappas sail in under $300 (including shipping), which may be worth the extra $75 or so over the Reference speakers.

Don't know which way I'll go yet.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

Well, question is: if you plan to power your speakers from the head unit's built-in amp only, is it worth to sink the extra money into the Kappas?
What you want to do is to get really efficient speakers in this case. I don't know the parameters for the Kappas - are they a lot more efficient than the Reference series?

DrDiaboloco

The Kappas are definitely more efficient, either 2dB or 3dB more sensitive depending upon which speakers you're referring to (94 and 95 vs. 92 and 92). That's VERY sensitive from what I've seen.

As far as SPL goes, it'd be the equivalent of driving the Reference speakers with an amp of twice the power of the stock HU. It'd be slightly louder than the Ref's with the same volume setting.

And to answer your question... An outboard amp is a possibility, but yet. Just want to clean up the sound from the stock equipment, without breaking the bank at this early stage (I already had to spring for a set of snows on new wheels and will be paying for clear corners and that iPod thingie that plugs into the HU in the very near future).

robertsteven

I just recently finished a low cost ($300) sound upgrade to the BASE system and the results differ slightly from many of the posts.

First: In the doors, Infinity Ref 6810cs. Because these are 4 ohm speakers and the factory system is 4 ohm, it is preferred over the kappas. The kappas are a 2 ohm speaker that may overload and burn out the hu amp.

Sound level: No change from stock.

Sound quality: Much better clarity, mid is not muddy and highs are great.

Bass quality: None. Without an external amp driving these speakers to produce a punch, they are almost absent of low bass. Test CD shows extreme drop off below 80hz. Unfortunately, the hu bass level controls only upper bass, and the speakers produce no low bass, when you raise the bass level, the sound only gets worse. Because of the this low frequency problem, if you plan on adding these speakers, also plan on adding a sub, otherwise, leave the stock 6x8s and replace only the tweeters.

Installation: A little more time consuming then I wanted, (about 5 hours total) but I was very careful with details, and dynomatted the panel and inside the door. The crossover just barely fits using the existing stand off and I cut a rubber tube spacer for the second crossover mounting screw. The tweeter fits perfect in the old tweeter cavity, and I hot glued it in place around the edges.

Front speaker overall opinion: At $120 for this, the changes are subtle except the clarity is better. Bass is gone.

Now for the rear speakers: Infinity 9613i 6x9 3way $45 on ebay!

Sound level: No change from stock.

Sound quality: Much better clarity, mid is not muddy and highs are great.

Bass quality: Much better bass! It would be easy to add a speaker level amp to the rear for punch. No wiring from the hu too!

Installation: A royal pain. I mounted the first speaker from the top, but it did not clear the grill, but sounded great. I mounted the second from below, but you just can't mount it normal. The metal deck of the mazda rolls down, and the speaker spacer does not fit into this properly. So... I proceeded to dremmel the speaker spacer so it would clear the roll edge. Although then it fit snug, the rubber surround was too close to the metal and would hit during large bass passages. I devised spacers and foam cushioning to drop the speaker down, but the thin metal would not allow the screws to tighten sufficiently without stripping out, so I put screws from the top down with nuts retaining the speakers. When all was snug, I compared the sound of each side (top mount vs bottom mount) and surprised that the top mount sounded FAR better, all around. Because the grills would not fit, I moved both speakers to bottom mounts. After all this, I read on this forum of people grinding the inside of the factory grill to clear that stupid pertruding tweeter mount. What was infinity thinking anyway?

Rear speaker avaluation: Much Better sound, but there are lots of 6x9 speakers that sound good and WILL easily fit from above. Buy those instead.

So far, system sounds much better, more clarity, but overall slighly less bass.

Subwoofer: Sirius SIR-PS1. $106 crutchfield with shipping. Fits perfect in the trunk, and self contained, but underpowered. Adds some low bass to system, but still no punch.

Final recommendation: For the most bang for the buck, replace the front tweeters, replace the rear speakers (with ones that fit) and add an amp to drive the rears. This will be less then $200 and give you clarity and punch (but no thump).

Good Luck. I hope this helps.

DrDiaboloco

Wow, that was quite a writeup. Thanks for the input.

Are you suggesting that the bass response in the front is actually LESS than stock with the system upgraded as per your post?

As for ME... I'm going to skip on the stereo upgrades for the time being, for reasons I mentioned earlier. Moneys have been allocated for other things and I don't want to dump them into the stereo at this time, and if I did, I'd probably go for an outboard amp to power the speakers. Nothing crazy, mind you, prob. a 50wRMS 4-channel amp, and I doubt I'll ever go the sub route in a car that has a 5cuft trunk. I know that more power is more gooder and all that, but I spent several years with a system in a long-gone car of mine with a 22w amp and a 35w amp (both "real" wattage, not Jensen wattage), no sub, and never felt I was wanting for power. I don't want, and don't feel as though I need, 100w in each channel... Which is why I presumed that the HU would provide just enough power by itself to make me happy. Perhaps I need to reevaluate that stance and plan for an amp with my speaker purchase... Which pushes the purchase plan even further away, time-wise.

robertsteven

Yes, the bass in front is a LOT less, and in the low frequency range almost nonexistant.

Best bang for the buck is to go with new tweeters in the front, and an amp to drive new speakers in the back. This way you don't have to disassemble the dash and run wires from front to back to front for the door speakers. This could be done easliy for under 2 bills.

Good Luck!

dynamho

Are you sure you didn't wire them backwards causing a phase cancellation? If you wire one of the speakers differently, the sound pressure wave will cancel each other out resulting in zero bass.