replacing oem speakers sugestions and help

[Jcube69]

well i finally got some extra money and bought a kenwood Kac-X4r for a sound amp
Kac-X4r specs
just to make it easier at first glance the amp is rated 75rms X 4 @ 4ohms and 100rms X 4 @ 2ohms
as far as my experience goes i have found the excelon brand is usually somewhat underated

anyways in the coming weeks i plan on upgrading my current HU to the pio 800prs and after that my factory speakers. both door and 6x9's and i have yet to look at any 6x9s

im worried about over powering any decent driver i get, for instance i took a look at the pioneer TS-C720PRS since they are rated 50rms im worried about blowing/damaging the speaker and well....if im paying that much for a speaker i dont really want to buy a new set of drivers for replacement. upgrades mabye..replacement not so much...

anyways to get to the point i was wondering what drivers would be good with this amp?i have heard good things about the 720prs but id like to see other options.( 6x9s as well as the other half of the aamp will be powering these)

my car is a 1996 pontiac bonneville..stock door speakers are 4.25" and the tweeter mounting pl8 reaches 2 inches
i dont mind making any modifications do the door panel or behind i have the tools to do so and if not can get them.

i have never changed factory speakers before this will be a first for me so i wouldnt mind any advice or tips that would help (taken with cell phone so not best quality)

if you need more /pics.info just ask
any tips on making spacer rings would be great too
here is a picture of my door if it helps


im affraid i wont be dampening my doors atm i cant afford it and i want to finish my trunk befor i dampen my cab.


edit: ok for those of you who asked i am in this mainly to learn by experience if i screw up i screw up i can fix it later etc....u learn from you mistakes

anyways...currently my system consists of:
2 dayton Mk III's subs in a vented box ported @25hz (built by me with help of cubdeno and MvM for the port specs)
a kenwood excelon x1200m

subs are run in parallel making a 2 ohm load the amps is rated 1200rms @ 2ohms (and its a bit underrated from what i can tell)

i have stock speakers running off my deck which is ~16rms the deck is a sony Xplod if you need the model number just ask and il lfind it (will be upgrading this to the pio 800 prs in a few weeks though)

for power wire i have 4 awg(not true though got jipped on the wire upgrading to ought gauge when my local audio shops get more in) running from battery to trunk (yes i installed it myself) and 4awg ground

and a newly aquired Die hard platinum battery

and on tuesday i will have the kenwood Kac-x4r (link with specs above)

[Jcube69]

any 1 want to shed some light?

[Krazed]

I think your biggest issue is the fact that you have 4.25" drivers for your mids. Are you positive these are the right size? According to Crutchfield, the 5.25 components would fit. Otherwise, I was going to suggest some Phoenix Gold RSD 5.25 Components. They are pretty decent sounding, cheap speakers. I have two sets and they sound great so far, !

[Jcube69]

Originally Posted by Krazed

I think your biggest issue is the fact that you have 4.25" drivers for your mids. Are you positive these are the right size? According to Crutchfield, the 5.25 components would fit. Otherwise, I was going to suggest some Phoenix Gold RSD 5.25 Components. They are pretty decent sounding, cheap speakers. I have two sets and they sound great so far, !

sry for late response was at work...

no im not sure i didnt remove moy door panels at all i actuly just messured the grill i ssumed it would be arounf the size of the woofer and it was about 4.25

like i said above i dont care what the woofer size is really i can modify my door panel but i would like tips/tricks on install as i ahve never replaced door speakers before....cant be that hard but even if it is ill live

im not worried about budget i want somthing GOOD like the 720prs ive seen quite a few ppl use them in there installs here im just worriesd about overpowering and blowing them...but i want a good quality speaker that will take the power..and maye have some umpf in the midbass range

im looking ~300 off ebay and the 720prs set is like 289

[60ampfuse]

Originally Posted by Jcube69

well i finally got some extra money and bought a kenwood Kac-X4r for a sound amp
Kac-X4r specs
just to make it easier at first glance the amp is rated 75rms X 4 @ 4ohms and 100rms X 4 @ 2ohms
as far as my experience goes i have found the excelon brand is usually somewhat underated

anyways in the coming weeks i plan on upgrading my current HU to the pio 800prs and after that my factory speakers.

im worried about over powering any decent driver i get, for instance i took a look at the pioneer TS-C720PRS since they are rated 50rms im worried about blowing/damaging the speaker and well....if im paying that much for a speaker i dont really want to buy a new set of drivers for replacement. upgrades mabye..replacement not so much...

anyways to get to the point i was wondering what drivers would be good with this amp?i have heard good things about the 720prs but id like to see other options.( 6x9s as well as the other half of the aamp will be powering these)

my car is a 1996 pontiac bonneville..stock door speakers are 4.25" and the tweeter mounting pl8 reaches 2 inches
i dont mind making any modifications do the door panel or behind i have the tools to do so and if not can get them.

i have never changed factory speakers before this will be a first for me so i wouldnt mind any advice or tips that would help (taken with cell phone so not best quality)

if you need more /pics.info just ask
any tips on making spacer rings would be great too
here is a picture of my door if it helps


im affraid i wont be dampening my doors atm i cant afford it and i want to finish my trunk befor i dampen my cab.

What kind of budget do you have? Do you already have the rear fill you wanted? What kind of music do you listen to? What do you want to accomplish (crisp highs, lots of midbass etc). Are you running a sub or do you plan to? I would save up a little more and get some sound deadening, it will save you some time to install it while your doing the speakers and will make a much better improvement. I know this is a diy site but some things are better left to a professional, you may want to reconsider installing these and the amp yourself unless you really really know what you are doing. I have seen allot of customer installs that have been really messed up/dangerous and sound horrible. Good luck!!

[Jcube69]

@60ampfuse

ok yes i see sorry for not providing information i do this alot here is what i have so far if you need anything else or think i may have left ou somthing just ask
budget isnt to big of an issue just give me a few brands and if there to much ill et you know...the 720prs are ~300 of ebay thats not bad somthing 350+ though may start to get kind of high...now this is just for tweets and doors obviously i dont mean 350 is max for both oors and 6x9s..just dont go insanly big either

not truly sure what im trying to acomplish...stronger mid base would be nice but at the same time i like to hear the higher end too..exept curently in my car music like avenged seven fold with all the ....s's hurt my ears there like painfully screechy at loud volumes....

i may plan on active 3 way front later on but that is way far in the future


updated first post

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
anyways...currentyl my system consists of:
2 dayton Mk III's subs in a vented box ported @25hz (built by me with help of cubdeno and MvM for the port specs)
a kenwood excelon x1200m

subs are run in parallel making a 2 ohm load the amps is rated 1200rms @ 2ohms (and its a bit underrated from what i can tell)

i have stock speakers running off my deck which is ~16rms the deck is a sony Xplod if you need the model number just ask and il lfind it (will be upgrading this to the pio 800 prs in a few weeks though)

for power wire i have 4 awg(not true though got jipped on the wire upgrading to ought gauge when my local audio shops get more in) running from battery to trunk (yes i installed it myself) and 4awg ground

and a newly aquired Die hard platinum battery

and on tuesday i will have the kenwood Kac-x4r (link with specs above)

[Jcube69]

music i lsiten to is in my sig.....

as for dampener i am going to do this all at once i wil lgo down to my grandfathers shop and me and my brother will rip this old girl apart and give her soem new skin =p

in not ready yet but if you have the time to answer a few of these questions it would be great...

first and foremost..about how much mat will it take to cover a whole car....floors, roof, trunk, door panels, and fire wall

ive estimated at a roughly 80 sq ft....damplifier pro is like 280 for that amount....

however raamat i can get ~120 sq feet for ~200....i understan damplifier pro destroys RAAMat ....but does it still beat RAAMmat with the extra layers i get from excess mat left over....i could save 80 bucks and i havnent looked into deadenegin yet but iwill be doing it...however i will be replasing my speakers first as my grand father lives ~100 miles away..with college and work its hard to get time off

[Jcube69]

tips/tricks/ and brand names any 1?

[michaelsil1]

I would say try the PRS set you're thinking of and keep the Amplifier gains fairly low.

[Jcube69]

Originally Posted by michaelsil1

I would say try the PRS set you're thinking of and keep the Amplifier gains fairly low.

thank you for replying, yes i will try them mabye ill even start a build log at this point but i am unsure...

now to find some component 6x9s...if thats even possible

[michaelsil1]

Originally Posted by Jcube69

thank you for replying, yes i will try them mabye ill even start a build log at this point but i am unsure...

now to find some component 6x9s...if thats even possible

Don't worry about the rears just focus on getting the fronts to sound as good as you can.

[Jcube69]

Originally Posted by michaelsil1

Don't worry about the rears just focus on getting the fronts to sound as good as you can.

hmm well i supose i might here the subs better if i took out my rear 6x9s......

i just "think" it would feel as if somthing was missing.......

i can always just get the components and fool around with it and see if i like no rear fill...

assuming i decide to eventually get 6 x 9s any sugestions on how to seperate them from my subs? since there both in the trunk i know the subs will cause major distortion to the 6x9 cones

[asv008]

Originally Posted by michaelsil1

I would say try the PRS set you're thinking of and keep the Amplifier gains fairly low.

I agree with this totally. Best option.

[ogg]

Originally Posted by Jcube69

hmm well i supose i might here the subs better if i took out my rear 6x9s......

i just "think" it would feel as if somthing was missing.......

i can always just get the components and fool around with it and see if i like no rear fill...

assuming i decide to eventually get 6 x 9s any sugestions on how to seperate them from my subs? since there both in the trunk i know the subs will cause major distortion to the 6x9 cones

I thought I'd miss my rears, and I did, for about a day. Now I can't stand the way rears sound in most cars.
If you want to use them, you could build some sort of enclosure for them under the rear deck to keep them separated from the subs but it's probably not worth the effort.

[Jcube69]

should i run the tweets that come with the prs set on the other half of my amp then? then i could ditch the passive x-over that comes with them.....although im assuming my gains on the tweets, for a 100rms channel anyways, would have to be almost non-existent


assuming you all agree to do that ^ what should i set the x-overs at?


edit: incase i decide to fool aroudn a lil would these work at all seperating them from my subs? XTC 6"x9" Foam Baffle Pair

[ogg]

You need more space and rigidity than those foam baffles provide.

[Austin]

A note on you worrying about blowing your speakers: As long as you don't turn your gain to max and turn the volume knob all the way up you will not blow them up. I'm running the PPI 355cs set and its only rated 50 rms per side which is 25 per speaker...I am currently bi-amping them (which is similiar to active but you still use the passive crossover) and i have 150 rms available to each driver...

Now tell me this, Do you think i will blow my speakers? Nope not a chance unless one of my friends cranks the volume knob past ~30 out of 35 then that would hurt them a bit. But the point is as long as you set your gains apropriatly then you will be fine.

Right now i have my gains at a little less than half right now and it gets loud off that. So dont worry about getting a too powerful amp. That is what you want so you dont have to turn the gain up too much and in turn get a distorted signal.

[Jcube69]

Originally Posted by ogg

You need more space and rigidity than those foam baffles provide.

yeah reading some of the deadening threads i learned abit about them i would have ot use them as like a mold and fiberglass or bondo the outside...but ill try the 6 x9s later i guess i will just try working on the front stage

Originally Posted by Austin

A note on you worrying about blowing your speakers: As long as you don't turn your gain to max and turn the volume knob all the way up you will not blow them up. I'm running the PPI 355cs set and its only rated 50 rms per side which is 25 per speaker...I am currently bi-amping them (which is similiar to active but you still use the passive crossover) and i have 150 rms available to each driver...

Now tell me this, Do you think i will blow my speakers? Nope not a chance unless one of my friends cranks the volume knob past ~30 out of 35 then that would hurt them a bit. But the point is as long as you set your gains apropriatly then you will be fine.

Right now i have my gains at a little less than half right now and it gets loud off that. So dont worry about getting a too powerful amp. That is what you want so you dont have to turn the gain up too much and in turn get a distorted signal.

well thats good problem is i already bought the Kenwood Kac-X4r mainly because it has a built in pEQ so i have the power ill just amke sure to watch my gains blowing a set of ~300 components would put some tears in my eyes

im very new to car audio so i am un sure what you ment by bi-amping .....i assume you ment your running the component set (woofer and tweet) activly off your amp but with the passive in line so you can set x-overs for your tweet?