Howdy folks! I have been reading some of the older threads regarding sound systems and I have a few questions. First some info:

I have a 00 Ram (I'm assuming Infinity speakers but I haven't removed any door panels yet to check) and of the four speakers, only the passenger door speaker works. This past week, the last speaker seemed to have died but I found out that it works only if the passenger window is rolled down all the way

So I am thinking its time for new speakers. The head unit is an aftermarket Panasonic which I will probably keep and I'll check the speaker brand today when I open her up but regardless of what brand, it's time for an upgrade. Some of my questions are:

Are 6x9 speakers plenty of sound or should I replace all 4 speakers for a better sound experience? Should I replace the existing wiring from the head unit to the speakers? If I should replace the existing wiring, is it fairly simple? I have read that there are existing amps in the door, if so, then do these amps affect what kind of speakers I buy? The speakers I am looking at say they are 270 watt, what does that mean exactly? If I want to install an amp, do I need to remove the door amps? Do I need a certain power of amp to power a certain power of speaker (do I add up the watts from all speakers and then get an amp that can handle it)?

I'm a total newbie when it comes to this stuff, so I am trying to gather info before I actually attempt this. I can afford the installation but I would rather learn and do it myself (yeah I'm one of those people). Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

First off, welcome to the forums Kuato!

I'm sort of the audio guru around here, or at least, one of them...

Your first question depends a lot on your musical tastes. What you need to watch out for is that your head unit (deck) is basically a four channel amp. This means that it will run four speakers. RF LF RR LR. With me so far? I ran just 6X9s in my truck for the better part of a year while running them just off of the head unit. What you need to do if you go this route is to make sure that you have the fade all the way up to the front so that only the front speakers that you replace will have signal. What happens is that if the deck sends power out to the rears and there is nothing there to accept the power, or dissiapte it, the signal and power will be sent back to the deck and it usually doesn't take long for the head unit's internal amp to blow.

Personally, I say that you need to look at replacing all four speakers along with that headunit. Panasonic isn't all that great of quality, and I know, you're on a budget. We all are for that matter. For the deck I would say look at Pioneer. They are about the stoutest decks on the market right now compared to brands like kenwood, sony and the like. In terms of speakers, look at Infinity Refrence series. They'll run you about $120 for two speakers, and when powered just by an amp, they tend to thump pretty good.

The 270 watt question: I'm assuming that that is a a rating of what the speaker's total Watt acceptance is. That's not really the number you need to worry about. What you need to be looking at is the RMS ratings. What this is is what the speaker needs constantly. Most door/wall speakers are a 4-100w RMS. Make sure your head unit can handle this.

The door amps are easy. They just sit atop the speaker. In my opinion, you really need to wire around the factory amps. I'm willing to bet that your reason for the speakers not working is those amps.

If you want to get into talking about external amps, that's great, but the whole dynamic changes.

 

Wow! Thanks for the fast response Laramie!

I think in the long run I will be better off replacing all four. Sound quality is important to me and I had been looking at some Pioneer brand speakers but now I will take a look at the Infinity brand as well. I'm not sure what the differences are between them but I'll do some more research.

I can afford to throw some money at this project but I really don't need a high performance system. I wasn't planning on replacing the deck but I will start looking around at replacements. I'd like something with a mp3 player port anyways.

So would your recommendation be to replace all four speakers and the deck, remove the door amps, rewire everything and install an amp to power it all?

Again, thanks for your help!

 

when choosing speakers, be aware of limitations in depth (3 inches to window frame) and height (? door panel bulge). i would rewire and get rid of the factory amps and crossovers and stuff. factory fronts are 6x9 but 6.5 round will fit. factory rear are 5.25 round, but 6.5 will fit.


i've got a lot of pictures here...

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/audio-v...-speakers.html

 

one of the biggest inprovements you can make is a aftermarket head unit.

 

You'll be fine with a new deck, and all four new speakers if you can swing it. If you can't, then I would be looking at a 4 channel amp. To be honest though, the Amp will cost just a few bucks less than a decent Pioneer deck will..

When you're looking at speakers, I have a few brands I'm going to tell you to stay away from. The reason behind it is that they, well, for lack of a better word, suck royally. Some people on here like them, but if you want nice sounds from your three ranges, then you really need to look at better ones. Below is a list of brands to stay away from and ones to look at in terms of speakers and decks, but separate listings:

Speaker brands to stay away from:
Kenwood
Kicker
JVC
Jensen
Pioneer
Dual
Any paper speaker
Clarion- That's a rebranded Pioneer for a hell of a lot more.

Speaker brands to look at:
Infinity Reference
Polk
Hertz
Alpine
JL- Higher end
Eclipse- If you can find them

Decks:

Brands to avoid:
Sony/Panasonic/Awaia
Dual
Kenwood

Brands to look at:
Pioneer
Eclipse

 

Alpine decks are also decent, but more tuned for complete systems (amps, subs, component speakers, etc.), where as the rest are usually tuned for more basic systems (built-in HU's amp + 4 speakers).

I nabbed the same Pioneer that Laramie has (by accident), and we both love them. The difference is I'm content with four Infinity Reference speakers and my Pioneer head unit, where as Laramie thinks he needs all this extra stuff, like six or eight amps, about twenty speakers, and three or four subwoofers.

 

Why would one shy away form Kenwood decks, I like the one I have in my truck, even if Best Buy royaly screwed up the install.

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entert...ver/KDC-MP345U

 

OK,

I really hate to do this knowing that you are the moderator and all, but really? Half of the things that you said to stay away from are actually great products.

Kenwood makes good speakers and amps along pseudo good head units on a budget. Kicker (Stillwater designs) is more on the upper end of car audio and has very respectable subs i.e.. L5's L7's CVX's, SoloBarics and some of the stoutest amps in the market.
Quote
*the signal and power will be sent back to the deck and it usually doesn't take long for the head unit's internal amp to blow.* Unquote

I've run radio's like that for years and have never come across that. How does that signal get back to the radio? There is nothing on the other end to push it back. I do believe it terminates, but that's just what I've been taught and experienced in all my years as an engineer.

I'm not trying to pick a fight or belittle you... Just don't push your opinions on others. There are a lot of great products out there and when you're setting up a small system like what he's doing, you don't need to direct him to the most expensive brands when the simplest brands will do just fine... i.e Kenwood, Pioneer (speakers), Apline (which is close to top notch in head units) and believe it or not, Jensen actually has very good in dash DVD players. I've had several of them and couldn't complain about any of them.

Anyway, go to www.sonicelectronix.com and go to town. Make sure to read the reviews on the products before you make your decision. Clearity is what you want.. The Kenwood 5 way 6 x 9's are a great choice if you just want to run them off of the head unit and if you want to put an amp on them later... it'll sound even better. For the rear, MB Quart 5 1/4 components can be bought for under $100 and a killer for sound quality. They will do well on the head unit's power.

 

Thanks for all of the opinions and input so far guys!

It's ok GC99RAM I know everyone has different opinions and preferences. Like I said before i don't really need top of the line gear but since I can afford it I might as well invest in something better than what I can find at Wal-Mart.

So, I've done a bit of looking and I am interested in these Infinity Kappa speakers:
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...ppa_6939i.aspx (6x9s)
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...appa_529i.aspx (5-1/4s)

Any inputs on these particular speakers quality wise? What kind of amp can i use for now to power the speakers, and have expansion capability for adding sub-woofers in the future? 800W? 1000W? If I wanted 2 10"s or a single 12" in the future should I just get a lower wattage amp for now and then get a second amp whenever I get the subs? Is this gear going to drain my car battery?

It's likely I will get a new deck (really want a usb port) but I keep reading over and over that speakers sound better with an amp, that's why I'm wanting one of those as well. I'm hoping to find a good deck for less than $200 and an amp for less than $300.