Dash speakers

[Tsprehe87]

I have Alpine 6x9s for the front and rear doors, I went to find a 3 1/2" Alpine speaker and the only thing I can find are these

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_35_Alpine-SPS-080A.html?id=35&afg[year]=2018&afg[make]=Ram&afg[model]=1500&afg[body]=&afg[trim]=&afg[audio]=&afg[product_model]=

I'm guessing 3 1/2" are not very common? Do you guys think these would fit? Any recommendations on a different setup? I don't want to bore it out to 4" thank you

Also should mention, I'm a noob with car audio.

 

[WilliamS]

There are tons of choices, no matter what you pick though prepare to have awkward sound and lack of bass. The front doors and dash are parallel, once you change the inpedance balance it gets all wonky. If it were me Id upgrade the 6x9s only unless you plan on amping the speakers.

If you want decent sound without a ton of hassle, ditch the 3.5's and in the doors put a 6x9 or 6.5 component setup with a crossover and tweeter.

 

[PowrRam]

I have Alpine 6x9s for the front and rear doors, I went to find a 3 1/2" Alpine speaker and the only thing I can find are these

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_35_Alpine-SPS-080A.html?id=35&afg[year]=2018&afg[make]=Ram&afg[model]=1500&afg[body]=&afg[trim]=&afg[audio]=&afg[product_model]=

I'm guessing 3 1/2" are not very common? Do you guys think these would fit? Any recommendations on a different setup? I don't want to bore it out to 4" thank you

Also should mention, I'm a noob with car audio.

Do you have the factory Alpine 9 speaker system with subwoofer? Or do you have the stock 6 speaker system and you replaced the stock 6X9's speakers with Alpines?

 

[Tsprehe87]

Thanks for the reply, I have the non Alpine, 6 speaker setup

 

[PowrRam]

So you bought the Alpine 6X9's but haven't installed them yet? Is that correct? I ask because just about any 6X9 will for into the rear doors, bit only certain 6X9's with a depth of 2 3/4" or less will fit in the front doors. That's why a lot of people put 6 1/2" speakers in the front. You will need Metra wiring harness adapters.

I bought 3 1/2" Polk speakers for the dash in my 2015 Ram 1500 and now they are in my new 2018 1500. Dropped right in there. I would think any 3 1/2" speaker would fit in the dash, assuming they are not too tall. You will need a Metra wiring harness adapter.

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[PowrRam]

There are tons of choices, no matter what you pick though prepare to have awkward sound and lack of bass. The front doors and dash are parallel, once you change the inpedance balance it gets all wonky. If it were me Id upgrade the 6x9s only unless you plan on amping the speakers.

If you want decent sound without a ton of hassle, ditch the 3.5's and in the doors put a 6x9 or 6.5 component setup with a crossover and tweeter.

I disagree with most of this.

What does "get all wonky" mean when changing the speakers and the impedance balance is changed?

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[WilliamS]

I disagree with most of this.

What does "get all wonky" mean when changing the speakers and the impedance balance is changed?

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That the beauty of the internet is you can disagree with anything you want!

Real simple if you replace say the door and dash speakers both with 4 ohm speakers you get 2 speakers taking the same amount of power, as they are parallel. We all know a 3.5 cant take as much power or handle as much bass as a 6x9. So you might get better sound but because you cant give them the same power you lose the bass the 6x9 should be supplying. Then some say add a resistor and capacitor the 3.5 to keep the bass out, sure you can do that but you still cant power the 6x9 because that 3.5 although not seeing bass is still being overpowered or the volume is pushed into clipping. So what happens in this scenario, uncontrollable mid range! Hooray for terrible sound after you spent money to make it sound better?

The stock speakers have different ohm loads to compensate for all that insanity to try and make it sound nice. At the end of the day, the best way is to amp them individually or do away with the dash and do a comp set, just like I mentioned above. What do I know, been in basic car audio 15 years, and sound engineer for 10 years for large venues and small concerts as my hobby. Hey were all here to learn.

 

[PowrRam]

That the beauty of the internet is you can disagree with anything you want!

Sure, if opinions are being offered up. When discussing facts and there is a disagreement, someone is correct and someone is incorrect.

Real simple if you replace say the door and dash speakers both with 4 ohm speakers you get 2 speakers taking the same amount of power, as they are parallel.

No, each speaker has separate wires running from the head unit.

We all know a 3.5 cant take as much power or handle as much bass as a 6x9.

When speaking of stock speakers...

So you might get better sound but because you cant give them the same power you lose the bass the 6x9 should be supplying.

Where does this lost bass "go"?

Then some say add a resistor and capacitor the 3.5 to keep the bass out, sure you can do that but you still cant power the 6x9 because that 3.5 although not seeing bass is still being overpowered or the volume is pushed into clipping.

Each speaker has a separate wire running to it from the head unit. In the stock 6 speaker set up there isn't any bass being hogged by the dash speakers or otherwise being denied the 6X9's. The speakers reproduce the frequencies they were designed to reproduce.

(The 9 speaker Alpine system does some frequency equalization to certain speakers. This is why I asked the OP what system was in his truck.)

So what happens in this scenario, uncontrollable mid range! Hooray for terrible sound after you spent money to make it sound better?

If you say so.

The stock speakers have different ohm loads to compensate for all that insanity to try and make it sound nice.

That would be news to a lot of people. Having just replaced my front door speakers and dash speakers recently I can tell you they were all 4 ohm speakers. [Edited: I went and looked at my dash speakers from the stock 6 speaker system and they are 8 ohms. My mistake.]

At the end of the day, the best way is to amp them individually or do away with the dash and do a comp set, just like I mentioned above. What do I know, been in basic car audio 15 years, and sound engineer for 10 years for large venues and small concerts as my hobby. Hey were all here to learn.

Uh-huh.



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[WilliamS]

Sure, if opinions are being offered up. When discussing facts and there is a disagreement, someone is correct and someone is incorrect.



No, each speaker has separate wires running from the head unit.

in the stock 6 speaker they are both attached to the same terminal, good job doing some homework on that one.



When speaking of stock speakers...



Where does this lost bass "go"? Its not longer present due to the limitations of the 3.5 that is parallel to the 6x9. You cant feed one more power than the other so the volume will get higher because of the 3.5 but the 6x9 is not getting the power to do its job.



Each speaker has a separate wire running to it from the head unit. In the stock 6 speaker set up there isn't any bass being hogged by the dash speakers or otherwise being denied the 6X9's. The speakers reproduce the frequencies they were designed to reproduce.

(The 9 speaker Alpine system does some frequency equalization to certain speakers. This is why I asked the OP what system was in his truck.)

we are not talking about the alpine system here we are talking about the base 6 speaker



If you say so.



That would be news to a lot of people. Having just replaced my front door speakers and dash speakers recently I can tell you they were all 4 ohm speakers. If you buy the alpine kit from Ram they are balanced properly. And yet you can do this but you will have a loss of bass without an amp or something to attenuate one over the other. There are countless threads on the 6 speaker systems changing the speakers and sounding worse. Heres one on how to help the issue
https://www.ramforum.com/threads/10w-4ohm-resistor-mod-for-kicker-cs-3-5-in-dash.115737/



Uh-huh.



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[RedFalcon]

That thread was solely about changing out the 3.5" dash speakers. No connection to the door 6x9.

I did do a swap of all the speakers in my old Laramie with the Alpine system and yes it did get much brighter and I was disappointed with the sound at first. Then I messed with the EQ and brought the sound stage more towards the rear and didn't have an issue anymore.

Currently I amped 6.5 components and in the front and amped 6x9 in the rear with upgraded 3.5" dash speakers and a powered sub. I'm completely content with where it's at after I messed with my settings and am not disappointed that I upgraded my dash speakers

 

[PowrRam]

There are countless threads on the 6 speaker systems changing the speakers and sounding worse. Heres one on how to help the issue

In that thread where the OP said he had 8 ohm dash speakers and replaced them with 4 ohm speakers, what model and year is that truck?

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[Graygoose]

That the beauty of the internet is you can disagree with anything you want!

Real simple if you replace say the door and dash speakers both with 4 ohm speakers you get 2 speakers taking the same amount of power, as they are parallel. We all know a 3.5 cant take as much power or handle as much bass as a 6x9. So you might get better sound but because you cant give them the same power you lose the bass the 6x9 should be supplying. Then some say add a resistor and capacitor the 3.5 to keep the bass out, sure you can do that but you still cant power the 6x9 because that 3.5 although not seeing bass is still being overpowered or the volume is pushed into clipping. So what happens in this scenario, uncontrollable mid range! Hooray for terrible sound after you spent money to make it sound better?

The stock speakers have different ohm loads to compensate for all that insanity to try and make it sound nice. At the end of the day, the best way is to amp them individually or do away with the dash and do a comp set, just like I mentioned above. What do I know, been in basic car audio 15 years, and sound engineer for 10 years for large venues and small concerts as my hobby. Hey were all here to learn.

Amen.

 

[78Staff]

Just replaced the stockers the other day - my oem dash speakers were 8ohm (base 6 speaker setup), replaced with 4ohm Kicker KS and they are certainly brighter. As already mentioned you can adjust fader to the rear to knock off some of it, or stick with the stock dash speakers, or try one of the very few available 8ohm replacements available.

 

[78Staff]

Just replaced the stockers the other day - my oem dash speakers were 8ohm (base 6 speaker setup), replaced with 4ohm Kicker KS and they are certainly brighter. As already mentioned you can adjust fader to the rear to knock off some of it, or stick with the stock dash speakers, or try one of the very few available 8ohm replacements available.

Actually, because I am a bit of a tinker'er - sometimes to my detriment , after posting above I decided to swap the oem dash 8ohm speakers back in for a test real quick. To me, even though a lesser quality speaker, the overall balance with the 8 ohm dash stockers is better than with the 4 ohm KS 3.5's.- you can actually hear the front door 6x9's, instead of them being mostly washed out, and you don't have to fade to the rear like you do with 4 ohm dash speakers. I'm going to run it like this for a few days and see how I like it, I don't run a lot of volume but do like it to sound good. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of selection of quality 8 ohm 3.5's that I have found.

As I posted in another thread I replaced both front and rear door speakers with Pioneer A series 6966R's - not the shallow mount G series. Overall it's an upgrade of course, but since keeping the 8.4 HU there's only so much that can be done.

 

[autokraftgt]

If I was to replace the dash speakers and utilizing factory HU power, I'd probably try to find a speaker that fit, was 8ohm, cheap, and had a tone I liked. You never want speakers to become localized, or "stand out" in a system...essentially making the other 4 door speakers purely producing ambiance and falling into the background. I'd also try to avoid adding fade to the front speakers to help balance the system. The problem with most systems (Alpine or NON) is lack of control

 

[78Staff]

I agree with the above, I did some driving today and the balance with the 8 ohm speakers back in the dash is so much nicer. The sound fills the cab vs having a soundstage up on the dash. Not a fault of the Kicker KS 3.5's, it's just what it is with this RAM OEM setup.

I did run across these 8 ohm 3.5's, decent reviews on Amazon and Youtube, so I might order a pair to try... They seem to be geared more toward building a sound bar than auto application though, not sure if that makes a difference or if mounting holes would line up...

https://www.parts-express.com/tecto...nge-speaker-8-ohm--297-2156#lblProductDetails

also...

https://www.parts-express.com/dayto...e-full-range-driver-8-ohm--295-349#lblReviews


There's also this "GM" replacement speaker, although I suspect it would be on par with our current Base Stereo 3.5 speakers...

https://www.amazon.com/REPLACEMENT-FULL-RANGE-SPEAKER-WATTS/dp/B00HC0R20C/ref=sr_1_cc_4?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1534656802&sr=1-4-catcorr&keywords=8+ohm+3.5"+speaker#customerReviews


There's just not a lot of 8 ohm 3.5's out there. You can always added in a resistor to a 4 ohm, but then you have to worry about heat.

I'm pretty happy so far with the OEM setup with Pioneer A series 6x9's - the only thing really bugging me at this point is a pretty noticeable panel rattle or similar in the drivers rear door. Oddly, only that door. I have some sound mat so will probably pull the panel and try to deaden it somehow.

 

[TomT]

Here’s an interesting midrange that I just found.
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...covery-d7608/9200-10-3-dome-midrange-d75mx41/

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

For the price and sound, you simply cannot beat the infinity 300M midrange dash speakers. $150/pair. (I suggest running them amplified that way you have no 4 ohm/8 ohm issues).

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

For the price and sound, you simply cannot beat the infinity 300M midrange dash speakers. $150/pair. (I suggest running them amplified that way you have no 4 ohm/8 ohm issues).

 

[88ROOK]

Actually, because I am a bit of a tinker'er - sometimes to my detriment , after posting above I decided to swap the oem dash 8ohm speakers back in for a test real quick. To me, even though a lesser quality speaker, the overall balance with the 8 ohm dash stockers is better than with the 4 ohm KS 3.5's.- you can actually hear the front door 6x9's, instead of them being mostly washed out, and you don't have to fade to the rear like you do with 4 ohm dash speakers. I'm going to run it like this for a few days and see how I like it, I don't run a lot of volume but do like it to sound good. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of selection of quality 8 ohm 3.5's that I have found.

As I posted in another thread I replaced both front and rear door speakers with Pioneer A series 6966R's - not the shallow mount G series. Overall it's an upgrade of course, but since keeping the 8.4 HU there's only so much that can be done.

theres actually a ton that you can do with the stock head unit. installing a fosgate dsr1 will give you so much control over the setting of the speakers. you tell me what an aftermarket HU can do that the stock unit and processor cant, and im not talking apps and such just speaker settings