My Review/Thoughts on Kicker CS Speaker Upgrade

[JinxCanada]

I'm sure many of you have seen my recent posts asking tons of questions about speakers and subs...and I appreciate all the help and information.

I thought I'd give you all my initial impressions and feelings on the upgrades I've done so far. I installed Kicker CS 3.5" in dash, 6.5" 2 way in the doors, and 6x9 3 way in the rear doors. I was replacing the basic stock speakers (non alpine) in my 2010 Ram Sport and I have to say WOW!!!

The stock speakers were unbelievably cheap crappy junk to put it mildly. I have heard the Alpine systems and they are much much better, however, for the price the dealers charge I'm not sure I'd go that way rather than just doing aftermarket but that's just me.

so...here goes!!!

The biggest difference I noticed right away was the 3.5" 2 way speakers in the dash. To be honest I wasn't even aware I had speakers in the dash prior to this (I thought they were just vents lol) because I'd NEVER heard them before. Well...I put in the Kicker 43CSC354 and holy hell they were in your face and alive! I will say I had to turn the treble and midrange down to about 4 on the stock MyGig deck as they were way too bright...but at this level they sound great, clean, crisp, detailed and the highs are amazing and alive!

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206CSC354/Kicker-43CSC354.html



Now on to the front doors. I really thought I'd be able to fit 6x9 in the front doors....I mean why not they fit in the back right? Well there is a steel bar in the front door that prohibits a plug and play 6x9 solution. That being said I'm sure with a small shim you could probably fit them. That being said, I went with the 6.5" 2 way Kicker 43CSC654 as suggested by Crutchfield and I am very pleased. Using the provided 6x9 plate adapter it was an easy installation and they sound great!

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206CSC654/Kicker-43CSC654.html


In the rear doors I replaced the stock 6x9 with Kicker 43CSC6934 and adjusted a bit more of the sound to the rear of the truck take a bit of the load off the 6.5" and round out the sound. Well these speakers give a lot more bass than I would have expected and sound amazing. I do plan to add my 2 subs to the truck...but that will come later/soon.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206CSC6934/Kicker-43CSC6934.html




In summary I expected better sound but quite honestly I really didnt' expect the level of clarity, life, detail, and truck filling sound experience I'm having now compared to the stock speakers. I am still using the stock MyGig 20gig hdd head unit and it powers these speakers easily. The best part was the included free plug adapters from Crutchfield. This made the installation so easy as I never had to cut a single wire. It was truly plug and play!!!

If you have a base stereo in your truck, you OWE it to yourself to spend the $156.00 USD I did and replace all 6 speakers. You will not believe what you've been missing. I honestly can not say enough good things about the quality of these Kicker speakers, the service I received from Crutchfield, and the satisfaction I now have with a stereo that sounds IMHO better than my buddy's Ram 2500 Limited with the Alpine system in it (minus the bass which is coming very soon) for so much less money!

I guess that's it for now...i'll report back once I get my dual 10" subs installed and running...but I expect to have a perma-grin on my face even more than I do now. Thanks for reading!!!

 

[gigabyte3]

I did the same upgrade, but put shims in the front door speakers to make the 6x9's fit right. Definitely a must do upgrade.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[jshillin]

You don't think they are too bright? I just put 3 1/2's in by dash and 6x9's in my doors with pretty much the same specs and even after turning down the treble, I still think they overpower the door speakers.

 

[DavidN]

Nice write-up!
How’s the door-panel rattling on your set up?
I had a major problem after upgrading my 4 door speakers with JBL GTO 6x9’s.
Had to sound-deaden the hell out of the plastic door panels.
Still get some annoying rattling at some bass frequencies, so I basically can’t use the full potential of my upgraded speakers.

 

[JinxCanada]

the door rattle isn't too bad. I have a bit in the back driver's side that I will address soon...but I had that even before the speaker swap.

as for the highs being too bright on the dash...ya the 3.5" Kicker speakers up front are VERY bright...but I've found turning down the treble has helped a lot. I like the detail of them. Cymbals actually sound like they should, highs are crisp and clean, and snare drums sound right too!

I've been in home audio for a very long time, and many people when they first hear truly detailed highs find them bright and hard to take. it' takes a little getting used to. basically your ears have become accustomed to flat lifeless sound...and when you first start listening to correctly tuned mids and highs with life and detail it will take a little time to adjust.

stick with it and I think you'll agree it's much cleaner and better sounding.

a stand alone EQ would obviously help immensely however I'm not sure that's possible. I attribute a lot of the poor audio quality to the stock head unit. sadly, it has so many features that aren't available in aftermarket I'm not ready to change just yet...but believe me I am considering it seriously.

 

[JinxCanada]

as I said in my review...until I popped off the vent covers I never even knew I had speakers in the dash. That's how underpowered and useless the stock 3.5" are. You could maybe change them out to a more toned down 3.5 instead of the Kicker, or even just put a 3.5" mid bass driver in instead of a 2 way with a tweeter.

the other issue with the door speakers is how low they are in the door itself. The speakers really should be angled upwards rather than straight at that position so they would be easier to hear. This was a poor design by Dodge. I think if you put in component speakers and had the tweeters higher on the doors you would really notice them too over the mids/bass. It's more about the position of the speaker in the truck rather than the speaker itself.

 

[JinxCanada]

I just listened to my buddies 2013 Ram Laramie with the Alpine system in it...and I have to tell you guys.... These Kicker speakers DESTROY his system.

 

[trp3383]

The stock speakers in my 2017 sport must have been alot better than your stocks. Because i just swapped the dash and front doors with the same exact setup as your and my front doors lost alot of bass. Will probably keep the new dash speaker but put the stock doors back in.

 

[adrianp89]

I just listened to my buddies 2013 Ram Laramie with the Alpine system in it...and I have to tell you guys.... These Kicker speakers DESTROY his system.

I would have to say to each their own. I've installed countless Kicker CS speakers, and as professional I would not swap them for the Alpine. If you like bright highs, they would suit you well. Even the KS speakers with an amplifier, are about on par with the factory Alpine IMO.

 

[JinxCanada]

The stock speakers in my 2017 sport must have been alot better than your stocks. Because i just swapped the dash and front doors with the same exact setup as your and my front doors lost alot of bass. Will probably keep the new dash speaker but put the stock doors back in.

that might be true. All I can tell you is my stock speakers absolutely sucked balls. I'm very happy with my upgrade and it was definitely worth every penny of the $156.00

 

[JinxCanada]

I would have to say to each their own. I've installed countless Kicker CS speakers, and as professional I would not swap them for the Alpine. If you like bright highs, they would suit you well. Even the KS speakers with an amplifier, are about on par with the factory Alpine IMO.

do you have any pictures of the stock Alpine speakers out of the vehicle? I'd be curious to see them...and the difference between those and the kickers (as well as what my stock speakers looked like)

 

[JinxCanada]

I believe this is a "premium alpine speaker" compared to a Rockford Fosgate speaker I found on another forum....the difference to me looks obvious, and the Alpine speakers don't look much better made than the crap I took out of my truck

 

[DavidN]

The stock speakers in my 2017 sport must have been alot better than your stocks. Because i just swapped the dash and front doors with the same exact setup as your and my front doors lost alot of bass. Will probably keep the new dash speaker but put the stock doors back in.

Sure you wired them up properly?
I screwed up on my rear door speakers (reverse wired them due to using a wrong wiring schematic) and the two rear speakers eliminated almost all the bass in the truck.
After using a polarity tester for speakers I swapped the wires on the rears and all was good.

*edit*
Used this little device with success:
https://www.amazon.com/System-Speaker-Polarity-Tester-Phasemeter/dp/B01N75I030

 

[adrianp89]

I believe this is a "premium alpine speaker" compared to a Rockford Fosgate speaker I found on another forum....the difference to me looks obvious, and the Alpine speakers don't look much better made than the crap I took out of my truck

Looks of a speaker are completely meaningless. The most powerful mid-bass drivers I ever used had a paper cone and a smaller magnet than that stock above.

 

[trp3383]

Sure you wired them up properly?
I screwed up on my rear door speakers (reverse wired them due to using a wrong wiring schematic) and the two rear speakers eliminated almost all the bass in the truck.
After using a polarity tester for speakers I swapped the wires on the rears and all was good.

*edit*
Used this little device with success:
https://www.amazon.com/System-Speaker-Polarity-Tester-Phasemeter/dp/B01N75I030

Yea, used the factory wiring and adapter crutchfield sent me. Should of went with the moped kit that had the 6x9

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[magician]

OP- did you install an amp in your system or are you running off the HU? I stuck with the Kicker 693's in all four doors and the Kicker CS 3.5's and an Alpine PDR-F50. With this setup the dash speakers are way to bright and since the signal from the HU is full sound there's bass in them that really doesn't need to be there. My 3.5's are not hooked up right now and I'm trying to decide whether to run them off the HU or separate wire them off the amp and use the crossovers. I may end up trying both to see which I like the most.

 

[JinxCanada]

OP- did you install an amp in your system or are you running off the HU? I stuck with the Kicker 693's in all four doors and the Kicker CS 3.5's and an Alpine PDR-F50. With this setup the dash speakers are way to bright and since the signal from the HU is full sound there's bass in them that really doesn't need to be there. My 3.5's are not hooked up right now and I'm trying to decide whether to run them off the HU or separate wire them off the amp and use the crossovers. I may end up trying both to see which I like the most.

I just swapped the stock 3.5" out for the new ones...so they are running off the head unit. they are bright no doubt...but turning down the settings and moving to back speakers a bit helped a lot.

 

[magician]

I just swapped the stock 3.5" out for the new ones...so they are running off the head unit. they are bright no doubt...but turning down the settings and moving to back speakers a bit helped a lot.

I just wired the front speakers today to run off the head unit and left the amp running the door speakers. So far I like it but I need to tune on it some and run it awhile to be sure. There aren't to many other choices with this setup and changing it might have me sleeping with dog.

 

[autokraftgt]

The stock speakers in my 2017 sport must have been alot better than your stocks. Because i just swapped the dash and front doors with the same exact setup as your and my front doors lost alot of bass. Will probably keep the new dash speaker but put the stock doors back in.

That's because you went from a 6x9 to a 6.5" speaker. The 6x9 has a lot more surface area. A 6.5" has no business playing bass frequencies and will fail while trying.
If you want bass, you're correct....put the 6x9's back in

 

[JinxCanada]

That's because you went from a 6x9 to a 6.5" speaker. The 6x9 has a lot more surface area. A 6.5" has no business playing bass frequencies and will fail while trying.
If you want bass, you're correct....put the 6x9's back in

or add subs like I'm doing