Newbie with a question about speakers and subs

[drummer412]

Hey guys! New to the forum, so your advice would be appreciated. I want to replace my dash, front, and rear speakers. I also am planning on putting in 2 10" or 12" Alpine Type R subs.
1. Do the door and dash speakers need to be the same brand as the subs? I want the door and dash speakers to be the same, but I wasn't sure about keeping the subs consistent as well.
2. Since I will have the two subs, will I hear a difference if I go with 6x9s in the front and rear doors? Would it be better just to stick with 5 1/4s?
3. I am planning on purchasing the sub box from Fox Acoustics for my '13 1500 quad cab. Will 12" subs be too much for the space? I love bass, but I don't want to hear more rattle than bass.
4. I was thinking Infiniti speakers for the dash and doors. Thoughts?

Sorry for the obscene amount of questions. Thanks for your help!

 

[White Beauty]

1) No, you can mix and match as much as you like, I personally stick to 1 brand (Kenwood) other then my subs are kickers.
2) I put 6x9 in the rear doors and a set of 6.5 components up front.
3) All that matters here is that the air space in the box matches that required by the subs. 10's or 12's dont matter which. however to me 10's are a cleaner bass where 12's can get deeper, all depends on brand again.
4) Infinity makes nice stuff, but shop around, listen to different brands and decide for yourself, everyone has different opinions as to which speakers sound better as we all hear things differently.

 

[drummer412]

What type of store should I look at as far as installation and listening to speakers? Is Best Buy worth my time or should I look elsewhere? The above information was extremely helpful!

 

[White Beauty]

are you a handy person at all? doors come apart really easy, theres a a full thread on here that is step by step. you should be able to put those in youself.

Amp and wiring maybe leave to the pros if youve never done it before, myslef however back in 2004 google and youtube got mine installed! and now I do it for cash. couple installs a month any make and model. My 2005 ION had 4-12's in the trunk, and speaker wall when the back seats folded down and a custom center peice where the deck is with 2 volt guages to monitor the 2 batteries i had running the 3 amps (2 mono block 1800watt amps and a 1000 watt speaker amp)

 

[drummer412]

I'm handy to an extent. I'm not sure I trust myself, though. I did some makeshift wiring back in college, but it was far from professional quality. I figure if I have everything done professionally, I will feel better knowing it was done right. Peace of mind is worth the extra money to me.

 

[autokraftgt]

Hey guys! New to the forum, so your advice would be appreciated. I want to replace my dash, front, and rear speakers. I also am planning on putting in 2 10" or 12" Alpine Type R subs.
1. Do the door and dash speakers need to be the same brand as the subs? I want the door and dash speakers to be the same, but I wasn't sure about keeping the subs consistent as well.
2. Since I will have the two subs, will I hear a difference if I go with 6x9s in the front and rear doors? Would it be better just to stick with 5 1/4s?
3. I am planning on purchasing the sub box from Fox Acoustics for my '13 1500 quad cab. Will 12" subs be too much for the space? I love bass, but I don't want to hear more rattle than bass.
4. I was thinking Infiniti speakers for the dash and doors. Thoughts?

Sorry for the obscene amount of questions. Thanks for your help!

like mentioned above, subs do not have to match front speakers.
You will hear the difference between 6x9's at all four doors versus others.
I would only do 6x9's X 4 doors if you were NOT running subwoofers. Since you will be running sub(s), get a quality 6.5" component set for the front doors, and run 6x9's in the rear doors....I would not replace the rear 6x9's because I think it is a waste of money, and rear fill is supposed to be kinda transparent...meaning you should not really hear them from the driver's seat....if you do hear them ANNOYING!!!! and it takes away from your front stage...so save the money and run the stockers. I would not run 5 1/4's when you can easily fit 6.5's or larger.

For subs, I would run two 10's, or a single 12"...if the sub levels are too much, turn them down to your liking or start the never ending application of sound deadener to eliminate resonances.

Infinity is very popular and a great value. But they are too bright for me and hurt my ears. I would choose Polk (same price point) over Infinity all day...they tend to sound a bit warmer to me IMO. But there are many speaker manufacturers out there that will completely blow away Polk or Infinity but they will be more expensive so it depends on how much you are willing to spend.
Peace of mind is priceless, so if a stereo shop can offer you peace of mind for a price...go that route
Again, my opinion.....Best Buy is not worth my time

 

[drummer412]

All of the above points makes sense to me and I will definitely take your advice about running 6.5s in the front. What are the brands that blow away Polk and Infiniti? I have a 12" Polk sub with my home theater setup and I love it. Even if the other brands are pricey, it doesn't hurt to compare prices and specs. Thanks.

 

[Nubster]

JBL makes some really good stuff. Maybe look at some stuff from CDT.

 

[drummer412]

What are your thoughts on Kicker?

 

[Nubster]

What's your budget?

 

[drummer412]

With installation and everything, need to keep it under $2500.

 

[BlkRamRt]

i used to work at best buy and they do have speakers you cant test. but IMO dont let them touch your car. i got screwed while i was an employee now imagine if i was a regular customer.

 

[drummer412]

Good to know. Are there any other national brand stores to look at or do I just need to go to local car audio shops?

 

[BlkRamRt]

go to a local audio shop because they will most likely have a bigger better selection.

 

[autokraftgt]

All of the above points makes sense to me and I will definitely take your advice about running 6.5s in the front. What are the brands that blow away Polk and Infiniti? I have a 12" Polk sub with my home theater setup and I love it. Even if the other brands are pricey, it doesn't hurt to compare prices and specs. Thanks.

All of these components will sound better than Polks & Infinity but will also demand a bit more money. I'll list brands and some models...must of these brands have 3-5 different models from entry level components to their reference line which is their top tier product.
Scan Speak
JL Audio
Image Dynamics
Arc Audio
Dayton
Focal
PHD
Hybrid Audio Technologies
Phass
Hertz
Boston Acoustic
Diamond Audio
Morel
Crescendo Audio
DynAudio
Rainbow
RE Audio RE6.5C
Phoenix Gold RSD65CS
Pioneer TS-D1720C
JBL MS-62C

The JBL's, Polk db6501's, Phoenix Gold RSD65CS, Pioneer TS-D1720C are great budget oriented components $150-300.

DynAudio...their top tier tweeters are $1000/EA, 6.5" speaker is $800/EA
Rainbow's Reference Line are $14,000
Brax Reference Line are $12,000
Focal's Utopia BE#6&7 are $7,000

Im running the DynAudio's and they are amazing, but they're pricey and you'll want to power them with a very nice amplifier too.

You asked about Kicker....IMO, Kicker does one thing better than anyone else in the industry...they get LOUD abd they're very efficient so you do not need much power to them to really sing.... but that's about it
Good Luck!

 

[Nubster]

Kicker used to be one of the subs of choice back in the day. Like a lot of the brands that were top of the pile years ago, they've fallen from grace. There's so many audio companies out there now it's really hard to decide. I'm working on a budget build so I'll likely go with something like JBL, CDT, Crescendo, ect.

 

[autokraftgt]

Oh Kicker subs are still considered really good especially their L7's.
But with technology and research, companies are starting to produce very musical subwoofers. Back in the day, subs used to go boom boom and that's about it. Now, they're able to reproduce bass guitar notes, low piano notes, and other instruments much better. Great "SQ" subs are being crossed over higher and higher these days because they're able to reproduce those frequencies more accurately.
With that being said, if you want a sub that gets really loud, buy a Kicker sub, put it into a big box, give it some power and it will rock your face off.
If you are into rock, jazz, country, heavy metal etc...Kicker would not be my first choice.
My above post was about Kicker component speakers though...they're just like the subs in the fact that they get loud and rock pretty good. But if you are looking for a more accurate reproduction of music...the list above will do a better job reproducing music as it was intended

 

[scotts2012ram]

If it was my money id look into alpine and memphis audio there true watts not burp watts. At good prices

 

[Etroze86]

There are a ton of companies out there that do rated power. I would run any of the companies that have been listed. Biggest thing is go listen for yourself cause we can tell you what to buy all day long but if it doesn't sound good to you then it was a waste of time. Oh and the only thing that I like about Memphis is that they are loyal to their dealer network and will only sell their product through their authorized dealers. Other wise they are same Korean made amps as everyone else.