To the CL owners that have replaced the front speakers:

1. What brand/model/size did you go with?

2. How much did you pay for it?

3. Where did you buy it?

4. Any negative/positive comments regarding them?

5. If you installed an amp, where did you have it mounted?

I'm planning to upgrade my system in the future, but plan to do it one step at a time starting with replacing the front speakers with some separates and an amp. Right now I'm leaning towards the following brands: MB Quart, Infinity, JBL or Polk Audio. I also read that we can fit up to 6 1/2" in the front, is this right? Also, I'm planning to keep the stock head unit to help keep it looking stock and to not lure any thieves. Any tips/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I have JL Audio XR series components. They come w/ a crossover for the tweets. They sound outstanding. Can't say a bad thing about them. I got them about 2 years ago for about $200, I think, at a local independant stereo shop. They're powered by a 65Wx4 Precision Power amp in the trunk which is fed by a Clarion crossover. The other 2 channels power JL VRs on the back deck. The sub-out of the crossover goes to a 80Wx2 Precision Power amp to drive the 8" JLs in a custom enclosure, also in trunk, not leaving much room for groceries. The back seat is very thick and heavy so I keep the slide-through door open to get more bass in. The whole system, with wiring and installation, was about $1500.

 

www.smilephotovideo.com has very good prices and carry some of the products you were thinking about so you might want to check it out. I have ordered from them twice and despite the cranky customer service reps, i have had no problems and the product was on my door within a few days.

 

I just had a new system installed in my CL this past weekend. I replaced everything, including the head unit. For front speakers, I will reccomend what I went with, Boston Acoustics Pro series 6.5 components. The Bostons are some of the best sounding speakers in their price range (retail for $450, but I paid $350 as part of a package pricing deal). The rest of the equioment includes Boston Acoustic Rally series RM9's (6x9) for the rear speakers, Boston Acoustic (notice a patter here? ) Pro series 12.5lf subwoofer in the trunk, Alpine CDA 7878 head unit, and an Alpine MRD-F752 5-channel amp to power it all. The nice thing was that the place that I had do the install was able to use the front plate from the factory stereo, and cut it to fit around the edges of the new head unit so that it looks really nice (still has the wood trim around the edges of the new unit). Although you may want to stick with the factory head unit, you should know that Bose systems aren't really designed to be used with any other components, and it won't sound very good hooked up to a different amp or speakers. If you're really interested in sound quality, the only way to go is to replace the whole system. It won't be cheap, however, as our car is not the easiest car to install sound equipment in (the head unit is especially tricky, do yourself a favor and *don't* have the install done at a place like Circuit City or other mass merchant. Bring it to a good, reputable car audio specialist).

 

co30cl, i had the xr series jl's a while back. they are sweet sounding doors! i only had the 5.25's though. not sure what we are going to put in the ac

 

Thanks for the info. I don't have the Bose system though and I really would like to keep the stock head unit since I don't have a garage to keep my car safe at nights. You have a sweet sounding setup though.

 

i highly recommend focals....it is known as one of the top three brands or so...up there with dynaudio(anybody who knows car audio KNOWS these brands are high end), if u dont believe me go look around....the price ranges anywhere from about 200-800 depending onwhich models...but i have the midline...and they spank every component set i've heard...hands down...extremely clear without being to bright or ear peircing unlike mb quartz although accurate with the highs hurt ur ears at higher volumes...almost nothing will top this companies components...and u can fit 6.5 inches in the front doors...i can get good deals on almost any car audio brand so, thats how i got mine...the stuff i have is in my sig...just take a look at it...i got them like three months or so ago, just upgrading my other stereo....and i've not had any problems or negative thoughts about them and i've dealed with car audio for several years now...i dont remember how much i paid for it cuz i changed everything at once..so now im broke...

also i recomend changing ur headunit, because the power output and clarity of ur sound will be a lot better, and it will sound even better once u add an amp

 

Oh great, thanks for letting me know about another high end product. Now I'm gonna be broke with you pretty soon.

I'll look into my options soon and thanks for the info.

 

I would have to disagree on the Boston pro's. They are nothing compared to the focals (polyglass, polykevlar and utopia). I got mine for around $250 they are 6.5's. A little tricky to cram into the door but they are in there. I have heard the Pro's in a 97 CL and was not impressed. I have a 50X2 rms fosgate amp, and I am hoping to upgrade to something better for my components but can't afford it yet. If I were you I would get the polykevlar, and if you can afford it a custom set of kick panels.

 

someone with taste

 

oh and although there is a polyglass and polykevlar line, there is absolutely no difference in sound, if it is very minimal that even i havent been able to distinguish. i heard two cars with poly kevlar and i have poly glass as well as another friend of mine, they sound just about the same. so if you were to plan to get ploy kevlar ur better off getting the poly glass series unless u want better then u would get the utopias....they supposed to sound killer....:P

 

yo i got BLAUPUNKT pro components all around and for $100 for all speakers front and rear they are awesome for now. i would have to say that them along with polk makes really damn good speakers for like no money. i hooked them up to my pioneer deh -p900R and what a huge diff over stock. i m so happy for now. it will hold me over for awhile while as i decide what to do about a sytem becuase i dont want more weight in my car. and i would Xtrmeme dynamat ur car. the bass i get out of these things is very impressive for what i spent. they hit tight and clear. but i wouldnt buy these if u want the best shit in the world. i will rip everything out again in a year or 2 for complete dobly digital 5.1 some dvd players and dont forget a lcd or 2. also i cut holes in my door panels and mounted the new tweeters i will get pics up soon.

 

i have to disagree, i am a HUGE fan of focal, i have ran everything from access to Utopia, and have been very happy. I am a hardcore audiophile, my tastes like focal. i also have equally passinate friends in it that hate my focals, some people dont like the semi-translucent brightness that the tn-series tweeters give. others dont like the factory sloped crossover points, some don't like the distance in the mids. eveyone has there tastes, some like MB quart screaming high and bright tweeters, others love the soft smooth sound some Bostons produce.

my point is some like boring and smooth, some like sharp defined charismatic systems, its not anything to do with one "taste"

 

zomg holy old thread.

 

lmao o shit sorry, never realized that, well nothings changed in last 5 years lol, still a valid point, and very common miss-informed opinion of speaker worthiness.

 

It's all about preference

 

agreed. it just sparks me when someone makes a good product sound far inferior to another product, based on preference. I am an university educated audio engineer, (still working on it), on a daily bases i work with $700 000+ of audio equipment, i have the pleasure of hearing some of the purest music possible. with that said, i understand tastes, the way we set up stadium for jay-z would be a lot different then the way it would be for a jazz band. its kind of like choosing a car component system.

 

just because you are in school to be an audio engineer doesn't mean you have good ears. I'm also an audio engineer and i'm telling you that the car i heard with the bostons wasn't that nice.

 

a valid point, but your judging a component system with many valuables, amplifiers, source, cables, and tunning, EQ, if any one of those is off, it can make everything look like garbage, pair an Audison Vrx CS amp, Alpine F1 Status deck up with entry level visonik speakers, you would get shitty sound even though you have an astonishing amp, and a very good head unit.

as for the "bad ears" i dont think thats true, like i said i still do prefer focals defined charismatic clean sound. but i know people with equally good ears that prefer softer music,( tube amps, and soft dome tweeters, with higher crossover)

and i wasn't using my audio engineer bit as a card, its just i have spent 7 years reading vigorously on caps and coils, trying 1000s of combinations, i have benched pretty much every loud speaker on the consumer market, and i have worked with audio engineers from Hertz, Alpine, Rockford, Audio Control, Yammaha, Behringer, all with good ears but different preference.

 

I went with JBL's front and back. The fronts are P652 in the front and P953 in the back. I barely got the fronts in because of their depth. JBL offers a P652S which has a shallower depth.

The sound is great and I am very pleased. I hear things in the music that I never did with the factory speakers.

As for price I got a great deal at Best Buy. I bought the fronts for $ 129.99 and the rears for $149.99, all prices in CDN dollars.


Good Luck!!

 

who cares about depth, that's what spacers are for

Them big ass magnets

 

is this deja vu or does this focal guy always start up old threads, say how hes better than everyone cause hes in school to be an audio engineer and than everyone makes fun of him?

i could of sworn this has happened already.

 

It has