Hey Forum Pals-
After a week in my new (old) 08 TL and about two hours surfing posts, I'm thinking about doing the following to the trusty old ELS system:

Infinity 1031T Tweeters
Infinity 3032cf 3.5" two way
Infinity 63.9i 6.5" threeway (front and rear)
Infinity Basslink (series 1)

I really cant complain too much about the stock ELS system. It's probably plenty for most people. I just figured that these changes will tighten and brighten up what Acura started. I'm almost thinking that the 63.9 are too much, but everyone seems to rave about the bottom end more than the lesser models.

I had an Eclipse 5 channel amp, Alpine speakers, and two Bazooka 8" DVC s in the TSX and it hammered, but I really want to avoid that amount of work.

Your thoughts/concerns are welcome!

 

I guess if you are looking for "bright", there you go.

 

You're making the exact same mistake I made in the beginning. That system will be super bright to the point of killing your ears even when it's not turned up loud.

If you're strapped for money, get an amp for the stock fronts first. You would be surprised how clean they sound with some additional power. Add aftermarket speakers if you still want better sound.

The reason I suggest it in this order is the stock speakers are more efficient than just about all aftermarket speakers. You're going to lose volume by going aftermarket on the stock amp. The Infinities are about the only speaker that won't have this problem but they will be too bright. At least this way you're making a pretty big improvement and the amp will be in place if you decide to go aftermarket speakers in the future.

Don't worry about upgrading the rears and center unless you're running a processor that handles the center and you really care about your rear passengers. Coaxials in the rear will hurt sound quality. Use the money saved to buy better front comps.

If you must get Infinity, don't get their "3ways". Get their component set. You don't want to have 4 tweeters (6 counting the "mid") up front.

 

See i like my music bright since i enjoy trance/breaks/techno but i also like jazz/r&b/classical which bright infinities will only make better. Infinities are also the only speakers with their cousin (jbl) that are 2ohm speakers which the stock ELS drivers are as well. My choice was infinity as well because i wasnt doing amps and all that crap anymore because i trade my cars (every 2yrs) too fast to do that.

 

Great points, and thats why I put it out there. I dont want my ears to bleed. The only reason I was going to go with these was because of the 2 ohm conundrum. I'm pretty much committed to staying with the stock amp because I dont want to load the car down with MFD amp racks and the like. This is a daily driver and I need the gas mileage on my 72 mile commute. Maybe I'll just drop in the tweeters, ad the Basslink and live with the rest of it.

 

I fully understand. I feel the same way. I fully respect your decision to stay stock-ish but I figured I would throw a couple things out there that might fit your criteria maybe if you decide one day you want more.

I went infinite baffle (no box required so you retain 95% of your trunk space) with a pair of 17lb 15" subs which add a total of 40lbs to the car including the MDF. In fact, counting the stock sub that was removed, the small JL HD amp and everything together, I've added less than 50lbs to the car with a high end sound quality system that gets pretty loud.

Just picked up a JL HD 600/4 amp. Extremely small and powerful, fits under the seats easily and stays cool. Very efficient with much less current draw on the electrical system then the typical class a/b amps. They make a 900/5 in the same size which will run an entire system. Not cheap but you can find them used for a decent price. I just picked up the 600/4 for $375 shipped.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=537

I know this is probably a little more than you're looking for but there are some very cool products out there and if you shop around it won't cost too much. I got tired of popping my trunk and having all of it taken up with a pair of 12s in a bandpass box. I'm too old for that and the weight reduction was nice. After adding the infinite baffle 15s I had to re-aim my headlights because the rear end raised up. You could do one small efficient amp under the passenger seat, run a single 12" sub infinite baffle which would take up less space than the bass link and sound better too while requiring less power. With over 100watts over 4 channels with this amp, you would have any choice of components out there.

For what it's worth, you might like the Infinities. They're very bright but some people like that. And as I've found lately my friends that like bright systems can't hear much past 12khz to 16khz while I can hear 20khz well. That might explain a lot of the different opinions. If you like the sound of the Infinities, they would fit your requirements well.

 

Check into class D full range amps. They are tiny and light. Much smaller than the amps you're probably used to. Kicker makes some cheaper ones similar in size to the JL at half the price if that's holding you back.

 

You guys are killing me. You are appealing to my audio-nutside. Who has mounted amps under the seats and what did you use?

 

so the aftermarket amp alone could realy make that much a difrence in the tls stock system?..If so i think i may just go that route all i wants a little more juice out of mine and id be happy.

 

OK, I'm now thinking that I will rip the whole thing up. My only delima is now do I tap before or after the stock amp for the AudioControl LC6i? Potatoe patatoe!

 

I used the JL HD600/4 under the passenger seat. Getting ready to use an HD900/4 under the driver's seat. A two amp solution to my 3-way fronts, center, and subs. Great SQ, low noise floor, run cool, efficient, and tons of power and dynamics.

 

Holy cow....$700 for just the 4 channel. I don't plan to go that far. I'm sure it sounds great, but I have an Eclipse XA5000 sitting around getting dusty. That was the most expensive amp I had ever bought and I think it was $400 (down from 599).

 

You can find them for $325 to $375 used and $550 new if you search around.

 

You'll want to tap into the pre-amp wires. Also, look at the Massive Audio nano amps. People seem to like them a lot and they are tiny. Aline PDX, a few Arc Audio amps are also small enough to go under seat

 

there's also the

vibe audio litebox
soundstream stealth
jl xd
kenwood xr

 

The NX4 might fit under the seat, it would be a tough call height wise. The NX5 has no chance of fitting under a seat unless you don't mine a lot of amp hanging out behind the seat.

 

What about the Alpine MRX-V60 and a JL Audio CS110-WX ? Discuss!

 

Nobody?

 

Going by specs alone, that amp would be a good match for the Infinties or the stock speakers. There's also the JL XD700/6 in the same ballpark price range that would give a little more headroom on the components and the same power on the sub. Not really necessary if you're keeping the stock speakers but it would work well if you upgrade speakers later on. They seem to be within $20-$40 of each other. I've seen them go for just under $300 new on DIYMA once in a while but you would have to watch the classifieds. The XD would be an easier fit under the seat but the Alpine should fit. It's hard for me to guess because I have the layer of Damplifier under the carpet. Maybe both would be an easy fit on a stock TL. The driver's seat would be the easier fitment.

Alpine had some noise floor issues with their PDX series. I have absolutely no idea and I doubt this amp would have the same problem but it's something to research before buying.

You can't go wrong with either amp.

The box meets JL's minimum specs but it wouldn't hurt to go slightly larger for better sound quality.

 

Ok so I finally did something. Phase I was today:

JBL GTO608C....$89
JBL P662..........$45
Dynamat Extreme Front Doors

I have to say that this set up sucks every smidgen of power out of the factory amp. The front stage is MUCH louder than it was before and the amp is clipping at 38 now. Just played AlterBridge I and was really impressed. I didn't run the tweeters off of the JBL crossover, but I did drop in a couple of old tweeter caps in the junction behind the glove box (what joy that was). I did use the crossovers on the woofers. I was a little surprised to see the magnets on the JBLs were smaller than the factory drivers, but the woofer is pole vented and its much smoother than the OEM. The JBLs are really accurate and have zero color for midrange drivers. Glad I didn't do the inifities.

Phase II
JBL P662...................................$89
Pioneer Premier TS-SW841D.........$86
Precision Power PPI INT.5B..........$74
Eclipse XA5000..... in my garage
Dynamat Lite the rear deck

I'll tackle this work next weekend, but for now I'll just enjoy the sweet tunes in the front seat!