Hi Everyone,
I'm a new 2008 TL owner. Love the car and the ELS,but I can already tell I'm gonna wanna upgrade the speakers.
I've looked at some of the threads,including the subwoofer
upgrade feeler (which I'm definitely interested in),but I would appreciate feedback from other owners who have replaced the other speakers,especially:
What brand and model numbers did you use? (I'm assuming
6 1/2 all around,separates in the front,2 or 3-ways rear,
3 1/2 center?)
Any problems getting new speakers to fit without modifications (crossover placement)?,and did you do it yourself?
I don't wanna spend a ton of money,(probably not any custom built sub enclosures),and I'm not real confident in my installation skills (mudflaps are fine,but anything else is iffy!)
I came from a 96 intrepid with MB Quart separates front and rear,and a box with 2 JL Audio subs that lasted well over 10 years with no problems.
Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated,THANKS!!

 

FRANMAN,

Congrats on your new car and welcome to the forum.

If you're coming out of 2 JL subs, you're not going to be happy with anything less in your TL. There really is no drop in sub solution that works well.

Door speakers are a fairly easy swap, but the rear deck was not so easy for me. I had to mount custom brackets on the rear deck for the screws to hold on to.

At the very least you will want to replace the door speakers, rear deck and put in a sub box. A single 10 or 12 inch sub will do just fine. You will be most happy if you amped them with 1 amp for the speakers and 1 for the sub.

Good luck with your upgrade! Post some pics of your new car!

 

get 6 1/2 inch components for the fronts..6x9 2 ways in the rear..be sure to amp them too

 

Thanks TREW and EGGY,
Appreciate it! Anyone else? I'm also interested in what amps,how many and any mounting problems encountered.
How about subs? Also, I'm assuming most kept the factory head?
FRAN

 

I kept the factory head unit like most do. I have a JL 6 channel amp for the mids/highs so it retains all of the features of the car with one execption. I was on a bluetooth call and when I got to where I was going, I shut the engine off and forgot that since the highs are powered through the amp, the bluetooth is not usable with the key off like it used to be. Other than that it works like stock.

Subs are 2 JL 12W6s though if I had it to do over again I would go with one 12W6 or 12W7 to save some trunk space. Maybe even an IDMax. I just love the sound of the 12W6s though. Power is an old Infinity Beta 300 which requires very little input power compared to other amps with it's output.

Mids/highs, like everyone said, if I got the Infinities, I would be upgrading later on. Well, sure enough, after a year of use, I'm upgrading. If anyone wants a great deal on some Infinities, let me know.

 

so far you have received some pretty good input. As far as the speakers go....you've been spoiled by MB Quarts for the past several years. If you go with cheaper speakers you're probably going to regret it. As for the rears, I have always just gone with a quality name yet inexpensive coax speaker.

I personally have a set of MB QSD's waiting to to into my car when I can afford to finish things up. I had ADS is series speakers in my last car and they were some of the best speakers that Ive ever had.

Keep an eye out on ebay or some of the car audio forums and you can usually score some quality stuff for a fair price. If you want to really minimize the amount of space taken up by amps check out the Alpine PDX's they are pretty good and are stackable.

And now for my shameless plug......I have a MB Quart 3.5" speaker for the center channel if youre interested, let me know.

 

for 12w7, is 500.1 good enough? i know 1000.1 is better, but $700 for an amp??

 

W7s are not cheap either. I guess if you invested that much you might as well go all the way. I know a lot of people have paired the W7 with the 1000.1 and it sounds wicked. 500.1 is not enough, you can look at the graphs on JL's site. 1000.1 is a legend, a great amp. Shop around and see if you can better that price.

 

Thanks again everybody for the feedback. For those of you who upgraded all the speakers and then installed amps,what did you do for the center speaker? Just let the head drive it? Also has anybody used a 5-channel amp (I realize the 5th channel is for driving the sub) like th JL 6450?

 

just let the head unit power the center speaker. All music (except 5.1 dvd audio) only play on 2 channels - left and right. There's no point amping the center speaker. Also, it's gonna be tough finding an amp to match the power output of that speaker. The most you'll find that can fit in there is a 35w speaker.

If you use the 5th channel in a 5.1 amp you'll blow that speaker through the windshield.

 

I upgraded my speakers with polk db351 center and db651s x 4 for the others (stock amp) and for bass i have a RF punch stage 2 DVC and RF punch amp powered via a spliced in LOC from the stock sub location (stock sub removed)

 

This would take some major cutting to get 6x9's in there. I had a hard time fitting a over sized 6-1/2.

3 1/2 center channel - I used Infinity reference series, but others have used polks. Pretty much any one will do.

6 1/2 doors - Infinity reference series. But I have a set of polk MOMO separates I am fixing to put in there.

1 - 1 1/2 tweeter - I would suggest a silk dome tweeter, this is personal preference as I don't much care for the pingy sound of a metal type tweeter. Be sure to set up the crossover with the tweeter as this will affect your hands free phone

6 1/2 rear deck - Polk MOMO 6 3/4 mid base drivers. No tweeters in the rear. Pulls the sound staging back to far.

8" rear deck - Not hooked up, custom fiberglass box with 2 8's. Soon to be 2 10's.



Good luck with the project.

 

That is not true! I have been running a 5.1 amp in the car for 2+ years. The center has been on the amp the whole time. No issues. If set up correctly, it is not going to damage the speaker.

 

Well,now I have some exciting news. I stopped in at a car audio store I've been using for a dozen years just to get their opinion.Stop me if this sounds familiar....
Anyway,after hearing about the speakers I was considering (and agreeing they would be a good choice),he offered to demo some FOCAL speakers that they specialized in.
We listened to some 165kp2 separates that he proceeded to gradually turn up to a volume that no sane man would listen at for any amount of time(except for us!!).These speakers WOULD NOT distort,and they sounded better than any I have ever heard.So anyway I'm gettin' all tingly until I
saw the 1200 dollar price tag.Feeling slightly deflated,I had him make an estimate for some FOCALs that were less than half the price,along with some JBLs he recommended for the deck,an AUDISON 4 channel amp(highly recommended for it's clean power),and all the other things needed to make my (almost) dream transformation complete,except for the sub and amp.
After taking the estimate home and moping for a couple days because I don't have the money just lying around,I
started looking around on the internet for the gear he recommended,and found some deals.
Now I've decided to go ALL IN.(just maybe not all at once).
I found the 165K2P separates on ebay for less than half the retail price,and also some FOCAL coaxials for the same price as the JBLs he recommended.Next I plan to look for a
JL 12w6 in a sealed box and maybe a JL 500/1 to drive it.
Looks like I'm gonna have to sell a guitar to pay for this(anybody looking for a Taylor 615ce?),but it will be worth it!
Oh,also apparently I can't contact anybody privately yet(not enough posts?),so MWalsh9152 if you see this,I'm interested in that mbq center speaker.
MORE TO COME.......

 

I've been auditioning many, many component speakers lately since I only want to upgrade twice lol.

If you have the time, try out the Image Dynamics CTX65 speakers for $175. These things sound every bit as good as the $600+ speakers. I'm truly amazed. After all of my searches, I haven't heard a bad review.

Just got them installed in the TL tonight and I realized I have nothing to say about them. Nothing really stands out which is a good thing. It's just an accurate reproduction of music. Clean detailed highs but not fatiguing. Midbass is excellent as are vocals. I can hear details in the music that I never heard before and that's comparing them to the Infinities which were way better than stock. I can turn my subs all the way off and it sounds great. They make my 12W6s sound better and less boomy thanks to the extra midbass.

Can you tell I'm in love with these speakers? Again, if you're looking for a very natural, clean sound, these are the ticket even if cost is not a concern.

 

nothing better than half priced incredible speakers online! When I listened to my QSD216's they were $1200 at the store, and I paid $600 for them.

Give me your email address and I will get in contact with you about the speaker

 

i'd ditch the audison amp and get the alpine amp..you'll get clean power at a cheaper price..and i'd also ditch the jl sub/amp for a fi q/kicker amp..fi q is cheaper..and hit's harder and cleaner

Edit..forgot to mention..sound deaden the doors and rear deck

 

Just wondering do you mean 165k3P 3 way speaker? 1652p, 2 way speaker is much cheaper than 3 way.

 

OKAY,
MWalsh9152, my email is fhearley@yahoo.com,please contact me.
Eggyhustles, I LOVE JL subs,so the 12w6 and the 500/1 are a done deal.I would like your opinion on which alpine 4 channel you would recommend,so I can do some research and comparing,thanks.
And Ezland00, yes they're 165k2p,and 1200 is retail.The 165k3p's I believe come with extra mid-bass drivers.

 

the focals state 100rms@4ohms..you always wanna have some headroom so the alpine pdx 4.150 would be ideal for that setup..these 6x9s are pretty good too
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+TS-D902P.html
Remember that any decent coaxil will do great for rear fill..

 

does anyone know what's the differance be 1000.1 and 1000.1v2? i know V2 is newer version, but is there any major upgrade done the amp?

 

So far everyone has been very helpful,I appreciate it.
I've narrowed it down to 4 amps (to power the Focals)

AUDISON SRx4 65x4@4ohms/96db S/N ratio,THD 0.06%

POLK AUDIO PA500.4 90x4@4ohms/98db S/N ratio, THD n/a

JL AUDIO 450/4v2 150x2@4ohms channels 1&2,
75wx2@4ohms channels 3&4 108.5db S/N ratio, THD 0.03%@4ohms

ALPINE PDX 4.150 150x4@2or4ohms,78db S/N ratio
THD 1%

All in the same ballpark pricewise (polk audio lowest).
Anyone own any of these or have an opinion?

Also I wonder how many square feet of DYNAMAT needed to do both front doors and the rear deck,I'm assuming this is a good idea!

 

i got a rockford fosgate t2. its comparable to the w7. but not as costly. you can get one for less than 400 and will blow your mind how clear the bass line is! love it. in the future plan on going with jl but on a strict budget after buyin da tl!

 

The alpine amp is the best bang for the buck amp out of those 4..

 

Well,it's all done and here's the final equation.
1 pair of Focal 165k2p separates + 1 pair Focal 165cvx coaxials + 1 MB Quart center + 1 JL Audio 12W6 (in a sealed wedge) + 1 JL Audio 450/4v2 + 1 JL Audio 500/1 + 1 Audio Control LC8 + a healthy amount of RAAMAT equals
AUDIO NIRVANA and my personal kickstart to the flagging
economy. Time for a second job. Thanks for all the input from everyone.TIME TO ROCK

 

i can't remember, with regards to music, upgrading the center console won't help right? unless it's DVD-A;

 

could've went without the center channel..

would've also went with the pdx 150.4