mossman77

Wanted to poll the audience on whether most have been replacing the stock front speakers AND tweeters with aftermarket components, or just replacing the door speakers with 2-way speakers and keeping the stock tweeters. Also wondering if the stock tweeters will still function if only the door speakers are replaced. Double the tweet!

BTW, I'm looking at the Infinity Reference REF-6520 components.

mossman77

What the hell...maybe I'll splurge and replace the entire front stage--doors, tweets, and center channel. Any opinions on CDT speakers? I can get a 3-way system for $600 (CDT HD-632). More than I would typically pay, but these speakers have won awards and are supposedly the shiz-nit.

Bchester6

Here's what you should know, alot of the OEM speakers are 2 ohm whereas most of your components are going to be 4 ohm. As you are probably aware, this means approximately half the power going to your comps/coaxs in this configuration. Do yourself a favor and pull out one of the speakers and double check before purchasing anything. Better yet, just replace the factory amp and do a proper install to achieve the sound you will ultimately want. I learned a long time ago that you only want to do an install 1 time and forget about it. Just my 2 cents tho...

mossman77

I should have made it clear that I won't be using the stock amp for the new speakers. I will be using an aftermarket amp to power the components and will likely leave the center and rear speakers running off the stock amp. I'm still uncertain as to the best way to amplify a center channel if I decide to replace that speaker as well. I'd like to retain the full functionality of the stock head unit level controls. What is the best way to achieve this? The only way I can think of is to use the center channel speaker signal off the factory amp and feed it to a dedicated center channel amp in bridged mode. Running a single 3" speaker off a dedicated amp seems a little absurd to me though, but I don't see any other way. The other option I see, in which I would lose center level control via the stock HU, is to us the full range signal from the front channels and feed them to a processor such as the Alpine PXA-H800 and get my L/R/C channel signals that way. I would still need a center channel amp though, but I could use the Alpine control module to adjust the center channel level (and all other levels). Is there some other option that I'm missing? In other words, are there multi-channel amplifiers that take multiple discreet signal inputs (like the factory amp does)?

Bchester6

Sounds like you have the premium sound system? I personally have experience replacing the base system (left the stock HU) that didn't have a center channel. In all honesty though, I am not a center channel fan as I do not watch movies while I drive nor do I want to. My opinion is that you ditch that center channel as it will screw up front stage imaging while listening to music. Also CDT is good but awards are like arseholes in that industry, everyone has got one. Many options out there and I wouldn't be hesitant to go look at all options including old school comps in the right condition. All my stuff is "new old school" and it sounds incredible but really hard to find. I didn't want to go the processor route so I had to find an amplifier to accept the stock HU balanced signal correctly. The idea is to limit the amount of devices (if possible) down the signal chain so you can listen to it in a "purer form" so to speak. Long story short, you seem like you're knowledgeable enough so choose carefully and take your time mapping out the install so you only do it once. If you are fixed on keeping the stock HU and retaining all functionality like myself, figure out what the signal is that's coming out the back of it first then go from there.

mossman77

I don't believe so, but don't know for sure I guess. I have the base SH-AWD model, no Nav, no backup camera. You're saying not all TLs have a center channel?

Bchester6

I cannot speak for that model because I have a base TSX system. What I can tell you is that it's in your best interest to research what you're dealing with before you open her up. If it's anything similar to what I have then I can certainly help you do it right the first time and you can avoid some of the problems that others have encountered. I thought that I had a center Channel but when I pop the cover off I found that there was no speaker there so just because it looks the part doesn't mean it is. There is plenty a good conversation on this forum for you to probably find the answers that you need.

mossman77

I hear ya. I definitely have a center channel speaker.

Bchester6

But will you use it? It will have different sound characteristics than your new comps/coaxs.

mossman77

I experimented with the level on the center channel, varying it between -6dB and +6dB and it sounds significantly better with a center channel. I would use the same tweeters in the center as I use in the pillars.

Bchester6

Ok nice. Now you just need an amp to power all of your components. 3 amps seem a bit much?

Bchester6

Also remember that your HU is equalizing and blending the piss out of those stock speakers to make them sound sonically pleasing. You will lose this preset customization as you go into a processor + aftermarket amplifier + aftermarket speakers... which is good if you can tune or know someone that can.

mossman77

I believe the Alpine processor I mentioned comes with software with a tuning wizard. I'd prefer to retain the factory HU level controls and not have to spend $600 on a processor though. And yes, three amps seems kind of excessive. I suppose I could replace the JX500 with a four channel amp and use two channels for the components, bridge the other two channels to power the sub, and have a second amp dedicated to the center channel. And I would use something like the Audio Control LCi7 to convert and condition the signals.

mossman77

I think what I may do is get a single 8-channel amp, such as the JL Audio XD800, in conjunction with an Audio Control LC7i or PAC PDLC81. Channels 1 and 2 would power my front components, channels 3 and 4 would power my center channel tweeters, channels 5 and 6 would be bridged (200W RMS @4 ohms) to power my sub, and channels 7 and 8 would be available to power the rear speakers if I chose to do so. Crap, I guess I should decide on the rears now while I have the rear deck lid removed. What started out as a simple subwoofer upgrade has just turned into a complete system replacement (less the HU)!

mossman77

BTW, I ended up getting the Kicker 10ZXSUM8 rather than the Audio Control or PAC unit. It has eight channels and the ability to sum up to four channels or use only as LOCs. Anxious to get everything installed.

mossman77

I removed the rear speakers and sub yesterday and they say ELS on them. Is this the "premium" sound system? I noticed the rear speakers say "Surround" on them. I'm wondering if this means the signal sent to these speakers has some pre-processing in addition to high-pass filtering. Regardless, I'll be summing the front channels and sub channel with the Kicker XZSUM8 then separating everything out using my JL XD800 amp.

StevenP

I am looking to replace my front door speakers, as the passenger side speaker is blown. Admittedly I don't know much about car audio and am wondering if I should get a single midbass driver, or a coaxial speaker for replacement. I've seen some people say that there is a crossover in place that prevents any highs from going to the front doors, which would essentially render a tweeter in a coaxial speaker non-functional. However, some have suggested that maybe there is no crossover, in which case the tweeter in a coaxial speaker would be functional (https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-a.../#post14416096). If this is indeed the case, would a coaxial speaker provide any benefit by essentially having another tweeter in addition to the factory one in the A-pillar, or would having another tweeter in the door actually be worse by throwing off the soundstage?

I would probably just get a set of individual midbass drivers over coaxials regardless, but I am having trouble finding any that are 2ohm and 6.5-inches at a reasonable price that don't also come with tweeters, as I have no plans to replace the factory tweeters in the A-pillars. Anyone have any thoughts?

mossman77

Previous post was edited (got locked out while editing and changes were not saved)...

The front door speaker and pillar tweeter are in parallel, and the tweeter has a filtering capacitor on the back to filter out lower frequencies. Other than that, the signal being fed to the speakers is pretty much a full range signal, presumably with some low pass filtering provided by the head unit and/or amp (maybe 80 Hz?). That being said, you could install a mid-bass driver in the door, which is what the stock speaker is. If you can't find just a mid-bass driver, then by a component set and don't use the tweeters.

Regarding the impedance, you could install a 4 ohm speaker, but you would only get half the wattage as the stock speaker because you are doubling the resistance. You want to look for a lower wattage speaker with a higher sensitivity for the best result.

Installing coax door speakers could through off the staging, but then again it may not because as stated above you would be cutting the wattage in half, so the stock tweeters may actually be louder thereby raising the stage. In my case, it will sound good because I am also installing a new pair of tweeters in the pillars which will be on a separate amplifier channel. In other words, I will be able to adjust them independently for staging. I'm bypassing the factory amp altogether so I will have complete control. Are you adverse to installing a four channel amp and replacing all the front speakers? That would be ideal.

StevenP

Thanks for the info. I ended up just buying a component set and won't use the tweeters. The main reason right now for not installing an aftermarket amp and replacing all the front speakers is because of cost limitations. My main concern is just replacing the blown speaker with something that works so I can actually listen to music, but upgrading the system may be something I'll look into in the future.

mossman77

Sorry, I meant to say high-pass filtering.

What did you end up getting? I'm curious what the power handling and sensitivity is. And I imagine you could get away with not using the cross-overs since you aren't using the tweeters. Simply connect the factory wires to the new speaker and you're done (theoretically).

StevenP

I ended up ordering the Infinity 6030cs ( ).

mossman77

Those speakers are 90W RMS, but the sensitivity is 93dB, so they may sound okay in relationship with your factory tweeters. Post back with your impressions.

beant87

When you replaced your front door speakers, how were you able to tell what wires + and -.
I just replaced my door speakers with the JBL 2-ways and its definitely more vocal but ive seemed to have lost all the bass out of all speakers which leads me to believe ive wired them wrong.

Anyone know what colors the door speakers wires are and which is positive and negative. 4G TL ELS

THanks

mossman77

I ran new wires from my aftermarket amp to the door speakers so I didn't need to figure out polarity.