I just installed a Alpine S 6x9 (SPS-690A) in the rear deck of my stock 05 TSX and surprisingly it didn't sound as good. I was expecting HUGE gains in quality, but expected them to be slightly quieter. Even turned up the aren't playing as low. I put the fader all the way to the rear and tested 1 Alpine to 1 OEM (via the balance) on a few tracks and the OEM always reproduces more bass and play just as low. This didn't seem right so I thought I'd test the other 2 speakers (the other Apline to the other OEM I took out) side by side on my home system. I took a very heavy duty box (I wasn't going to spend all day building a real box), cut out the 6x9 holes, wired my home Denon receiver to a passive 150hz cross-over, and tested the speakers by touching bare wires to the cross-over. This way I had the exact same source for an A/B test. The OEM speaker sound a couple dB louder and the bass is as low. Very surprising. Is there something wrong with the Alpines I just bought? Is this typical of the Alpine? Is there a better brand to try (perhaps one which would do better with an after market amp even)? At $130 for no gain it looks like I'll be returing these unless I want to keep them and add an after market amp.

 

you need an amp. if you want bass, you buy subs.

 

I was gonna replace everything to alpine Type R speakers, but I knew if I wanted bass I needed subs so I put 2 12" type R's in the back. I have Type R components in the front and Type S 6.5" in the rear doors. The Type S are ok I like the type R's a lot better but I sit in the front and dont give two fucks about the ppl in the back.
Heres a link to some pics http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2094023

 

I understand. I'm not expecting a 6x9 to produce "sub" bass, but I would have expected the Alpine to have a better low end than the OEM -- especially when wired side by side to a 105wpc Denon. I've read on this site that the OEM amps can easily power the Type S speakers. While the OEM did run them fine, they just didn't sound better.

As far as a sub, I have 2 kids and need all the trunk space I can get. You can get fairly good bass out of a 6x9, but most will start to roll off below 80hz. I may consider a small sub to fill some of that, but I don't want to turn this into another "do I need a sub" thread.

 

You may want to try Elduderino's Avincar 6X9's. I had both the alpine type-s and alpine type-r speakers and the avincar's are much more efficient and louder. So far I haven't had any problems with the speakers giving out. Although, these I only put the bass +1 rather than +2 for the alpine's and I still get better output. Also, both pairs of Alpine's produced a popping noise on the passenger side if left outside (very weird).

 

I was considering the Avincar route, but had a gift card for Circuit City. Plus IF I end up replacing the door speakes it's worth it to me to have someone else install them.

How did your Alpines sound compared to the OEM 6x9s? I'm wondering if there is something wrong the ones I bought.

I may add an amp to them to see how much I can get out of them while still balancing with the rest of the OEM system. Perhap boosting the bass gain on an after market amp for the 6x9s and decreasing the HU bass gain would clean up the overall sound. At least the speakers are rated at 50 watts rather than 20. I could try to pump a bit more signal their way and see how they do.

 

well your running 50 watt rms speakers on 18 rms on the head unit, hook them up to an amp and you'll notice a diff.

 

The alpines had tighter bass, but I also had to increase the bass gain on the HU to get good volume. I actually made a mistake yesterday, the avincar 6X9's are playing with no bass gain. I'll turn it to +1 for some CD's but most stay at 0.

 

Reading the specs, the Alpines should sound good! They have a high efficiency (92db) and go down to 30Hz. SEEMS like that should work....

As far as testing against the OEM speakers, you have to be a bit careful. The OEMs might be louder, but they're probably louder in higher frequencies and may not go as low. It's hard to tell without test signals.

Using a test CD, the Avincars were strong at 40hz. Not strong at 20, but then, I didn't really expect that. I wish I could find my other test disk that might have more frequency ranges.... Anyway, the Avincar 6x9s really do play louder and lower than I'd expect. They might not be quite as "loud", but they are a lot lower, and you can really play techno and other bass-heavy music, no problem! Usually, bass is set to 0 for me, but I, too, sometimes use +1. It's not a "sub" but it's the next best thing.

 

Yeah, I was surprised with a rating of 92dB and same impedance that the speakers were quieter. Though all manufactures "test" their speakers differently. Maybe they aren't truly that efficient? The big surprise was they didn't seem to play as low. Perhaps the OEM Pioneers are the best fit for the OEM amp?

I hate specs. They need to be standardized. I doubt you'll ever hear 30hz out of any 6x9 except when listening to a test CD. These Alpines start to roll off at 100hz. At -3dB they are only down to about 90hz and at 12dB down they are in the 60s. Passive crossovers often have 6-12dB roll-off, which means relative to the rest of the music, you're not going to hear anything much below 60hz unless you're really listening for it (in car acoustics tend to help somewhat though).


I did hook them up to an amp — a 105wpc Denon. My point was, since these Alpines are 50wpc (vs the OEM 20wpc) at least I could try to pump more power there way to increase the bass. By increasing an after market amp's bass gain I may be able to push these speakers to compensate for a sharp roll-off at 100hz. Adversely, I may need to decrease the the low pass to eliminate muddy bass the OEM system creates. Effectively I'd be forcing the 6x9 to act more like a sub than a mid bass -- something which would tear apart the OEM Pioneer (yeah, and maybe these Alpines).

Ok, those with "real" subs can now laugh. Heck, maybe I'll break down and see what my unused 8" Pioneer Premiere sub would do in a larger box. I could always design a removable enclosure. Past cars were a Nissan 240 hatchback, Nissan Hardbody, Nissan Pathfinder, Saab 9-5 Sportwagon, now a hatchless sedan — I'm dealing with the lack of cargo!

 

Isn't the Ohmage of the 05 TSX 2ohms? and those Alpine Type S's are rated for 4ohms.

I could be wrong.

You can't compare a Tuned OEM Setup vs a Non-tuned half aftermarket setup, that just doesn't make sense.

I brother did the same shit with his integra. he put all alpine type-s speakers in his car running off the OEM HU and thought he'd be ready for a SPL/SQ Competition. lol he's and idiot so i told him to buy a new HU, and when he had the change to buy a medium 4ch. When he did the difference was 5x.

 

Actually the OEM 6x9s are 4ohms not 2. I've had two other cars with premium Bose systems and the drivers were all 2ohms.

Normally I agree. I doubt some engineer is blindly picking components to go in the TSX. In fact, I don't think the OEM system is bad. It is a better "premium" system than was in my Nissan and for factory it is pretty good. I was basing my upgrade on the advise of this site. Many people reported great results with just speaker swaps (Alpine S specifically). I did hear any.