So today I replaced the stock 6x9's with Infinity Kappa 2 way speakers. They went in not too bad, just a PITA trying to figure out which wire was the + and which was the neg (still dont know speakers work the same the wires on either terminal). But anyways after listening the new Infinity's arent even nearly as loud as the stock 6x9s. Is this because there isnt enough power coming from the stock amp? Or is this because they arent broken in yet? I put back in the stock 6x9's, and now im deciding whether to put back in the kappas or not.

 

Infinity Kappa speakers tend to be less efficient than stock speakers - that is, with the same power level in, you get less dB of SPL out.

I suspect they play a lower note than the OE 6x9's... just not as loud at the same volume.

One course of action is to replace the F and R or at least F speakers with speakers which have similar efficency to the Kappas... which is probably more Kappas (you can't trust most efficiency ratings, they are usually lies, and Infinity is often an offender, so don't bother reading the side of boxes for specs).

If you were to replace the F 6.5 mids and tweeters with Kappas, and disconnect the R doors, the system would sound better. It would not be as loud. If you put 6.5 coaxials i or nids in the R doors it still would not be as loud. To get a system to play louder with less-efficent speakers means more power.

Oh, and if you buy the Honda 2-wire speaker adapters from Autotoys you solve that polarity problem... 'cept for the tweeters.

 

Last point - the Kappas MIGHT get a bit louder when broken in, but not much - mostly a tonal shift, methinks, not a volume change as such.

 

I replaced mine with Pioneer Rev 6x9's and there is significantly less power out of them. I had to shift from F-R about -3 and then I pump up to volume some more. That helped hold it down. I'll probably upgrade to an AMP in the back later on.

I don't think it matters if you swap + and - it just causes the speaker to move the other direction. Should still produce same tone?

 

If one speaker is moving out at the same time that the other is moving in, you get cancellation, most notably in the bass region.

This is often called "out of phase" when due to (+) (-) wiring, but is better called "opposite polarity".

Since sound moves fairly slowly, when you have multiple speakers playing the same notes a different distances from you, you can get cancellation and reinforcement that results in dips and peaks in the frequency response. It's not polarity mistakes, it's just waves over distances. Minimized if speakers aren't overlapping (still happens in the crossover filter overlaps a bit, and sometimes you can hear a difference from the driver's seat in the bass by swapping the (+) and (-) at the woofer...)

Another benefit for only having F stage and no rear fill : )