TSX Cman

i was just starting to look at some speaker setups and i would like to upgrade my system for clarity and volume. i wanted to do it as simple as possible. such as simple replacing the door and rear speakers maybe. i dont know how it all works too well, but is it possible to have improvements without buying new amps?

euro77

Many people here have upgraded their speakers alone, and gets improvement straight away. Read some of the existing thread to get an idea of what speakers people used. mostly I see is Alpine Type-S & Type-R

gsclifton

iTrader: (2)

You can find a plethora of information right here in this part of the forum, probably in the first 25 threads without even doing a search.

I have replaced 6 of the 8 OEM speakers in the past 2 weeks. The sound improvement was phenomenal IMO. I did not use really expensive drivers either, Pioneer and Kenwood. So far, the greatest improvements were made with the rear 6x9’s and the front dash mounted tweeters. I only have the front 6 ½’s left in the project.

Rattles and Dynamat
While I was at it, I also covered about 95% of the rear door panels with dynamat including the little cover behind the door release. I have zero rattles in the rear doors. I had to put some dynamat on the rear 6x9’s to keep them rattle free as well. No matter how much I tightened the screws on them, they rattled, but the dynamat fixed that problem. I can hear some distinctive rattles in the front doors, but only when the bass is up past the zero setting. I plan on covering as much area on the front door panels as possible.

Quality and Time
I think the quality of your install will depend upon how much time and research you put into the project. I spent 4 hours alone on the rear doors, about 2 hours on the rear 6x9’s, and another 4 hours on the front dash mounted tweeters. I am not 100% happy with the front tweeter install because that location is a bitch for me to work with anyway. I love the crispness of the sound but the appearance is not as good as stock for me.

Volume and Sound Stage
I honestly cannot tell a great variance in the amount of volume I have now as opposed to the stock setup. I listened before at 17-23 and that is the same level now. The bass is much more defined and the highs are much higher now. I can also say that my sound stage did not move backwards either. I still have the fader in the middle for Front to Rear. All of my new speakers had a sensitivity of 92dB.

The OEM speakers look pretty pathetic when you remove them, so just about any change will be an upgrade. I have changed the speakers in every car I have ever owned. I have spent less than $400 so far on the upgraded sound system. I have had $4000 systems, but I am not looking for that kind of setup with the TSX. I think I will be happy with just replacing the speakers. In the future, I might add an amp, but nothing else. Every since my Accord was vandalized and every piece of equipment stolen, I have not had the stomach to build a larger system. I am not fond of the weight increase that a box-speakers-amp adds in the trunk either.

Lung Fu Mo Shi

For clarity, upgrading the speakers should do just fine. However, you probably won't get a noticeable increase in volume. You may even get a slight decrease. I think the only way you get get the volume louder is by replacing the amp.

jlukja

I too have decided to upgrade the speakers only. My plan is to upgrade the rear deck 6x9s first, then the front door, then the back door, pausing at each step to evaluate whether I'm happy enough with the sound. First I need to talk some sense into my better half to get her on board with this plan (or maybe she'll talk some sense into me).

I had narrowed my choices as follows:

For the doors: Alpine SRS-170A, Polk EX365, Polk db650, Infinity Reference 6002i, Infinity Reference 652i.

For the rear deck: Alpine SRS-690A, Polk EX690, Polk db690, Infinity Reference 9602i, Infinity Reference 6952i.

I did a lot of research. Crutchfield ( www.crutchfield.com/ ) has all the specs and Circuit City (www.circuitcity.com ) has a lot of reviews. I finally settled on the Alpines although you probably can't go wrong with any of the brands mentioned above. According to the posts on this board I won't have to do any cutting but will have to use a spacer on the doors. BTW, Infinity makes the 6002si which is the shallowest 6.5 inch speaker I've found. The reviews were luke-warm though. Also according to the posts herein I am expecting a small dropoff in volume out of the new speakers. But, since I listen to mine stock speakers at around 15-18 I don't expect to run out of volume room with the new set. Good luck with your install. Let us know how it comes out.

Question: has anyone out there replaced only one set of door speakers (either front or rear only)? How'd that work out?

TSX Cman

thanks for the comments so far guys. ive got to pick out what brands to think about seriously. there is a post on the forum about the guy selling alpine S or 69$$ a pair. probably sold by now but is that just a phenominal price or are they lesser quality than the type r's and other speakers?

jlukja

http://www.alpine-usa.com/html/D2_n_1_n_n.html

IMHO, the type-s is not as good as the type-r. However, the type-r would require an amp to drive them because it has a much lower sensitivity (87db for Type-R vs. 92db for Type-S). If you're keeping the head unit then I would go with the Type-S. Both are rated 40W RMS, 200W peak.

BTW, $69 for a pair of type-s is an excellent price. You won't find them very often for less than $99.

slo007

Type R have higher wattage limits/needs. You'd need an amp to really appreciate them, IMO.

Quality is probably the same. Make sure to listen to a speaker in a store before buying.

tinyau01

I also wanted to upgrade the speakers. However, since everyone are using Alpine, so I want to try something else. By looking at the specs., MB Quart (Discus series) has similar price, frequency response, sensitivity, and RMS. Anyone has any experience with MB Quart speakers?
I'll go with either MB Quart, Alpine, or Pioneer eventually.

SilverTSXinPA

Regardless of the SPL rating of an MB Quart speaker, you will need an amp to really appreciate them. They are perhaps my favorite overal speakers. They just seem to need an amp to bring out the bass. I have gone with the Alpine type S for now and it sounded good with the stock amp. I have installed an amp anyhow and it even sounds better now. When someone comes out with a kit for replacing the stock HU I will probably do that and then move to the MB Quarts. The Alpine Type S are not so expensive that I will mind taking them out and setting them on a shelf somewhere, or, maybe even installing them in my wife's car.

TSX Cman

i didnt want to get into purchasing an amp, that was all. it sounds like apline S's are the common thing to do so far. which sets of speakers would be recommeneded to replace to start my system out. front doors and big rear ones?
also is it worth replacing tweeters yet, or would that be a concern once a system had huge subs and alot of work done already?

lordbritish

After doing a lot of research on this forum, I went ahead and upgraded all of my speakers (without replacing the stock amp). My biggest complaints about the stock system were the tweeters (buzzing on certain songs and talk radio) and the muddy base.

The custom installer the dealer recommended only installed their own equipment, and they didn't sell stand alone tweeters. Since I really wanted to improve the tweeters, I went with a set of component front speakers. I used MB Quart Discus DSE 216, and used the external crossover that came with the MB Quart's (I'm therefore not using the tweeter connections to the stock amp). I was really concerned that these speakers would be under powered (they're rated at 50W RMS), especially since I wasn't using the tweeter channel on the stock amp, but the installer felt that they would be fine (although not as good as with an external amp). I matched the MB Quarts in the front with MB Quart Discus DKE 116 speakers in the rear doors (also rated at 50W RMS). Finally, I replaced the rear deck speakers with the Alpine SPS 690A's.

I just got the car back yesterday and I'm very impressed with the results so far. The thing I'm most surprised about is that I didn't lose any volume -- I expected to have to turn up the volume at least 5-10 notches higher with the new MB Quart's but I'm getting almost the exact same volume (I listen to CD's around 20; no higher than 27 so far). I'm also pleased with the bass -- very clean and surprisingly loud (rearview mirror shakes above a 25 volume). The car also seems a LOT quieter (I had the installer go crazy with dynamat in the doors and rear deck) - plus, some slight rattles I had before the install seem to have vanished. The thing I'm probably least pleased with are the tweeters - I still notice a slight buzzing on the same problem songs, but it's a lot less noticeble with much more prominent & cleaner highs. Since I did all of the speakers at once, I can't comment on what would give you the biggest bang for your buck. Overall, the installer did a great job - everything looks just like stock. Good luck with your upgrades!

tinyau01

Regarding what you're talking about the external crossover. Can you explain it a little more? Is it something that every professional installer should understand?

slo007

I decided to install the Alpine type R's... what a mess! Lots of plastic and metal cutting. I don't recommend it.

acuratsx03

really... im expecting delivery of my type r components on tuesday, what problems, specifically can i expect to encounter during installation? did the quality of the upgrade compensate for the trouble of installing them?