5x7's for my Ranger - Focal vs Polk?

nadams

Looking to buy a pair of 5x7's for the front doors of my truck. These Focals are $120 off - http://www.crutchfield.com/p_091570CA1/Focal-Access-570CA1.html

Alternative is the Polk DXi's - http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI570/Polk-Audio-DXi570.html?tp=105

The Polk's supposedly have a wider frequency response, but Focal seems to be quite well regarded. With the pricing closer to each other than usual, what would you choose? They'll be driven by a Pioneer HU (forget the model), but will otherwise be in the stock locations, stock wiring, etc.

punk-roc

I've got Focal's in my Tacoma (can't remember the model, but they weren't cheap) and I find them a little bright. They sound good, but I want to try something different...

Jason

BeefJerky

My experiences pretty much parallel punk-roc's. I've had both Focal Polyglass and Polk SR series components in my car. The Focals were certainly nice and very detailed, but also quite bright. The Polks are more laid back, but yet they still have lots of detail. The Polks are staying in there, as I much prefer their sound. However, please note that these are different series than the ones you are looking at, so I'm not sure how relevant my experiences are.

nadams

Good feedback... I'm guessing that's because they're using an aluminum dome instead of the silk/polymer of the Polks...

Would the step up to the MM's over the DXi's be worth it? $40 premium for the MMs, and they're not currently in stock at Crutchfield.

gdb

AFAIK, Crutchfield is pretty good with accepting returns so........why not order both and have a shootout, return the lesser ones ?

nadams

That's a thought... they have a 60 day no questions asked return policy.

It would mean losing some money on shipping, and being out an extra $100 for a while, though.

arun1963

Go for the MM's over the DXi for sound quality, if the difference is only fourty bucks then its a no brainer. Most speakers will sound a bit bright in a car thanks to all the reflections. What I would also look at, is a small 2x50~75 watt amp and sealing your doors.

Rag Top Day

In reading the posts and talking to Polk it looks like the MM571 is a great choice for the Ranger. Has any one delt with Sonic Electronix, Inc. They have a really good price on them.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_18052_Polk-Audio-MM571.html?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=froogle

KaosTsoc

Sonic's is good, but they are not an authorized polk dealer. So, polk wont honor there warrenty if you get the speakers from them. You can get them from here:

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_23057_Polk_Audio_MM571.aspx

They are an authorized polk dealer so, polk will honor there warrenty if you get it from them. I also beleive that amazon.com is an authorized polk dealer as well. So, you check that as well. Hope this helps.


Thanks.

Rag Top Day

Thanks for the tip. Just bought 2 pair for my ranger. Made sure it was an authorized dealer!

logo896

If you haven't installed them yet you can normally fit 6x8's in the 5x7garage hole and you get much better performance

Rag Top Day

logo896 wrote: »

If you haven't installed them yet you can normally fit 6x8's in the 5x7garage hole and you get much better performance

Unfortunatly Polk does not make a 6x8 speaker. Might get a 6x9 to fit but wanted a direct replacement for the stock speakers. I thought about maybe getting another brand but the MM series have such great reviews and I love polk speakers! So I thought that I would give 4 of the MM571's a try in my Ranger.

logo896

6x9s won't fit in there. Ford made 5x7s but they really are one the worst speaker sizes ever in terms of performance. Seriously if I were you id put a nice pair of speakers componemt 6 and a halfs in the front doors and round it off with a nice 8 or 10 inch.

Rag Top Day

logo896 wrote: »

6x9s won't fit in there. Ford made 5x7s but they really are one the worst speaker sizes ever in terms of performance. Seriously if I were you id put a nice pair of speakers componemt 6 and a halfs in the front doors and round it off with a nice 8 or 10 inch.

Thanks for the input, I agree but then to take advantage of that I need to add an amp and a better head unit. This is a 3 mile to work daily driver so I was just looking for something to give me a better sound than stock without doing mods to the truck.

logo896

Even a cheap 4 channel is worth while because out of your deck your probably getting 17x4 true power. I've seen people put decks in and it sound flatter than before.

pentoncm

Get the speakers from onlinecarstereo.com, they are authorized and really cheap. MM are a great bang for your buck.

The bad thing about Headunit power that you don't have enough juice to overcome roadnoise. When you are cruising down the road going 60, you usually can get the HU to the point of where you can hear the music but the noise is still very noticeable in the background. You can turn it up more and more, but it will sound worse and worse because you will be starting to introduce more and more distortion. It will sound good at 1% THD, but chances are if you turn it up loud enough to overcome noise you are at the point of 5% distortion or worse which is going to sound really bad.

A dramatic example of this would be people who listen to movies through their LCD speakers, you can't turn it up very loud. I've still witnessed people blasting their TVs while it sounding like total crap. Disregarding the frequency response and speaker characteristics, there just isn't enough power to make the sound immersive and enjoyable. Hence, you need a receiver to give you bunches of power in home theater. There is no substitute for clean power.

logo896

I second that I buy stuff from onlinecarstereo as well. Just don't short change your great speakers with limited power.

Rag Top Day

logo896 wrote: »

I second that I buy stuff from onlinecarstereo as well. Just don't short change your great speakers with limited power.

What is the best way to integrate the factory head unit with an amp? Most interfaces I see cause noise and poping. Rather have limited volume than poping when turning on or noise caused by compatibility issues. Really not trying to put a killer system in this truck, just make it sound a bit better.

logo896

You have two options in my opinion, this is all i ever put in cars now unless people are looking for a screen or competition system.

http://www.amazon.com/AudioControl-LC6i/dp/B002T4XR78/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1323194440&sr=8-5

Audiocontrol is a very high quality brand, but many people are not familiar with it.You could also consider the JL audio cleansweep but it is much more expensive. This will intigrate with your factory stereo and give you three pairs of preouts as well as an aux for any mp3 players you may use. It comes with a nice bass control know for adjusting the gain on a sub woofer as well and doubles as the button for the aux. As for the poping, normally that is caused by a weak ground, and at times the weather. I imagine you will want to mount the amplifier underneath your seat and this audiocontrol is very small as well. Many people use the seat bolt as their grounding point, if you decide to do this make sure you scrape the paint back to raw metal all the way at all complementing points on the seat bolt. This is what i use in my system and I run a full phoenix gold 4 channel to my component speakers and then bridge the back channels on low pass to my sub woofer out of preference.

Rag Top Day

logo896 wrote: »

You have two options in my opinion, this is all i ever put in cars now unless people are looking for a screen or competition system.

http://www.amazon.com/AudioControl-LC6i/dp/B002T4XR78/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1323194440&sr=8-5

Audiocontrol is a very high quality brand, but many people are not familiar with it.You could also consider the JL audio cleansweep but it is much more expensive. This will intigrate with your factory stereo and give you three pairs of preouts as well as an aux for any mp3 players you may use. It comes with a nice bass control know for adjusting the gain on a sub woofer as well and doubles as the button for the aux. As for the poping, normally that is caused by a weak ground, and at times the weather. I imagine you will want to mount the amplifier underneath your seat and this audiocontrol is very small as well. Many people use the seat bolt as their grounding point, if you decide to do this make sure you scrape the paint back to raw metal all the way at all complementing points on the seat bolt. This is what i use in my system and I run a full phoenix gold 4 channel to my component speakers and then bridge the back channels on low pass to my sub woofer out of preference.

Thanks for the info. I looked at the clean sweep. The JL web site said this counteracts any factory equalization and provides a clean, flat signal for your aftermarket amplifiers. If your head unit does not modify the factory equalization then it is not needed and a loc would work almost as good. I like the LC6i unit. You dead right on the ground! You would not believe the amount of factory automotive ground issues I run into. You have to have a clean tight ground!
I think I will try these speakers first and break them in. If I find they are not cutting it I like the idea of the LC6i and a Polk PA D4000.4 amp under the seat. Will just have to wait and see.
Thanks again for all your help. Been out of the car stereo field for a while.

MacLeod

Ill vouch for Audiocontrol as well. Excellent range of gear, well made and performs well. Plus they are one of the few manufacturers that still support car audio competition pretty heavy so Ill always pimp them to people. If my H700 ever dies on me, it will be an Audiocontrol EQ that Ill replace it with.

pentoncm

MacLeod wrote: »

Ill vouch for Audiocontrol as well. Excellent range of gear, well made and performs well. Plus they are one of the few manufacturers that still support car audio competition pretty heavy so Ill always pimp them to people. If my H700 ever dies on me, it will be an Audiocontrol EQ that Ill replace it with.

Do you think Audiocontrol will make a processor sometime similar to the Bit One? They are known for their equalizers, but none of their equipment have time alignment, and the crossovers aren't as versatile.

logo896

pentoncm wrote: »

Do you think Audiocontrol will make a processor sometime similar to the Bit One? They are known for their equalizers, but none of their equipment have time alignment, and the crossovers aren't as versatile.

I don't know what a bit one is but audiocontrol is primarily a eq company. I think they started in the early 80"s.