new system

Systems

I have a 2000 grand am GT, im planning on replacing my door speakers, and rear deck speakers with the COAXIAL Polk Audio DB series speakers. (460, and 690, respectively) I was wondering if anyone has any feedback on these speakers? I'm gonna be using a kenwood excelon deck as well. I have heard mixed reviews on these speakers, some people even saying they wont sound much better then my stock monsoon system speakers. Any info on experiences with these speakers would be appreciated. Thanks.

MacLeod

Polk DB speakers are great sounding speakers and will be head and shoulders over your "premium" OEM system. It will be well worth your investment.

2 recommendations though. First I would use components. They will sound a lot better than coaxials for a few reasons. Components use better materials and have better crossovers. Also a tweeters output is not that great off axis and with a coaxial most of the highs fire right into your leg. With components you can aim the tweets right for your ears so you hear them a lot better. Also your imaging will be a lot better as well.

Second Id suggest moving up to the Momo series. The DB are good and all but the Momo are some of the best sounding speakers on the market. These things are $300 for 6 1/2 components but youd have to spend $400-500 to find a speaker that outperforms it.

Systems

Yeah, I only got the coaxials because they were recommended by crutchfield cause they fit and connected to the factory wiring thats in there.... But now that i trully understand what coaxial speakers are....now i know it was dumb to buy them...cause i have tweeters in there now that are seperate from the woofer down below. Also it sucks that they dont even give you speaker wire with the speakers, if i wanted new lines... but yeah i think ill return the dbs for component..momo...or what i can afford thats comparable. Oh what about the 6x9s in the back should i leave them COAXIAL DB 690s or change them as well? i should probably be ok with component up front and coaxial in back.......thanks again..

AustinKP

Having the Momo's in the front and coaxials in the back is a great idea. You want the rear speakers there just to "feel" and not to really hear. They are just for fill to give some space to your sound. Momo in the rear would almost be wasted since it would be turned down. Also, the MM6's actually do come with extra wire, but only enough to wire between the crossovers and the tweets and woofers. You still have to wire between the amp and the crossover. If you want to go the eBay way, you can actually pick up a new pair of MM6's for around $150 + shipping.

sntnsupermen131

the momo components probably wont fit in your car
they are very deep
go to www.polkaudio.com/car
they have a fit guide somewhere on there
use it, ive found it to be more reliable than crutchfields
if the momos fit, then great, if they dont, the DB speakers are really good speakers
i like them A LOT
and yeah, the 6x9 coaxials in the back are perfect
crutchfield is really good about giving you everything you need for your install(adapters and stuff)
but no one is going to give you speaker wire
the only speaker wire ive ever gotten was with my kenwood 4x6s because they have a special connection on the back of the speakers thats hard to find anywhere else
and what everyone has failed to ask here is that are these speakers going to be amped?
a head unit will not push a component system very well
if you dont plan on getting a separate amp, i would not plan on getting components...
you can pick up a 65x4 us acoustics amp for $130, or even better, a 85x4 for $180
model numbers usb-4065 and usb-4085 respectively
(those prices are from crutchfield)
also
go to www.acaraudio.com
you want an amp thats rated at anywhere from 65x4 to 100x4
the closer to 100 you get, the better your speakers will sound
check out brands like
alpine
hifonics
kenwood
mtx
phoenix gold
pioneer
rockford fosgate
do NOT look at sony...sony is crap
nothing is going to be cheaper than those amps from us acoustics though
hope this helps
-Cody

Systems

Hey guys, i just tried the polk fit guide..... It said the MMC 460s and 690s would fit...and also the speakers i bought...the DB 460s and 690s were of course on there. I wasn't planning on putting an amp for the front speakers, just using my headunits power(Kenwood Excelon KDC-579) for the fronts, and my car has a stock amp that powers the 6x9s that was i gonna continue to use, then add a sub and and an outside amp for the sub. My car has stock tweeters up front also which im debating if i should wire in with the new 4x6's (stock setup is the tweets are wired directly with the stock 4x6's)...Also im thinking about possibly switching the kenwood excelon deck to an alpine, people are telling me that the alpine deck would sound a lot better for the same price as i paid for the excelon deck, but i dont know about that I always thought the kenwood X decks were good ****. Another thing is..... im still debating if i just bother with the DB460s, or just use components to replace the DB460s. i dont know my mind head is spinning now..lol ....ill probably end up leaving the excelon deck in, changing the front stuff to components(change the stock tweets and stock 4x6s), and go with the coaxials in the back, then a sub in the back with its own amp. thanks again for the help guys...

sntnsupermen131

alpine sucks nuts...
ok, not really, but i dont like em that much
pioneer is better:D
BUT kenwood eXcelon is awesome, dont change it out, it wont be worth it
-Cody

MacLeod

Yeah I would stay away from Alpine as well.

I bought a V Power 4 channel and it died within a few weeks. First amp Ive ever had die on me in over 14 years of car audio piddling. I took it back and exchanged it and the replacement has been flawless.

Bought an Alpine head unit and it works fine but has a couple quirks. When there is a low level playing like a low bass guitar riff or keyboard or something and you turn the volume up it pops! Not loud but you can hear it. It also does a few other things that Im not real pleased with so Ill be dumping it hear shortly. Ive had one of everything over the years and have to say that Pioneer has been the most reliable of them all.

One thing though, this Alpine head unit does have a noticeable increase in sound quality over the Sony (no wise cracks Cody ) and Kenwood I had previously.

Jstas

What Kenwood did you have?

'Cause I hear very little difference between the Alpine and Kenwood head units. I think Vinnie will agree too. Alpine and Kenwood get thier parts from the same companies to build thier products. Consequently, they are very similar in performance and sound.

If you are talking classic Alpine then Alpine beats Kenwood hands down in the head unit department. But Kenwood was kicking Alpine **** with amplifiers and speakers. Hell, Kenwood is still a better choice for amps and speakers than Alpine.

Personally, I'm not fond of Alpine. It has a stigma about it that is left over from my early days in car audio. Too many Alpine owners had an elitist attitude. It bugged me. I'm not fond of the looks of Alpine either but I will say that they have some very nice units, some of which I'd prefer over the Kenwood units.

MacLeod

Ah hell bro, that Kenwood was an older, entry level model that I bought back in 98 and had until 2001. Then I bought the Sony and kept it til I got the Alpine. It wasnt exactly a scientific comparison. LOL

Alpine definitely has quality control issues and thats whats made me leary of them. I really like the sound of their V12 amps and the looks of their heads but after 2 of 3 Alpine products having "bugs" Im pretty much done with them. I actually thought I might try something new like a Clarion. I like Eclipse but, by God, theyre fugly!

Dont know yet. I have favorite speakers, amps and subs but Im not partial to any type head unit. I feel that their all pretty damn good....um except Alpine!

exalted512

you want to see ugly?
check out nakamichi's stuff...
-Cody

Systems

Jstas, I bought the Kenwood Excelon KDC x579, seen here: http://kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=20&sortBy=price&pageId=2&productId=2567 .
It's more of a simpler looking deck, but it has lots of features such as built in high and low pass filters. Anyway, I'm still debating if I should even keep this unit and the polk audio DB 690s and 460s I bought. I found out that my stock amp that supplies signal to the 6x9s is designed for a 2 ohm speaker... The DB speakers are of course 4 ohm, this is a problem. Originally I was gonna use factory wiring, but I can't do that for the rear speakers at all because of the factory amp. I'm gonna have to wire all connections right from the HU to the speakers, so I might as well Amp the 6 x 9's with an aftermarket amp now. Since the stock speakers with the stock amp sound pretty good, I was thinking about leaving in the Excelon deck in, leaving stock wiring with the stock amp and speakers, and adding a sub and aftermarket amp for the sub. I'm new to audio and now I really dont know what to do. The front of my car now has 1" tweets up top, and 4 x 6s in the door, and of course the 6 x 9's in the back. Anyone have any ideas? My stock system was only really only lacking extra bass, and of course a mp3 compatible cd player. i dont know what to do now. Thanks in advance.

exalted512

theres not a lot you can do...thats crappy that you have 4x6s up front with a tweeter
thats odd
go to sounddomain.com and pick up some tweeters from Image Dynamics and stick with whatever else you have(the 460s and 690s)
as far as a sub goes...thats going to help your bass out DRASTICALLY
even polk's small 8" momo will have a BIG effect
so if you just want bass...get the 8"er if price is a big issue
if you can afford the 10...get that one...i just like 10s better than 8s, they sound better, deeper, and fuller in my opinion
-Cody